My mom was folding laundry at the dining-room table.
“Hi, sweetie,” she said, flapping out a pair of jeans as we came in. “You forgot to leave a note last night.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I was only next door.”
“I know—that’s why I called you there. Hi, Abby. Nice braid.”
“Thanks, Ms. Hetzger!”
“How was your time at camp?”
“It was great!” said Abby. “I wish Maggie could have gone.”
I took advantage of the moment to give my mom a pointed look, but she had a towel tucked under her chin and didn’t see.
“Glad to hear it,” she said. “Maggie, I’m leaving for work pretty soon here. I picked up groceries last night, so there’s plenty of food in the fridge. Make sure you eat a salad or something healthy for lunch, okay?”
“Okay. Will you be around later?” I asked. It was great having all this parent-free time to spend with Abby, but I didn’t mind my mom being around sometimes.
My mom shook her head. “We’re stretched thin on staffing this week, so I’m covering shifts where I can.” She noticed my expression. “I’m sorry, but you know I can’t always be around just because you want me to be. Remember, you’re almost in middle school now, and I’m proud of how mature and responsible you are at taking care of yourself and our home. And speaking of, I need you to give the whole house a good clean this afternoon.”
I failed to suppress a groan.
“Hey, no need for that,” said my mom. “We talked about this. Chores are a part of life.” She glanced at her wrist. “See? I’m giving up taking a shower so I can get our laundry folded before I head back out to work. I don’t think asking you to take a few hours out of your vacation to tidy up is too much to ask.” She began tugging at a tangle of T-shirts.
“Ms. Hetzger?” said Abby, raising her hand. “We can do it.”
“What?” my mom and I said together.
“We can fold the rest of the laundry,” said Abby. “That way you’ll have time for a shower.”
My mom stared at her; then her face relaxed into a surprised smile. “Thank you, Abby,” she said. “I’ll take you up on that. Pants creased at the seams, please, and socks folded, not rolled.” She headed for the hall, then stopped in the doorway and turned back. “By the way, do you two have a radio or something hidden in that pillow fort?”
“Um, no,” I said, with half a glance at Abby. Why was my mom asking questions about the fort?
“I could have sworn I heard noises and talking in there after I hung up the phone with Alex.”
“Weird,” I said, now looking everywhere but at Abby. I picked up a dishcloth and started folding. “You must have imagined it. There’s nothing in there that makes sounds.”
My mom leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah, I didn’t see anything when I went in, but I thought I’d ask.”
My head shot up. “You went in my pillow fort?”
“I’ve been in there before,” she said. “It’s not exactly private property, is it? Although, speaking of private property, it was nice to not see any of my things hidden in there this time.”
“But—but you can’t just—” I spluttered.
“I think today is actually the perfect time to take it down, as long as you’re cleaning the house. You haven’t even been in there since Abby got home, and I’d like to have the living room back to normal.”
My mouth was opening and closing like a fish, but no words were coming out.
“We can’t take it down for a bit, Ms. Hetzger,” said Abby quickly. “See, we built one at my place, too, and we’re playing this, uh, summer camp game with them, since Maggie couldn’t go to the real one.”
“Oh.” My mom looked like she wanted to argue, but her eyes flicked to me. The reminder of the Camp Cantaloupe paperwork mix-up seemed to be holding her back. “Well, all right. But take that fort down soon, okay?”
“Just don’t go in there again,” I blurted out. Really, I had enough to deal with without her getting involved.
My mom looked a little hurt. “Hey, I’m the parent here, Maggie.” She glanced at her watch. “And I’m about to set a record for world’s shortest shower.” Her footsteps thudded down the hall as Abby and I turned to the mountain of laundry.
“Why did you say we would fold all this?” I asked, launching my dish towel back into the heap.
For some reason Abby was grinning. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “We’re doing a good deed! We should be on the lookout for good deeds all the time from now on. Oh, and you’re welcome by the way for saving your fort.”
I looked over the table. “A good deed? Really? This seems more like a favor to me. I don’t know if non-fort-related laundry counts.”
“Only one way to find out,” said Abby, shrugging.
“Okay, fine,” I said. “Just warn me next time you’re gonna go all thoughtful and helpful, all right? You made me look selfish in front of my mom.”
Abby snort-laughed. “You were kinda doing okay at that on your own.”
I threw a pair of folded socks at her.
Ten minutes later my mom flew by and out the door, and ten minutes after that we had all the laundry folded and stacked into neat piles.
“Good deed!” said Abby, raising both arms over her head. She looked around the room. “Do you think they heard me?”
“How would I know?” I grumbled. The day wasn’t exactly going my way. Why was everybody else trying to run things?
“Better safe than sorry,” said Abby. She went over to the fort and stuck her head in the entrance. “Good deed!” she yelled again. “Laundry folded so Maggie’s mom could shower before work. Good deed!”
I gave her a look as she came back in.
“Oh, stop being Grumpy Mags,” said Abby, poking me on the shoulder. “It doesn’t suit you. Now, what’s next? More good
