Club4Girls #1: The Girls with Boys' Names by Bob Tschudi

Club4girls 1: The Girls with Boys Names

Bob Tschudi Marilyn Howard Tschudi

Club4Girls Publishing Co. Apex, North Carolina

Copyright © 2009 by Bob Tschudi & Marilyn Howard Tschudi All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Published by Club4Girls Publishing Co. 603 North Salem St. Apex, North Carolina 27502 club4girls.com Printed in the United States of America Cover Design by Enrico Leoni Library of Congress Control Number: 2008910927 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tschudi, Bob and Tschudi, Marilyn Howard. Club4Girls, #1: The Girls with Boys’ Names/ by Bob Tschudi & Marilyn Howard Tschudi. – 1st ed. (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-9712297-0-9

Club4girls 1: The Girls with Boys Names

To: From: Msg: Date:

charlie@club4girls.com andi@club4girls.com Hello! Friday, February 18 – 3:58pm EST

You don’t know me, but I found your name and email address in a computer game – of all places. Before you delete this and write me off as a lunatic, read the next paragraph. You’re a boy and I don’t mean to insult you, but have you been playing a computer game called Club4Girls? You know, it’s the game with the special box that hooks up to your computer. Well, there are some secret levels to this game that I don’t think anyone else knows about – except maybe you and me. At least I think you know about it, because I saw your name next to mine in cyberspace. Then, when I came back from cyberspace, my computer had a special CyberPhone picture on it, with both of our names under it… Before I go on babbling like a total idiot, I’ll send this to you. If none of this makes sense, please delete this email and try to forget it ever happened! But if this makes sense to you, write back to me! – Andi P.S. Andi is short for Andrea. I’m 12 and I live in Manhattan.

Club4Girls Andi clicked on the Send button and the letter went into cyberspace. Until today, Andi thought she knew what cyberspace was. Her computer teacher had explained that it was millions and millions of computers in schools, offices, and homes, all connected. The wires were like roads that let words and numbers travel from one part of the world to another – sometimes in as little time as it takes to blink your eyes. She learned all about the Internet and the World Wide Web and how people talked with each other by email, instant messages, or on MySpace, as if they were sitting in front of each other – even if they were thousands of miles apart. But cyberspace was a real place. Andi had been there, and it wasn’t like anything she had ever seen. She got up from her computer and looked around her bedroom. Was this really her bedroom? Or was it a computer-generated cyber-room? She walked over to her bed and fell onto it backwards. Andi sighed, “It’s real, my real bed.” She sighed again and reached over to open the drawer of her night table. She took out her journal and a pen, and started to write: February 18, 4:20 p.m. Something really incredible happened to me today. I’ll write everything down from the start. That way, in case anything happens to me, there’s a record. I’ve been playing a new computer game for a couple of days now. Everyone has the game. It’s called Club4Girls, and it’s a lot of fun. It came with a small lime green Club4Girls box that I had to plug into the back of my computer. Inside the box are 25 different buttons, in 5 rows of 5. You push a button, and a new

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names puzzle comes up on the computer. When you figure the puzzle out, the button changes color and you hear harp music. I had just finished Puzzle 18, but instead of the harp sound, it started beeping. Then a hidden panel slid open along the back edge of the box — I didn't even know it was there! There were five puzzles there, labeled A, B, C, D, and E. I pushed the A button and a different kind of puzzle came up on my computer screen. It was a lot harder than the others, but I figured it out. Then I did the next one, and the next, until I finished the last of the puzzles in the secret compartment. It took me three whole hours! As I finished the last of the extra puzzles, another secret compartment opened! But there were no puzzles in there, just a small booklet and a paper clip. I just heard a noise in the hallway - I’ll continue this story later tonight.

As Andi put the journal back in her nightstand and closed the drawer, she heard a knock on her door. “Come in!” Jennifer, the family’s au pair, opened the door. Many of Andi’s friends had an au pair, young women who stayed with their families for a year while they learned more about America. Jennifer was from England or ‘the U.K.’, as she liked to call it. Whenever someone called Jennifer a nanny, Andi was quick to point out that an au pair was more like a member of the family. Since she was first adopted at the age of three, there had always been an au pair in Andi’s house. Both her parents worked (her mother was a surgeon and her fa3

Club4Girls ther a stockbroker), and the au pair took care of Andi whenever her parents weren’t there. Andi secretly wished Jennifer were her big sister. She was beautiful — long, silky black hair, violet-blue eyes that always seemed to be smiling at you, and a creamy complexion as pale as the moon. Andi could tell Jennifer cared about her too. Besides helping Andi with her homework and making dinner, Jennifer spent a lot of time playing computer games with her. Jennifer seemed to be as happy to be a part of Andi’s life as Andi was to have her. Jennifer flipped her dark hair over her shoulders. “Andi, your dinner is in the oven. It will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Why don’t you start your homework?” It was earlier than usual, but Jennifer had to go. It was a school night for her — art history at Columbia University, which was across town on the Upper West Side. Andi nodded, “Aren’t you late for class?” Jennifer looked at her watch. “Not if I run and catch the cross-town bus right away. Your mother said she’d be home by seven. Don’t forget your dinner in the oven!” “I won’t. Thanks for making it.” Jennifer smiled and waved as she threw her backpack over her shoulder and headed out to the elevator. Andi ran her fingers through her dark blonde hair, opened her math book, and sighed. Her eyes glanced briefly at her computer, but she picked up her pencil and started her homework.

At first, Charlie didn’t know what to make of the letter. Was it a prank? Who was Andi? Charlie read the letter again and looked at the Club4Girls box attached to the computer. Yes, there was a secret panel – but what did Andi mean when she talked about visiting cyberspace? Charlie pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She hated allergy season, because she couldn’t wear her contact lenses. Just when her friends had forgotten that she wore glasses, the pollen would come and make her eyes watery and itchy and red. Charlie moved the computer mouse and clicked on the Reply button. To: From: Msg: Date:

andi@club4girls.com charlie@club4girls.com RE: Hello! Friday, February 18 – 3:30pm MST

I’m still not totally sure your letter is for real, but I’ll take a chance. I am not a boy – my real name is Charlene, but no one calls me that. I will be 12 in two weeks. I have been having a lot of fun with the Club4Girls game, only my box is bright orange. Thanks for telling me about the secret panel. I found it a few days ago, but the puzzles in it are hard, and I haven’t taken the time to finish them.

Club4Girls I checked around on the Internet and I can’t find any mention of secret levels in the game. Even the Web sites that tell all the codes for all the games didn’t have anything. The only secret they have listed for Club4Girls is the one where you hold the Shift key and press the number 4 in middle of the word “Club4Girls” on the box (it shows pictures of the people at CyberTransport, the company that made the game). I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have an older brother. My mother is a disc jockey at a radio station here, and my father is an emergency medical technician. What do you mean by going into cyberspace — is it like a chat room? Are you talking about email? Or is it a real place that we can actually go to? Let me know! – Charlie

Charlie leaned back into the chair and stretched her arms over her head. Ever since her father had put the computer in her room, she’d been spending most of her time there. She looked over to the bed, where Chip, her 2-year-old black terrier, was sleeping. Her parents had given her the puppy on her tenth birthday. As soon as they had brought him home, Chip jumped on her brother Alec’s arm and into the bag of corn chips he was eating! They decided right then on the name. In the past two years, the dog had grown very attached to the kids, but Charlie made sure Alec knew that Chip was hers. Alec was now fourteen, which Charlie and her friends agreed was the height of weirdness in a boy’s life. At times he was still a silly and obnoxious boy, but the minute a girl called on the phone, he was Mr. Ma6

