Authors: Laura Dower
M
ADISON MARKED HER MESSAGE
to Bigwheels with a little red exclamation point for priority mail service. She wanted to know what to do right away.
All at once, her computer bleeped.
And Bigwheels appeared like some kind of Internet fairy godmother.
No sooner had Madison exited her Insta-Message chat with Bigwheels than she got an IM from Fiona.
Pzzzzzzzzzzzzt!
With a loud, sizzling sound, the power zapped off and Madison’s laptop computer screen went black.
“Fiona?” Madison said feebly as she hit a few keys and tried to boot up the laptop again. She was able to get the computer running again on her battery, but the Internet connection was lost.
Power, phones, and all connection to the outside world suddenly ended.
And her room was darker than dark.
It was nine-thirty
P.M.
and the storm had returned, bringing with it one last gust of wind and wet snow.
Madison felt her way over to the window in her bedroom. Streetlights were out, and all the houses on her block were cloaked in darkness. The only light Madison saw was the faint blue glow of her laptop. It cast a hue and threw shadows on her bedroom wall.
“Maddie?” Mom whispered from Madison’s bedroom doorway. She was holding a flashlight. “Where’s that blue light coming from?”
“My computer. The battery’s still charged,” Madison replied.
Mom clicked off her flashlight and came over by the window to put her arms around Madison’s shoulders. “This has without a doubt been the worst storm I’ve ever seen here in Far Hills.”
“It’s global warming, Mom,” Madison said. In addition to caring for endangered animals (and
all
animals), Madison had recently become worried about other environmental issues, too.
“First it snows, then it clears up, then it thunders, then the power goes out. Tomorrow it’ll probably be seventy degrees and humid.” Mom shook her head.
Madison squeezed Mom’s forearm. “Look over there!” she said. “It looks like someone else has a flashlight in their house.”
“There, too!” Mom said, pointing.
Madison gazed at her mom’s face. Although she looked bluish in the light of the bedroom, Mom still looked so pretty. Madison hadn’t really stared at her up close like this in a long time. She was too busy doing homework or something else to notice Mom’s eyes or lips or the way Mom’s hair curled up top.
“What do you say we go downstairs and light a few of those candles we got at the store today?” Mom suggested.
“Sure,” Madison said. “Good thing we bought extra supplies.”
Phinnie jumped up on Madison with his two paws and prodded her, whining. He wanted some attention, too.
Mom leaned over and scratched the top of Phin’s head.
Phin wheezed. His little brown pug eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“Happy dog.” Mom laughed.
They turned on the flashlight again and walked slowly down the stairs toward the living room.
A red-and-blue flashing light zoomed past the front windows.
“Must be the electric company,” Mom said.
Mom hummed as she lit a few of the fat, vanilla-scented candles. She arranged them on the coffee table. Then she and Madison sat on the couch together without saying much else.
After a few minutes, Mom took Madison’s hair out of its elastics and offered to brush it. Now it was Madison’s turn to hum. Mom hadn’t brushed her hair in years. It felt so good. After only a few moments of hair brushing, Madison fell asleep.
The next thing Madison remembered was waking up in the well-lit living room, curled up under one of Gramma’s quilts. Phinnie was asleep under the coffee table, snoring. It was morning.
“Mom?” Madison said, lifting her head off the couch. She could hear the humming and buzzing of appliances in the kitchen, so she knew the power was back on again.
“You conked right out last night, honey bear,” Mom said from the doorway to the kitchen. “I sat there as long as I could, but then my arm fell asleep.”
“I don’t even remember…” Madison said, yawning.
“Well, it’s Thursday, so you better get a move on,” Mom said. “Looks like the snow really has stopped for good. The sun is out, too. I’m assuming you’ll be spending the day with friends?”
“Friends?” Madison repeated. She flipped over on the couch to look out the living room window. It was brighter than bright outside. The storm was long gone. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Today would definitely be the day when everyone met at the lake to skate.
Madison stuck her head under the quilt and wished for more snow, more time, more
something
!
But it was too late for wishing.
“Madison?” Mom yelled from the kitchen. “Didn’t you hear the phone? Come on and answer it. It’s Walter.”
“Walter?” Madison moaned. She went over to the phone. “Hi, Egg.”
“Hey, Maddie!” Egg yelled into the receiver. “We’re meeting at eleven at the lake. Be there!”
“Um, Egg, I’m not sure I can go,” Madison said.
“Get out of here,” he said. “Everyone is going except for Fiona, and you have to be there. You promised.”
Madison sighed. “I can’t.”
“Yeah, whatever. I’ll see you at eleven,” Egg said. He hung up.
Madison immediately dialed Aimee’s number.
“Help!” she said as soon as Aimee picked up the phone. “What am I gonna wear to the lake?”
Aimee laughed. “Relax, Maddie. I’ll be right over.”
“W
HY DON’T YOU WANT
to wear this?” Aimee suggested. “You always liked my striped ski sweater.”
“I just don’t know. Stripes make me look fat,” Madison said.
“What are you talking about?” Aimee said.
“Look at my hair. It’s all static electricity. I can’t go out like this.”
They were standing inside Madison’s bedroom with the closet doors thrown open and half of the closet now on the floor.
Aimee stepped over a pile of shirts and bent down to look through them a second time. “It’s just a dumb afternoon skate. Let’s not get so freaked out about the whole thing.”
“I am! I can’t
skate
!” Madison said.
“Okay, okay.” Aimee backed off.
Madison rifled through the few items that remained on hangers inside the closet. Then she apologized.
“I’m sorry, Aim. I just don’t like the idea of falling on my butt in front of everyone from school—including Poison Ivy. She’ll use that against me for years.”
Aimee nodded. “Well, maybe. But who cares about her? I thought we decided that we didn’t care about what Ivy said or did.”
“We don’t,” Madison blurted.
But what she wanted to do was scream.
Madison wanted to tell Aimee about the sealed letter she’d found in the attic, about how she missed the Ivy she knew in second grade, and about how she suddenly felt weirder than weird about being in Ivy’s presence.
“Maddie?” Aimee asked. “How about
this
sweater? I’ve never seen you wear this one.”
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.