“Maybe they don’t,” said Kelly, “but we do.” Abby high-fived her.
“What happens now?” asked Matt. “If Joe’s gonna be okay, should we all just head home?”
“Definitely,” said my mom. “I’m exhausted, and I don’t even want to think what’s going on back at my hospital. My shift was almost over when you came to get me, but Kelly’s supposed to be in her room and we’ve been gone for hours and hours. . . .”
“I locked the door and turned off the lights,” I said. “We thought that might help.”
“Yeah, I saw that when I went back for those pain meds for Joe. And it might, if I can convince my colleagues we were telling ghost stories or holding a séance or something.” Kelly giggled. My mom ran a hand over her eyes. “But what I don’t see is how we’re going to get home anytime soon. Even with the sun coming up, it’s a long drive back to the cabin.”
“Dude! If only we had a token with us,” said Abby, slapping the sofa. “There are plenty of pillows. We could have built a fort and linked straight home from here.”
“Why didn’t we think of that before?” I said. I was off my game. Keeping an emergency backup token around should have been obvious.
“Hey, so I’m not sure I get what you two are saying,” said Mark, “but is there a chance you’re wishing for something like this?” He dug around in his pocket and pulled out . . . our map of Camp Pillow Fort.
Abby and I stared at him.
“What?!”
“Where did you get that?”
“I picked it up in Maggie’s fort earlier,” said Mark. “I thought a map might come in handy during a rescue mission.”
“That is seriously good thinking!” said Abby. “All right, let’s get to work.”
We didn’t need a fancy fort, and after a quick planning meeting run by Kelly, who was the only one with experience building forts in hospitals, we settled on a simple half circle of pillows around one of the sofas. Abby threw her blanket over the top, Matt placed the map inside, and just to be safe we all counted to ten.
“Is that it?” asked Matt.
“That’s it,” I said.
“You’re not scared it might have accidentally linked to a laser-eyed wild boar reserve or something, Mags?” asked Abby, elbowing me.
“Ha! You’re funny.” I elbowed her back. She was teasing, but it was nice to realize that I actually wasn’t expecting things to go wrong here. For the first time in a while I was pretty certain everything was going to turn out all right.
“It should be good to go,” I said. “Who’s first?”
“Kelly first,” said my mom. “Then me.”
“Cool. Okay, Kelly, off you— Aaah!”
I wasn’t the only one who yelled as a loud clamoring suddenly erupted inside the fort. It sounded like a roomful of people having an argument. One voice rose above the others.
“I’m dealing with it. I am dealing with it!”
We all jumped back as a sandy-haired kid wearing silver sunglasses materialized out of the brand-new entrance.
“What—!”
“How—?”
“Murray!?”
“Oh, it is you,” said Murray, pushing his shoulders through the gap and propping himself up on his elbows. “It’s wonderful to see you, Maggie, but honestly, would you please stop breaking every rule we have? Building new forts, adding links left and right, telling adults? I know you’ve declared an official emergency, but you are becoming a total menace.”
My mouth was hanging open.
“But, but we only just built— How did you find—?”
“How did I find you?” Murray said. “I’m Captain of the Northern and Arctic Alliance! You’re on my turf. And causing a lot of confusion among my membership, I might add. They think we’re being invaded, eh?”
“Maggie,” said my mom, “who is this boy? And why is he wearing sunglasses at night?”
“Um, everyone, this is Murray,” I said. “He’s head of the pillow fort networks for this area and on the Council of NAFAFA. They all wear silver sunglasses.”
“What on earth is the Council of Nuh-foo-foo?” asked Matt.
“They’re the ones who messed up our homes,” said Abby. She was glaring at Murray. “They deliberately got us in trouble just because we weren’t following the rules of their silly club.”
I looked at Abby in surprise. She’d been all excited about joining NAFAFA before. Maybe those hours of backbreaking work in the rat-infested alley had changed her mind.
“Hey, hey, hey,” said Murray. “There’s no need to go insulting NAFAFA. You’re talking about one of the most respected pillow fort organizations in the world.”
“Really?” said Mark.
“It is actually pretty cool,” I said, “and historical. Marilyn Monroe and Aretha Franklin were members.”
“Don’t forget Alex Trebek,” said Murray.
“He’s Canadian, you know,” I told the others.
“Neat,” said Matt.
“This is the strangest conversation I’ve ever been a part of,” said my mom.
Murray gave a sudden start. “Oop! Hang on, someone’s got my foot.” He disappeared into the fort, then stuck his head out again. “A friend wants to say hi, Maggie.”
He retreated, and the head and shoulders of another boy appeared in the link.
“Hi! Maggie! Maggie-Maggie-Maggie!”
“Bobby,” I said, grinning. “Good to see you.”
“You too!” Bobby reached out and grasped my hands. “How have you been? Murray says you’ve been breaking rules and having adventures! Everyone’s been talking about it.”
“Really?”
“Really!” He smiled around at the others. “Hi, Maggie’s people! I’m Bobby!” Everyone waved and said hi back. “You all know Maggie’s a superstar, right?” he went on. “Because she is. She’s brave and curious and wonderful, and you’re so, so lucky to have her as your leader.”
Abby made a high-pitched noise in her throat and gripped my arm. The others all turned to me, beaming. Bobby was still holding my hands. My face burned hotter than the roof tiles at noon.
“Everyone already knows that!” called a muffled voice from inside the makeshift fort. Abby made the noise again and squeezed my arm tighter as Murray pushed his way in beside Bobby. “I mean you do, right?” he asked, flashing his sunglasses at the group.
“Obviously,” said Abby. The twins grinned. Kelly and my mom patted me on the