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names ture, and even sounded kind of nice. Charlie and her girlfriends had many laughs about this. They couldn’t understand at all what these girls saw in Alec. Charlie knew she really loved Alec, but watching him change so much made her a little sad. She missed the days when they used to hang out together. From talking to her girlfriends who had older sisters, she knew that if Alec were a big sister instead of a big brother, he would probably still find time to do things with her. A beeping from her computer brought Charlie’s attention back to the screen. Andi had already written back. Charlie clicked on the computer’s mailbox icon. To: From: Msg: Date:

charlie@club4girls.com andi@club4girls.com More info Friday, February 18 – 6:45pm EST

Thank you for writing back. I just assumed you were a boy, which is funny because people make the same mistake when they see my name. Not only that, but we are both about the same age! I really can’t explain cyberspace — you’ve got to see it to believe it. When the secret panel opened on the Club4Girls box, I thought it was part of the regular game. So I did the puzzles. When I finished the last one, another panel opened. Inside was a paper clip and a little booklet that described something very unusual — a way to actually send your body into cyberspace. So hurry and finish the 5 puzzles! When you get the instructions, send me a note so I can be in cyberspace when you get there! — Andi

Club4Girls Charlie looked at the bright orange Club4Girls box next to her computer. She started on the first of the secret puzzles. After a few hours, she finished the last one. Just as Andi had described, the second secret panel slid open! Charlie pulled out the small booklet with her fingers and read the title: Club4Girls – Members Only!

She opened the cover and started reading. In a few minutes, she was ready to go into cyberspace. She opened her computer mail program and started typing. To: From: Msg: Date:

andi@club4girls.com charlie@club4girls.com I found it! Friday, February 18 – 11:30pm MST

I know it’s late and I hope you’re up. I did what you said and you were right about the second panel and the little book! I’m ready to go into cyberspace. I don’t think we have to send email anymore. As soon as the panel opened, the CyberPhone picture came up on my computer. Call me on the CyberPhone! — Charlie

Charlie sent the email, and pulled her glasses off to rub her nose as she stood up. It was almost midnight. She turned on the radio to the local “oldies” station where her mom worked. Bonnie Tyler was singing Total Eclipse of the Heart. Charlie only listened to this station when her mom was on the air. As the song faded out, Charlie listened for her mom’s voice. 8

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names “That song always gets to me,” her mother’s rich, throaty voice crooned from the radio. “Did you know that the song was inspired by the book Wuthering Heights? It’s two minutes till tomorrow and I’m on my way home. Alec and Charlie, if you’re awake, you shouldn’t be, but I love you anyway.” Charlie smiled as she turned off the radio. Whenever her mom had the late shift, she always closed the show with a personal message. Charlie felt warm and safe as she snuggled into her pillow and drifted into sleep.

Charlie was still deep in dreamland when the sound of a telephone ringing invaded her rest. With eyes closed, she groped for her phone on the table beside her bed. “What?” she mumbled into the receiver. She realized she was talking to a dial tone, and somehow the phone was still ringing. Charlie grabbed for her glasses; she always thought more clearly when she could see. Finally, her foggy brain cleared enough for her to realize that the ringing was coming from her computer! She turned on the monitor and saw the flashing communications box on the screen. She clicked on it and the ringing stopped. “Hello?” came a voice from the computer. “Are you there, Charlie?” Charlie looked around, then leaned toward the computer’s microphone. “This is Charlie. Is this Andi?” “Yes! It’s me. This really works!” “Have you gone into cyberspace yet?” Andi asked. “I was waiting for you. Let’s go now!” Andi hesitated for a few moments. “How about in five minutes? I’m still in my pajamas.” Charlie looked down at her nightshirt. “Me, too. Actually, I’m still half asleep!” 10

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Andi looked at her clock. It was almost eight. “What time is it there?” “Five something. But that’s okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Charlie clicked on the CyberPhone’s hang-up box. She found the pair of jeans she had kicked onto the floor last night and pulled them on, tucking her turquoise nightshirt into them. A quick look in the mirror revealed a puffy-eyed girl with glasses and rumpled clothes. Charlie shrugged, “Well, at least my hair doesn’t look too bad, right, Chip?” Chip was curled up in his usual spot at the foot of her bed, oblivious to Charlie’s question. Charlie tiptoed to the door, opened it carefully, and peeked down the hall. The house was quiet. Her family was still asleep. She closed the door and walked back to her computer. She picked up the paper clip from the Cyber-Transport box and bent one end back. When her clock said five minutes were up, she slipped the tip of the paper clip into the tiny hole in the Cyber-Transport box. At first, nothing happened. Then she felt a tingling that started at her fingers and went right to each of the hairs on her head. Suddenly, she was in a large tube hurtling forward at about fifty miles an hour — it was like one of those giant slides at a water park, but the sides were was clear. Charlie tried to scream, but she didn’t seem to be able to make any noise; in fact, she didn’t hear anything. But she could see all around her. It was like zooming through the middle of a Fourth-of11

Club4Girls July fireworks display. She was surrounded by sparkling fountains and shooting stars of electrical sparks. Bright colored lights flashed all around her as she continued to fly feet-first through the tube. After she got used to it, she decided this trip was a hundred times better than any ride at any amusement park she had ever been on! The ride ended as abruptly as it had started. Her ears started working again, because she heard a loud whoosh, as her body shot through the end of the tube and into a room. Charlie landed flat on her back on a large foam pad that must have been designed to soften her landing. She sat up slowly, shaking her head. The wild ride had left her a little dizzy. As her head cleared, she started to look around. A cool breeze brushed her face â&#x20AC;&#x201D; air conditioning, Charlie realized. Her eyes were drawn to the large, clear tubes that snaked all through what seemed to be a very large room. Some of them looked like long neon lights, and others had streams of what looked like dancing sparks shooting through them. Lights and television screens and buttons covered what looked like control panels in different corners of the room. Turning full circle, she looked back at the hole in the wall where she had popped out. On the wall next to the hole was a screen that looked like the ones for arrivals and departures at airport terminals. It was labeled Portal Monitor and it had four names on it: Charlie Andi

Status: Arrived Status: Arriving in 0:00:10

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Taylor Morgan

Status: No Access Status: No Access

The arrival time beside Andi’s name was counting down — 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 — Andi was coming through the portal! Charlie jumped out of the way just as the clock ticked down to zero. She heard another whoosh as a body shot through the portal and bounced onto the mat where she had landed earlier. Charlie tried to look relaxed as a girl about her age shook herself and rolled off the mat. “I’m still not used to that landing, but the ride is a blast, isn’t it? You must be Charlie!” Charlie smiled and nodded. “You must be Andi. And this must be…” “…cyberspace. Isn’t it unbelievable? Sorry I was late. My hair was more tangled than a bird’s nest.” Charlie looked at Andi’s silky dark blonde hair and could not imagine it ever looking anything but perfect. She put her hand up to her own thicker, coarse hair and wished she had spent more time on it. When she was younger, her hair was blonde like Andi’s, but over the years it had turned darker brown, with glints of red highlights. Andi smiled. “You have beautiful hair, Charlie. I wish mine were so thick and curly.” Charlie decided she liked this girl. “Thank you.” She pointed to the list of names on the portal monitor. Andi’s name had changed to show she had arrived. The other two names still reported “no access.” “Who are Taylor and Morgan?” 13

