The Fort (Aric Davis)

to go there tomorrow and knock on the door,” said Luke. “When he opens it, I’ll know if it’s him from how his leg looks.”
    “Are you nuts?” Tim asked. “What are you going to say? He’s probably not going to like getting bugged.”
    “I’ll just tell him I’m running a lawn service, and if he wants his cut by a kid looking to make a little bit of money, I’ll do it for $2.50 on a date of his choosing.”
    “That could work,” said Tim. “It’s really not a bad idea at all. The mowing thing isn’t either. I bet people would for real pay us for that, and we could make some bucks.”
    “Let’s figure this out first,” said Luke with a grin. “You two are still under house arrest, no way are your parents going to let you out to go make money. Shit, with all the luck we’ve had lately, they’d probably make you go do it for free, as, like, a community service or something.”
    “What if it really is him?” Scott asked quietly. “What if it is Hooper and he just, like, grabs you or something?”
    “Easy,” said Luke. “I take Carl’s gun. If he grabbed me, I really doubt that he’d search me, then I’d just blast him when he turned around. No one would think a kid was coming armed, not even a really crazy person.”
    “I need to get this back,” said Scott, staring down at the gun in his hand, then up at Luke. “You have to promise to bring it back, like, for real promise. If you don’t, I’m going to be grounded forever.”
    “Scott,” said Luke. “Of course I’ll bring it back. I don’t need it for anything except this. Besides, all that’s going to happen is he’s going to open that door and say no to the lawn mowing. I’ll get a look at his leg, and that will be that. We meet up here tomorrow night, I tell you what I saw, and maybe this whole thing is almost done.”
    “All right,” said Scott. He held it out, butt first, to Luke, who took it. It felt somehow heavier in his hand than it had before. “Just be careful with it,” Scott said. “Don’t shoot yourself or anything.”
    “I won’t,” said Luke. “I’m not a complete moron. Though some people might question my choice of friends.”
    “No jokes,” said Tim. “Not now. We meet here tomorrow, same time?”
    “Same time,” said Luke. “Unless I save Molly tomorrow.” He grinned. “Then you guys can see me on the news, and maybe we can hang out again.”

48
    Tim slipped through the woods, gliding on exhausted legs through the trees. It was odd how the woods had once been so terrifying at night but now were amazing. It was the only place where he felt like himself after everything that had happened. He felt free there, like the world really held possibilities. It was a nice feeling, especially with the patio, the policemen and parents who thought you were a liar looking for attention, and the tyranny and ever-looming danger of the upcoming school year. The woods at night were a peace away from that, in a way that almost didn’t make sense. If anything, after he’d seen the man with Molly, the woods should have been terrifying, and the fort less than a fort. If anything, it had had the opposite effect. Tim didn’t know what growing up was going to be like, but if it was anything like the freedom of walking alone through a forest, able to do whatever he wanted, it was going to be great. An invisible owl hooted from some impossible perch, and Tim walked home.
    He slipped silently across his own lawn and shimmied his body up the window and into the house, much like he would enter the fort off of the ladder. Also like at the fort, Tim found arms pulling him into the house. Unlike the arms of his friends, these were adult, and much more powerful. The light flashed on, and Tim saw that his parents were in his room and his dad was holding him.
    “I can explain,” said Tim, and in answer, his mom crossed the room and slapped him. The noise of it was more air rifle than .22, and the surprise of it shocked him more than the pain did. His dad released him, and Tim slumped to the floor. Tears ran down Tim’s face, and he made no effort to stop them. He was emotionally ruined, and this was the last straw.
    “Tammy, we talked about this,” said Stan. “We never wanted to hit either one of them, no matter what they did. Every kid makes mistakes. Hopefully Tim will learn from this.”
    “I hit him for his own good,” spat Tammy. “Nothing else works, so why not give it a try? Tim, if ever there was