by Laura Dower
“I know them,” Madhur said, glancing over in Chet’s direction. “Fiona seems nice. So does her brother.”
“Before, when I was telling you about how much I liked your presentation,” Madison said, “I forgot to tell you that I know a little bit about Punjabi culture.”
“Really? How?”
Madison shrugged. “It’s my mom, actually. She’s a documentary filmmaker and producer, and she’s been to Pakistan and India. She told me all about the monsoons. And her crew took this incredible footage, too. The way you described the weather and the places was so intense.”
“Just my grandmamma’s words,” Madhur interrupted. “I’ve actually never been.”
“Well, I felt like I really understood what you were saying,” Madison said. “I think I’m going to surf the Net and find out more information about that part of the world.”
Madhur ate a bite of salad from her plate. “Do you go online very much?” she asked Madison.
Aimee, who happened to overhear Madhur’s question, laughed out loud.
“Did you just ask Madison if she ever went online?”
“Is that a funny question?” Madhur asked, sounding confused.
“My friends tease me,” Madison said. “The truth is I’m on the computer most of the time. I keep these files, I have a screen name at TweenBlurt.com, I have a long-distance keypal … the works.”
“I’ve heard of TweenBlurt. I’ve never been on it, though.”
“You’ve never been?” Madison said.
“Wow,” Fiona said. “You’re missing out.”
Lindsay grinned. “We gossip … well, chat … online all the time there.”
“I don’t actually have a computer at home that works. I go to the library to check my e-mail or do homework,” Madhur explained.
“You don’t have a computer at home?” Madison asked, incredulously.
Madhur shook her head. “My dad said maybe this year we will get one.”
Madison felt guilty. Not only did she have her very own personal computer—it was right there in her orange messenger bag.
“Maybe you should help on the school website,” Madison suggested to Madhur. “Then you could use Mrs. Wing’s computers to do work.”
“That’s a good idea,” Madhur said. “I’m trying to do more extracurricular activities, rather than just studying all the time.”
“Do you play sports?” Fiona asked. “You should join the soccer team.”
“No way. I’m a total klutz,” Madhur said. “I tried soccer once, and I tripped on the ball.”
“Everyone trips on the ball!” Fiona said.
“Well …”
“It’s not like you have to dance ballet or something,” Fiona joked, eyeing Aimee. “Soccer is all practice and kicking and—I’m sure you’d have fun.”
“I bet you’d be good at soccer,” Chet blurted out from across the table.
The girls all stared.
Normally, Chet didn’t pay attention to anything girls said or did. But today he was acting differently.
“Who asked you?” Fiona grumbled, kicking Chet under the table.
“It’s a free country,” Chet barked. “I can talk if I want to….”
Fiona pounded him in the shoulder.
“Settle down! Settle down!” Dan said, imitating Principal Bernard’s voice.
Lindsay laughed.
Madhur stood up all of a sudden. She seemed unfazed by the whole exchange. “I’m going back to get one of those giant brownies I saw. Does anyone want anything?”
“I’ll take a brownie,” Dan said.
“I’d love an orange,” Fiona said sweetly.
“Can you grab me some chocolate milk?” Lindsay asked.
“You bet,” Madhur said. “What about you, Maddie?”
“I don’t need anything else,” Madison said. “Thanks for asking.”
As Madhur walked back toward the kitchen, Hart leaned in to Madison. “What’s up with Madhur?” he asked. “Did she invite herself over to our table, or what?”
“I invited her,” Madison said.
“Why?” Aimee said, sounding a little Ivy-like.
“Because,” Madison said, “I wanted to.”
“She’s sweet,” Fiona said, shooting another look at her brother. “Don’t you think so, Chet?”
“What are you looking at me for?” Chet stammered.
Madison giggled. She wasn’t the only person at the table who thought Madhur was cool. It was probably the first time she and Chet had ever agreed on anything.
“You should have heard her in English class today,” Madison went on. “She has such an interesting life.”
“Oh, yeah?” Fiona asked.
