Zach needed a break. He’d stopped at Madrona Dry Goods for a drink and was sitting in the park weighing his options. This was insane wasn’t it? Biking around the neighborhood in the faint hope that he’d meet Zoe again. Who did things like that? But what were his options? What other pressing activities did he have this summer?
He could spend the summer evading chess camps and island outings for blackberry picking, and play video games all summer. For some reason, what usually sounded like a great option to Zach, suddenly seemed kinda lame. He could spend the summer chasing after a girl he’d met for ten minutes and never finding her or stay locked in his room.
Even if Zach did find Zoe again, he wasn’t entirely sure she would agree with his assessment. Maybe she would have wished he’d stayed locked away in his room playing video games? Really what was the point of all this?
From his vantage point on the bench Zach could see the geodesic jungle gym where Zoe had made the wide hole appear in the ground. That just reminded him of his futile quest. Zach put his head in his hands trying to decide what to do next.
§
“You know I can’t buy you candy.”
“I have money.” Gabe raised his eyebrows hopefully.
“Where did you get money?” Zoe continued exasperated, sounding like she was repeating something she’d said a thousand times, “Money is not the issue. Mom and Dad don’t want you eating candy. If I get you candy, I’ll get in trouble.”
“I won’t tell.”
“You always tell.”
“I promise this time.”
“You promise every time.”
“I’m not a little kid anymore.” Gabe challenged his big sister.
“You are exactly a little kid.” Zoe snapped.
Gabe squinched up his face in anger, having run out of arguments for the moment.
Zoe was resolute in not wanting to get into trouble. The camera she desperately craved hung in the balance. But she was still somewhat sympathetic to her little brother. “How about we stop at the park. I’ll push you on the swings.”
Gabe didn’t respond, but Zoe could tell her suggestion made him feel a little better when he followed her in the direction of the park. She even thought she saw his face relax a little bit. Just a little though.
§
Zach made up his mind. He couldn’t sit here all day. He needed to do something. He was going to forget about this crazy search for a girl he barely knew, head home, do some reading, and start his summer fresh. He would do that right after he did one last circuit of the neighborhood to make triple sure he hadn’t overlooked any small spot where she might be hanging out.
“I knew this would make you feel better.”
Though he did his best to stay angry, Gabe couldn’t suppress the fun he was having on the swing. He said “No it isn’t” through clenched teeth. But his budding smile was unmistakable.
I knew this would make you feel better. Where did that come from? And he was feeling better. The voice. He recognized it. Zach looked up from the palms of his hands where he’d been doing his thinking, and standing at the swings were Zoe and her little brother. All that searching the neighborhood for nothing. All he’d needed to do was wait at the original spot where they’d met. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
Zach’s relief was short-lived when he suddenly realized that he’d spent so much time trying to find Zoe, that he’d given zero thought on what he would say to her if he actually did. Unfortunately Zach had already started walking towards the swings when this thought had occurred to him, so he needed to come up with something quick.
“Hey. Look. It’s that boy.” Gabe yelled from the swing.
Zach saw Zoe look up. He wouldn’t characterize her reaction as full-fledged disappointment but she didn’t look exactly thrilled either.
“Hi.” Zach waved a small wave as he approached.
“Hey.” Zoe responded.
“We saw you the other night. When Zoe made the hole.” Gabe said.
“Gabe!” Zoe hissed at her brother.
“I don’t remember anything about someone making a hole, but I remember seeing you.” Zach replied cheerily.
Zoe looked back at Zach, relief washing over her face. Gabe was about to continue the discussion about the hole when a look from his sister cut that short.
“Do you come to the park often?” Zach regretted the words mere milliseconds after they’d left his mouth.
“I’m watching my brother all summer. So yeah. Probably. I need to do something with him.” Zoe was now pushing Gabe a little harder so he could only hear every other sentence in her conversation with Zach.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. My parents are working on opening a restaurant so they’re really busy.” Zoe said between pushes.
Zach was working hard trying to come up with a not totally stupid sounding response when Gabe interjected, “Stop pushing. I want to climb on the jungle gym.”
“Only if you promise not to climb too high this time.”
“I promise. I promise.” Gabe insisted.
Gabe raced over to the now sunken jungle gym. Zach and Zoe followed slowly.
“Do you have any other siblings?” Zach asked.
“He’s plenty.” Zoe laughed a gentle laugh. “You?”
“Two younger sisters. They’re more than plenty.”
Zach and Zoe sat on the bench while Gabe climbed.
“We just moved to this neighborhood. My PopPop – I mean, my grandfather lives nearby. We moved in with him.”
“Well, this is a cool neighborhood, I think.”
“I think it sucks.” Zoe declared.
“You decided already? You just moved here.”
“My room is smaller. My parents are never around. And I’m stuck watching the brat.”
“OK. That does suck. But that’s not the neighborhood’s fault. Give it a chance.” Zach reasoned.
“I’m not a brat.” Gabe had walked over from the jungle gym. “Can we get candy now?”
“No.” Zoe refused her little brother and then turned back to Zach, “Even though we just moved here, I’ve been here many times. My grandfather used to bring us to this park to play.”
“Please?” Gabe wheedled.
