The Barths left the coffee shop and headed to the park.
They saw many children there.
Some were at the playground.
Others were playing baseball.
"Oh, she's flying a kite!"
Jane pointed to a little girl with a red kite.
"Is that your daughter?" a woman sitting on a bench asked.
"Excuse me?" Jane was confused.
"That girl, is she yours?" the woman asked again.
"Of course not!" Jane shouted hotly.
"I'm too young to have children!"
She gave the woman a nasty stare and walked off.
The woman looked at Jane strangely.
"What did that woman say to you?" asked Cy.
"She thought I was a mother!" Jane was still upset.
"But Jane," Panther said gently.
"You are grown-up now."
Before Jane could answer, they heard familiar sounds.
"It's the ice cream truck!"
Bobby jumped up and down.
"Since coffee was so yucky," grinned Cy, "we deserve something sweet!"
The grown-up Barths raced across the park.
Being bigger and faster, they passed all the little children.
They got to the ice cream truck first.
"Double caramel chocolate fudge, please," said Bobby, rubbing his hands.
"Excuse me," the driver said coldly.
"Maybe the children should go first."
He pointed to the line of children behind the Barths.
"I got here first," Bobby replied stubbornly.
Some parents made rude remarks.
"That grown man should be ashamed."
"He's acting like a child!"
The driver shrugged and gave Bobby his ice cream.
"I'll have a strawberry twist," Panther said.
"Do you all work together?" the driver asked her.
"No, we're family,"
she replied as she took the ice cream from him.
"Is today your day off?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Panther asked in return.
"You're not working today?"
the man said in an irritated voice.
"Work? I don't have a job," she said.
"None of us do."
The man looked at her with a nasty expression.
"You should be ashamed of yourself!" he said.
"All grown-ups work hard to make money. But you─"
He pointed to each of the Barths.
"─you only want ice cream."
Suddenly the ice cream no longer seemed inviting.
The Barths looked around and saw angry faces.
"Maybe we should go," said Cy.
They hung their heads and turned away.
"Why are people so mean?"
Jane asked after they found a quiet bench.
"Because we acted like children," replied Panther.
"But we are children," argued Jane.
"Not today, Jane!
We're grown-ups today, remember?" said Cy.
"Everyone sees us as grown-ups who act like children."
The Barth kids were silent.
They watched other children playing.
"They look so happy," said Bobby.
"I wish I could ride a bike, too."
"I thought being a grown-up would be fun," Jane sniffed.
"I didn't know it would be so hard."
The Barths sat at the bench for a while.
They didn't know what else to do.
Then Cy looked at his watch.
"Let's go back to Aunt Martha's," he said.
"We can hide until the sun sets."
"I can't walk in these shoes anymore," cried Jane.
She threw her heels on the ground.
"Okay, Jane," Cy said, "I'll carry you."
Jane climbed onto Cy's back.
"Whoa! You're heavy!" he gasped.
But like a good brother, he carried his sister through the park.
People passing by stopped and stared.
"Oh, my!" they muttered. "What are they doing?"
"They should be ashamed of themselves."