“Her family speaks, like, five languages,” Madison said.
“Whatever,” Aimee said, rolling her eyes.
The boys stood up with their emptied trays and moved away from the orange table.
Aimee stood up, too.
“Why are you acting like that?” Madison asked.
“Like what?” Aimee replied.
“That. You know.”
“No, I don’t,” Aimee said firmly.
“You always do this,” Madison said. “Whenever I make a new friend, you get weird.”
“I do not.”
Madison sighed.
“Remember when Fiona first moved here?” Madison asked Aimee.
Aimee shrugged. “Okay, fine. I acted a little weird. But only because you’re my best friend. That’s all. You can only have so many best friends, Madison.”
“Who made that rule?” Madison asked.
Aimee didn’t respond. She tried to change the subject.
“So, what’s going on with Hart today?” Aimee asked. “He’s so into you. Did you see the way he saved you a seat?”
“Aim!” Madison cried.
Fiona laughed, so Madison had to laugh, too.
“What’s so funny?” Madhur said reappearing with the brownie, orange, and chocolate milk.
“Private joke,” Aimee said.
Madison was a little taken aback by Aimee’s curt response, but she tried to gloss over it.
“Hey, Madhur, do you have study period next?” Madison asked. “Because if you do, I was thinking of heading up to the media room in the library to do a little work. I could show you TweenBlurt….”
“I can’t,” Madhur said, taking a big bite of brownie; she chewed and talked at the same time. “I have to meet with Mr. Gibbons. I’m working on the conference that’s coming up in two weeks….”
“You signed up?” Madison asked. “So did we.”
“That’s great,” Madhur said. “So we’re all in it together.”
“Great,” Aimee said, rather unenthusiastically.
As the lunch bell rang, the conversation came to a screeching halt. Poison Ivy swooped in.
“So, lunch is over. Are you going to your locker now?” Ivy asked. “Because you promised me that notebook….”
Madison saw both Madhur and Aimee out of the corner of her eye. The two of them made the exact same “How can you possibly be talking to her?” face.
“The notebook,” Madison repeated. “Right.”
Madison gave her friends—including Madhur—a quick wave good-bye and headed into the hallway with her enemy. They walked down the hallway toward the stairs and over to Madison’s bank of lockers.
“I can’t believe you’re hanging out with that geek,” Ivy said to Madison.
“Who?” Madison asked.
“Madhur Singh, of course,” Ivy said. “She is so dramatically, terribly uncool.”
“What are you talking about?” Madison asked. “She is cool.”
“You must be joking. She has no sense of style.”
“And you do?” Madison said.
“You are kidding, right?” Ivy said.
“Here,” Madison said firmly as she pressed a tattered science notebook into Ivy’s hands.
“It’s about time,” Ivy said.<
br />
Madison sighed and headed off to the study hall. She found a comfortable seat in the back and logged on to a library computer. Her laptop battery was running low, and she’d forgotten to recharge.
Reaching into her bag, Madison pulled out a pen. Naturally, the cap was off. Just my luck, Madison thought. The entire vessel of ink spurted onto her favorite sky-blue, collared T-shirt. She looked as though she’d been attacked by a squid.
“My, my, what happened to you?” someone said from behind one of the stacks.
It was Mr. Books, the librarian.
“Pen catastrophe,” Madison said, trying to look chipper.
“Never fight a pen,” Mr. Books said. “The pen will always win.”
Madison knew she should laugh, but she just didn’t think the joke was funny. She’d been splattered! What was funny about that?
“Are you signed up for that conference at the school next week?” Mr. Books asked Madison.
“In two weeks,” Madison corrected him. “Yeah, I signed up.”
“I’ll be running the projectors,” Mr. Books said. “It’s going to be a doozy of a day. Good for you for participating. All of Far Hills Junior High’s best and brightest will be there.”
“Thanks,” Madison said awkwardly. It often felt more awkward but somehow more satisfying when a teacher (or, in this case, a librarian) gave her a compliment. Usually Mr. Books was growling or chasing the kids out of the library for talking too much, and Madison tried to avoid him wherever possible.