Club4Girls Andi shook her head. “I don’t know. Last time I was here, only our two names were on the list.” “Then you sent me the email?” Andi nodded. “When we get back to our rooms, I’ll write to one name and you can write to the other. But let’s take a fast look around first. I don’t want to stay too long, in case Jennifer starts looking for me.” “Is Jennifer your sister?” “I don’t have a sister. Jennifer takes care of me while my parents work. How about you? Do you have a sister?” Charlie shook her head. “Just one brother. He’s fourteen.” “Oh, a big brother. Is he cute?” Charlie shrugged. “He’s my brother. He doesn’t look cute to me. But more girls call him than call me. ” “You’re lucky. I wish I had a big brother.” Andi walked to a table in the middle of the room. She pointed to shelves on the wall that were filled with games and toys and playing cards. “When we have more time, we can play games here. It’s like our own secret clubhouse.” Charlie wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming, but she didn’t want to look silly in front of Andi. “I can’t believe that we’re here, face to face. You live in New York, and I live in New Mexico, but here we are — together!” Andi nodded, “I felt the same way on my first trip. It’s real, all right. Let’s do a little exploring before we have to go back home. You start over there and we’ll meet back in the middle.” 14

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names The girls spent the next few minutes reading labels on control panels, watching tubes of whirling sparks, and trying to make sense of where they were. They returned to the area in front of the portal and looked at the list of names. Next to each girl’s name was a tiny hole. Andi took out her paper clip. “You put your paper clip in here beside your name to get back. I’ll write to Taylor and you write to Morgan.” She pointed to a clock near the portal. It read 8:35 a.m. “This room seems to be in my time zone. Let’s all try to meet here tonight at nine Easter Standard Time.” “I’m Mountain Standard Time, which is two hours earlier than you. And who knows where Taylor and Morgan live.” “Good point. I’ll call you at eight o’clock my time, and we’ll coordinate with the other two.” Andi patted Charlie’s shoulder “See you tonight!” Andi poked the end of the paper clip into the hole by her name. Charlie blinked and Andi was gone with another whoosh. Charlie looked around to make sure she was alone and then pinched her arm. “Ouch! I guess I really am awake. Time to get home then.” The return trip home through cyberspace was different. Instead of a wild-colored water slide ride, Charlie felt like a giant vacuum cleaner was pulling her along so fast she couldn’t breathe. Just as she thought she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, the suction force slowed down. She was back in her room, sitting on the floor in front of her bright orange Club4Girls box.

Almost as soon as she returned to her room, Andi smelled coffee and heard the sounds of people talking. Her stomach growled as she realized how hungry she was. In the kitchen, she found Jennifer and her mother at the table reading the New York Times and sipping coffee — their usual Saturday morning routine. Her mother looked up from the paper, “Good morning, Sweetheart. You’re looking bright-eyed today.” Jennifer nodded her agreement. “And you haven’t even started drinking coffee yet.” She picked up her cup and finished her coffee with a loud slurp. Andi smirked at Jennifer. “I want to grow up to be just like you — so sophisticated.” As Andi poured herself a bowl of cereal, her mother picked up a brochure and handed it to her. “Look at this. I was thinking this would be a fun thing to do today.” Andi opened the brochure. It was about Ellis Island, the small island near Manhattan where all the immigrants had to stop and check in before they were allowed to live in America. “Do we take the ferry there?” “Yes. It’s the same one that goes to the Statue of Liberty.” 16

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Andi smiled and nodded. Her mother never had much free time, and she didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. It would be perfect if Jennifer could join them. “Can you come too, Jennifer?” “Sorry, Dear. I have to go to a few art museums for my class today.” Andi’s mother stood up and folded the paper. “Why don’t we leave in about an hour, Andi? I need to make a few calls first.” She put the paper on the table, filled her coffee cup, and carried it out of the room. As Andi poured milk on her cereal and began to eat, Jennifer looked up from her paper again. “I wonder if you have any relatives who came to Ellis Island, Andi?” “I don’t know. That’d be something, wouldn’t it? Of course, I guess they wouldn’t be blood relatives, since I’m adopted.” “No, I suppose not.” “But I can’t imagine having any other parents, so I know I’d love my parents’ relatives as much as I love them.” “When you and your mother get home, we’ll have to take a look at that huge book about your family in the library, hmm?” “Okay, I’d like that.” Somehow, even historical stuff was interesting when you looked at it with Jennifer. “I’ve got to dash, Love. Have a wonderful day.” Jennifer patted the top of Andi’s head as she left the kitchen. After breakfast, Andi went to her room while her 17

Club4Girls mother made her phone calls. She opened the drawer of her nightstand and took out her journal. February 19, 10:30 a.m. It feels like it’s been a year since I last wrote here, even though it’s been less than 24 hours! I heard back from Charlie and we actually met each other in cyberspace. We also saw the names of two other people — Taylor and Morgan. I don’t know anything about them and, after mistaking Charlie for a boy, I don’t want to make any guesses. My mom and I are going on a trip to Ellis Island in a few minutes, so I’ll cover the basics. Cyberspace is a really amazing place. It’s a big room, and there are so many things to look at and do. Charlie and I can meet there every day and talk about things and play games. It’s like having a clubhouse, but the only way to get to it is through our computers. I want to tell my parents and Jennifer about it, but I don’t want them to get all worried and take away the Club4Girls game or the computer or anything. I might try to tell my mom today — I’ll hint at it and see how she reacts. I’ve got to go — I promised Charlie that I would email “Taylor” to tell him (her?) about the secret compartment so we can meet in cyberspace.

Andi put her journal back in its drawer and opened the email program on her computer. She wrote a quick note to “taylor@club4girls.com” and sent the message. Just as the “message sent” message flashed on the screen, her mother was at her door. “Ready to go?” 18

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Andi jumped up. “Ready.” They took a taxi to Battery Park, at the southern tip of Manhattan, and caught the ferry to Ellis Island. As they neared the island, Andi’s mother started reading from the book she had picked up at the newsstand on the dock. The ferry’s large, glass windows gave them a perfect view of the island while protecting them from the frigid February wind. “Listen to this, Andi. ‘Between 1892 and 1954, twelve million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island. Today more than forty percent, or over one hundred million, of all living Americans can trace their roots to an ancestor who came through Ellis Island’.” As the ferry got closer to the Ellis Island dock, Andi imagined how the island must have looked to tired and probably frightened immigrants after a long trip over the ocean. She decided after a long crowded ocean voyage, the island must have seemed almost like a dream to them, sort of the way cyberspace felt to her. Andi and her mom spent over three hours on the island — walking, seeing the sights, and reading the historical information in the exhibits. Andi was particularly impressed with the Wall of Honor. It listed all the people who came through Ellis Island. The sign said there were more than 500,000 names on it, making it the largest wall of names in the world. They had pizza and hot cocoa for lunch, which they ate as they looked out over the harbor. The cocoa’s warmth was almost as delicious as the chocolate. Andi’s eyelids started feeling heavy, and she found herself leaning against her mom, the way she used to when she 19

Club4Girls was a little girl. When her mom put her arm around her shoulder, Andi sighed and smiled. Being on the island where so many brave people had started new lives made Andi realize how easy life was today. Today, immigrants didn’t have to take a long trip on the ocean; the plane ride from Europe to America only took six hours. With cyber-travel, even planes were old-fashioned. Andi tried to imagine jumping into cyberspace in New York and coming out in London a few moments later. Wouldn’t that be incredible? Her mom gave her another hug. “What are you thinking about?” Andi stammered, “I, uh, um, I was thinking how long it used to take immigrants to get to America by ship.” Her mother nodded. “And after that long trip, you could still be turned away, even if they just suspected you were sick.” “Mom, would you have turned anyone away if you had been one of the doctors here back then?” Her mom was quiet as she considered the question. “I would like to think that I wouldn’t. But medicine has changed a lot since then. I know how to cure more diseases than doctors did a hundred years ago.” Andi’s mom put both arms around Andi and pulled her close. “I’m just glad I live in America now, or I never would have found you.” Andi smiled. She often wondered what her life would have been like with her natural parents. But they were gone, victims of a fire that destroyed their Maryland house. A brave fireman — who still sent Andi a 20

