CHAPTER TWELVE

MAKING A SPLASH ON SYCAMORE DRIVE

It took the Book Huggers three days to find Conner’s current address on Sycamore Drive. In their defense, the Bailey family had moved twice in the past four years and it was difficult tracking them down. After camping outside their previous house, the girls pestered the current residents until they finally gave them the forwarding address.

The four teenagers walked purposefully down Sycamore Drive looking for Bob and Charlotte’s house. The Book Huggers were on a mission to finally expose the Bailey twins once and for all. A bag with tape recorders and a Polaroid camera swung from Mindy’s shoulder. Once they gathered enough evidence, their questionable reputation would be cleared and every school administrator, police officer, and representative in their community would owe them a massive apology.

It was a thrilling and nerve-racking endeavor, and their hearts were pounding as they walked down the street. Wendy got a little carried away and dashed from street lamp to street lamp and mailbox to mailbox like a secret agent.

“Wendy, knock it off!” Mindy ordered. “You’re going to draw attention to yourself. Everyone act natural!”

Their anxiety was so high, the Book Huggers forgot what natural looked like. Cindy walked taller than usual and waved at all the neighbors like she was in a parade. Lindy swung her arms and swiveled her head like a cartoon character. Wendy skipped aggressively and broke a sweat.

“Too natural!” Mindy said. “Lindy, I told you to bring your dog! We would have blended in more if we were walking a basset hound.”

“But Angela Lansbury has arthritis in her paws,” Lindy said. “She has to be dragged around on a skateboard! That would have drawn even more attention!”

“Okay, fine, if we can’t move clandestinely, then let’s move quickly,” she said. “The sooner we get out of the view of the public, the better.”

By the public, Mindy was referring to an old man watering his lawn, a pair of kids playing basketball, and an overweight cat napping on a porch. None of the neighbors were paying attention to the Book Huggers, let alone suspicious of them.

“There it is!” Cindy said, and pointed to one of the homes. “That’s Conner’s house!”

The Book Huggers bumped into one another as if Cindy were pointing out a poisonous snake.

“Remember,” Mindy said, “if anyone catches us, we’re here for a school project.”

Not so clandestinely, they tiptoed up the house’s driveway and crawled on their hands and knees through the flower bed. They regretted wearing shorts and short sleeves, because the roses’ thorns scratched up their arms and legs—but there was no going back now. They slowly sat up and peered through the window.

Inside, the Book Huggers saw Charlotte Gordon vacuuming the living room. The house was spotless, but she was vigorously cleaning anyway, as if the home were covered in invisible dirt only she could see. It had been two and a half days since Charlotte’s children traveled into her son’s short story, and since she hadn’t heard a word from them, cleaning was therapeutic for her overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Conner’s binder of short stories was still in the center of the floor in the exact spot he had left it. Charlotte was afraid she might break something if she moved it, so she carefully cleaned around it.

“Honey, why don’t you have a seat?” Bob said from the couch.

“Not now, I’m distracting myself from my thoughts,” Charlotte said over the vacuum.

Bob got up and pulled the plug, but it didn’t stop his wife. She wiped all the surfaces, fluffed all the pillows, and straightened all the couch cushions.

“Stressing isn’t going to help anything,” he said. “I’m sure they’re going to be just fine. It’s probably taking longer than they thought to track down Avalon Tammy, or whatever her name was.”

“I know,” Charlotte said with a sigh. “I wish I was as capable of handling myself as they are of handling themselves. Mothers get trained in how to deliver their children, how to care for and nurture them, how to develop their motor skills and self-esteem—but no one trains you in how to stop worrying about them! They say childbirth is the worst part, but it’s just the beginning of the pain!”

Charlotte sat on the couch in defeat. Bob sat next to her and put his arm around her.

“I hate to say it, but this is the price you pay for raising two wonderful, intelligent, and responsible young adults,” he said.

“I almost wish they weren’t so independent,” she confessed. “It’d be nice if they needed their mother once in a while. Maybe I’d get to see them more often.”

