The Midnight War of Mateo Martinez

by Robin Yardi

  “Yeah,” said Mila. “Ms. Printz says throwing stuff is not allowed and we have to share the playground at school with everyone.”

  “We tried that, Polka Dots. No dice,” said Nuts.

  “Sharing is not an option. Does Nuts have to show you his scar again?” asked Buggies.

  Mila glared at both skunks.

  “Somebody should be riding those slides all the time,” Ashwin said, coming closer. “Even at night. You’re right, Mateo. It’s a righteous mission. I can feel it!”

  I could feel it too. So I went with what I believed was right. Those skunks were a little weird, but I think all they wanted was to have some fun in a place that was really theirs. Just like me and Ashwin.

  “All right,” I said. “Me and Ashwin are the Knights of the Trike, and we’ve got a proposal for you. How ’bout we join ranks? You guys could … be in charge of appropriations.”

  Mila scrunched her mouth up. She had been asking me for months to be a knight, but little sisters can’t be knights—you have to be a squire first—and I thought she was way too little even to be a squire. Anyway, we didn’t have time to argue about that.

  “Negative,” growled Buggies, crossing his paws.

  “Sergeant Buggies is the OIC here,” squeaked Nuts.

  “Oick? What’s an oick?” I asked, totally confused.

  Buggies put his paws on his head like Mom sometimes does at the end of the day.

  Ashwin leaned in. “I think they mean O-I-C, like Officer in Charge.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s cool with us, right, Ashwin?”

  “Right! Sure,” he said. “You guys could have, um … tactical command.”

  Buggies kept rubbing his head. “None of these guys even have security clearance,” he mumbled. Nuts leaned in to squeak-whisper in Buggies’s ear, but all I caught was the word trike.

  “We accept your proposed alliance, sir,” said both skunks, coming to attention.

  “I can promote you both to technical sergeants, which will give you the appropriate clearance,” Buggies continued, “but Nuts and I must maintain tactical command.”

  “We take turns,” squeaked Nuts. “Sergeant Buggies is your OIC until he’s relieved of duty after the midnight mission. Is that clear, sirs?”

  Me and Ashwin grinned. “Yes, sir,” we both said, saluting.

  “What do you mean, you take turns?” Mila asked. But nobody had time to answer.

  An alarm went off. Like the kind that wakes you up in the morning:

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  “The perimeter alarm has been triggered, sir. Possible raccoon a block from the main entrance,” whispered Nuts.

  Ashwin shoved my arm. “Holy monkeys, man. Your new bike is up there.”

  “Quiet, Sergeant Canela,” squeaked Nuts.

  We all listened as that gross raccoon trilling came out of a baby monitor on one of the shelves.

  Mila ran over to the trike, jammed herself into the seat, and pedaled forward, back, forward, back, covering the tiles again and again, watching my face the whole time. I guess she was waiting to see what I would do.

  “The raccoons are a block away, on the north side of the entrance,” whispered Nuts.

  “They’ll sight the bikes any second,” said Buggies, pacing over the black and white tiles. “There’s no reason for those vehicles to be out on the sidewalk at night. The raccoons are sure to do a little recon, and if they start nosing around up there, our position won’t be secure. Stink Base could be compromised.”

  “We’ve got to move the bikes, Sergeant Buggies,” I said. “We’ve still got time to keep Stink Base a secret. And we could still win the Midnight War. Let’s get up there, mount up, and stake out our position on top of the playground!”

  “He’s right, Sergeant Buggies,” said Nuts.

  “Agreed.” Buggies said. “Stage one of our mission will be moving those bikes away from Stink Base. We’ve got to be mounted and en route before the raccoons spot us. Stage two will be taking the school playground.”

  Me, Ashwin, and Nuts all nodded. Mila just gripped the handles of the trike harder and looked, I don’t know, determined.

  “All right, soldiers—it’s go time.” Buggies held up his fist, counting on his clawed fingers. “Let’s move out on three.”

  Then he mouthed:

  One.

  Two.

  Three!

  19.