But today, Mr. Books was actually being friendly.
He walked away with a smile on his face, and Madison couldn’t help thinking that there was something strangely significant about that moment.
Something big was about to happen.
Madison just couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
Chapter 3
BY THE TIME MADISON returned home from school, her brain was whizzing with all of the things she had to do. First, there was math and reading homework. Then there was Internet research on Punjab—just to impress Madhur. Then she needed to log on to TweenBlurt to check e-mails, and then she had to see if anyone had posted something interesting on The Wall. After that, she needed to—
Madison stopped short on her porch. A note was taped to the door.
Maddie,
Had to dash into the city for a MAJOR meeting with another film co. This is a really big deal, honey bear. Dad is picking you up for dinner. Told him to call you after 4. Sorry for the short notice! Use your spare key to get inside. Phin is down the street w/ Blossom and the Gillespies, so you don’t have to worry about him.
Love,
Mom
Madison dropped her orange messenger bag on the porch and sat down. Mom had to work again? Outside, the sky began to darken, and there was a chill in the air. She fished around in the pocket of her bag for the spare house key. It wasn’t there; it wasn’t wedged in between two books; it wasn’t anywhere! Even after Madison had dumped out the entire contents of the bag, including her laptop computer, a collection of Hello Kitty! pencils, a half-eaten granola bar, a package of pink-polka-dotted tissues, a stick of gum, several pennies, and her math textbook, she still had not located the key.
She didn’t even have the sound of Phin barking at the front door to comfort her. Madison was all alone out there.
Just then she remembered where her spare key was—upstairs on her dresser. She’d left it there by mistake when she last cleaned out her bag.
“But there’s another one!” Madison said aloud. She remembered the spare, spare key Mom hid in the garden.
She scrambled to her feet and went over to the windowsill. A row of violets in yellow ceramic pots sat there. Madison lifted each pot, one by one.
Dirt. Pebbles. No key?
What was Madison supposed to do now? She briefly entertained the idea of running next door to her neighbor Josh’s house. She had a little crush on Josh, a ninth grader from FHJH, and he was always very nice to Madison.
But on second thought, Madison decided that facing him would be too embarrassing. So she stayed where she was on the porch. She’d wait there until Dad showed up. It was a little after three o’clock. Madison could wait for an hour, couldn’t she?
Madison crossed the porch to the wicker sofa and took a seat, placing her laptop in her lap. Luckily, her battery was fully charged and her wireless connection working, since she was practically inside the house. As she curled up in a ball and logged on to TweenBlurt, Madison heard the familiar ding! telling her there was mail in her e-mailbox.
FROM SUBJECT
GoGramma Thank you, dear
Dantheman Clinic R.I.P.
BoopDeeDoop Account Info Please
Rainbowz Inc. Make Money FA$T
Bigwheels Where have u been???
Madison clicked on the e-mail from Gramma Helen. She knew it was a note of thanks for Madison’s homemade card and gift.
She was right.
From: GoGramma
To: MadFinn
Subject: Thank you, dear
Date: Wed 23 Sept 12:12 PM
My dearest Madison,
I opened my mailbox this morning and found your lovely package. I was flat-out floored, my dear. You outdid yourself for my birthday this year. I particularly loved the copy of the photograph you found showing me and your grandpa together on our honeymoon. Wherever did you find that one? Needless to say, I ran right over to the framer. It will hang in my front hallway and I will think of you every time I see it. I am getting choked up just now thinking of it. You are a love. What is the e-mail chat symbol for happy tears?
Love,
Gramma
Madison e-mailed Gramma Helen right away with the symbol she was looking for.
:~…)
Next, she opened the e-mail from Dan Ginsburg. He’d sent it from the animal clinic where Madison and he volunteered. Madison sensed right away that it was bad news.
From: Dantheman
To: MadFinn
Subject: Clinic R.I.P.