“In fact,” Zoe raised her eyebrows. This is where Gabe got his first kiss.”
“Zoe!” Gabe had been successfully diverted from his candy mission.
Zach listened politely trying not to get involved in the sibling squabble.
Zoe continued over her little brother’s protests. “Well, three years ago, Gabe was over there playing in the sandbox with a little girl with curly hair. I wasn’t watching closely. But all of a sudden, Gabe was crying. Apparently she had kissed him.”
Gabe was starting to make his angry face again.
“Oh stop. You were four.” Zoe reassured her brother.
“I think I know this story.” Zach finally said.
“You do?” The siblings exclaimed at the same time.
“Little girl, blonde curls, big smile, kinda living in her own world?”
Zoe and Gabe nodded.
“That was my youngest sister Cassie. We tell that story in my family too.”
§
As a secret hideout, the bomb shelter in the middle of the woods was way cooler than the abandoned car Binny used to frequent. When Penny and Cassie referred to the shelter as the Madrona Heroes headquarters, Binny still snorted.
Unlike the previous year, Binny had a new best friend in Penny that she loved spending time with. But like the previous year, Binny still periodically needed her alone time. Especially when Cassie was getting on her nerves. The bomb shelter was her refuge.
But while she used to mostly read in the now defiled rusty car shell, in the bomb shelter she now mostly wrote. The stack of ancient notebooks still sat in an old milk crate, as she’d first found it.
Binny had written on and off all year. She’d written about her parents, she’d written about her friends, but mostly she wrote about their powers. And in many cases she wrote about their efforts to keep them secret.
There was the time Cassie turned invisible in the middle of the school play. Zach had to creatively do worse on one of his exams so as not to arouse suspicion. Penny’s desk had fallen to pieces in the middle of class. Binny too had run into all sorts of issues. Though hers were more ethical quandaries than scrapes. She still wasn’t sure when if ever it was okay to use her powers. She did have one incident where an annoying teenager had cut her in line at Soul Repair, the neighborhood’s hot chocolate and ice cream cafe, but that had turned out okay in the end.
And while the children had learned scant bits and pieces about their powers, Penny still sometimes broke stuff accidentally, Zach still remembered way too much of everything, Cassie still couldn’t turn invisible on purpose, and Binny still knew more than she should about what was in people’s secret hearts.
Binny finished this day’s entry in the register as follows: “One more thing. Zach thinks a girl he met has a power. I think her main power is over him. As far as I’m concerned, we’re still the only four people on Earth with powers. And I hope it stays that way.”
Binny’s last paragraph took her to the end of the page. Even though she was done writing, she took a peek at the next page, but there wasn’t one. After a full year of documenting the highs and lows of their exclusive club, she had filled an entire book. Well, a ‘Daily Register of Pupils’ to be exact.
Binny stood on her chair to retrieve a new blank journal off the stack and returned the finished one to the crate. Why a stack of old school supplies from a million years ago were being stored in an abandoned bomb shelter, Binny had no idea.
Binny still scoffed at any “Madrona Heroes” mentions, but she was more of a stickler for consistency than she was self-conscious about the kids calling themselves super heroes. Much as she’d done almost exactly a year earlier, Binny crossed the word “Daily” off the cover and wrote in “Madrona Heroes” so now the title read “The Madrona Heroes Register”.
§
“We should probably get going.” Zoe and Zach had been talking for some time only periodically interrupted by Gabe’s pleas for candy and attention.
“Sure.” Zach wondered how he was going to run into Zoe again.
Zoe gathered Gabe and they started heading out of the park. “Are you heading in this direction?”
Zoe was in fact walking in the exact opposite direction that Zach needed to go. He answered her, “Yeah.” They walked for a bit heading to the edge of the park.
Zoe stopped in her tracks. “What’s that?”
“What?” Zach asked.
“Shhhh…” Zoe put her finger to her lips.
Zach and Gabe waited.
After a moment, they heard a pitiful whine coming from behind a nearby bush that was up against a fence. Zoe crouched down approaching the bush. The sound got louder and to Zach sounded even sadder.
Zoe made all sorts of comforting sounds, while Zach and Gabe crouched behind her not wanting to disturb her efforts. Zach was able to make out a black cat, cowering behind the bush. Zoe got closer and closer until Zach heard a hiss. And then the cat shot out of the bush.
But something was clearly wrong. The cat was moving as fast as it could, but it was dragging its front left foot.
Zoe stood up, her hands going to her face. “Oh no!”
Even though the cat was limping, it was still moving faster than the kids could give chase. And seeing how scared the cat was, none of the kids wanted to do so and make it more upset. They watched helplessly as the cat lamely crossed the street and disappeared down an alley.
“What are we going to do?” Zoe said desperately. A tear ran down her cheek.
Zach wasn’t entirely sure what to say. “I’m sure the cat will be okay.” But he wasn’t sure at all.
§
She’s crying over a cat? Gore Grater thought to himself. He was parked a block away from the park. His right hand was propped up on the car’s steering wheel holding his phone, videotaping the scene before him. His left hand held an super-sized popsicle which he absent-mindedly licked. The popsicle was melting faster than he was able to eat it and had dripped onto his fingers making them sticky.