chapter 18

I burrowed in the foxhole. Lying down, I couldn’t see out and I hoped that meant no one could see in. “Well?” I asked Ray.

I heard his footsteps circle the fort and stop. “It’s solid,” he said. “I can’t see in at all.”

We’d worked on the fort almost every day and now we were finished. It was important that the fort blend in with the woods; we didn’t want anyone discovering it. After digging out a burrow, we’d stuck big branches upright into the corners to serve as posts. We used Dad’s tools to saw branches off trees and nail together parts of the walls. The gaps we filled with bushes and vines, weaving the brambles in good and tight and overlaying them with loose twigs and pine needles.

I climbed out of the fort so I could admire it again. From the outside, you could barely tell there was a fort there—it just looked like a patch in the woods. A covered trapdoor was the only way in. A pioneer couldn’t have done better.

“This is going to be so cool,” I said. I had plans for the fort. Ray and I would be the chiefs of a secret club with secret meetings. We’d induct frightened new members in the glow of our campfire. I inspected the fort thoughtfully. We’d need to build a chimney.

For now, we were going to play cards. Just as I lifted the trapdoor, Jack huffed and I heard a twig break. I snapped my head around and there was Prater, standing just a few feet behind us. The big, bad wolf. I faced him and dropped the trapdoor behind me.

He jerked his chin toward our fort. “What’s that supposed to be?”

“Nothing,” I said, but at the same time Ray answered as well.

“It’s our fort.”

I heaved my shoulders and blew out a big breath. “Ray!”

“What?” His face was innocent and relaxed. He really had no idea.

I moved quickly away from the fort to the blueberry bushes. I didn’t want Prater looking at it. He might think he could be a member, too. “It’s nothing. Just an idea we had. The real fort is going to be on top of the mountain. If we even build one.”

Ray looked confused. I flashed my eyebrows at him and hoped he got my message.

“What’s this, then?” Prater said. He stepped closer to the fort and pushed on the walls. Some of the pine needles tumbled down.

“Don’t do that!” I snapped.

“I thought you said it wasn’t anything,” he said, his eyes narrowing. He pushed on it again.

I stepped closer to him. “It’s not. Just leave it alone anyway.”

“Yeah, Alan,” Ray said. “Don’t crush the walls; you’ll ruin the fort.”

“Ray!” I stared at him with my mouth open. What good was a camouflaged fort if he went around telling people about it—especially Prater.

“This is a fort?” Prater smirked. “It looks like a bunch of sticks first graders put together.”

“Do you have to make fun of everything?” Ray said. “Besides, look how good it is.” And before I could stop him, he opened the trapdoor and led Prater inside. Prater lumbered in like a bear for hibernation. I untied Jack and brought him into the fort with us, too.

We had to sit on the ground once we were inside. Ray and I did, anyway. Prater crouched as if ready to spring up if needed. I noticed his earlobe—it was misshapen. From the dog attack. I started to feel bad for Prater, but then he turned and made a sour face at me. “Do you have to bring that dog everywhere? I hope he doesn’t pee in here.”

My face heated up. “I hope you don’t pee in here.”

Prater rolled his eyes and curled his lip. He looked around the fort and gaped at the ceiling. “So what do you even do in here?”

Like I would really tell him. The deck of cards was in my back pocket. I shrugged my shoulders. “Lots of things.”

“It’s going to be a secret club,” Ray said.

“Ray!” He was telling Prater everything.

“Yeah, right,” Prater said. “A secret club. I saw it as soon as I came in the woods, so that’s how secret your stupid fort is.”

Ray looked irritated. “It’s not stupid.”

“If it’s so stupid, why don’t you just leave?” I said.

Prater leaned forward. “I didn’t come to see you anyway.” Then he turned to Ray. “I went to your house to see if you wanted to play basketball but your mom said you were here.” He sneered at me. “It was easy to find you and your dumb fort, if you want to call it that. Just a bunch of sticks in a hole. How boring.”

Ray started to say something, but I moved in quickly. “At least we did it ourselves. We didn’t let Mommy and Daddy make us a little playhouse so we could play in it.”

Prater frowned. “You better stop it.”

“You better stop it,” I said in a perfect imitation.

He glared at me. I stared back evenly. The worst he could do was punch me. I realized I’d rather get punched than back down from him. Finally, he shook his head and then looked at Ray. “If you want to come over later, don’t bring him.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got better things to do anyway,” I said before Ray could even answer.

Prater slammed the trapdoor open and stormed out. “Air force brat!” he called out from the edge of the woods.

“Mama’s boy!” I yelled from the trapdoor.

When I slipped back down in the fort, Ray had a strange look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head. “You and Alan.”

My expression dropped. “What do you mean?”

“You guys make me feel like I have to pick one of you.”

He was right, of course.