  The Midnight War

  On three, me and Ashwin charged up the ramp, ready to mount our bikes and move them away from the entrance of Stink Base—stage one of the Midnight War offensive. I didn’t even want to think about having that cool hideout raided by raccoons because of us.

  Nuts and Buggies hopped into the back bucket of the trike.

  “Move ’em out, Polka Dots,” squeaked Nuts.

  But Mila didn’t pedal up the ramp. She just grabbed those handlebars tight and scrunched her face up. “No way, Mateo. Not on my trike!”

  Ashwin skidded to a stop halfway up the ramp. He bugged his eyes out at me. “Mateo, let’s go.” He totally got it, as usual. Ashwin understands stuff like honor, duty, and the price of being beaten by someone bigger. Stuff I didn’t think Mila could understand. But I had to try to convince her anyway.

  “Come on, Mila,” I said. “This is our only chance. This is a Midnight War for playground freedom. Those marble-eyed monsters are the ones who’ve been trashing our neighborhood. The skunks just want to have some fun. Don’t you want to help?”

  “Nope,” she said, smacking her p. “Actually, maybe. But nobody asked me to be a knight.”

  We did not have time for this.

  I motioned for Ashwin. When he ran over I whispered in his ear, then we both grabbed onto the back of the trike and pushed Mila up the ramp, skunks and all.

  “We can’t push her all the way to the playground, Mateo,” Ashwin wheezed. “We’ll never beat the raccoons if we don’t ride our bikes.”

  “Just get her to the sidewalk,” I panted. “I have an idea.”

  We popped out of the bush in a little explosion of leaves, and Nuts secured the swinging door behind us. I couldn’t see the raccoons yet, but I knew they were out there in the dark. Somewhere.

  “Ashwin, grab our bikes and move them away from the entrance of Stink Base.” I pushed Mila down the sidewalk, as far from the entrance as I could. Ashwin rolled our bikes over one at a time. We ended up in a dark patch of pavement between two streetlights. In our black-trash-bag-duct-taped-skunk-proof armor, I felt almost invisible.

  I checked up the north side of the block again, and there they were. The raccoons. We could barely see their humped shapes, but even that far away, the danger of them all hit me like a nightmare. But I wasn’t sleeping, and I wasn’t alone.

  “Look, Mila,” I said. “You’ve gotta come with us. Otherwise those raccoons will get you and the trike.”

  “Nope,” she said again. “I decided. I’m taking the trike home. It’s closer than school anyway.”

  Nuts hopped impatiently, and Buggies shook his head like he couldn’t believe he’d gone to war with a bunch of amateurs. The raccoons rambled closer, but I didn’t think they had spotted us yet.

  “Please, Mila,” I said. “The skunks need the trike. We’ve got to help them take the playground.”

  “If I help, what do I get?” asked Mila, crossing her arms.

  “Cinnamon buns,” Ashwin whispered. “You can come over whenever my mom makes them.”

  “Not good enough. What else?”

  “We can play tic-tac-toe every day,” I said. “And I’ll let you win. And you can be our squire—almost like you’re a Knight of the Trike, but in training.”

  She scrinched her eyes at me. “No way. I caught the skunks. I want to be a real knight.”

  “Fine. You’re a full knight, Sir Peacock Head.”

  “And I like my code name better. Polka Dots.”

  “All righ
t, you’re Polka Dots. Now let’s go. What else could you possibly want?”

  “You knowwwww … ,” said Mila.

  I could see the raccoons over the top of Mila’s head. They were coming straight for us. Their shapes became clearer, but I still couldn’t spot the glint of their eyes. At least we’d accomplished stage one of our mission—we were far enough away to keep Stink Base secret. But what about stage two? We needed the trike, and for that, we needed Mila.

  I knew what she wanted.

  I had known it the whole time.

  “I’ll give it to you,” I said.

  “For keeps? You’ll stop calling it your trike?”

  I thought about the raccoons getting closer, and Ashwin all excited and ready to roll on his crummy bike, and the two weird skunks in Mila’s back bucket.

  “Yep,” I said. “For keeps.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s ride!”

  “Yes sir, Polka Dots,” said Nuts.

  “Move ’em out!” said Buggies.

