Lost and Found

by Laura Dower

  She held up one of Madison’s newest sweaters, a Christmas present from Mom. It was orange angora, fuzzy all over like a tabby cat.

  “Maybe,” Madison said. She’d never even put it on.

  “It’s your favorite color, right?” Aimee said. “Go ahead and try it.”

  Madison slipped it over her head. It fit snugly, but it was so warm and cozy. “I like this one,” Madison said, moving over to look in the full-length mirror.

  Aimee picked up a pair of jeans from the floor. “And wear it with these, which won’t look weird if you fall on the ice…I mean…”

  Madison glared at Aimee. “If I fall? Thanks a lot, Aim! That’s like a whammy. Now I’m destined to fall.”

  “I—I didn’t mean to say that,” Aimee stammered. She fell backward onto Madison’s bed and started to laugh a little. “You are so paranoid, I swear.”

  Madison slipped on the jeans. “Well, I guess this looks okay,” she said to her reflection.

  “It looks fab! Now I have to go home and get dressed,” Aimee said. “It’s already ten o’clock. Everyone’s meeting in an hour.”

  “Can your brother give us a ride over to the lake?” Madison asked.

  “Yeah, someone will. I don’t know if Roger or Billy is going to Dad’s store today. And my mother has a yoga workshop or something. She left this morning.”

  “Your mom is so busy,” Madison said.

  “She said you could come for dinner tonight if you want. We’re having tofu lasagna.”

  “Um, no thanks.” Madison bit her lip. “I have plans with Mom already.”

  Madison couldn’t stomach even the idea of eating another all-natural, nut-and-grains-and-tofu meal at Aimee’s place. She loved squirrels, but she didn’t see the point in eating like one. Besides, Mom’s “scary dinners” of fast food had been fast improving, so eating at home wasn’t half bad. Since the Big D, Mom had been trying to work a little bit less and pay a little more attention to meals and housecleaning and other home stuff. And surprisingly, she and Mom were having a lot of fun together during the snow days.

  Aimee grabbed her scarf and coat. “Come over and we’ll drive to the lake in a little while.”

  “You didn’t say what you’re wearing,” Madison said.

  “My lemon-drop ski parka, what do you think?” Aimee said. “It’s been waiting to make its ice-skating debut. And my new jeans with the embroidery up the sides. Oh, Maddie, I planned my outfit like days ago. I could never ever wait until the last minute—I would just lose my mind, you know?”

  As Aimee left, Madison looked in the mirror again and smiled. She was calmer than calm now. This was going to be okay. She hung the rest of her clothes back in the closet.

  But then, as she was tidying her room, Madison noticed the sealed Ivy letter. She picked it up from her dresser and read the front and back, something she’d done at least fifty times since finding it. Then she turned on her dresser lamp and held the letter up to the light. Wasn’t there any writing she could see through the envelope? She wanted desperately to know what it said.

  “Drat,” Madison said to herself. She couldn’t see anything except for random scribbles and their names.

  Madison sat down on the bed quietly. She wanted to work out a plan to bring the letter to the lake. Ivy had a right to read the letter at the same time as Madison. That was what they had promised each other. Madison needed to find some quiet time with Ivy and pull Ivy away from her evil drones.

  Was this letter something that could change Ivy from enemy back into friend? Would it make up for all the yucky things that had been said and done over the past four years? Would they share a good laugh about surviving seventh grade—and even about both liking Hart Jones?

  Madison curled up onto a pillow and sighed. A part of her felt like crying, but she didn’t understand why. She picked up the phone and dialed Fiona’s house, but the machine picked up.

  Why did she feel like crying?

  Madison sat upright again, determined not to feel anything.

  She would give Ivy the letter and then walk away. She would let Ivy decide who should open it. That would be that.

  Madison walked back over to the full-length mirror and stared at her reflection once more. “Chill out, Maddie,” she told herself. “It’s only a dumb letter. It’s only a dumb skating party.”

  Mom happened to walk into the room at that exact moment and heard Madison talking to herself. “You really shouldn’t say that, honey bear.”

  “What?” Madison said, whirling around.

