by Nancy N. Rue
“What’s over here?” Zeke said. Instead of pointing, he got up to stomp across the hatch cover toward the robot arm.
And then suddenly, he was down again. There was a silence, the kind that always came when Zeke fell and he was deciding whether to cry or not. He evidently thought he needed to because the wail he sent up went right through Sophie.
The minute she got to him, she saw why. The hatch cover had split right down the middle, and Zeke’s leg was wedged between the two halves. Sophie watched in horror as blood soaked into his jeans.
Eleven
Sophie thought the floor was breaking open under her too. And then she realized she was just sinking down to her knees, staring at the blood.
“Go get help!” she said. “He’s hurt bad! He’s bleeding all over the place!”
Maggie got down beside her and bent over Zeke. “Stop crying,” she said to him.
Her voice was so calm it made Sophie want to scream louder.
“You have to answer some questions,” Maggie said.
To Sophie’s utter amazement, Zeke choked back his tears to a lower level. “Can you move your leg?”
“Nuh-uh. It’s stuck.”
Zeke puckered up again.
“Okay — how about the part that’s hanging down?”
Sophie realized for the first time that his leg had gone all the way through and it was dangling from the knee down. Zeke swung it a little and then started yowling again. There was no quieting him this time.
“You go get help,” Maggie said to Sophie. “I’m gonna cover him up with a blanket and stuff.”
“I can’t! He’s on the hatch cover!”
Zeke’s shrieks went way up into the atmosphere, and Maggie looked hard at Sophie and then at Zeke. Sophie bit her lip.
“It’s okay, Z-Man,” Sophie said to him. “I’ll get help some other way.”
She went to the railing and shouted for Kateesha, for Boppa, for anybody. It wasn’t hard, since she wanted to scream anyway.
But her shivery shouts seemed to disappear with the puffs of frosty breath that blew from her mouth. Then Fiona burst out onto the deck, dragging Boppa behind her. Boppa ducked back into the house and came out with a cell phone in his hand. Fiona was already standing at the bottom of the ladder by then, staring up at Zeke’s dangling leg. Sophie had never seen her best friend look so white and wide-eyed.
“He’s bleeding!” Sophie called to her.
“Boppa’s coming!”
Their two voices tangled up into one high-pitched knot. Maggie’s voice was the only calm one.
“He’s not going anywhere,” she said.
Sophie looked over to see that Maggie had Zeke bundled up and lying down with his other leg up. Zeke was still crying, but he wasn’t making a lot of noise. He was watching Maggie’s face as she talked to him, and he was nodding. Sophie figured Maggie was telling him he would be fine — or else.
Boppa’s bushy eyebrows looked jet black against his skin as he took in the board situation. He was pretty white-faced himself.
“Okay,” he called up to Maggie and Sophie. “I’m going to get up there and pry the parts of the board apart. You two are going to take Zeke by the armpits and pull him back, very slowly.”
“Very slowly,” Sophie said. She could hardly hear her own voice.
“Just get him so his leg is clear of the hole and don’t move him any other way.”
Maggie looked at Sophie. “That’s in case it’s broken,” she whispered.
“Okay, ready?” Boppa said.
Sophie half crawled over to Zeke and got behind him on one side. Maggie took the other, and Sophie could see her holding her breath.
“One, two, three,” Boppa called. “Now!”
Sophie could hear the boards splitting apart, and she and Maggie gave Zeke one gentle tug. Sophie covered her eyes and waited.
“His leg’s still in one piece,” Maggie said. “All in one piece is good.”
Boppa was there like Spider-Man himself, with Fiona crawling in after him. He knitted his eyebrows over Zeke’s leg and nodded. Sophie decided Boppa nodding was good too.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said. “I’m calling Fiona’s mother.”
Sophie and Fiona clung to each other like baby monkeys while they waited for Fiona’s doctor mom to get there. Sophie watched as Maggie helped Boppa get Zeke in a position where he fell into a soft whimper instead of the screams that were shaking the pinecones out of the trees.