  I pushed Steed up onto its wheels. Ashwin creaked onto his rusty old tank of a bike. Then Mila started pedaling. Nuts leaned out of the bucket, snatched Mila’s pink butterfly net off the ground, and held it high in the air like a standard. We rode down one of those little curb ramp things and out into the middle of the street. Me and Ashwin on the outside, Mila and the skunks in between. We didn’t even use the crosswalk.

  Mila pedaled hard to keep up.

  I glanced back, swerving a little on my bike. When I saw the raccoons, I almost lost my balance. Almost. “They spotted us,” I said. The big one stood up on its back feet, snarling. All the other raccoons bumped up behind it, staring down the sidewalk. They turned into Mr. Mendoza’s driveway and loped away in a heap of dark shadows.

  “They’re cutting through Geezer’s Garden,” Buggies groaned. “The shortcut will spit them out straight over by the park. Then all they need to do to take the school playground is sneak up the hill!”

  “Pedals to the metal!” squeaked Nuts.

  We raced toward the corner, still in the middle of the street. Still in triangle formation. I pushed as hard as I could, ignoring the sting of my skinned knee, until my legs got achy under my armor and sweats. The hedges and houses were dark and blurry as we rolled past.

  By the time we turned the corner, those raccoons had already made it across the street. They were disappearing into Oak Park. I knew where they were headed.

  “They’re cutting across the creek,” I panted.

  “Affirmative, Sergeant Caballero. But we’ve got to keep to the streets if we have any chance of overtaking them.”

  “I know. But … can you do it, Mila? Can you make it up the hill and keep up?” I wasn’t so sure.

  Mila pedaled faster. “Told you, Caballero—I can carry anything.”

  The skunks hunkered down in the trike’s bucket like little jockeys, their fur flickering in the wind. We cut around Oak Park and pedaled up the hill. Mila was practically purple, she was pushing those pedals so hard. But she made it. When we got to Las Positas, I could see the school. I even got a little peek of the playground through the fence. We were gonna do it. Then I saw the little red hand blinking at the crosswalk, and I remembered my promise to Mom.

  “Geezer farts,” I said.

  I cut out in front of Mila and Ashwin—screeeech—and braked.

  Mila banged right into Steed.

  “Hang on,” I panted. “We’ve got to dismount.”

  “What do you mean, dismount? They’re going to beat us!” Mila was maybe madder than I’d ever seen her.

  I punched the metal button.

  “I promised Mom we would use the crosswalk.”

  “Ah, jeez, Mateo. It’s the middle of the night. It doesn’t count!” Ashwin groaned.

  “Caballero, this is totally nuts,” squeaked Nuts.

  Mila bumped into Steed, just nosing out, clink-clink, pestering me to get going. “Come on, Caballero. I’m a full knight now! I should be able to cross the street just like you. Mom’s rules don’t count at night.”

  I didn’t budge. “You’re still my little sister, even in the middle of the night. Even though you’re a full knight. And promises always count—I know that much.”

  I knew we were losing our lead. My heart thumped like a countdown clock.

  “Raccoons at nine o’clock,” said Buggies.

  I scanned Las Positas up and down. There were no cars. I couldn’t even hear any traffic down on the freeway. But I saw the raccoons burst out of this dark alley between two houses, straight onto the huge four-lane road. They crept across like oil stains and made it to the other side before the red hand at the crosswalk stopped blinking. They started loping up the driveway and through the school parking lot.

  The creepy electronic voice counted down: ten … nine … eight …

  The white walking guy was blinking.

  “Charge!” I shouted, pushing my bike across the street.

  Mila pedaled next to me, refusing to get off the trike. Her pink butterfly net drooped in Nuts’s paws. Ashwin pushed his bike next to me. “Can’t believe you’re making us do this, man.”

  We made it to other side right when the raccoons disappeared into the dark of the school grounds. I mounted Steed. Ashwin hopped on his rusty bike with a squawk, and we all pedaled after those raccoons.

  Being at school in the middle of the night makes your heart beat faster than riding your bike uphill. The sound of our spinning wheels echoed off the long outdoor hallways. Whup-whup-click-click-click. Then, out on the blacktop of the basketball courts, that weird echo disappeared.

