It was true that Rose had done the special handshake when they caught Henry, but deep down inside, she had been hoping that Mavis’s plan wouldn’t work.
She knew that wasn’t very nice, but it was true.
And just the thought made Grace’s silver dollar grow heavy in her pocket. Why couldn’t she be happy they had finally caught Henry? But Rose being Rose, she couldn’t stop her worried thoughts from creeping in and planting questions.
Like: How in the world could they get Henry out of the woods and up to the gatehouse without somebody seeing them? And what if that somebody was nosy Amanda? Even worse, what if that somebody was her mother?
So even while she was slapping and snapping and fist-bumping with Mavis, Rose was feeling a little sorry that the plan had worked.
But here she was, running along behind Mavis with Henry, hoping and praying that nobody saw them.
As they ran beside Amanda’s wrought-iron fence, Rose kept her eyes on the ground, not daring to look up and see Amanda standing in her yard.
Then, as they ran up the edge of the road, Rose’s heart nearly thumped clean out of her chest while she said a little prayer that her mother’s shiny black car would not appear.
But besides her thumping heart, Rose had a little niggle.
A niggle about Henry.
There was something about Henry that was bothering her.
Something that she thought she should maybe tell Mavis about.
When they reached the gatehouse, Rose said, “Um, Mavis…”
But Mavis opened the screen door and said, “Okay, cross your fingers. Here we go.”
When Mavis stepped through the door with Henry, Rose hollered, “Wait! I think—”
But Mavis and Henry had already disappeared inside.
Rose crossed her fingers and stepped inside behind them.