“Wow,” I said. “So Abby and I did the impossible.”
“Looks like,” said Caitlin, smiling. “Good for you. But speaking of your amazing bestie, where is she? Why are you here all on your own?”
Oh, that.
Discovering the secret link to Caitlin had almost driven my other problems out of my mind. Now it all came flooding back and then some, along with the ache in my chest.
Caitlin leaned against the sofa as I explained the situation. “Ouch, that sounds really hard,” she said when I finished. “I hope you two can patch it up soon.”
I nodded. “Me too.” And I meant it. I hated being mad at Abby. And I really hated knowing she was mad at me.
“Would a Mega Ultra Caramel Swizzle Cone help?” Caitlin asked. “I can run out to the truck.”
“No!” called a voice from Fort McForterson, and I jumped as well as I could as someone behind me whapped me on the leg.
“Let me in,” said the voice. It was a girl, but it definitely didn’t sound like Abby. I scooched over, and first a baseball cap, then a bunch of curly black hair appeared.
“Carolina?”
“Oof.” Carolina squeezed in beside me and looked around grumpily. “Hello, Maggie Hetzger,” she said. “And hello person named Caitlin who shouldn’t be linked in.”
“Hi!” said Caitlin. “Nice to meet you. What network are you with? Do you want some ice cream?”
“I’m not here to make friends,” said Carolina.
“She’s with the Forts of the Eastern Seaboard,” I told Caitlin.
“Ooo!” Caitlin smiled. “Fancy!”
“Stop it, stop it, stop it,” said Carolina, waving her hands. “There’s no time. You need to get back to your own network, Maggie Hetzger. This fort was accidental and it’s not approved, and my surveillance shift is almost up. If the next kid catches you in here with a teenager, you’ll be cut off permanently, and then some.”
“Aw, that’s what happened to me, sort of,” said Caitlin. “It’s not fun. You should get going.”
“I guess so.” It had been nice getting to talk things over with someone who mostly understood. “Can I come by again sometime?”
“No!” cut in Carolina. “This link shouldn’t even be here. Caitlin’s not allowed to be connected to any fort networks at all.”
“That’s true,” said Caitlin. “We can hang out the normal way though, Maggie.”
“Really? Thanks!”
Carolina was digging furiously through the jeans and skirts and shirts covering the floor around us.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking for the token.”
Caitlin raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t even ask how we got linked up! What do you think it was, Maggie? I mean, I gave you the ice cream, and your mail you dropped, but none of that would do it.”
“Got it!” cried Carolina, emerging from the clothes pile with a cheap plastic pen in her hand.
“Ha!” I said. It was my old hypno-ray gun. “I forgot I even gave that to you.”
“Same,” said Caitlin. “And look how far you’ve come since then.” We high-fived.
“Time to go, Maggie Hetzger,” said Carolina.
“Bye, Caitlin,” I said, scooching back to my own fort. “Thanks for everything.”
“Go get ’em, tiger!” she called, waving.
I waited in Fort McForterson as Carolina pulled the link shut behind her.
“That was close,” she said, tossing the pen back in my arts-and-crafts corner. She turned to me. “I know things are weird between you and Abby Hernandez right now, and that you’re attempting a good deed on your own, but please, Maggie Hetzger, try and stay out of trouble.”
Huh. So she knew about the fight. “You don’t miss anything, do you?” I said.
Carolina shook her head. “It’s my job.” A smile snuck into the corners of her mouth. “Plus I’m training to be the world’s greatest secret agent someday.”
“Oh!” I said, sitting up. “Oh oh oh! Me too! That is awesome! We need to talk more about that.” Maybe she could become my new Abby, if things, well, never got back to normal.
It was always good to be prepared for the worst.
Carolina shrugged. “Follow the rules, get into NAFAFA, and maybe we can. But now I have to go.” She yanked a random pillow down, and there was the Hub again. “Good luck, Maggie Hetzger.”
“Bye,” I said. “And thank you.”
I returned to Alaska. As I crawled out of Fort Orpheus, I realized I was actually feeling better. Hanging out with Caitlin and Carolina had really cheered me up.
I headed back to the kitchen and wolfed down a yogurt, admiring my work on Operation Fridge Fix. The fridge really did look a hundred times better, and I couldn’t wait for Uncle Joe to see it. I went to the window to find him.
The weather had taken a turn for the worse. A steady rain was falling, and the wind was kicking up serious whitecaps out on the bay, but Uncle Joe was still out there, lying on the rocks by the shore. Why hadn’t he come in? He must have been getting soaked. A kernel of worry dropped into my stomach, and I pulled on a sweater and rain jacket and headed out to check on him.
“Hey,” I called, clomping down the steps. “Uncle Joe!” The wet wind threw the words right back at me.
I crunched over the beach. “Are you okay?” I hollered. The cold rain pattered on the hood of my jacket. Uncle Joe didn’t look up. Why wasn’t he answering? And hey, why was all his recording equipment still set up unprotected on the rocks around him?
Wait. It wasn’t set up. It was tumbled, scattered.
I broke into a run, my shoes slipping on the stones, and then I saw his leg, bent out at an ugly angle, and I saw the rain running down his face.
His eyes