The binder suddenly popped open on its own and the beam of light shot straight out of it. A moment later, Conner poked his head out of the beam and had a look around the living room. The sight of Conner’s floating head made the eavesdropping Book Huggers flail around the flower bed. They covered one another’s mouths so their screams weren’t heard.

“Hey guys!” Conner happily greeted his mom and stepdad. “Good news! We found the pirates.”

“That’s terrific!” Charlotte said. “I was so worried. What took you so long? Was everything all right?”

“Everything went great,” Conner said with a laugh. “Actually, it couldn’t have gone smoother. It just took a little longer to track down Auburn Sally than we thought.”

“Oh, Auburn Sally—that’s her name,” Bob said. “See, Charlotte, I told you everything was going to be fine.”

“Can we bring the pirates into the house now?” Conner asked.

“Just a second,” Charlotte said. She retrieved the welcome mat from the porch and set it beside the binder. “Have them wipe their feet on the mat on their way in. I just vacuumed.”

Conner nodded and popped back into the world of Starboardia to have a quick word with the Dolly Llama crew.

“Remember what I told you guys to say if my mom asks about Starboardia?” he asked.

The pirates and sailors repeated what they had rehearsed. “It was a piece of cake. Nothing remotely dangerous happened at all,” they said in unison.

“Perfect,” Conner said. “Now, everyone step through the beam and wipe your feet on the mat—my mom just vacuumed.”

The pirates and sailors were puzzled—what was vacuumed?

One by one, the Dolly Llama crew followed Conner through the beam of light and stepped into the house. Not knowing what to expect, the pirates charged inside with their weapons raised—which nearly gave Charlotte and Bob heart attacks.

“Everybody calm down!” Conner ordered. “You’re all safe here!”

The living room filled up very quickly with the characters from “Starboardia.” They looked around at all the furniture, decorations, and lighting fixtures in awe. It was the most extraordinary place they had ever been to. The spying Book Huggers had their camera and tape recorders ready, but they were so stunned to see the pirates appear, they dropped their devices and just watched in shock.

“It’s like we’ve stepped into the nineteenth century!” Admiral Jacobson said.

“It’s the twenty-first century, actually,” Bob said.

“This chamber is so elegant,” Winking Wendy said. “Does a royal family live here?”

“No—but thank you,” Charlotte said. “It’s amazing what a couple of throw pillows and an accent chair will do to a room.”

Siren Sue was mesmerized by all the framed photographs on the mantel.

“Commander Bailey, these small portraits of you and your sister are so detailed,” she said. “Your face was so round when you were younger.”

“That’s called a school picture,” Conner said. “And it was right before a growth spurt.”

Peg-Leg Peggy stared up at the ceiling in terror. “What sort of torture device is that?” she asked, and pointed her rifle at it.

“That’s just a ceiling fan,” Conner said. “Relax, it’s not going to hurt you.”

The pirates and sailors split up to explore the house. They bounced on the mattresses in the bedrooms, turned all the lights on and off, used the toilets to splash water on their faces, and opened and closed the appliances in the kitchen.

“I’ve found a cupboard that’s as cold as winter!” Too-Much-Rum Ronda announced. “And it’s full of fruit, vegetables, and colorful liquid!”

“That’s the refrigerator, Ronda—stay out of there!” Conner said. “No one touch anything without asking!”

Charlotte and Bob watched nervously as the crew invaded and inspected every corner of their home. They weren’t sure which pirate or sailor to follow, because everyone clearly needed supervision.

“Conner, we only have one guest bedroom,” Charlotte said. “Where are all your friends supposed to sleep?”

“Don’t worry, none of the pirates or sailors are sleeping inside,” Conner said.

He said it like it should have been a relief, but it only concerned his mother more. Charlotte was going to ask him for more details, but she was distracted when Alex suddenly leaned out from the beam of light.

“Hi, Mom—hi, Bob!” she said, then looked to her brother. “Conner, we’re ready!”

Alex leaned back and disappeared. Conner went to the window and had a good look at the large pool in their backyard.

“Hey, Bob, how deep is the pool?” he asked.