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names card for her birthday every year — saved her from the fate of her parents. Without realizing she was doing it, Andi reached down and rubbed the scar on her calf. The skin had been burned so badly the doctors were afraid she would lose her leg. But, thanks to a certain surgeon who heard about Andi and took charge of her case, Andi’s leg was both functional and almost normal looking. The surgeon fell in love with Andi and, on her third birthday adopted her. Andi’s father often joked that, with surgery bills approaching a million dollars, it was probably the most expensive adoption in the history of the world. Andi’s dad greeted them when they walked in the door. He grabbed Andi with one arm and her mom with the other and gave them both big hugs. “How are my girls? I haven’t seen either of you all day.” Andi’s mother dropped her purse and a bag of Ellis Island souvenirs on the kitchen table. “Tired. We had a great time, didn’t we?” “We walked over every inch of that island, Dad. I wish you could have come with us.” “Me, too. But I was doing something I think you’ll like. Andi, why don’t you go take a look in your room.” Andi ran to her room. She gasped when she saw her desk — her computer was gone — and in its place was a totally different one! Andi tried not to let her panic show in her voice. “Dad, where’s my computer?” Her father smiled as he walked into her room and patted the new computer. “I upgraded you. You are 21

Club4Girls now the proud owner of the fastest system available.” Andi could feel a scream building in the back of her throat. She swallowed hard and forced a smile as she hugged her father. “Thanks, Daddy. By the way, what did you do with the Club4Girls game?” “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget it.” He pointed to the box, which was connected to the machine, but tucked behind the monitor. “See? I copied all the files from your old computer to this one. Everything should work the same as before, only faster.” Andi let out the breath she had been holding without realizing it and hugged her dad a little more enthusiastically. “Wow, thanks for doing this. I didn’t mean to seem so shocked. I guess you really surprised me.” Her father patted her on the back. “I’m glad you like it, Honey.” He turned to her mother, who had been watching. “Cathy, let’s leave Andi here to get acquainted with her new friend.” Andi’s mother closed the door as they left the room. Andi rushed to the computer, turned it on, and clicked on the Club4Girls icon. The screen came up, but the CyberPhone icon was gone. She looked for the secret compartment in the box – it was locked! Andi looked at the clock. It was half past five, and she was supposed to call Charlie on the CyberPhone at eight. She had to make it work – but how?

Charlie was so excited about her trip through cyberspace that she was halfway down the hall to her brother’s room to tell him all about it before she realized that it was still dark outside and everyone was asleep. She decided she’d better kill some time before she bothered him. Experience had taught her that a big brother awakened too early was not a happy brother. She played some of her other computer games until it was eight o’clock. Then she retraced her steps to Alec’s door and knocked softly — no answer. So she knocked more loudly — still no answer. She gave up and opened the door. Alec was lying on top of his bedspread in jeans and a T-shirt, and one earbud from his iPod was still stuck in his ear. His soft snores opened his mouth just wide enough to show off his newly straightened teeth. After two years of a braces-face brother, Charlie was still getting used to the new-andimproved Alec. He looked different — and older. She put her hands on his shoulders and gently shook him. “Alec, wake up!” Alec mumbled something incoherent, swatted at his face as if he were shooing away a bug, and rolled over, still asleep. Charlie tried again. “Wake up – I need to talk to you!” Alec turned his head and opened one eye halfway. 23

Club4Girls “Go away! I’m sleeping.” He rolled over and turned his back to her. Charlie realized she was going to have to get slightly sneaky if she were going to penetrate her brother’s stubbornness. She turned on the synthesizer next to his bed. Alec was in a band, and he was forever practicing the same songs on his keyboard over and over. She sat down and started playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star — one of the few songs she could play with two hands. She studied flute in school, but liked to play around on the keyboard once in a while. She played the whole song, but stopped on the next-to-the-last note (“… how I wonder what you...”). She got up from the piano stool, leaned against his dresser, and waited. Alec groaned and rolled off his bed, the earbud still hanging from his head. He crawled to the keyboard, and with one finger, played the final note to complete the song. He squinted up at her. “That was mean — smart, but mean.” Charlie smiled. “I had to get your attention somehow. Alec, something amazing happened this morning.” Alec folded his arms across his chest and gave her his best big brother smirk. “Let me guess, a boy from school called you?” Charlie realized her brother was fully awake — his obnoxious reflex was fully activated. But she needed to make him understand. “This is something better. I traveled in cyberspace.” “You what?” “I know it sounds crazy, but I got sucked into the 24

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names computer, and it took me on this totally wild ride, and I landed in a huge cyber-room, and met a girl named Andi, and we agreed to meet again, and…” Alec started waving both hands as if trying to stop a fast-approaching train. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Look, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is this one of those stupid girl books you like to read?” Charlie almost turned around and left Alec’s room. He made her so mad when he teased her like that. He made her sound like she was just a kid. But she needed him to understand. “Just come with me to my room and I’ll show you.” Alec followed Charlie back to her room, muttering something about crazy sisters and lost sleep. She pointed to her computer screen where the Club4Girls program was running. The CyberPhone icon was still visible. “See this? It’s a CyberPhone. I can call Andi and we can talk through our computers.” “Who’s this Andy guy?” “Andrea is a girl. She’s my new friend. I met her in cyberspace. I told you this already. Weren’t you listening? Watch.” She picked up the paper clip and poked it into the hole in the Cyber-Transport box, closing her eyes. Nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she saw Alec rolling his eyes and raising his hands to the sky as if to say, “Why me?” “You woke me for this?” Charlie could feel her face getting hot. Had she dreamed the whole thing? No, her arm was still sore 25

Club4Girls from where she had pinched herself when she was in the cyber-room before she came back. Andi and cyberspace were real, she knew it! Alec turned to leave. “Wait, Alec. I don’t know why this part isn’t working, but I can still call Andi on the CyberPhone. Watch.” Charlie moved the computer mouse so that the cursor was on Andi’s name and clicked. It dialed and rang, and rang, and rang. Charlie shook her head, “Why doesn’t she pick up?” Alec laughed. “Maybe she’s lost in cyberspace. Oh, no! Who will solve the mystery?” He was still laughing as he walked out of the room. Charlie was so frustrated she started to tear the Club4Girls box away from the computer and throw it in the trash. At the last second, she decided to throw her sneaker against the door instead. It made a satisfying thud that woke Chip long enough for him to bark at her. As she was apologizing to her pet, she remembered her promise to send email to Morgan. Leaving Chip to settle back down on her bed, she returned to her computer and started writing. To: From: Msg: Date:

morgan@club4girls.com charlie@club4girls.com Are you there? Saturday, February 19 – 8:12am MST

We are having our first meeting tonight at 9:00 Eastern Standard Time. Your name was in the secret clubhouse. Just finish the extra puzzles in the Club4Girls game and you’ll get instructions on how to

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names meet us. I don’t know if anything will work, or if you will find the secret compartment, but I wanted to tell you about the meeting. Andi and I have already met and we hope you (and Taylor) can join us! Sincerely, Charlie P.S. Andi and Charlie are short for Andrea and Charlene, but don’t call us that.