  “I don’t like hearing you talk that way about yourself or about anyone. You are not dumb,” Mom said.

  “Oh.” Madison gulped. “I didn’t know you were standing there.”

  “You are a beautiful young lady. And that sweater looks dreamy on you, if I may say so. Your mother has good taste, right?” Mom said.

  Madison nodded. “Yeah. It’s just that I get so nervous about doing things I’m not good at. And skating is one of those things. And then there’s this boy…”

  “Boy?” Mom asked. “You mean Egg?”

  “What?” Madison said. “Eeew! Yuck! No! Someone else.”

  “You mean someone who’s going to be at the lake, too?” Mom asked.

  Madison nodded. “So I have to look right. I have to act right. I have to—”

  “You have to be yourself, sweetie. This boy will like you just fine if you have a good time and be yourself.”

  “But what is being myself, Mom?” Madison sighed. “I just don’t know.”

  Mom smiled. “Oh, Maddie, I wish I could take all your nerves away. Come here.”

  Mom hugged Madison. Then she helped her comb her hair so it wouldn’t have so much static. The digital clock read 10:52. Madison had to hurry.

  “Good luck!” Mom waved good-bye from the porch. Madison waved back and sped over to Aimee’s house, trying to avoid ice slicks and slush puddles along the way. She had on her rainbow cap, green gloves, and orange parka and her new orange sweater and jeans.

  Most important, the Ivy letter was neatly jammed into the inside pocket of her coat.

  Roger, Aimee’s oldest brother, drove the girls over to the lake. He had a bad cold and kept sneezing the whole time, so Madison and Aimee huddled in the backseat as far away from the germs as they could get. They didn’t want to get sick, the way Fiona had been all week. By the time they passed through the gate marked WELCOME TO LAKE WANNALOTTA, the skating party came into view. Almost everyone else was already there. Madison could see Egg speeding around the lake, showing off his new hockey skates. Drew was following right behind him with his digital camera. Ivy and her drones were huddled by a bench. About a dozen other kids who weren’t in the seventh grade were there, too.

  “I haven’t skated yet this winter! I am so psyched,” Aimee said as she leaped out of her family’s minivan. Madison wanted to stay in the backseat and go back home with Roger, but she finally did get out, skates in hand.

  “Hey, Finnster!” someone yelled.

  Hart.

  Madison felt her cheeks blush. She wasn’t prepared to say hello, so she let Hart do most of the talking. He rushed right over, also carrying his skates in his hands.

  “Whatcha been doing during the snowstorm?” he asked, babbling on and on about the weather. Madison couldn’t understand why he was talking so fast—or why he was talking to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ivy give a dirty look in her direction.

  “We’d better put our skates on,” Madison said. She felt warm.

  “I knew you’d come,” Egg said, walking over to both of them. He was walking on the ground but wearing his skates.

  After five minutes, with Aimee’s assistance, Madison’s skates were tied up and she was ready to hit the ice. Hart was still struggling with one of his laces, which had broken.

  “See you out there,” Madison said, wobbling over to the ice. There was a splintered wooden deck built on one edge of the lake where people could enter and exit.<
br />
  Ssssssssssst!

  Chet skidded to a stop on the edge of his blades, sending up an ice spray.

  “Hey, Maddie!” Chet said. “Fiona said to say hi to you and Aimee. She’s almost better. Mom says you guys can come over Sunday if you want. Actually, I think we’re gonna have everyone over for hot chocolate.”

  “Really? Great!” Madison said.

  Chet spun around in a circle like some kind of professional skater.

  “Where did you learn to do that?” Madison asked him. “You’re from California.”

  “So? We skate there, too,” Chet said, laughing. “Are you skating or what?”

  Madison was about to make up some excuse, but then Egg skated by and pushed Chet. He took off to chase Egg around the ring. Across the ice, they caught up with Drew, Lance, Suresh, and some other kids from school.

  “Madison?” Dan Ginsburg was standing right behind her. “I figured you’d be here. Cool.”

  “Hey, Dan,” Madison said, smiling. “Everyone is here.”

  “Are Ivy and Hart going out or what?” Dan asked.

  Madison’s mouth dropped open. “Huh?”

