by Annie Bryant
This might work out, after all.
Part Two
Best Friends
CHAPTER 15
CHARLOTTE
Night Safari
I woke when the ship’s clock on the mantle struck two. Our roaring fire was glowing embers now. The moon, nearly full, shone through the window. While the others slept, I lay on my back staring at shadows dancing on the wall. Out the window, above the trees, I could see the stars. And inside, in sleeping bags scattered around the room, were Katani, Avery, and Maeve…just maybe…my new friends.
A faint scritch scratch noise had been going on for awhile without my really noticing. Maybe because Avery was snoring like a three-hundred-pound gorilla. Then I realized that the scritching wasn’t stopping. I tried as best I could to aim my flashlight before I turned it on. When I did, the light shone on a bag of candy next to sleeping Maeve. Nothing odd about that. Then the bag wiggled. Two beady eyes peered out of the bag, red in the flashlight beam. I couldn’t believe it—a mouse!
I flipped off the light. A moment of terror. Would the girls think the house was infested with rodents? Maeve moved in her sleep. She rolled onto her back. I prayed she wouldn’t wake up.
The mouse left the bag, crept across the floor, and onto Maeve’s hair. I knew I had to wake her.
“Maeve,” I called in the calmest whisper I could manage.
“Hmm,” she answered groggily.
Then I uttered the two most useless words in the English language: “Don’t panic.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” She sat bolt upright. The mouse fell in her lap. “Aaaaaaaah!” Maeve let out a bloodcurdling shriek. “A mouse! Help!” Terrified, the mouse was already scampering to the next sleeping bag.
“What is wrong with you?” groused Katani, waking from a deep sleep as the mouse scampered onto her bare arm.
“Eeew!!” she shrieked, flinging it in the hallway.
Avery was wide awake and ready for adventure.
“Yo!” she yelled, grabbing Dad’s butterfly net and chasing the mouse across the floor and into the hall. “Come on, girls! It’s time for a big game hunt!”
Maeve and I were up and ready for the chase. Maeve reached for one of Dad’s safari hats.
“I feel like Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen.” Maeve gestured dramatically. What was that girl talking about?
“Whatever,” said Katani, rolling over and covering her ears with her hands.
I picked up my digital camera from the coffee table. Maeve grabbed it and took a picture of herself. “I really hate mice but this could make a thrilling adventure story.”
“Come on!” called Avery from the hall, but Katani wouldn’t budge.
“No way am I running after some filthy rodent in the middle of the night! What’s the matter with you people?” She laughed at us hovering over her in our ridiculous gear.
“I know how to get her up,” said Maeve. She turned a light on and pointed the camera at Katani. “Meet the star of our adventure, twelve-year-old Katani Summers—student by day and world-famous rodent hunter by night.”
Katani covered her face and her hair. “Don’t you dare take my picture, Maeve,” she said, trying to grab the camera. “If anyone saw me like this I’d have to move. I’m up. I’m up already. See me get up.”
“Vanity. The world’s most powerful weapon,” Maeve said, whispering in my ear.
We crept down the dark-paneled hall as Maeve imitated a laugh from a horror movie and said, “For four unsuspecting girls, a night that began as a simple sleepover was about to turn ugly.”
“Shhh!” said Katani. “You’ll wake up Charlotte’s father.”
“Don’t worry about him,” I said. “I’ve seen him sleep through an elephant stampede.”
“Shhhhh!” whispered Avery. “How can we track big game with you people talking?” She led the way with a flashlight and net.
“Avery, you’re insane,” said Katani from the rear. “Who wants a mouse, anyway?”
“I collect small animals,” she whispered. “I have a frog, three toads, and some other stuff.”
“Glad we didn’t sleep over at your house,” said Katani.
“I’d rather have a dog, or anything with fur, but Mom’s allergic,” explained Avery. “Adding a mouse to my collection would be great. I’ll just have to keep him away from Walter. He loves to strangle mice and then swallow them headfirst.”
“Who’s Walter?” I asked, horrified.