Charlie clicked her mouse pointer on the Send button, and her email was on its way. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be in cyberspace again, but she had promised to write to Morgan, and she had now kept her promise. If it turned out that Morgan didn’t have the secret compartment — or if it wasn’t working — Charlie hadn’t said anything too embarrassing. She was embarrassed enough over trying to show Alec cyberspace. She wished she had never bothered to wake him up. But it was a reflex to depend on Alec. She always had. Before they were adopted, their younger years were pretty tough. They were living in Phoenix then. Their father was a bus driver, but something made him change. He began drinking all the time. Then their mother started drinking too. Charlie was too little to remember, but Alec had told her how they used to hide under his bed at night when their drunken parents would scream at each other, throwing dishes, and calling each other names. Alec told her that things really got bad when her parents starting using drugs on top of the alcohol they were already drinking. He said it was as if their parents 27

Club4Girls forgot they had children. Alec was only four at the time, but he took care of Charlie, feeding her and changing her diapers. When he couldn’t find anything to eat in the refrigerator, he would carry Charlie to a neighbor’s house and ask for something to eat. When their father found out Alec had been begging for food, he was furious. When Alec tried to explain that he was only trying to feed little Charlie, his father began to beat Alec. Charlie was glad she couldn’t remember any of this, because Alec told her that next she tried to stop their father from hurting Alec. When her father picked her up, she struggled so hard that he dropped her, and she fell right through their glass coffee table. The shattered glass cut her leg so deeply that she was taken to a hospital emergency room. At the hospital, the emergency room doctors examined Charlie as they stitched the gash in her leg. It was obvious to them that she was malnourished and neglected. They called the police. The next day, both Charlie and Alec were in foster care. When their natural parents decided to give them up for adoption, their foster parents asked Alec and Charlie if they wanted to join their family. “Yes!” Alec had shouted for the two of them. And they had been with their new parents ever since. A year ago, their mother was offered a job at a Santa Fe radio station, and they moved. Their dad, an emergency medical technician, had no trouble finding a job in their new city. Charlie looked at the long, white scar on her leg and tried to imagine what her life would be like now if she 28

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names hadn’t been taken away from her natural parents. Alec certainly wouldn’t have straight teeth, if he had any teeth at all. And she could have starved to death. She was probably the luckiest adopted kid ever. Suddenly, Charlie felt cold and small. She crawled onto her bed and picked up her still-sleeping dog. Chip barked a greeting and licked her nose before he snuggled down into her lap to continue his nap. “We’re both lucky, Chip. Mom and Dad adopted me and Alec, and then we got to adopt you.”

Even when unoccupied, the cyberspace room seemed alive. Streams of numbers, letters, and other data whizzed through bundles of glass cables, colored lights constantly flickered and flashed, and a low hum filled the air, as if a million bees swarmed invisibly everywhere. Only a few people knew about the room. Even most of the 23,000 people who worked three hundred feet above it in the world’s largest office building didn’t know it existed. The room was built more than a half-century earlier to conduct secret studies in space travel. The whole thing started because of the space race between the United States and Russia. Russia launched a rocket called the Sputnik, the world’s first space satellite. The race to the moon was on! In the next few years, the race continued, as both sides sent more rockets into space. The United States won the race in 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and the first person ever — an American — walked on its cold, dusty surface. Meanwhile, in the secret room, a scientist developed a theory about another kind of space travel – from computer to computer. To test his theory, Dr. Carl Mitchell needed money to build the giant computer to make it all 30

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names work. He wrote a report to a government agency that explained his discovery and how much money it would cost to try it out. He didn’t get the money. The race to the moon had used up all the agency’s funds, so there was nothing left for something as strange-sounding as computer travel. The secret room was closed, and Dr. Mitchell was assigned to another project. He took his report home and put it in a box in the attic, where it stayed until his death thirty years later. It was his daughter, Maria, who found the report. While the other members of her family were going through his house looking for things of value, Maria sat in the attic, reading about her father’s ideas. He loved everything about science; in fact, he was thrilled when his wife agreed to name his daughter after the famous American astronomer, Maria Mitchell. And Maria lived up to her name. She, too, was mesmerized by all things scientific. But even their common interest, Maria felt she had never really gotten to know her father very well. But reading his research report, Experiments in Computer Travel, changed all that. As she read his report, she began to understand that her father was quiet because he was a genius, always thinking about exciting new ideas. He hadn’t really been reserved; his mind was preoccupied with inventions that could change the world. Still in her twenties, Maria was considered to be pretty smart too. She was a computer expert in charge of finding new ways to locate missing kids. Some were kidnapped, some abducted by one parent after a di31

Club4Girls vorce, and some were just gone. In the two years since her father’s death, she had been working on a special project — she was trying to find a way to use computer travel to find a girl who had been kidnapped more than eight years earlier. Everyone said that what she was trying to do was impossible. But they didn’t know her father, and they hadn’t read the report. It was like the space program — she had gotten the project launched, but now she needed to get to the moon. She needed to find the missing girl to prove the usefulness of her father’s ideas. And the key to finding the missing girl was the cyberspace room. Across the room from the portal where the girls accessed cyberspace, was a long wall with lights and tubes and switches. A tone sounded and a section of the wall slid open – revealing a hidden room. Maria Mitchell stepped out of the hidden room and pulled her long, blonde hair away from her face. Her identification badge, with her photograph and name printed in black letters, was clipped to her white lab coat. She held a clipboard with a notebook on it. As she walked around the room looking at different things, she jotted down notes. She looked at the Voice Lab console and the Fingerprint Maze test. Neither of them had been used. She walked to the table in the middle of the room, and to the Body Restoration and Touch-up console. She checked the portal monitor; it now displayed four names: Charlie Andi

Status: Full Access Status: Full Access

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Taylor Morgan

Status: Full Access Status: Full Access

As she was jotting down this information, the portal lights started flashing. Maria looked up at the clock — it was one minute before 9:00 p.m. The girls must be meeting now! Maria ran for the wall that hid her secret room. When she pushed a button on the wall, a small panel slid open to reveal what looked like a number pad on a telephone. She quickly punched in several numbers. When the secret door opened, she dropped her clipboard, which knocked her badge off her coat as it fell. She was in such a hurry to grab the clipboard and get inside the room that she didn’t see the badge that had bounced several feet away. Just as the secret door closed, the first girl whooshed out of the portal and bounced onto the landing pad. It was Andi! It had finally occurred to her to check the external wires on her new computer. Sure enough, her dad had forgotten to connect the cable from her Club4Girls box to the computer. When she plugged it in, everything had worked. She called Charlie at 8:00 p.m. her time, as planned. Neither of them had heard from Morgan or Taylor, but they agreed to go ahead with the meeting an hour later. Just as Andi stepped off the pad, the lights flashed again as Charlie arrived. Charlie jumped up and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re real!” she exclaimed. Just then, the lights started flashing again. “I’ll explain what I mean later,” Charlie said. 33

Club4Girls The girls moved closer together. They didn’t know whom to expect. The portal monitor said it was Morgan who was arriving. The body that popped out was another girl! Seconds later, the lights beside Taylor’s name started flashing. Andi and Charlie helped Morgan get out of the way just as Taylor landed on the pad. Taylor was a girl too, but her left leg below the knee was missing! “Your leg!” Andi pointed at Taylor’s missing leg. “Where did it go?” Charlie reached out her hand to help Taylor stand. “Are you hurt?” Taylor shook her head. Her dark brown hair flipped from side to side. “I’m fine. I was missing the leg before I got here.” The girls stared at Taylor’s missing leg as she leaned on Charlie. “My name is Taylor, and I don’t usually leave my room like this. But a minute ago, I was sitting at my computer, playing with that yellow box and…” “…mine is hot pink,” Morgan interrupted. “My box is bright orange,” said Charlie. “And mine is lime green,” said Andi. She looked at Taylor, who was trying to comb her hair with her fingers. “I’m sorry about this. I wrote you a short note and I really didn’t say that we’d all be meeting face to face!” Charlie helped Taylor to a chair. “This is not your normal chat room.” She looked at Morgan, whose bright green eyes were moving all around the room. “And you must be Morgan, right?” 34