Date: Wed 23 Sept 2:33 PM
Maddie I got here after school b/c my mom called me and I have REALLY bad news 4 u. REALLY Bad.
Those kittens we brought in last week, the ones that were really sick, well all of them died except for one and Dr. Wing says he’s not doing good at all. I am so so bummed out. I thought we might even keep one and I know u wanted to ask ur mom 2 keep one 2.
I guess they had some kind of infection b4 they were even brought in here, that’s what doc says. So, I was hoping maybe u would come in help me 2morrow b/c I wanna bury them out back. Can u? Lemmeknow @ school. Bye.
Now Madison really wanted to cry. Not only was she locked out of her house, but Gramma Helen had gotten all e-mushy on her, and now Dan had this terrible news. Everything felt all shook up.
Madison sent Dan an instant reply. She told him she would come to the clinic to help out. She owed the clinic a volunteer visit anyway. It had been more than a week since Madison had been in to clean cages or help feed the animals or even help Dan’s mom, Eileen, organize files in the front office. Madison did all sorts of odd jobs when she was there—anything to be a little bit closer to the animals she loved so much.
Overhead, the sky boomed with a clap of thunder, and the sky appeared to darken even more. Madison knew the rain was coming now for sure. It was nearly three thirty. Thankfully, Dad would be there soon to pick her up. Madison thought she heard a phone ringing inside, but she couldn’t know whether it was Dad. She figured he would just come over when she didn’t pick up. Dad was smart about that kind of stuff. Wasn’t he?
She turned her attention back to the laptop.
The next e-mail looked familiar; a promotion from Madison’s favorite online store, Boop Dee Doop. She opened it to find an odd note from the store manager asking Madison to provide her personal and credit information, because it had been lost during a computer upgrade. Madison paused to examine the note more closely. Something about it seem
ed funny. Upon closer examination, Madison realized that the e-mail wasn’t from the store at all. The address was different—off by one letter. She quickly hit DELETE. She deleted the next e-mail, too. Nothing more than spam. It was a good thing that Dad had taught Madison to be such a careful e-mailer.
Fortunately, the last e-mail in the mailbox was A-OK. Madison grinned as it opened up onscreen.
From: Bigwheels
To: MadFinn
Subject: Where have u been???
Date: Wed 23 Sept 2:58 PM
I am so bored that my brain has cobwebs—I swear. I am sitting here in the media lab @ school waiting for my teacher to come over & look @ our assignments that I finished 10 million hours ago. Ugh. Sometimes tech class is so cool and other times people r sooooo slow and I am … well, cobwebby, like I said.
But enuf about MOI how R U??? How is the HART MAN? LOL That sounds kind of like some dorky superhero.
I have cool newz, which is that my school decided @ the last minute to host this history conference and I am going to be 1 of 7 presenters 4 the middle schoolers. Cool right??? I think so. My mom and dad told me they were so proud that they might even buy me an iPod. I told them that was totally materialistic and I couldn’t accept.
LOL!!!! Of course I will accept it if they give it. Wouldn’t u? I’ll tell u more about the conference when I find out more. Right now I’m kinda in the dark.
OK the teacher’s coming. Gotta dash.
Yours till the iPods (of course!!!),
Vicki aka Bigwheels
p.s.: I almost 4got to tell u that I got this really cool new feature on my e-mail that lets me attach pics and little videos. I hope I can send u something soon.
Bye.
The sky rumbled again. Like Bigwheels, Madison felt kind of in the dark herself.
Ding! Ding!
The e-mailbox beeped again. She glanced down. A brand-new e-mail flashed. She opened it.
From: JeffFinn
To: MadFinn
Subject:
Date: Wed 23 Sept 4:03 PM
Honey I got an urgent message from your mother and I tried calling the house but I can’t get you. Where are you? Oh, honey, I am not even in Far Hills right now—I had to catch an afternoon flight out and I’m sitting on the runway at Logan Airport in Boston. And Stephanie is away in D.C. on a sales call.