  “Look over there. I heard he was a good skater, so why is he letting her show him how to skate? How dorky is that?” Dan laughed and skated off.

  Madison shoved her hands into her pockets. She felt the letter and pulled it out. Maybe I should just rip this up, she thought. But she put it back into her pocket again.

  She could see that Ivy was actually grabbing Hart’s hand and pulling him along the ice. She was touching him! Rose and Joan were following like good drones. Madison looked away.

  Across the ice, Aimee was doing some kind of pirouette. Madison was amazed. Aimee was excellent at ballet, skating, and so many other things. Some cute boy was already talking to her on the ice, too.

  “Maddie!” Aimee shouted, and waved. “Get out here. It’s FUN!”

  Madison tentatively stepped out on the ice. Her legs started to slide apart like she’d do a split, but she was able to steady herself quickly. She pushed off with her right foot but couldn’t quite push off with her left. This meant that when she tried to skate, all she did was go around in circles.

  Aimee came over when she saw Madison wavering on the ice. “Gotcha,” Aimee said, sweeping in and putting her arm on Madison’s arm.

  “Aimee, I can’t do this,” Madison said. Her knees and voice were shaking.

  “Yes, you can,” Aimee said. She pulled Madison along by the side and then switched over to skating in front. As Aimee skated backward, she pulled Madison along with her.

  “Cowabunga!” Egg screamed from the middle of nowhere. He skated right toward the two girls. Aimee jumped back, but before Madison knew what had hit her, she was lying flat on her back.

  “Jerk!” Aimee yelled at Egg as he zipped away, laughing hysterically. She leaned down to help Madison up off the frozen lake. “Are you okay, Maddie?”

  “Yeah,” Madison said. She could see that almost everyone was staring at her now, like they were waiting for her next round of ice acrobatics.

  “You wanna keep skating?” Aimee asked.

  They circled the ice once together. “I need to stop for a minute,” Madison said. She clung to the edge of the ice, holding on to the railing, while Aimee skated off. Next to her was a girl she’d never met before, who introduced herself as Susie Quinby.

  “Where do you go to school?” Madison asked.

  “Actually, I go to boarding school. I’m just home on break,” Susie said.

  “Really?” Madison said. “So where in Far Hills do you live?”

  “Well, do you know where Hart Jones lives? I’m his next-door neighbor. And he’s the one who invited me here. He’s wicked nice.”

  “Really?” Madison said. For a brief moment, she let go of the railing, which sent her body sliding back into the middle of the lake.

  “Madison?” Susie called out.

  But in a matter of seconds the damage was done. Madison Finn felt her body swirl around the ice before landing with a hard smack.

  She’d fallen.

  And she couldn’t get up.

  Chapter 9

  “IS THIS YOURS?” SUSIE was leaning over Madison, holding the Ivy letter.

  Madison finally lifted herself up. The ice was cold on her butt. “Yes, that’s mine!” she said, grabbing the letter and shoving it back into her pocket.

  “What happened over here?” Egg said, skating up to investigate the fall. “One minute you’re gliding over the ice, and the next minute you’re—SLAM!”

  “Very funny, Egg,” Madison moaned, struggling to her feet.

  Ivy skated over. “Ouch, that must have hurt.” She snickered. Most of the other kids around Madison giggled, too.

  “Hey, Finnster,” Hart said as he checked in, too.

  “HEY, EVERYONE!” Egg cried out from across the ice. “IT’S TIME TO PICK TEAMS!”

  “Why do we need to pick teams?” Madison asked aloud.

  Drew said, “Ice tag’s better that way!”

  Everyone skated off toward the middle of the lake to play, but Madison collapsed on a bench instead.

  “What are you doing over here?” Aimee asked, joining her on the bench.

  “I can’t play ice tag,” Madison said, making a face. “I’ll just watch.”

  “Then I’ll watch, too,” Aimee said, sitting.

  “GET OUT HERE, AIM! WE NEED YOU!” Egg yelled from the ice.

  “Let’s just start the game,” Ivy complained. “If she wants to sit out, then let her.”

  “Hey, Finnster!” Hart shouted. He was a little unsteady on his skates, but he threw his arms into the air and glided across the ice. “It’s easy! Come on!”