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Morgan nodded. “That was the most amazing ride I ever took. Where are we?” Andi cleared her throat. “I think it’s cyberspace.” “But where is this room?” Morgan persisted. “New York? Los Angeles? Tokyo? Mars?” The girls looked to Andi, who shrugged. “Maybe we can find out by looking around.” Charlie put her hand on Andi’s shoulder. “First, I think we should introduce ourselves. I’m Charlie and I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.” “I’m Taylor. I live in Seattle, Washington.” “Morgan — from Tampa, Florida.” “I’m Andi, and I live in New York. I think there are enough of us now to form an official club.” Morgan nodded. “And this is our clubhouse. What should we call it?” “The Virtual Club?” Charlie offered. “How about the Secret Virtual Club?” Andi suggested. Taylor half-raised her hand. “What if we use the title of the game? After all, there are four of us?” The girls all smiled. Andi nodded. “Perfect. All those in favor of Club4Girls say aye!” “Aye!” they all shouted. “All opposed say nay!” The room was silent. “The ayes have it. We are now officially the Club4Girls. What do we want to do first?” Taylor started to get up from her chair. “I want to go back to my room and get my prosthesis.” 35

Club4Girls Charlie moved to help Taylor. “Your what?” Taylor pointed to her leg. “That’s the medical name for fake body parts.” She started moving toward the portal. “Wait!” said Andi. “If you leave now, you can’t come back until after midnight.” Taylor frowned. “Why not?” “I finally read the rest of the little booklet.” She pointed to the clock on the wall. It read 9:25 p.m. “The system will only let you into cyberspace twice a day — once when the clock says a.m., and once when it says p.m.” “Ohhh,” said Charlie, “so that’s why it wouldn’t work when I was trying to show Alec.” “Alec? Isn’t he your older brother?” Andi asked. Charlie nodded. “He thought I made the whole thing up. And for a while there,” she explained, “I thought he might be right.” She looked at Andi. “That’s why I hugged you so hard when I saw you.” Andi smiled. “So your brother still thinks you made it up?” Charlie nodded. “It’s probably better that way,” said Taylor, “or the secret would be out.” “We’ll all have to tell our parents at some point,” said Andi, “but first, I think we should get a better idea of what this place is exactly.” Andi pointed to Taylor and Charlie, who were helping Taylor stand. “Why don’t you two take that side, and Morgan and I will look over here.” Taylor pointed to a series of what looked liked computer games. “Look at all these puzzles. It’s like being 36

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names inside of a big computer game.” Charlie nodded. “I can’t wait to try them out.” They moved to a flashing console on the wall and pushed the Start button. Meanwhile, Andi and Morgan had discovered the game chest and were sitting at the table putting together a puzzle. Andi noticed that Morgan had a habit of twirling her shiny auburn hair around her finger and staring off into space when she was thinking hard. It was while Morgan was staring that she noticed the badge on the floor. She jumped up from the table and ran to pick it up. “What’s that?” Charlie asked. The girls crowded around Morgan for a closer look at her discovery. Morgan turned the badge over in her hand. “I think it’s an identification badge.” Charlie nodded as she adjusted her glasses. “Yes, my dad wears a badge sort of like this when he’s at work. Whenever he can’t find it, he runs around the house like a crazy person looking for it.” Andi laughed and nodded. “My mother is the same way.” Taylor rubbed her chin. “I wonder just who this Maria Mitchell is?” Morgan pointed to the company name and logo on the badge. “I think that Cyber-Transport is the name of the company that made Club4Girls. Do you think it could be part of another game?” Andi took the badge from Morgan and inspected it closely. “I don’t think so. This badge looks like the real 37

Club4Girls thing to me.” Taylor moved to sit down again. “Maybe she comes in after we’re gone to clean the place, you know, like a maid.” Morgan shook her head. “She doesn’t look like a cleaning person to me.” Charlie’s brow furrowed as she pondered possibilities. “If this badge is important to her, she may come back for it soon. Why don’t we set up a video camera to run when we’re not here? Then maybe we can see what this Maria Mitchell person is doing in here.” Morgan’s little finger busily twirled hair. “Isn’t that spying?” Charlie shook her head. “She might be spying on us. And if she is, we need to know more about her.” The other girls nodded their agreement. “Great!” Andi said. “Now all we need is a video camera. I can bring the new one I got for Christmas. But it takes eight double-A batteries, and I think mine are dead.” Taylor half raised her hand. “I can bring the four batteries from my MP3 player.” Morgan nodded. “I can bring mine too. That gives us the eight batteries. But we’ll need to set the camera somewhere. Do you have a tripod, Andi?” Andi shook her head as Charlie cleared her throat. “I’ve got a tripod that’ll work. Shall we meet back here early tomorrow morning?” Morgan took the badge from Andi and put it back on the floor where she had found it. “What time tomorrow? Andi and I are in the same time zone, which 38

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names seems to be the same time zone as this room.” Andi looked at her watch and then the clock on the wall. “You’re right. And Charlie is two hours earlier, and Taylor is three hours earlier. We need to make it pretty early, so our families won’t notice we’re gone. How about 9:00 a.m. my time? My parents always sleep late on Sundays.” Taylor nodded. “That’ll work for me, but I can’t stay too long. We have church in the morning, and then we’re going to visit relatives.” Charlie stuck out her tongue. “Ugh, I hate visiting relatives. All they say is ‘I can’t believe how big you are’, and then they talk about how time flies. It’s the same every time.” Morgan nodded. “I used to agree with you, but I have a cousin who just got a new neighbor. He’s thirteen and totally cute.” Andi smiled. “Lucky. So will nine o’clock my time tomorrow morning work for everyone?” The girls nodded their agreement. Charlie helped Taylor get up and walked her to the portal, where she inserted her paper clip into the hole next to her name, and whooshed away. Andi watched as Charlie and Morgan left. As she was about to put in her paper clip, she stopped and turned to look back at the room. “Whoever you are, Maria Mitchell, we’re going to figure you out.” Then Andi was gone, leaving the room empty of people, but full of puzzles still to solve.

The return trip through cyberspace seemed faster to Taylor, and she didn’t notice any lights this time. She was just starting to worry about how hard she was going to land in her room when she realized she had floated to the floor like a feather, so gently, she didn’t notice until she felt the floorboards underneath her. Riley, her Pekinese puppy, wagged his tail and barked as he jumped into her arms. Taylor rubbed Riley’s ears and cooed, “Did you miss me, cutie?” She pulled herself up as she heard a soft knock on the door. “Come in.” Her mother’s brow was full of worry lines when she opened the door. “Is everything all right?” Taylor tried to look nonchalant. “Sure, Mom, why do you ask?” Taylor’s mother walked to the window and looked out. “I’ve never heard Riley bark like that. He sounded almost frightened.” She turned back to Taylor. “You should probably get to bed early tonight. We have a big day tomorrow.” Taylor nodded. “I know. I promise.” Her mother bent and kissed the top of her head. “And I want you to wear that new blue outfit we bought 40

