by Will Taylor
“And?”
“And the lock was decorated with a sun surrounded by oak leaves.”
Abby held out the key. I looked at it. I shook my head. “No. No way. That is too much of a coincidence. It’s probably just similar.”
Abby’s eyes were as wide as moose nostrils. “I spent a lot of time trying to pick that lock, Mags. This key . . . it’s identical.”
My heart began to race as bits and pieces from the last few wild days whirled through my mind, stories and phrases reshaping themselves into brand-new patterns and puzzles. The storm on Orcas Island. The shipwreck tree house. The unknown ambassador. The sun-carved lock.
“So . . . ,” I said, my stomach doing a series of giddy backflips. “So, what do we think might happen if you and I go to Camp Cantaloupe, open that lock, and climb through the trapdoor of the tree house?”
Abby handed me the key and looped her arm through mine. “Only one way to find out, isn’t there?” she said, and she marched me down the hall and knocked on my mom’s bedroom door.
My mom appeared, carrying an armful of tangled sheets and towels. Abby grabbed my hand.
“Hey, Ms. Hetzger,” she said. “Sorry to bother you, but here’s the thing: since the forts are gone and nothing mysterious or magical is going on anymore, I just want to make absolutely, seriously, definitely sure that Maggie will be coming with me to Camp Cantaloupe next summer. No matter what.”
My mom narrowed her eyes, giving the two of us a long, long look. Finally, she smiled.
“Right,” she said, tossing the laundry pile to one side. “I’d better get a start on that paperwork, then.”
Acknowledgments
A first book has a whole lifetime of thanks behind it, so maybe get yourself some delicious lasagna or a cinnamon roll or something before you settle in here, dear reader.
First, enormous thanks to my mom, Cynthia St. Clair, for always keeping a dictionary by the dinner table and handing The Dark is Rising to this boy named Will when he turned eleven. To my dad, Ian Taylor, for introducing me to Ursula K. Le Guin and reading The Lord of the Rings to me by candlelight when I was small. And to my sister, Megan Taylor, for letting me borrow her Debbie Gibson tapes and Sweet Valley High books, cheering me on at every turn, and constantly inspiring me to be better than I am today.
All the brightest thanks to my wonderful agent, Emily Keyes, for taking a chance on an overeager hopeful and believing in this book when it wasn’t there yet, and to everyone at Fuse Literary for giving me a home. Thank you to my entire team at HarperCollins: Jen Klonsky, Megan Barlog, Laura Kaplan, Renée Cafiero, Jessie Gang, and especially the brilliant Monique Dong for the swoon-worthy cover. And a thousand thank-you hugs to Elizabeth Lynch, the editor of my absolute dreams, who believed in Maggie and Abby right from the start and didn’t laugh too hard when I couldn’t figure out how to work the doors at the HarperCollins offices.
Deciding you want to be an author and starting to feel like one can be two very different things, and early kindness from Kevin O’Brien, Sarah Davies, Brent Taylor, and Jessica Sinsheimer helped me make that leap. Thank you all forever. And David Levithan, thank you for your unequaled support and encouragement, and for singing the high part of that George Michael–Elton John duet while we drove to Books of Wonder on a Sunday in the rain.
Enormous thanks to my Fran’s Chocolates family for putting up with me while I went from planning to pitching to print, especially Anibel America, Sophie Froyland, Beyana Magoon, Maddy Bassett, and Marie Umetsu, who all had to listen to me babble about forts and links and synonyms for “pillow” for actual years.
Thanks and cheers to my old Seattle writing crew: Danielle Dreger, Megan Chodora, and Alex Kahler. Those chairs were so uncomfortable. I feel like we deserve nachos.
Extra-special thanks to Bethany C. Morrow and Marie Umetsu.
Massive thanks to my writing teachers over the years: Greta Gaard, Mary Cornish, Leanne Banton, Andy Barker, and above all Karen Mikolasy, the teacher who changed my life, pushed me more than I wanted to be pushed, and insisted that if I thought I was good at something, it just meant I had to work harder. I resented it then, but I can’t stop thanking you for it now.
Special thanks to Rachel Marshall for not running away in terror when I turned up at your store with a book I’d written for you. Your self-control and ability to keep a straight face while you looked over my weirdly formatted, spiral-bound, middle grade pirate-adventure tribute to your ginger beer business was truly extraordinary.
Heartfelt thanks to Kate Bush. In general. Most of this book was written with you singing in the background, and if I pull off anything in this life, it’s because you showed me it was possible to be impossibly romantic and ferociously independent at the exact same time.
A lifetime of thanks to my dear ones: Lindsey Newman and Amber Casali. You two have carried me through so, so much. The three of us have been linked since forever, no matter how far away our pillow forts get, and you are and always will be my family.
And finally, a truly neverending thank-you to Alex Kahler. This book absolutely would not exist without your support, kindness, and patience. You will always be the deep-magic winter raven to my sparkle-maned unicorn, and I can’t wait to see what epic adventures we get up to next. By our powers combined, buddy.
About the Author
Photo by Cynthia St. Clair
WILL TAYLOR is a reader, writer, honeybee fan, and former trapeze flailer. He lives in a pillow fort in downtown Seattle surrounded by all the seagulls and nearly all the books. When not writing, he can be found hawking caramels for a local chocolate company or completely losing his cool when he meets longhaired dachshunds. You can visit him online at www.willtaylorbooks.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Copyright
MAGGIE & ABBY’S NEVERENDING PILLOW FORT. Copyright © 2018 by Will Taylor. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art by Monique Dong
Cover design by Jessie Gang
* * *
Digital Edition APRIL 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-264433-6
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-264431-2
* * *
18 19 20 21 22 CG/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
ylor, Maggie & Abby's Neverending Pillow Fort