  The raccoons scrambled down the path to the playground while we were still at the edge of the field. We whizzed past the metal lunch tables, cut across the lumpy grass, and bumped onto the asphalt path behind the raccoons. They were within striking distance of the play structure, maybe thirty feet away. We only had a few seconds to close the gap.

  “We’ll have to go straight through them,” I shouted. We pedaled up with our armor rustling in the wind. I took the left. Ashwin took the right. We both skidded to a stop in front of the raccoons, blocking the path. They tumbled into a heap and turned around.

  And there was Mila.

  She pedaled right into the middle of them, and Nuts flung Mila’s butterfly net like a spear. Then he and Buggies hopped out of the back bucket and did their handstand thing. Next to the raccoons, the skunks looked even littler than before, but they squared off and let their stink fly. The big raccoon out front got hit with both streams of gooey spray.

  The whole enemy army scattered like bowling pins. Me and Ashwin threw our bikes down on the trampled grass at the edge of the field and ran for it. The skunks were right behind us. Ashwin scaled the wooden ladder closest to the field, and then so did I.

  Some kids had made a pile of pinecones at the top of the big metal slide under the west tower. Me and Ashwin each picked up two of those spiky seed fortresses and checked the field of battle. The pinecones were heavy and pricked at my skin. They smelled like sap and dust. The two of us chucked them at the raccoons. After a few shots, most of the enemy army ran to hide behind the trunks of the big trees. I got at least three raccoons, but I don’t think Ashwin got any. Every time my hits connected, I heard the raccoons skrarg-skarg-skrarging in the dark. A few raccoons were already retreating across the blacktop and back toward the school buildings.

  The skunks skittered up the metal slide and did a little victory dance next to us. Ashwin started dancing too—he made me laugh—but I didn’t dance.

  Not yet.

  Mila was still down on the path, scattering the rest of the raccoons. The big one was rubbing at its eyes, hunched in the same spot on the path where it got sprayed. It snarled, grunted, and rubbed its fuzzy face again.

  The raccoon opened its eyes one at a time.

  I could see them glinting in the night.

  So I knew it could see.

  That big raccoon lumbered right over to my sh
iny new bike, Steed. The raccoon sniffed and nibbled at the seat. It even tried to lift the bike a little, fiddling with the kickstand, but I didn’t think it was strong enough to get Steed up alone, and the other raccoons were running off into the night.

  Mila came speeding up toward Steed. “Back off, you trash-eater,” she shouted.

  The lead raccoon’s fur stuck up in pokey cowlicks.

  It had to smell really bad.

  The smell of a skunk can deter a dangerous predator. I read that in the library book from school.

  But could that smell stop Mila Augustina Martinez?

  Nope.

  She rushed toward the big stinky raccoon, and it backed away from my bike. The raccoon stood up on its back paws.

  Every time Mila creaked past, the raccoon backed off, and every time she rolled away, the raccoon came slinking over to my bike again. It kept lifting Steed a little higher, and then, sprong, it got my kickstand down. The bike was balanced on two wheels, ready to be mounted. As he—or I guess it could’ve been a she—clicked its mouth, the other raccoons came sneaking back out from behind the tree trunks. They darted across the school field, toward Mila and Steed. Me and Ashwin chucked more pinecones, but we were running out. Also, Ashwin doesn’t have the best aim.

  The big raccoon clambered up Steed and actually put its chubby butt on the seat. Mila kept charging on the trike, but the big raccoon wasn’t backing off anymore. It was trying to reach for my handlebars, still clicking at its buddies while they circled up behind Mila.

  Mila couldn’t see the others rushing in behind her, and she couldn’t know we were almost out of ammo.

  “Come on, Polka Dots, get your butt up here,” I shouted.

  Mila’s face looked woke-up-from-a-nightmare scared when she saw all those raccoons coming for her. But she gripped the handles of her trike and started zooming at the whole circle of them.

  “No way, Mateo. They’re gonna get your new bike!” Mila yelled.

  Nuts and Buggies shrugged.

  “Too bad, Caballero. It’s a fierce piece of machinery,” Nuts said.