demand.
“The night before Maddie was taken, when Drew and I were at the gas station looking around, there was apay phone,” Rosie says. “And I tried to call my parents. No one answered, so I didn’t think anything of it. But now …” Her voice trails off.
“Maddie wasn’t taken until the next day,” Ryan points out.
Drew puts in, “And that truck driver Gladys Cato saw us. It’s a lot more likely that they found her that way.”
“I guess,” Rosie says, completely unconvinced. “But —”
“It really doesn’t matter,” I rush to say. “What matters is that we know we can’t make any kind of contact with our parents.” I push aside the slight pang I feel. There’s too much at stake for homesickness. “At least not until Maddie is safe.”
Alonso gives one of his mischievous smiles and stands with his hands in his pockets. “But that shouldn’t be too long now. Because we figured out where she is.”
Rosie rallies. “What? Why didn’t you say that before?”
“You didn’t give us a chance,” I say. “She’s someplace called the HW Branch. I’m pretty sure I remember seeing it on the map.”
“This calls for a celebration,” Ryan announces. “Anyone care for some tofu chili in hot, medium, or mild?”
“Yeah, I’d love some of all three. And if you have crispycakes and fizzy lemon soda, I’d take those as well,” Alonso says, playing along.
“Okay, break it out.” Ryan rubs his hands together. “What food did you bring back from the library? I’m starving.”
The others all glance from him to us expectantly. Alonso and I look at each other with shock. We didn’t just not
bring
any food.
“We forgot to even look for food,” I gasp. “And it’s my fault because I spent so long —”
“No, it’s my fault because while you were on the computer, I could —”
“— even though you kept saying we should —”
“— or at least been looking around instead of —”
“That’s really too bad,” Ryan breaks in, and he’s so angry that his voice is quivering. I’ve never seen anything like the expression on his face.
“Yeah,” Louisa snarls. Her eyes are bright with fury. “I guess we’ll just have to make do with this.” She bends and whisks away a tarp I hadn’t even noticed on the ground.
Beneath it are cans of tofu chili and bottles of soda and bags of pretzels and soychips and apple snips and crackers and I even make out the bright orange top of a can of Cheezy-Wizard and something in a silver wrapper that looks like a dessert. I feel like I should rub my eyes to make sure I’m not dreaming.
“What? How?” I try to ask but my questions are drowned out by Rosie, Drew, Ryan, and Louisa laughing so hard they almost choke themselves.
“Evelyn’s face when you asked about the food —” Rosie says, sputtering. “It was —”
Ryan gasps for air. “I know. And Alonso’s eyes. They looked like they were going to pop out!” He clutches his stomach.
Louisa has tears running down her face. “And when they were each” —
hiccup
— “trying to take the” —
hiccup
— “blame —”
Rosie wipes her nose on her sleeve and stands, giggling and shaking her head. “Yeah, because hacking the computer, finding Maddie, and escaping from a full police cordon wasn’t enough. Ever the overachiever.” For some reason having her say that makes my cheeks feel warm.
Drew, who has gone to stand next to the stash of food, clears his throat. When we turn to face him, he points like a tour guide showing off a city. “The fizzy lemon soda is over there, but I’m afraid there aren’t any crispycakes because those aren’t a NutriCorp product. There are crispy
snacks
, though, and butterscotch, chocolate, and berry bars.”
“It’s beautiful,” Alonso breathes, and I have to agree with him.
Rosie takes a long deep breath and gets really serious. “Do you two have any idea how scared we were?” she asks. “When we heard them saying Evelyn’s
“The night before Maddie was taken, when Drew and I were at the gas station looking around, there was apay phone,” Rosie says. “And I tried to call my parents. No one answered, so I didn’t think anything of it. But now …” Her voice trails off.
“Maddie wasn’t taken until the next day,” Ryan points out.
Drew puts in, “And that truck driver Gladys Cato saw us. It’s a lot more likely that they found her that way.”
“I guess,” Rosie says, completely unconvinced. “But —”
“It really doesn’t matter,” I rush to say. “What matters is that we know we can’t make any kind of contact with our parents.” I push aside the slight pang I feel. There’s too much at stake for homesickness. “At least not until Maddie is safe.”
Alonso gives one of his mischievous smiles and stands with his hands in his pockets. “But that shouldn’t be too long now. Because we figured out where she is.”
Rosie rallies. “What? Why didn’t you say that before?”
“You didn’t give us a chance,” I say. “She’s someplace called the HW Branch. I’m pretty sure I remember seeing it on the map.”
“This calls for a celebration,” Ryan announces. “Anyone care for some tofu chili in hot, medium, or mild?”
“Yeah, I’d love some of all three. And if you have crispycakes and fizzy lemon soda, I’d take those as well,” Alonso says, playing along.
“Okay, break it out.” Ryan rubs his hands together. “What food did you bring back from the library? I’m starving.”
The others all glance from him to us expectantly. Alonso and I look at each other with shock. We didn’t just not
bring
any food.
“We forgot to even look for food,” I gasp. “And it’s my fault because I spent so long —”
“No, it’s my fault because while you were on the computer, I could —”
“— even though you kept saying we should —”
“— or at least been looking around instead of —”
“That’s really too bad,” Ryan breaks in, and he’s so angry that his voice is quivering. I’ve never seen anything like the expression on his face.
“Yeah,” Louisa snarls. Her eyes are bright with fury. “I guess we’ll just have to make do with this.” She bends and whisks away a tarp I hadn’t even noticed on the ground.
Beneath it are cans of tofu chili and bottles of soda and bags of pretzels and soychips and apple snips and crackers and I even make out the bright orange top of a can of Cheezy-Wizard and something in a silver wrapper that looks like a dessert. I feel like I should rub my eyes to make sure I’m not dreaming.
“What? How?” I try to ask but my questions are drowned out by Rosie, Drew, Ryan, and Louisa laughing so hard they almost choke themselves.
“Evelyn’s face when you asked about the food —” Rosie says, sputtering. “It was —”
Ryan gasps for air. “I know. And Alonso’s eyes. They looked like they were going to pop out!” He clutches his stomach.
Louisa has tears running down her face. “And when they were each” —
hiccup
— “trying to take the” —
hiccup
— “blame —”
Rosie wipes her nose on her sleeve and stands, giggling and shaking her head. “Yeah, because hacking the computer, finding Maddie, and escaping from a full police cordon wasn’t enough. Ever the overachiever.” For some reason having her say that makes my cheeks feel warm.
Drew, who has gone to stand next to the stash of food, clears his throat. When we turn to face him, he points like a tour guide showing off a city. “The fizzy lemon soda is over there, but I’m afraid there aren’t any crispycakes because those aren’t a NutriCorp product. There are crispy
snacks
, though, and butterscotch, chocolate, and berry bars.”
“It’s beautiful,” Alonso breathes, and I have to agree with him.
Rosie takes a long deep breath and gets really serious. “Do you two have any idea how scared we were?” she asks. “When we heard them saying Evelyn’s
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