Promise (16 page)

C.A.R.E. started that afternoon, and after lunch all the sixth graders gathered around the library checkout counter.

“There's not much to do, just those books to stack,” Ms. Ales stated, pointing toward a half-empty book cart behind the counter. “So if a couple of you volunteer to put them away, I guess the rest of you can spend your time quietly talking, reading, or looking for a book to check out.”

A couple of girls raised their hands to volunteer. Kaden did, too.

Luke made a point to push up next to Kaden.

“Only girls volunteer,” Luke said, “and cowards. You're afraid of your own grandma, aren't you?” Luke gave Kaden a
sharp jab in the ribs with his elbow, then headed toward the back of the room.

Not afraid
, Kaden thought, rubbing his ribs.
Just smart
. He knew Gram would ask what they did in C.A.R.E. She wouldn't be too pleased if he said they just talked. He wouldn't be lying if he said
he
stacked books. He would just fail to mention only two other kids stacked them, too. As Kaden headed toward the book cart, Ms. Ales spoke up again.

“On second thought,” she said, “I think everyone should participate in C.A.R.E. So, each of you take two or three books and put them in the proper places. Remember fiction is in alphabetical order by last name and nonfiction is filed by the Dewey decimal system. Then you can do as you please.”

Everyone but Luke took some books. As they were placing the books on the shelves, Coach Dosser and the seventh graders came in carrying rakes and black plastic trash bags. They walked through the library and exited into the courtyard for School Beautification Duty.

“I wonder what will be left for us to do out there next week,” Kaden said to Yo-Yo as he put his last book on the shelf. “The courtyard isn't that big.”

“I don't know,” Yo-Yo said, “but come on. I've been waiting for a chance to give you this all day.” Yo-Yo headed toward a table. He pulled a plastic bag out of his backpack
and dumped out the contents.

“What's all this stuff for?” Kaden asked, sitting down beside Yo-Yo and picking up a rock with a line all the way around it. There was an old portable CD player with a set of earbuds plugged into it, a dozen or so CDs in their plastic cases, a package of AAA batteries, a thin board about twelve inches long and three inches wide, a throwaway camera, a cell phone, a ziplock bag filled with sunflower seeds, a tiny blue LED flashlight, and a round plastic container of baby wipes.

“That's a friendship rock and the rest is a survival kit,” Yo-Yo said. Then he whispered, “For the tower.”

“Baby wipes?”

“They're antibacterial in case of random crow poop. Or,” Yo-Yo said, raising his T-shirt to show a rash across his stomach caked with dried-up pink lotion, “to fend off attacks of poison ivy.”

Kaden grinned. “What about all the other stuff?”

“First,” Yo-Yo said, “the tower needs a name.” He picked up the thin board and turned it over. Dark black letters spelling U
DANAX
were burned into the other side. Before Yo-Yo could explain, Luke sauntered up with Elana tagging close beside. Kaden heard Elana whisper, “Come on, Luke, just leave them alone,” but Luke ignored her. Standing behind them, Luke
reached between Kaden and Yo-Yo and picked up the CD player.

“Rob an antique store lately?” Luke laughed, letting the earbuds dangle from their cords in front of Kaden's face.

Kaden slumped in his seat, staring down at the table, his fist tightening onto the rock in his hand. His face turned beet red but he was silent. Still holding the CD player, Luke grabbed the small flashlight.

“Looks like part of a burglar's equipment to me,” he said. “Is this so you can see what you're stealing?” Luke turned the light on and leaned over to shine it in Kaden's face. Again Kaden said nothing. He just turned his head away so the light wasn't in his eyes.

Luke pocketed the flashlight and reached for the baby wipes. But before he could say another word, Yo-Yo forcefully pushed his chair backward, hitting Luke hard in the shin.

“Hey, watch what you're doing, punk,” Luke said, but Yo-Yo was quick. As Luke leaned forward to rub his shin, Yo-Yo jumped up and grabbed the CD player from him.

“That happens to be my mom's,” he told Luke. “And before you call someone a thief, there's something in your pocket that doesn't belong to you. I'd like it back.” Yo-Yo stepped right up to Luke, his hands on his hips. He was as
face-to-face with Luke as he could get, considering Luke was a whole head taller.

“What are you going to do, teacher's brat? Go crying to your mommy?” Luke said, also putting his hands on his hips. “Besides, who's to say it isn't mine?”

“Elana is,” Yo-Yo said. Luke looked at Elana.

“I gave it to Yo-Yo yesterday,” she said quietly. “His mom brought him in after school for a Jumbo Lightning Moo-Cream.”

“That's right,” Yo-Yo said. “Prepayment for trying on band uniforms for the school board.”

“Big deal. I have one of those flashlights, too,” Luke said. “In fact, just about every kid in town does. You should know that, Elana. No way to tell this one isn't mine.”

“All the other flashlights are purple,” Elana said. “That was the only blue one.”

“It's unique, like me,” Yo-Yo said, grinning.

Elana giggled. Luke ignored Yo-Yo and glared at Elana. “Why'd you give him a special flashlight?”

“It wasn't anything special. I just pulled a flashlight out of the box, and it was blue,” Elana said. “Must have gotten in there by mistake at the factory.”