I don’t know what number reason I’m on, Sophie thought. I just know I like Maggie enough for anything.
When Dr. Bunting got there, she said Zeke needed to go to the emergency room. Boppa got on the phone and called Mama and Daddy to tell them to meet them at the hospital.
That was when it hit Sophie like a blast of frozen air. Mama had told her never to take Zeke up in the tree house. She was going to be so upset — so disappointed, so mad — that this could be it. The final thing. Just when she’d started to be Mama again.
Even Captain Stella Stratos can’t fix this one, Sophie thought. Because it’s all my fault.
By the time Sophie, Boppa, and Dr. Bunting got Zeke to the hospital, Mama and Daddy were already there. Sophie felt like she could almost see through Mama’s pale face.
Things went by in a blur. From what Sophie could tell, Zeke was being put in a room with curtains, Dr. Bunting was telling Mama he would barely feel a thing, and Daddy was leading Sophie down the hall for interrogation.
He squatted down in front of her so that their heads were the same level. She was afraid to look into his eyes, so she fixed hers on the third button down on his shirt.
“What happened, Soph?” he said.
“I don’t know,” she said to the button. “I told you I’d watch him, and I was. I was protecting him from Rory and Izzy — and I’m not dreaming, he really was in trouble — ”
“Soph,” Daddy said. “Take it easy. I’m running out of breath.”
She looked at his face. His eyes were shiny, not angry.
“Just tell me what happened. One word at a time, okay?”
But Sophie couldn’t seem to slow herself down. “Mama told me not to let him go up there, but I had to — Kateesha told me to and I couldn’t just let him stand down there and be all frozen — but Mama’s going to be so upset with me she’ll really leave us now!”
Sophie sucked in some breath, and her eyes went back to Daddy’s button. “Are they going to have to amputate?”
Suddenly Daddy’s big arms were around her, pressing her glasses right next to the button. “No, Soph,” he said. “He’ll get a couple of stitches and a Tootsie Roll Pop and he’ll be driving us all nuts again within the hour.”
Sophie started to cry, big old sobs that soaked Daddy’s shirt. He just let her bawl until the tears dried up. Then he held her out in front of him with both arms.
“Now listen to me,” he said. “Mama isn’t going anywhere.
I don’t know where you got that idea, but she’s our mama and she’s staying right here.”
All Sophie could do was stare. It was all too much to store in her brain right now.
“We’ll talk about that some more later,” Daddy said. “But right now, I want you to try to focus with me, okay?”
Sophie nodded.
Daddy got his face very close to hers. “Do you have any idea who cut that board?”
“Cut it?” Sophie said. She could feel her eyes bulging. “You mean, like, on purpose?”
“Boppa says he’s sure someone cut it with a saw so when somebody put weight on it, it would break.”
Sophie went cold. Daddy watched her face.
“One thing I can count on from you, Soph,” he said in a soft voice, “is that you’re always honest.”
Sophie riveted her eyes to the button again, but Daddy tilted her chin up. She had to look at him.
“I don’t know who it was,” she said. “Fiona will say she does, but I don’t think so because I ha
ve five — no — six reasons why I like that person and I know she wouldn’t do it.”
“And that person is?”
“It wasn’t me,” a voice thudded from the doorway.
Sophie whirled around, slapping Daddy in the face with her braids. Maggie was there, and her mom was right behind her. Senora LaQuita looked like she wanted to smother somebody.
“Fiona already told her dad she thought I did it,” Maggie said. “Only I didn’t. The only time I’ve been up there is when I was with somebody.”
Senora LaQuita took Maggie’s shoulders and pulled her back against her. “My daughter doesn’t lie,” she said.
“Mine doesn’t either,” Daddy said, “so I guess that puts Maggie in the clear.”
But Maggie pointed a finger at Sophie, and for once her voice wasn’t heavy and strong. It sounded like it was going to break.
“You do too lie,” she said. “You told Fiona you thought I did it, but you told your father you didn’t, so you’re lying to somebody.”