“My snake,” said Avery.
“Eeeew!” squawked Maeve and Katani. “That’s disgusting!”
“Shhh!” said Avery again. We tiptoed across the Oriental carpet and down the hall.
“Hold this,” whispered Avery, handing me the net. “The mouse is heading for the vent!”
She dashed ahead with the flashlight; we caught her kneeling and pointing her light into the brass heating vent.
“Whither the dragon?” asked Maeve.
“Huh?” Avery asked. “Maeve, are you OK?”
“Where’s your creativity?” asked Maeve. “Would you rather be chasing a dragon, or a mouse?”
“Rats!” said Avery.
“Where?!” I said, jumping back. “Yikes!”
Avery burst out laughing.
“Charlotte, it’s just an expression.”
“I knew that.”
“It’s gone,” said Avery. “Down the heating duct to the basement, and maybe outside.”
She sounded really disappointed.
“There were huge rats on the docks in Paris,” I muttered, shuddering.
“Can we please go back to bed?” said Katani. “Now that the dragon has fled.”
She managed to smirk at all three of us while she said it.
“What’s that?” asked Avery as she moved the flashlight beam across the vent.
“It looks like a doorbell, Avery,” I said quickly. “Just leave it alone.”
“But Charlotte,” said Avery, “since when do people put doorbells in heating vents?”
“Go ahead! Push it!” said Maeve excitedly.
“No, wait!” I begged. What if that doorbell rang downstairs and woke up the spooky landlady? What if it was some kind of alarm? I was getting in deep here—and the girls were really getting into the house. What are they going to do when they find out it’s not mine? I better slow this train down.
Too late. Avery was already pushing the button. I felt sick. I strained my ears and thought I heard the faint sound of a bell echoing through the vent. But I couldn’t be sure. I leaned my head closer. Suddenly, the sound of gears grinding overhead blocked out the sound of anything below.
“What’s that?” asked Katani, flattening herself against the wall and throwing her hands over her head.
“Cool!” said Avery. “Wouldya look at that?”
“Yikes!” said Maeve, holding the brim of her safari hat.
The painted ceiling slid sideways, leaving the cherubs without their fluffy clouds. A velvet cord dropped from the ceiling.
“Whoa!” said Avery.
“This is like a movie!” cried Maeve, grabbing the velvet rope.
“Hold on!” I finally managed to say. “We’ve GOT to be careful. My dad didn’t say I could go in this part of the house.”
“Why not, Charlotte?” asked Katani.
“It’s your house, too, isn’t it?” asked Maeve.
“Well, yes,” I gulped, “sort of, but…”
Now I was completely trapped. I’d have to tell them everything. Either that or totally go against Dad. Tonight had been great. Finally, we were becoming friends. I could feel it. “I…”
“Charlotte?”
“What? No, Avery, please, don’t!” Too late. She was already pulling the cord.
“Maybe you shouldn’t,” said Katani in a worried voice.
“How can we not?” said Maeve, rushing to help Avery. “Think Indiana Jones! Think Raiders of the Lost Ark!”
As the girls pulled, a shaft of moonlight shone
on steep wooden stairs. It was practically a ladder and it was sliding down from the ceiling.
“Come on!” said Avery, scampering up the stairs. Maeve was right behind her.
“You just let me know what you find,” said Katani. “I’ll guard the ladder.”
“Oh no you don’t,” said Maeve. “We’re all in this together.” She came back down the ladder and tied the sash of Katani’s bathrobe around her waist like a rock climber. “Now move it!” she said, pulling a nervous Katani behind her. I knew I would be in a ton of trouble if Dad or Miss Pierce ever found out about this, but for now, there was nothing to do but follow. The truth is, I was excited too. I’d wanted to get into the Tower since the first day I’d seen it.
With each step, I rose through the opening in the floor. It seemed as if I was stepping into the sky. The windows were full of moon and stars. After all the wishing and waiting, it was hard to believe that the Tower was even better than I’d ever imagined. There was no way I could tell them this wasn’t all ours…not yet.