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names last week.” “Sure, Mom. I was planning on it.” “Sweet dreams, Honey.” “Goodnight, Mom.” As Taylor watched her mom close the door, she thought about how different her life could have been. She had been born with what the doctors called a “limb deficiency.” Taylor thought that was a fancy way to hide what it really was — a missing leg below the knee. Her birth parents must have been horrified the minute they got a look at her. She was told that her natural father walked out of the delivery room right after the birth. She was two months old when she was put up for adoption. When she was a little over two, the couple who adopted her saw her for the first time. Her mom told her it was love at first site. Because adoptions take a long time and a lot of paperwork, her parents took her in as a foster child first, so they could be with her. After a year, all the paperwork was completed, and she became an official part of the family. Her father owned a garage that specialized in fixing exotic cars. He could fix anything mechanical, and he was always tinkering with her artificial leg. He fixed it so that Taylor could walk with almost no limp at all. Her mother was a software developer at a big computer company in Redmond, and she often brought Taylor to work with her. Taylor liked sharing her mother’s office. She would work on her homework or play games on the other computer in the office while her mom’s keyboard clicked as she typed in computer code. 41

Club4Girls One day when it was time to go, her mother was so busy typing in code that Taylor didn’t want to disturb her mom’s concentration by speaking. So she went to the other computer in the room and sent her mom an instant message: “Mom, I know u r busy but my piano lesson is @ 5:30 Love, T” Taylor wasn’t even sure her mother had seen her message, until she got one back: “Sorry, Taylor – let’s go now! Love, Mom” On the way home, they laughed about the messages. “You do know, Sweetheart, that you can talk to me anytime you want.” “I know, Mom. But I kind of like hearing the keyboard click as you type. It’s sort of, well, comforting, I guess.” Her mother smiled. “You know, years ago, the only clicking a child would hear from her mother would be from knitting needles.” Taylor smirked. “What’s a knitting needle?” Taylor chuckled at the joke she had made as she brushed her teeth. Before she climbed into bed, she picked up her MP3 player, removed the four batteries, and put them on the desk next to the Club4Girls box. “That way, I won’t forget them, no matter how sleepy I am.” She set her alarm clock for 5:30 a.m., and pulled the covers over her shoulders. In New York, Andi was getting ready for bed too. When she had returned from cyberspace, she was hungry. She found her dad in the kitchen watching the news on the little TV that was mounted under one of 42

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names the cabinets. He smiled when he saw her and turned off the television. “Hi, Andi. Are you tired from your big day?” Andi almost choked on the milk she was drinking. Did he know about cyberspace? She decided to try to act casual. “Yes, Ellis Island wore me out. Where’s Mom and Jennifer?” “Jennifer is out on a date, and Mom is taking a shower. Where have you been? I came looking for you about twenty minutes ago.” Andi put the glass down too hard and sloshed milk on the counter. She grabbed a towel and started soaking up the mess. “I was, uh, well, I was playing…” Her father cut her off. “…with your hair again? I noticed – I like it,” he said, smiling. “How do you like the new computer?” “I love it, Daddy. It’s really fast.” Andi decided to try to change the subject. “Did you work all day?” “No. After you left, I played tennis at the club, which was more work than work.” Andi smiled at her dad’s joke. “I want to play tennis with you sometime soon.” Her father looked at his watch. “I know I can get a court tomorrow morning around seven. Are you game?” Andi hesitated, remembering her next meeting with the girls in cyberspace. Her dad smiled. “What – you have a previous appointment at seven in the morning?” “I, uh, well, it’s just so early.” Her father laughed. “You sound more and more like 43

Club4Girls a teenager each day. How about we find a time later in the day?” “That’d be great, Dad.” Andi made herself a peanut butter and potato chip sandwich, her current favorite, and chatted some more with her dad while she ate. As they both got up from the table, her dad shook his head and gave her a hug. “I remember the good old days when I could eat like that.” “Poor Daddy,” Andi teased, as she shoved the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth. They both laughed as her father kissed her on the head and left the room. “Goodnight, Daddy,” she called after him. Back in her bedroom, Andi was about to turn out the light, when she remembered her journal. “If I get too far behind, I’ll never catch up,” she said to herself, “I’ll just hit the highlights.” She pulled out her journal from her nightstand drawer and started writing. February 19, 11:15 p.m. I met the other two girls today and we decided to form a club. We’re calling it the Club4Girls. I’ve always wanted a sister my age, and now I have three! We had some time to explore the cyber-room today. There are so many fun things to do. I can’t wait to get back tomorrow morning. And we have a mystery to solve — Morgan found what looks like an identification badge of a young woman on the floor. We figure that means that she comes to our clubhouse too. And we want to know why. We have a plan to see what she’s up to.

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names One other thing — Dad asked me where I was today. He must have been looking for me while I was in cyberspace. I didn’t exactly lie to him, but I also didn’t tell him where I was. I know I promised I would always tell my parents where I was going, but how do you explain cyber-travel? I’m going to ask the other girls what they think. We’re meeting again in the morning, so I’d better get some sleep.

Andi put her journal back in the drawer. She yawned and stretched her arms over her head before she turned out the light.

Morgan was the first to arrive in cyberspace the next morning. She had awakened about an hour early and just couldn’t wait to go back. She clasped the batteries in her left hand and used her right hand to poke the paper clip into the hot pink game box. She almost wasn’t able to hold onto the batteries during the wild ride through cyberspace. It took all her concentration to keep her hand closed around them as she twisted and turned through the exploding light show. She did drop them as she hit the landing pad. She rolled off the pad, scooped up the batteries and set them on the table. The first thing she noticed as she began to inspect her surroundings was that the badge was still on the floor. Good — that meant they still had time to catch Maria Mitchell on video. To pass the time till the other girls arrived, she started playing with a voice game. She talked into the microphone, and the sound waves made by her voice displayed on a screen. Then she replayed the voice at different speeds — from deep and slow to fast and squeaky. The fast version was so funny she got a serious case of the giggles. She played it over five times. Next, the machine scrambled the words she had spoken and changed their speeds. Her task was to put the words 46

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names back together the way she had first said them. It was hard, but she figured it out. She had just finished when the portal lights started flashing and Taylor arrived. Only this time she seemed to have two legs. Her jeans and sneakers looked like any other girl’s clothes. When she bounced onto the landing pad, she dropped her batteries, just the way Morgan had. Morgan picked up the batteries and bent to help Taylor off the pad. “Don’t you need crutches or something to help you walk?” Taylor shook her head. “I keep a cane in my room, but I haven’t used it for over a year. My dad has fixed up my prosthesis so I can even run when I want to.” “Wow. I think you’re really brave to be willing to do all that. It must be hard.” Taylor shrugged. “I’ve never thought of myself as brave. I guess if I think anyone’s been brave, it’s my parents — for adopting me. They’ve always loved me and treated me as if I were a whole person, so I guess I think and act like a whole person.” “You’re adopted? So am I!” Taylor’s eyes opened wide. “But you’re perfect. Why would anyone give you up for adoption?” “My real mother was fourteen when she had me, and my real father never even admitted that he was my father. My birth mother thought adoption would be best for me.” “You ever see her?” Morgan shook her head. “I don’t think she wanted me to. My parents let me write to her, but she’s never 47

Club4Girls written back. What about your birth parents?” Taylor pointed to her leg. “They couldn’t deal with my missing leg.” She patted her prosthesis. “I bet they’d be surprised to see me now!” Before Morgan could reply, the portal monitor lights flashed, indicating the arrival of first Charlie, and finally Andi. Andi opened the gym bag she had brought with her and took out a small video camera. Charlie set up the tripod she had brought with her. Andi took the batteries from Morgan and Taylor and checked the camera’s power. It was working. The girls inspected the room for an out-of-the-way spot to hide the camera. It had to be somewhere with a good view of the badge lying on the floor. They soon settled on the corner across from the badge. They tucked the camera in between two data pipes. With all the flashing lights and the low hum of the equipment, the camera was hardly noticeable. Andi stepped back from the camera to inspect their work. “Perfect. I’ll put it in surveillance mode. That way it will only record when someone’s in the room.” Morgan looked around nervously. “Don’t record us! I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.” Andi laughed. “Relax. I won’t turn it on until just before we go.” Morgan sighed and pointed to the badge still on the floor. “Good. Then we’ll see if she comes back for her badge.” Now that their work was done, the girls decided to hang out for awhile and play some games. They all sat 48

