Happy Tails Lodge

by Dee Romito

  Jax walked around the room quietly. He didn’t want to wake the kittens.

  They each had food, water, a bed, and a litter box. There was a shelf to jump on and toys to play with.

  They were like little apartments. Some were separate, but others were connected to one another.

  A fluffy white cat woke up and walked through a hole to the next cage.

  Jax checked the sign on the front for the cat’s name. He leaned in and whispered, “You just gave me an idea, Naboo.” Jax turned toward his friends. “We could build separate pieces. But they’ll connect together.”

  “That’s brilliant,” said Kiara, keeping her voice down. She took a sketch pad out of her bag. “Right. That way, they’ll fit in a car or through a doorway,” she added.

  “And the customer can put it together however they want,” said Jax.

  Kiara sketched out a design.

  “We can give them a suggestion on how to put them together,” she said. “Or some people might like to design it on their own.”

  They all tiptoed out of the room.

  “How’d the meeting go?” asked Mrs. Crawford. “Are you about ready to go home?”

  Jax shook his head. “Would it be okay if we did some more building at the store?”

  “It’s okay with me,” said Mrs. Newton. “You’ve already attracted quite a crowd.” She pointed outside where a big group of people were looking at their pet fort.

  “We should get a sign out there!” said Eddie.

  “There’s poster board and paint in the back room,” said Mrs. Newton.

  “We’re on it!” The team raced to the back to get their supplies. Fort Builders was on to something big!

  5 All the Orders!

  Eddie’s signs brought in even more people. Everyone loved the model pet fort.

  The team even got some orders.

  Some interesting orders.

  “I’d like a fort for my iguana, please,” said one customer.

  “Can you make it a birdhouse?” asked another.

  “Can you build me one for Shelly?” asked a little boy.

  “Who’s Shelly?” asked Jax.

  “My turtle,” answered the boy. “Shelly the turtle.”

  Jax giggled. “That’s an awesome name,” he said. “And yes, we can make one for Shelly.”

  Mrs. Crawford tapped Jax on the shoulder.

  “Mom, I’m taking orders,” Jax whispered. He went back to his customer.

  His mom tapped him again. “I need to tell you something.”

  “Can I just finish this one?” he asked.

  Mrs. Crawford nodded. She joined the volunteer who had come out to help cut boxes.

  But Jax should have listened to what his mom had to say. Because they had a slight problem.

  Two problems to be exact.

  “I love it!” yelled Amber.

  “I love it too!” shouted Dove.

  Jax walked over to his dad. “What are they doing here?” he asked.

  “I have to go to work,” said Mr. Crawford. “Your mom asked me to drop off the girls. We didn’t think you’d be here this long.”

  Jax could only imagine what kind of trouble the girls would stir up.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” he told his dad.

  “Sorry, bud. Maybe find something for them to do?”

  Jax ran over to Caleb, Eddie, and Kiara.

  “We have to keep my sisters busy,” he said. “Or they’ll destroy the fort.”

  They were already trying to crawl through one of the holes!

  “I have an idea,” said Kiara. “You finish the orders. I’ll take care of your sisters.”

  Kiara walked over to the girls and handed them each a sheet of paper. She took colored pencils out of her bag.

  They sat and drew. Quietly.

  “How’d you get them to do that?” asked Jax.

  “I told them they could earn a dollar each,” she said. “If they design our best-selling piece.”

  It was a great idea. And totally worth it if it kept them out of trouble.

  An hour later, the team had eight orders! They’d given everyone a two-week time frame.

  Using Kiara’s designs, they got right to building.

  They measured each box to make sure everything would fit together.

  The more they worked, the more interest they had outside.

  “I’ve never had such a busy day,” said Mrs. Newton, poking her head out the door. “Whatever you’re doing, keep it up!”

  There were three more orders.

  Then two more.

  “We can’t keep up,” said Caleb. “We’ll spend our whole summer building forts!”

  “He’s right,” said Eddie.

  “And I’m only at Nani’s a few days a week,” said Kiara.

  Jax scanned through the orders. “Eddie, you’d better put ‘Sold Out’ on the sign.”

  “No problem,” said Eddie.

  In no time at all, the sign showed that they were closed for business.

  Mrs. Crawford came outside with the twins. “How about a break for lunch at Veggie Bergers?” she asked.

  Their neighbor Miss Berger owned the restaurant right next door. Everything on the menu was great, so it was an instant yes from the group.

  They picked a window seat so they could keep an eye on things outside.

  Soon, the table was full of food.

  They talked about all the forts they’d be making.

  They tried to figure out how to build one for a turtle.

  They added up the money they’d make.

  But the team was so busy chatting that they had stopped watching the fort.

  “Um, you guys…” Eddie pointed out the window. “The Happy Tails Lodge is gone!”

  6 What a Team!

  They rushed outside.

  “Where did it go?!” Jax threw his hands in the air.

