Marcus had opened the left-side bench — and found Betsy, the kids’ sitter, tied up and struggling inside. There was tape over her mouth. The Mattigans helped her out and freed her. Naturally, she was very upset about having been attacked and forced to spend the night in a dark hole — though grateful it was full of pillows.
Once all was explained, she was remarkably understanding, especially after Marcus offered to pay her triple and mention her in his next show, if he ever had one. Even so, and not surprisingly, she wanted to leave as soon as possible. She’d arrived by cab, but Marcus offered to drive her home, and she accepted.
“You Mattigans really are an interesting family,” she said.
“If that’s our real name,” Max said. For reasons even he didn’t understand, he said it in the crouch.
“I’ll be back soon,” Marcus told the kids as he and Betsy headed out. He was in a much better mood now. “You guys know the getting along — ”
“Notta fist!” Max cried.
“Notta foot!” Maddie added.
“Notta finger!” Theo concluded.
“Notta problem!” Betsy put in.
“Oklahoma,” Marcus told her, as he closed the door behind them.
The Mattigan kids looked at each other. They didn’t know what to say. They were excited. Nervous, but excited.
“He wasn’t ready,” Maddie said.
Her brothers nodded.
Suddenly, the right-side bench flew open and Big-foot climbed out of it. He was out of sandwiches.
Theo rushed into the kitchen and came back with another bagful.
“How did you — ?” Max asked, amazed.
“Emergency reserves,” Theo said.
“Genius!” Maddie took the bag and showed it to the hairy giant, who grunted with pleasure again and took a step toward her. “I’ll lead him into the forest through the basement door,” she told her brothers, adding, “So nobody sees.” She edged backward towards the basement steps, then climbed down one stair. “Come on,” she urged. The Sasquatch stepped toward her. “That’s a good — Bigfoot.”
“If that’s his real name,” Max said.
“I think it’s Sasquatch, actually,” Theo said.
“Ah-ha!”
Maddie backed farther down the stairs. The Sasquatch reached the top, but hesitated. Then, looking not entirely unlike Max in search-mode, he crouched. Maddie turned and hurried down into the basement.
Bigfoot followed.