Capture the Flag (17 page)

“I wanted to say thank you,” Sinan said, holding Hammurabi's collar. “You did a great kindness for my family and our friends.” He hugged Anna, then José, then Henry, whose eyes were starting to water.

“Ah, shoot,” Henry said, swiping his eyes with his sweatshirt sleeve. “It was nothing. Turns out it's our job anyway.”

“Sinan! We must catch our bus!” His parents were waving from near the door, along with the other musicians.

“Thank you,” Sinan said again. “You are all …”

“The bee's knees?” Anna said.

“How about the bomb?” Henry asked.

“I think we're the cream of the crop,” José said, waving to Sinan as he ran off. “That should give him plenty to draw on the bus ride.”

Anna watched as Sinan took his mother's hand and left the airport with Hammurabi trotting along beside him.

Anna knew she should say good-bye to Henry and José, but how did you say good-bye after something like this? There was no secret handshake, after all.

“Well,” she said, “it sure would be great to see you guys again.”

“About that …” Anna felt a hand on her shoulder. Her mom and the other parents had come over from the baggage carousel.

“Here's the thing,” Henry's dad said, putting an arm around his son. “We parents have been talking, and we think it would be a crime for the three of you not to keep in touch.”

“Does that mean we get to be in the society now and come with you on your trips and hunt down the Serpentine Princes and everything?” Anna bounced a little. “We'll be Silver Jaguars together!”

“Not exactly,” her mother said, smiling a little. “But you may get to come on a trip now and then, sort of as apprentices. It's not something we do lightly. But … historically, there have been a few other situations where kids under eighteen have become involved in cases, for reasons beyond our control, so the society came up with a special designation for that group of underage members.”

“Members!” Anna squealed. “We're members!”

“You're
junior
members,” her mother said. “You still won't be full members until you're eighteen.”

“I don't care what we're called as long as we get to do something.” Anna bounced on her toes until her mom gave her “the look.”

“You're
not
going to be chasing down art thieves on stolen airport carts.”

“You heard about that, huh?”

“It came in a news update at work.” Her mother smiled a little. “Anyway, being a junior member of the society is
not
going to put you in danger; in fact, it's the opposite. Now that you've been involved, you'll need to know more about how we work.” Her face grew more serious. “And how to be safe now that they know who you are.”

“No missions, then?” José asked. Anna couldn't decide if he sounded relieved or disappointed.

“No missions for you. However,
if
things come up and we're called to help, and
if
there's a safe place for you to stay, you might be able to come along now and then.”

“Well, that's a start.” Anna leaned into her mom for a hug, and pretty soon José's and Henry's dads had their arms wrapped around their kids, too.

“You know,” Anna said, “this whole thing still feels like a movie or something.”

“You know what it feels like?” José waved his Harry Potter book in the air. “It's like when Harry finds out he's really a wizard and Voldemort's after him, and he has all these new powers to fight him.”

“Only I don't think we get new powers,” Anna said.

“If we were playing Intergalactic Treasure Hunters, right about now is when the game would ding to tell us we found a new cache of weapons.” Henry looked around the empty baggage area as if he were waiting for weapons to appear, but just the one duffel bag kept riding around and around, and it wasn't full of anything particularly powerful, unless you counted smelly socks.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Anna's mother said, “but there are no wands or weapon caches. Even when you turn eighteen, you won't get any special gifts — only extra responsibility.”

“That kinda stinks,” Henry said.

“That's kinda life,” his dad said. “Sometimes, the world throws changes at you, and you have to deal with it, whether you feel ready or not.” He had tears in his eyes, and Anna wondered why until she remembered Henry's mom. Mr. Thorn must have felt as if the whole world was dropped on his shoulders when she died and he had to take care of Henry by himself. He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “When something is your responsibility, you just do it. Like you guys did back in DC.”

José was nodding slowly. “It's like Dumbledore says,” he said finally. “The universe does not give us situations that we are not equipped to handle.”

“Yep,” Henry said. “And when you've got good friends to back you up, you can kick pretty much anybody's butt.”

José grinned. “Is that another quote from Maldisio?”

“Nah. I made that one up myself.” Henry looked at his dad. “Can we get cheeseburgers on the way home?”

His father nodded. “You bet.”

Anna bit her lip. Her parents were waiting, too. “I do hope I see you guys again.” She held out her hand to José. He shook it. Then she turned to Henry.

Henry frowned. “I still say we need a cool handshake.”

Anna laughed and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. “How's that until you come up with something better?”

“That's a start,” Henry said. “Till next time.”

José nodded. “Until next time.”

Anna followed her parents out the automatic doors, pulling her suitcase behind her. Somehow, it felt heavier than it had on the way here.

Maybe she was tired from her long night at the airport.

Or maybe it was all that extra responsibility, the weight of a promise made by her ancestors that was hers to carry now.

KATE MESSNER
is the author of
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.
, winner of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers;
Sugar and Ice
;
Eye of the Storm
;
Sea Monster's First Day
;
Over and Under the Snow
; and the Marty McGuire chapter book series. A former middle-school English teacher, Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and loves reading, walking in the woods, and traveling. Visit her online at
www.katemessner.com
.