  Madison laughed. She shot a look at Ivy. “Okay!” she said cheerily. Aimee grabbed her hand, and together they went out to the middle of the ice.

  Ivy stood there frozen, arms crossed, with an angry glare on her face.

  Rose skated by Madison and said, “No one is going to pick you for their team if you can’t skate, Madison.”

  Madison was shocked. How could she say something so mean in front of everyone else? But no one else was listening. Not even Aimee.

  Should she go back to the bench?

  Madison glanced over at Ivy, who had wiggled herself over a little closer to Hart. She looked so pretty. Ivy wore red velvet jeans, a blue turtleneck sweater, and a denim jacket with fleece inside. She was the best-dressed skater on the lake, for sure.

  The ice tag captains were Egg and Lance. Egg chose first.

  “I PICK MADISON!” Egg yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Ivy scoffed. But Madison smiled. Egg was such a good friend sometimes, usually when she least expected it. He came through for her when she needed support the most—like now.

  “I choose Aimee,” Lance said.

  Aimee skated over to his side, making a sad face at Madison. They wouldn’t be on the same team, but that was okay. Madison couldn’t help but laugh when she realized that out of everyone—boys and girls—she and her BFF were chosen first. That meant something.

  The rest of Egg’s team worked out to be Chet, Dan, Rose, and Hart. They were up against Lance, Aimee, Ivy, Suresh, Joanie, and Susie. Drew was “official game photographer.” He was more into his new Christmas present than skating.

  The way it worked was each team chose their “tagger,” and that person sped around the ice, tagging whomever he or she could catch. The goal was to tag people on the opposite team and send them to jail over by the tree.

  Madison figured she would get tagged right away, but no one came after her. She stood off to the side, pretending to be invisible while everyone else skated around each other, giggling and screaming. If she stayed under the radar, she’d stay safe. However, as soon as Ivy was It, the attention turned in her direction.

  Ivy sped over in Madison’s direction, and tagged her out, knocking her down on the ice.

  Madison saw Drew snap a digital phot
o at the exact moment of contact.

  Great shot.

  Ivy brushed off her hands and skated away. Madison was left alone at the tree, while everyone else seemed miles away.

  What she wanted to do was kick off her ice skates and run as fast as she could away from the lake, away from all these people, away!

  But she didn’t have to run. All at once Aimee skated toward her, much to the protests of her teammates.

  “Maddie,” Aimee whispered. “I’ll keep you company.”

  Madison shook her head. “That’s not fair, Aim, you’re not out.”

  A moment later, Hart’s neighbor Susie skated over, too. “I saw what that girl did, Madison,” Susie said. “I’ll get her back for you.”

  Aimee smiled. “We both will.”

  “But she’s on your team,” Madison said.

  “Maybe,” Susie said. “But she isn’t very nice. She was totally unfriendly to me until I told her that I live next to Hart.”

  “WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?” Egg yelled from across the ice.

  Ivy yelled, too. “COME ON, AIMEE! SUSIE! GET BACK IN THE GAME!”

  Susie and Aimee skated back on the ice, and headed right in Ivy’s direction.

  “Wait just a minute! I’m on your team,” Ivy protested to them both.

  “Whoops!” Aimee said as she pretended to trip, skating right into Ivy.

  Susie skated at her from the other side. Just then Chet tagged Ivy to send her to jail.

  “YOU’RE OUT, IVY!” Egg yelped, laughing.

  Ivy looked around in all directions. She didn’t know where to go. Rose pointed across the ice at the jail by Madison. But Ivy saw Hart, goofing around with Drew on the other side. She took the long way to the tree, so she could pass by Hart.

  Madison watched as Ivy skated full speed right at him. He wasn’t really paying attention. He didn’t see her coming.

  Whooooomp!

  The pair crashed to the ice. Everyone took a deep breath.

  But then the laughter began—Ivy and Hart laughing. They were lying on top of each other on the ice, laughing like little kids.

  Madison wanted to cry.

  “Now, that is just disgusting,” Aimee said, skating over toward Madison. “She is the grossest. And she is so obvious. I could just—”