“Well, your mistake is you gave it to that little punk,” Luke said, then turned to Yo-Yo. “And your mistake was ever
coming to this school. If I see you in Pillie's again, it will be an even bigger mistake.”

“From what I hear, you're banned. You'll only see me from the outside looking in,” Yo-Yo said. He put his hand out. “Now, my flashlight, please.”

“You still can't prove it's not mine,” Luke said.

“Oh, stop it, Luke. Just give it back to him,” Elana said.

“So, you want to be friends with these babies?” Luke said. “Look, they even bring their baby wipes to school.” Luke gave the container a shove. It turned over and rolled off the table.

“All I said was give it back to him,” Elana said. Yo-Yo still had his hand out.

Luke glared at Elana a while longer, then pulled the flashlight out of his pocket. He slapped it down in Yo-Yo's outstretched hand and stomped off. Irritated at Luke, Elana huffed off in the opposite direction.

“I tell you, she's not too bad if you can get her away from Luke,” Yo-Yo said, watching her leave. “We're getting her turned around, just have to be patient.”

Kaden said nothing but continued staring straight down at the table, head still bowed. Every muscle in his face was tense and taut. Yo-Yo stopped talking and began stuffing everything back into the plastic bag.

“Hey, snap out of it. You just have to learn to stick up
for yourself,” Yo-Yo finally said to Kaden. “Luke is mostly all bark and he barks the most in front of Elana. You saw what he does. If you stand up to him, he puts his tail between his legs and runs. Just like a dog. That's what you have to think, he's just like a dog.”

Yo-Yo started barking, then howling and acting like he was chasing his tail. Kaden finally had to grin.

“A big, mean dog,” Kaden said as he picked up the baby wipes and handed them to Yo-Yo.

“No, a tall, skinny, mean dog,” Yo-Yo said, grinning back.

The bell rang, ending C.A.R.E. for the day. Yo-Yo handed the plastic bag to Kaden.

“Thanks,” Kaden said.

“No big deal. I'll tell you what the rest of the stuff is for tomorrow.”

Kaden rolled the friendship rock around in his hand. “I wasn't saying thanks for the stuff,” he said. “I was saying it for, well, you know, for sticking up for me.”

“I'm not afraid of dogs,” Yo-Yo said. “You just have to act bigger, look meaner, and bark louder.”

Saturday, September 10

CHAPTER TWENTY

UNEXPECTED VISIT

It was hot for the second weekend of September. Not a breath of air, even above all the trees. Kaden and Yo-Yo dumped the stuff from the survival kit on the tower floor in front of them. Kaden hadn't brought up what he wanted to talk about and Yo-Yo hadn't pried.

“The sign,” Yo-Yo said, picking up the thin board that said U
DANAX
. “Every hideout needs a name. Have you figured it out yet?”

“Don't have a clue,” Kaden said.

“It's Xanadu spelled backward,” Yo-Yo reported.

“Still clueless,” Kaden said.

“I read about Xanadu the night I learned about zoysia
grass. When I grabbed the encyclopedia. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” Kaden said. “You jumped off the couch so fast to grab the book, Gram and I thought you were having some sort of conniption fit. So, what's Xanadu?”

“I'm surprised you don't know. Xanadu was an underground kingdom in a poem called ‘Kubla Khan.' I didn't know about Kubla the crow when I read about Xanadu that night, but I picked the name for the sign in Kubla's honor.”

As if he understood what Yo-Yo said, Kubla hopped down from his perch on the window frame and landed grasping the top edge of the board. He peered over at the dark letters as if reading them. Both boys laughed.

“I think he likes it,” Kaden said. “But why spell it backward? And what about the ‘X'? Shouldn't it be a ‘Z'?”

“Xanadu is spelled with an ‘X'; it just sounds like a ‘Z.' And this place isn't exactly underground. It's the total opposite. So if Xanadu is the name for an underground kingdom, the opposite, Udanax, should be for an aboveground kingdom.”

“Way aboveground,” Kaden agreed. “You're right, it's perfect.”

“So, here you go.” Yo-Yo reached into his backpack, pulled out a hammer and nail, and handed them to Kaden. As Kaden nailed the sign above the metal chest, Yo-Yo pulled two cans of soda out of his backpack. The cold cans were
sweating in the heat. He opened them, handed one to Kaden, and held his up in the air.

“We hereby christen this tower Udanax,” Yo-Yo said, touching his can to the sign.

“The Aboveground Kingdom of Kubla,” Kaden added. He, too, touched his can to the sign. The two boys chinked their cans together, took big swigs, and then burped as loudly as they could before sitting back down.

“Okay, what's that?” Kaden asked, pointing to a bright blue and yellow plastic tube sticking out of Yo-Yo's backpack.

“It's a periscope. You'll be able to see if your dad comes here again without him spotting you.”

Kaden took the elongated S-shaped tube and looked inside one end. There were some angled mirrors. Then, holding it so that end was above the window, he looked through the other end. Without standing up, Kaden could see the log barricade. He moved the periscope around and saw the base of the tower. Moving it again, he saw the tree limb Kubla frequently sat on, then the woods and the clear blue sky that didn't offer a single shady cloud.