I didn’t expect too many hugs when Mom and Grandma came in. And I got exactly one—from Grandma.
“What were you thinking, kiddo?” she said.
I guess she could afford to be a little nicer, since I hadn’t spent half my life disappointing her. As for Mom, I’d say that on the Rafe Khatchadorian Scale of 0 to 10, we were somewhere between 0 and “grounded for life.” I got one quick look when she came in, and she practically lasered me right out of my chair with her eyes.
Mom apologized to Sherwood a bunch of times. Then she told me to wait outside while they signed my release papers or figured out my torture-at-home plan or whatever they had to do.
But I hadn’t forgotten what I had to do either.
“Can I please go say good-bye to my friends?” I said. “Please?”
Mom looked at me, then at Major Sherwood, then at her watch.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes, Rafe. Not one second more. Then we’re leaving,” she said. Major Sherwood even gave me his stopwatch so I wouldn’t have any excuse.
Fifteen minutes wasn’t a lot. But at least I had a plan, thanks to my little sister. It turns out the kid has some game, after all. She was waiting for me behind a tree when I came outside.
“You know what to do?” I asked.
“All set,” she said. “And Rafe? Hurry.”
“I will,” I said, and kept moving. Because this was going to be super tight, and we both knew it.