  Everything else was still there. The boxes, the fort pieces, the sales table. Everything but the fort.

  “Maybe Mrs. Newton brought it inside,” said Caleb. “I’ll go check.”

  Caleb ran inside while the others looked for the fort. But it was a sidewalk outside a shopping center. There was nowhere for it to hide.

  “It’s not inside,” said Caleb, running out, breathless.

  “Where could it be?” asked Eddie. “Do you think somebody took it?”

  Kiara was over by the table, which had only a single dollar bill on top. “Hmm,” she said as she held it up.

  She walked over to the “Sold Out” sign, which was facing the wrong way. When she turned it around, there was a big $1 written on it in red.

  The twins immediately hid behind their mom.

  “What did you do?” asked Jax. “Amber. Dove. What did you do?” he asked again.

  “We just wanted to help you sell it,” said Amber.

  “Isn’t that a good price?” asked Dove.

  Jax couldn’t believe it. The fort they worked so hard on—the fort for his new kitten—was gone. And all they had to show for it was one dollar.

  The twins said they were sorry, but the fort was still gone.

  Jax kicked at a piece of cardboard on the ground.

  “We can build another one,” said Eddie.

  Mrs. Crawford put a hand on Jax’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry. But I have to get the girls home soon.”

  Jax kicked at some cookie crumbs next to the cardboard.

  “Why are there…?” His words trailed off as he noticed more and more cookie crumbs. It was almost like a trail had been left.

  “Where are you going?” asked Kiara.

  “Follow me,” answered Jax.

  They all followed behind him like a line of ducks. The crumbs led the way to the bookstore down the sidewalk.

  As Jax opened the door to the bookstore, the bell rang.

  “Hello. Can I help you?” asked the woman behind the counter. Her name tag said HEIDI.

  “We’re looking for a missing pe
t fort,” said Jax. “We followed a trail of cookie crumbs here.”

  “I think I might know where that came from.” Heidi walked to the back of the store. She came out a minute later with a boy who looked just like her.

  “Did you get that pet fort from these kids?” she asked him.

  The boy shook his head. “No, Mom. I bought it from the Furry Friends rescue. For one dollar!”

  Jax turned to the twins.

  “Yeah, that was a mistake,” he told the boy. “My sisters were playing with the sign.”

  “It’s actually for their new kitten,” added Caleb.

  “It is?” said Amber.

  “We didn’t know that,” said Dove.

  Heidi told her son to go get the fort. “I apologize,” she said. “He must have brought it in the back when I wasn’t looking. He just got a new puppy.”

  The boy brought the fort out, as a little puppy followed. Its floppy ears swayed back and forth.

  “You kids made this?” asked Heidi. “It’s incredible.”

  “We did,” answered Kiara.

  “It’s our business. Fort Builders Inc.,” added Caleb.

  “You know, I would love a fort for the store,” said Heidi. “Maybe something that kids could read in?”

  “We could totally do that,” said Eddie.

  The store was already amazing. It had a large kids’ section, it was colorful, and the walls had huge murals of fairy-tale characters.

  The little puppy weaved in and out of the fort doorways.

  “If you want,” said Jax, “we could sell you this fort too. We made it so big it won’t fit in our car.” Jax didn’t want to sell the fort, but what choice did he have?

  “I couldn’t do that,” said Heidi. “This is your fort. I can help you get it home. It’ll fit in my van.”

  The smile on Jax’s face stretched wide. His sisters gave each other an enormous hug as they jumped up and down.

  “We’d really appreciate that,” said Mrs. Crawford.

  While the crew scouted out the bookstore for the best place for a fort, the adults put the Happy Tails Lodge in Heidi’s van.

  The team cleaned up what was left outside the pet rescue.

  “I know we were going to wait to pick out the kitten,” said Mrs. Crawford. “But those little ones in there are so adorable. And it’s an animal rescue organization, so we’d be doing a good thing.”

  Amber grabbed Dove’s hand and pulled her aside. They whispered back and forth.

  The two of them walked over to Jax.

  “We want you to pick out the kitten,” said Amber.

  “Really?” asked Jax. “But you’re so excited to choose one.”

  The girls smiled. “You made such a nice fort,” said Dove. “We think you should do it.”

  His sisters were annoying at times, but they had kind hearts.

  Jax gave them a big hug.

  The rest of the crew waited while Jax and his family went into the feline room.

  They played with a bunch of kittens. But Jax kept going back to two little ones who were snuggling together in a cat bed.

  The gray kitten had a little white spot under his neck. He rubbed his head against the cage when Jax came close. The white one had brownish-orange spots and looked right at him.

  “I can’t decide,” said Jax. “These two remind me of Amber and Dove. They’re best friends. I don’t want to separate them.”

  Jax put his finger up to the cage, and the white one put her paw out. She had an extra toe that looked like the thumb of a mitten.

  “She’s holding your hand!” said Amber.