Sophie could feel her mouth dropping open. “I didn’t — ”
“I don’t lie!”
“Neither do I!”
“Okay, whoa,” Daddy said, hands up. “That’s something you two are going to have to figure out on your own.” He glanced up at Senora LaQuita. “Unless you want to take it on.”
The senora gave him an are-you-kidding look.
“Nobody here thinks you cut the board, Maggie,” he said, “so the important thing is to find out who did.” He looked back and forth from Sophie to Maggie. “Any other ideas?”
But Sophie’s mind couldn’t even turn in that direction. She was still watching Maggie, who was staring hard at the floor. There wasn’t a chocolate laugh within miles.
Maggie, I didn’t tell Fiona that! Sophie wanted to cry out.
And then another thought seized her. Why would Fiona say she had?
With the deepest pang in her chest yet, Sophie knew Maggie was telling the truth. It was her beloved Fiona who was lying.
“Why don’t we all just think about it?” Daddy said. “We’ll sort this out after we get the Z-Boy home.” He put his big hand on Sophie’s shoulder and looked at Maggie. “You two okay? No bumps and bruises?”
Sophie shook her head. Maggie still wouldn’t look up.
“I want to thank you, Miss Maggie,” Daddy said. “I understand you really kept your cool up there in the tree house. Good job.”
Maggie finally lifted her head a little then. But she didn’t smile. She didn’t look at Sophie. She just thudded out, “You’re welcome.”
Sophie felt a thud of her own. It was her heart dropping.
Zeke got his stitches and his sucker and fell asleep in the truck on the way home. Sophie sat in the backseat with him, her mind reeling. Actually, it was Dr. Stella’s mind that was reeling.
The Freedom 4 has been sabotaged right under our noses, she thought. And now the crew is divided. How is this to be solved? How am I going to talk to Astronaut Jupiter in a scientific way —
Sophie came back to herself with a supersonic jolt. Once again, Dr. Stella couldn’t make it okay with her way of looking at things. There was nothing scientific about this at all. This was about a best friend. A best friend who lied.
This time Sophie closed her eyes and pictured Jesus — whose eyes were sad.
What do I do? she said to him in her mind.
He didn’t answer. He never did in words. She tried to remember what Dr. Peter said. Ask the questions, go to the Bible, and then wait for the answers. But what could the loaves and fishes possibly have to do with this?
When Sophie got home and was passing through the kitchen, Lacie pulled her head out of the refrigerator and told her that Fiona had called and wanted Sophie to call back. Sophie squeezed her eyes shut.
Just this once, couldn’t you give me the answer right NOW? she said to Jesus.
“What’s the matter? Do you have a stomachache?” Lacie said.
“Sort of,” Sophie said.
To her surprise, Lacie was nodding. “This has been a rough day. I’d be surprised if you didn’t puke. I feel like I’m going to.”
And then she turned to the door where Daddy was carrying in the still-conked-out Zeke. Sophie watched her, chin dropped, for a few seconds.
Did that just happen? she thought. Was Lacie just actually nice to me?
But there was no time to think about that much, because the doorbell rang. When Sophie opened the door, Fiona and Boppa were standing there. Sophie’s heart took another thud.
“We brought your camera back,” Boppa said. His caterpillar eyebrows were sunken over his eyes.
“Why?” Sophie said. “Aren’t we still going to use it?”
Fiona let out a loud breath through her nose. The nostrils were at an all-time flare.
“Hey, Soph,” Daddy said behind her. “You going to make everybody stand out in the cold?”
He ushered Boppa in and did the usual guy handshake thing. Sophie could only look at Fiona as they stood there by the door. She was fuming like Sophie had never seen her do before. Before Sophie could go back to Jesus one more time and beg for some words, Fiona grabbed her arm and dragged her to a spot by one of Mama’s tall plants.
“You are not going to believe this,” she said. “It’s so heinous I can’t even tell you.”
“I need to tell YOU — ” Sophie started to say.