The four of us tiptoed around in the moonlight, speaking in hushed voices like we had entered some sacred cathedral. The view of the city lights took my breath away.
“It’s so beautiful,” Maeve gasped. “I’m at a loss for words.”
“That’s something she doesn’t say every day,” said Avery, laughing.
Through the window straight ahead, the lights of Brookline melted into the lights of Boston, where skyscrapers sparkled and a giant red triangle flashed the word “CITGO.”
“There’s Fenway Park,” said Avery. “That’s where the Red Sox play, Charlotte,” she explained.
Out the left window, the Charles River separated Boston and Cambridge. Katani pointed out Harvard University, and, farther along, MIT.
“That’s Harvard Business School,” she said, pointing to a dome in the distance. “See it just to the right of Memorial Stadium? That’s where I’m going to get my business degree. I’m going to have my very own chain of fashion and advice centers someday.”
Avery pointed out two soccer fields to the south. To the west, the Massachusetts Turnpike wound off in the distance.
“Red taillights head westward into the night,” said Maeve, arms stretched toward the highway. “Next stop: Hollywood, California, where all my dreams will come true.”
Katani spun around in a high, lime green swivel chair that looked like it came from the fifties or sixties.
“Why’s this here, do you suppose?” she asked. “Hmm…I could do some serious makeovers in this chair.”
Maeve dusted off an oval mirror on a gold stand with her sleeve, and then stood speechless, twisting and turning, admiring herself.
“Oh,” she sighed. “Oh, this is beautiful.”
“Someone tell Nick not to bother,” said Katani, while Avery and I pretended to gag. “Maeve has found her true love: Herself.”
Even Maeve laughed. “It’s the most fabulous mirror in the universe,” she sighed again. “Look. The flecks in it make you shimmer.”
“And she has the nerve to call me vain,” said Katani.
“Ouch,” I cried out, stubbing my toe on something. “Flash the light over here.”
“Hey!” said Avery. “It’s a big old desk.”
Suddenly, Avery disappeared into the shadows. She had scrambled up an almost invisible ladder attached to the wall.
“Look at me,” she shouted.
That was impossible, since she had managed to disappear through a small hole in the Tower roof.
“You guys!” came Avery’s slightly muffled voice. “You have to come up here! It’s a telescope, I think!”
That’s all I needed to hear. I ran to the ladder to follow Avery. I stuck my head through the hole at the top. There was barely room for two of us on the platform that lay just below a domed metal roof. Avery knelt beside the most beautiful brass and gold telescope I’d ever seen. It had gizmos, gears, and all kinds of gadgets attached to it. I crawled over to check out the eyepiece.
“There’s nothing to look at!” griped Avery.
We shone our lights around the room. It wasn’t that hard to find the hand crank. Everything else in the room was attached to the telescope.
“Cool!” said Avery. “Let’s try it!”
I’d worried about pushing the button in the vent, and climbing the ladder, and going into the Tower, but I HAD to find out how to use this telescope. I took a deep breath and turned the crank. Nothing. It didn’t budge.
“C’mon,” said Avery. “You can do it.”
I tried again. The wheel squeaked and slowly began to turn. Avery and I stood in awe as the ceiling above us opened slowly. Above us, with no windows in between, was a ceiling of stars and the night. The metal room glowed in moonlight. I was home.
“Yeah!!!!” Avery hollered at the top of her lungs.
“Hey!” called Katani. “It’s getting cold in here! Did you open a window?”
“More like a door to the stars,” I answered. “You have to come and see this!”
“If you think I’m climbing into some bird’s nest in the dark, you’re crazy!”
I started laughing. I, Charlotte Ramsey, had friends to share the stars with. I couldn’t wait to teach them the constellations like my dad had taught me.
Avery closed the roof and we climbed back into the Tower. Maeve had torn herself away from the mirror and found a light switch. With a “one, two, three” she turned it on.
“Maybe it just needs new bulbs,” I hoped aloud.