  “She’s a polydactyl cat,” said Mrs. Newton. “It means ‘many toes.’ ”

  Just then, the gray kitten waltzed over and rubbed against Jax’s hand.

  “Mom,” he pleaded. “What do I do?”

  Mrs. Crawford asked if they could take the kittens out.

  Once they did, it was clear that those two kittens went together. Always together.

  “We’ll take them both,” said Mrs. Crawford.

  Amber and Dove leaped at Jax and wrapped their arms around him.

  “Hey, what about me?” asked Mrs. Crawford. They all went in for a big family hug. “You’ll have to help me explain this to your dad, though.” She laughed.

  The rest of the group piled into the room.

  “We’re getting two kittens!” yelled Amber.

  The girls were right about getting two pets after all.

  “What should we call them?” Jax asked the girls. “You can each name one.”

  The twins locked eyes. It was like they could talk to each other without words.

  “We’ve decided,” said Amber.

  “The white one is Kitti, with an i,” said Amber.

  “And the gray one is Mo, with an o,” said Dove.

  Jax didn’t really care what names they picked. He was just happy they all got to be a part of it. But he did love their choices.

  “Kitti and Mo it is,” said Mrs. Crawford.

  “Let’s get them home to the Happy Tails Lodge,” said Jax.

  Mrs. Crawford filled out all the paperwork and paid to cover the adoption fees. Jax picked out a few toys and some food to get them started. And without causing one bit of trouble, the girls carried the cat carrier to the car.

  Kitti and Mo would be the official pet fort testers for Fort Builders Inc.

  Jax leaned down to the carrier. “Welcome to the team, little ones,” he said.

  He gave Mo a high five and Kitti a high six.

  Word List

  feline (FEE•line): Related to cats

  immediately (ih•MEE•dee•uht•lee): Instantly

  murals (MYUR•allz): Large paintings or other artwork usually created on walls

  pet rescue (PET RES•kue): An organization that takes in stray animals and attempts to find them good homes

  polydactyl (pah•lee•DACK•tuhl): Having more fingers or toes than normal

  scanned (SKAND): Examined quickly

  solution (suh•LOO•shun): The answer to a problem

  statement (STAYT•mihnt): A stated fact or opinion rather than a question

  volunteer (VOL•un•teer): Someone who helps willingly without asking to be paid

  Questions

  1. Why did Jax feel left out? What did he do to change that?

  2. The team ran into a problem when their pet fort wouldn’t fit in a car. What plan did they come up with to solve the problem for future forts?

  3. There are several times when characters had to compromise or adjust their plans to reach an agreement. Which characters did this and why?

  STEM Activity

  How to measure a box:

  Step 1: Gather a ruler or measuring tape.

  Step 2: Position the box so the opening is on the top.

  Step 3: Measure the side that is the longest from side to side. This is the length.

  Step 4: Measure the side that is the shortest from side to side. This is the width.

  Step 5: Measure the side that runs up and down. This is the height.

  Step 6: Put the measurements in this order: length times width times height. These are the dimensions of your box!

  Bonus step: Multiply all three numbers and you’ll get what’s called the volume. Volume is the amount of space inside an object.

  More from this Series

  Lost and Found

  Our Principal Is a…

  Persephone & the Evil…

  Stars of the Show

  Geeger the Robot Goes to…

  Athena & the Island…

  About the Author

  DEE ROMITO is an author of books for young readers and a former elementary school teacher. Her middle-grade books include The BFF Bucket List, No Place Like Home, Postcards from Venice, and coauthored Best. Night. Ever. (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster). Her debut picture book, Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Little Bee Books), received a starre
d review from Booklist and a Crystal Kite Award. Fort Builders Inc. is her first chapter book series. And it’s quite possible there’s a box fort or two in her living room at this very moment. You can visit her website at DeeRomito.com.

  Aladdin Quix

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Dee-Romito

  Read more ALADDIN QUIX books!

  By Stephanie Calmenson

  Our Principal Is a Frog!

  Our Principal Is a Wolf!

  Our Principal’s in His Underwear!

  Our Principal Breaks a Spell!

  Fort Builders Inc.

  By Dee Romito

  Book 1: The Birthday Castle

  Coming soon: The Battle of the Blanket Forts

  A Miss Mallard Mystery

  By Robert Quackenbush

  Dig to Disaster

  Texas Trail to Calamity

  Express Train to Trouble

  Stairway to Doom

  Little Goddess Girls

  By Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  Book 1: Athena & the Magic Land

  Book 2: Persephone & the Giant Flowers

  Book 3: Aphrodite & the Gold Apple

  Book 4: Artemis & the Awesome Animals

  Mack Rhino, Private Eye

  Book 1: The Big Race Lace Case

  Book 2: The Candy Caper Case

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN QUIX

  Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin paperback edition August 2020

  Text © 2020 by Dee Romito

  Illustration © 2020 by Marta Kissi