But Fiona forged ahead. “They’re having the tree house taken down.”
Sophie could feel her face freeze. “The Freedom 4?” she said.
“Yes! My parents said it was too dangerous and even though Zeke didn’t get hurt that bad they don’t want anybody else getting injured so they’re having somebody take the whole thing down Monday.”
The nose breaths were coming hard and fast now.
“But what about the space station?” Sophie said.
“They’re saving that. They said we could set it up in the garage.”
“But the film isn’t finished — ”
“I know! I told them this was so unjust and that Maggie is the one who should be punished, not us. But they — ”
Sophie stopped listening to her. Words were orbiting in her mind, but they weren’t confusing anymore. She shook her head.
“What?” Fiona said.
“Maggie didn’t do it, Fiona.”
There was a short silence, and then Fiona said, “Of course she did.”
“She said she didn’t, and I believe her.”
With an impatient hand, Fiona brushed back the leaves that were tickling the side of her face. “You believe her? Just because she said so.” The eyes rolled. “Sometimes you’re just too trusting, Soph.”
“You told Maggie that I didn’t believe her.”
“I thought you didn’t.”
“I told you I didn’t think she broke the robot arm.”
Fiona craned her neck forward. “But I thought after you said we were still best friends, you would think what I thought. We’ve always thought the same thing.”
Slowly Sophie shook her head. Fiona took a step back.
“Then I guess we’re not best friends after all,” Fiona said.
“WHAT?”
“As soon as we’re done with the space station,” she said, “I think we should just not be best friends.”
Twelve
Sophie couldn’t breathe. She could barely get out her next words.
“Not be best friends?” she said.
“Uh-oh.”
It was a soft voice, just on the other side of the tree. Sophie peeked through the leaves at Mama.
“Trouble, my loves?” she said.
“No,” Fiona said.
“Yes,” Sophie said. She looked at Fiona through a blur of tears. “You just said we weren’t going to be best friends anymore.”
“Wow,” Mama said. “This sounds like something that needs to be discussed over some of that gingerbread I made this morning. Come on, follow me.”
For a minute, Sophie forgot that Fiona was about to end the best friendship in the entire galaxy. Mama was talking. Mama was baking things. Was Daddy right? Was she really there to stay?
Still, Sophie felt a stab as Fiona sat herself on one of the snack-bar stools and looked the other way. It didn’t look like her best friend was there to stay.
“Lemon sauce?” Mama said, ladle poised over a bowl.
Fiona shook her head. Sophie didn’t even answer. Mama put the spoon down and folded her arms on the countertop facing them.
“The best thing to do is to talk this out,” she said. “Obviously there’s been a misunderstanding, and believe me, the only way out is to go through.”
There was something sort of I-know-about-these-things in Mama’s voice that made Sophie listen to her very carefully.
Fiona still didn’t turn her head, but she nodded a little.
“All right,” Mama said. “Could you use a moderator?”
“What’s that?” Sophie asked.
“It’s somebody who talks for people when they aren’t speaking to each other,” Fiona said.
“You can be that,” Sophie said.
Mama smiled her elfin smile. “Okay. Now, I understand that you, Fiona, think Maggie cut the board that Zeke fell through. And you, Sophie, don’t think she did it.”
“And Fiona told Maggie that I did think so,” Sophie said.
“And she believes her instead of me so I can’t be her best friend anymore.”
“Do best friends have to agree on everything?”
Fiona looked at Mama as if she’d just arrived from another planet’s space station. “Yes. How else can they be best friends?”
Mama cocked her head, curls brushing against the side of her face. Sophie was getting a full feeling in her throat. THIS was her mama.
“Do your mom and dad agree on everything?” she said to Fiona.
“Uh, how ’bout no?” Fiona said. “They had an argument this morning about where the new hot tub is going to go.”
“Okay — does that mean they aren’t best friends?”
Fiona gave her another you’re-from-outer-space look. “Are parents supposed to be each other’s best friends?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Mama said. “And one of the things that makes them best friends is that they know how to disagree.