Bob shrugged. “Ten, maybe twelve feet,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

Before Conner could answer, he scooped up the binder and ran into the backyard. The Book Huggers quickly got to their feet and ran to the other side of the property. They peeked between boards and through holes in the fence to see into the backyard. Conner stood at the edge of the pool and aimed the binder’s beam of light directly at the water.

“Go for it, Captain!” he said.

Bob and Charlotte joined Conner outside just in time to see the Dolly Llama emerge from the binder and land in the pool. Charlotte and Bob screamed and grabbed on to each other. The splash knocked half the water out of the pool and drenched Conner and his parents.

It was too much for the Book Huggers to take. All four girls fainted at once and collapsed in a pile behind the fence.

“Charlotte,” Bob said quietly, in shock. “There’s a pirate ship in our pool.…”

“Sorry,” Conner said. “The captain was adamant about bringing her ship along. But the good news is that the pirates live in it, so you don’t have to worry about them sleeping in the house.”

“Right,” Charlotte said with large eyes. “Nothing to worry about.”

Had the Dolly Llama been just a tiny bit bigger, it wouldn’t have fit in the pool. Auburn Sally and Alex were standing on the upper deck behind the wheel and had a great view of the neighborhood. The Rosary Chicken was perched on the ship’s railing beside them.

“So this is the land of Sycamore Drive?” Auburn Sally asked.

“It’s just one of many neighborhood streets in the town,” Alex said.

“I like it,” the captain said. “The cottages in this village are very charming.”

Auburn Sally kicked down a gangplank and she, Alex, and the Rosary Chicken climbed down from the Dolly Llama. The Rosary Chicken happily waddled onto the grassy yard and pecked at bugs. The twins introduced Auburn Sally to Bob and Charlotte, and the captain gave them each a very firm handshake.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Auburn Sally told them. “You have very crafty children.”

“Tell me about it,” Charlotte said.

“It’s never a dull moment,” Bob said. “Wait, is that chicken wearing a rosary?”

Now that the twins had successfully escorted the Dolly Llama crew into the Otherworld, they immediately began planning their next venture. Conner opened his binder to the second tab, retrieved the Portal Potion from his backpack, and poured three drops on the pages of his next story. Another beam of light appeared and shined into the sky like a spotlight.

“Time for our second stop,” Conner said.

“What’s your next story about?” Alex asked.

“‘Galaxy Queen’ is an intergalactic space odyssey,” he explained. “It takes place in the year 3000 and follows the queen of a Cyborg civilization as she travels through the universe.”

Alex took a deep breath. “It doesn’t get easier after ‘Starboardia,’ does it?”

“Not really,” Conner said. “But at least we learned a lot from ‘Starboardia.’”

“Is there anything I can help with beforehand?” Alex asked. “Think about it.”

“There is, actually—we’re going to need space suits,” he said.

Alex snapped her fingers and their clothes transformed into chic, shiny, and futuristic space suits. Their suits were silver and had round helmets, and there were oxygen tanks attached to their backs.

“These are perfect!” Conner said excitedly.

Charlotte put a hand over her heart. “You both look so cute!” she said. “Stay right there—I need a photo of this!”

“Mom, we really don’t have time to take a—”

Charlotte gave her son a dirty look that said a thousand words, but most specifically: There are fifty pirates in my house and a ship in my backyard pool. You WILL take a photo for me whether you like it or not. Conner didn’t say another word, and his mother ran into the house and returned with her camera.

“Stand on the grass so I can get the pirate ship in the background,” Charlotte instructed. “That’s nice! Now put your arms around each other—smile! This is going on the Christmas card!”

“Mom, this is top secret! You can’t put this on a Christmas card!” Conner said.

“Calm down, no one is going to know what you’re doing,” Charlotte said. “Everyone will just think we took a vacation to a theme park—you know, like normal families do. Okay, now just a couple more with my phone!”

Begrudgingly, the twins smiled and posed as their mother took a dozen pictures. Once she was finished, they were permitted to continue their plans. The twins tightened their helmets, turned their oxygen tanks on, and toed up to the binder of short stories.

“Next stop, ‘Galaxy Queen’!” Conner said.