“We can change them in the morning,” said Avery.
The morning, I thought. What would I do about Dad and Miss Pierce? How could I manage to be here with my friends, and not let Dad or Miss Pierce know until I’d had a chance to straighten it out?
A PLACE OF OUR OWN
“Let’s make the Tower our own secret…apartment,” said Avery.
“That would be sooo cool. Let’s do it!” shouted Katani.
“Works for me,” Maeve said.
“Think of it…a space of our own. No older brothers allowed!” exclaimed Avery.
“No too-perfect-for-words older sisters,” said Katani happily.
“No violin teachers or little brothers!” shrieked Maeve.
I chimed in with “No Dad!” I felt guilty saying that, but there was no way I could say what I was really thinking, which was “No more being lonely!” And seeing my new friends so excited made it really easy to forget the Tower wasn’t mine.
“Can we decorate it?” asked Katani with a glint in her eye. I could tell she was already mentally measuring, placing furniture, and accessorizing.
“Sure,” I said. “Why not? It’s our apartment, isn’t it?
“As long as we all swear nobody will ever know about it but us. Not even my dad. We’ll have to sneak in and out.”
Okay, I thought. This could work until I sort everything out.
CHAPTER 16
KATANI
Let’s Do Lunch
Before homeroom, Maeve, Charlotte, Avery, and I met in the hall and made plans to go to the Tower that afternoon before Charlotte’s dad got home at five. I already had a whole notebook of decorating ideas to share. I had spent all Sunday afternoon cutting out magazine pictures and making lists of how to divide and decorate our secret space.
“Hello, girls,” said Ms. Rodriguez, sneaking up behind us. “How was your weekend?”
“Awesome!” said Avery.
“Great!” said Charlotte.
“Incredible!” said Maeve.
Ms. Rodriguez looked right at me.
“It was fine,” I mumbled, out of earshot of the others. I had had the best time at the sleepover, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of saying “I told you so.”
“I’m so glad,” she said.
In homeroom, Ms. Rodriguez handed back everyone’s letter assignments except mine. She came over to my desk. “Do you think you and the girls will be wanting to change your lunch table assignment today?�
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Before the weekend, I would have given my sewing machine to get away from those three. But the sleepover had changed all that. I had plans for my girls and I had plans for our new apartment. I cleared my throat. “Not just yet, Ms. Rodriguez. We were thinking it might not be fair to the other kids. We’ll let you know when it feels like the right time.”
“Thank you, Katani. I think that’s a good idea,” said Ms. Rodriguez, with a pleased expression on her face. She gave us a few minutes to read her responses to our “If I could change a school rule…” letters. Since she’d already talked about my letter at lunch on Friday, I worked on decorating ideas for the Tower. Avery seemed really happy with what Ms. R said about her changing-the-rules letter.
Avery Madden
School Rule Assignment:
Dear Ms. Rodriguez:
There are three things I would like to change about Junior High. If I’m elected Class President, I’ll work on the first two. The last one seems like a lot of work, so maybe we could discuss it in Social Studies some time.
1. We need snack time. (Just because you’re in Junior High, doesn’t mean your blood sugar doesn’t drop.)
2. We need recess after lunch. (People need a break after 5 hours of sitting and listening!)
3. Every time we take one of those standardized tests (like the Reading Placement Test yesterday), we have to check a box for what we are:
Asian ___
African American ___
Caucasian ___
Hispanic ___
Pacific Islander ___
Other ___
I was born in Korea, so I always check Asian, but my parents and brothers are Caucasian, so sometimes I feel like an Other. It’s so confusing. It makes me mad that I have to decide. Everyone is an individual. What about the kids who are a mix of two boxes? Do they check both boxes or Other? Who wants to be an Other anyway? My solution is to get rid of all those boxes. Also, even though it says “optional,” you feel like you should check a box, and then you start wondering about the boxes. And then you get distracted from the test. And, what if you make a mistake and check the wrong box? Do they come and arrest you, or what?