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names around the table as Andi picked up a deck of cards and started dealing them. She looked up from the cards. “Does everyone know how to play Hearts?” Morgan and Taylor nodded as Charlie shook her head. “No, but I’m a quick learner. And I guess I should learn it before I’m twelve.” Andi looked back up from her cards. “When’s your birthday?” “Two weeks this Tuesday.” “I just turned twelve last month,” said Taylor. “How old are you, Morgan?” “I’ll be twelve in three months.” The girls looked at Andi. “I guess I’m the oldest then. I turned twelve three months ago.” Charlie rubbed her chin. “This is getting a little strange. We’re all girls with boys’ names, and we’re all about the same age.” Andi looked at the other girls closely. “Even stranger — we all have green eyes.” Taylor put her cards down on the table. “OK, let’s see what else we have in common. Who has a pet?” The girls all raised their hands. Morgan hugged herself. “Wow! This is starting to give me goose bumps. I wonder what else we have in common?” Andi nodded. “I agree we have a lot to talk about, but we’d better not stay too long. I keep worrying that someone will go into my room and turn off the computer.” Taylor frowned. “I never thought about that.” 49

Club4Girls Morgan and Taylor looked at each other. Taylor nodded. Morgan cleared her throat. “Taylor and I have something else in common.” Taylor nodded. “Yes, we’re both adopted.” “So am I!” Andi and Charlie shouted together. They were all silent for a moment as each girl considered these incredible coincidences. Then everyone tried to talk at once. “We’re all adopted? This can’t be a coincidence.” “This is really weird. I’m getting goose bumps on my goose bumps.” “Could we be from the same family?” “Is that the reason we’re allowed to be here?” Morgan twirled her hair. “We can’t be real sisters, because we’re too close in age.” Andi nodded. “Yeah. And my parents really did die in a fire. I’ve seen the newspaper clippings.” Charlie held up her hands for silence. “Wait! I want to figure out why we have so much in common, too. But we have to get back. It’d be just like my brother to come into my room and start messing around with my computer.” Morgan stood up. “Let’s meet again tonight. How about eleven?” Taylor looked at the clock on the wall. “That would be eight my time, and nine for Charlie. That’ll work for me. Everyone else?” The girls all nodded. Taylor got up and walked to the portal. “This is definitely more than a coincidence. Maybe the camera will give us some new clues.” She put her paper clip in the 50

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names hole next to her name and was gone. Charlie checked the tripod one more time, then followed Taylor. Morgan waved good-bye to Andi as she left. Andi turned on the camera and ran to the portal. Only the camera remained behind — waiting for a movement to trigger it into action. The camera wasn’t idle long. Barely five minutes went by before the secret door slid open as Maria Mitchell stepped out from the hidden room.

The first thing Maria saw was her badge on the floor. “I was right!” she said. She had spent hours searching her apartment for the badge, and had finally decided to come in to work and check the secret room. She squatted down and picked up the badge. As she brushed it off and attached it to her lab coat, she looked around the cyber-room. She pulled the clipboard out from under her arm, walked over to the first console, and started taking notes. She moved from console to console, writing down numbers and names. She walked right up to the data pipes that hid the video camera, but she was so preoccupied with recording data that she didn’t see it. After finishing her rounds, she walked back to the wall that hid the secret door and pushed a button. The small panel that disguised the keypad slid open. She punched in a few numbers, and the secret door opened. Without a look back, she walked into the hidden room as the door closed behind her. The video camera’s soft whir stopped as soon as the secret door closed. Inside the hidden room, Maria looked at a large board on the wall where she had constructed a chart with the names of the girls and information about them.

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Trait Girl Boy’s Name Age 11-12 Adopted Adopted at age 3 Blonde at age 3 Green eyes Lost birth certificate Scar on right leg Plays instrument Has pet Voice match Fingerprint match Best name match

Andi Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? No ?

Charlie Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No ? ?

Taylor Morgan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? No No

After looking at the notes on her clipboard, she picked up a marker and wrote the word “no” next to some items. She stepped back and studied the board. She let out a sigh. “Where are you, little Casey?” As if to answer her question, one of the computers in the room started beeping. It was Morgan calling Taylor on her CyberPhone. Maria turned up the volume so she could listen to what they were saying. Taylor: Hello? Morgan: It’s me, Morgan. You get back all right? Taylor: Yes, and I can’t wait to go back. Morgan: Me, too. My parents were looking for me while I was gone.

Club4Girls Taylor: What did you say? Morgan: I started telling them about cyberspace, but that only made them mad. Taylor: Did you get in trouble? Morgan: My father thinks that I lied, and Mom says she’s disappointed in me. They might ground me. Taylor: Being stuck in your room is not so bad. Morgan: You don’t understand. Grounding means no computer! Taylor: I hear my parents coming. Let me know what happens. Morgan: If I’m grounded, I won’t be able to contact you. Just tell the other girls. Taylor: Okay. Good luck. Bye.

Maria frowned as she turned down the volume and walked to the elevator. She reached into her pocket and retrieved the special key that opened the elevator. She sighed again as the elevator door closed. As Morgan clicked off her CyberPhone, she heard scratching at her door — it could only be Oscar. She opened the door and bent to pick up her two-year old brown Dachshund. He closed his eyes and snuggled in her arms as she scratched him under his chin and worried about what her parents were deciding. Morgan’s parents were strict, but fair. Her dad was almost forty and had retired from the Navy a few years earlier. Now he was Operations Manager at one of the 54

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names big plants just outside of Tampa. Her mother was a physical therapist with her own practice near one of the big hospitals. They had taught her that success took hard work, and part of being successful was behaving responsibly — all the time. Her parents knocked and entered her room with serious expressions on their faces. Oscar jumped out of Morgan’s arms and onto her bed. Morgan folded her hands together. “Please don’t ground me. I’ll do extra chores.” Her mother nodded. “Extra chores are good, and we’re not going to ground you.” Her father pointed to the computer. “We bought this to help you with school — not to be an expensive video game machine.” Morgan put her hand on the computer monitor. “I write all my reports on it.” Her father’s voice softened. “I know, Honey, but for the next month, no computer games.” He picked up the cardboard box for Club4Girls. Morgan tried to keep her voice steady. “That’s educational.” Her father rolled his eyes at her mother and smiled at Morgan. “Show me one educational thing about this game and I’ll let you hold on to it. Otherwise, I’m taking it with me right now.” Morgan wished she could tell her parents just exactly how much she had learned thanks to the virtual clubhouse, but she knew now was not the right moment. She sat down at the computer, clicked on the game icon, and game choices filled the screen. When 55

Club4Girls she clicked on one of the trivia quizzes, a list of questions came up. Veterinarian Training, Level One Match Group Name with Animal Example: A Troop – of Kangaroos Labor Pack Rag Gang Litter Bale Dray String Flock

Sheep Squirrels Ponies Moles Dogs Colts Elk Cubs Turtles

Morgan looked at her parents. “Do you want me to do it?” Her father’s eyes widened as he nodded. Morgan started matching names. Fortunately, she had just studied this topic in school a few weeks ago. Her father was shaking his head. “I thought this was one of those shoot-the-bad-guys games.” Morgan stuck out her tongue as she continued working on the quiz. “Daddy, please, I’m a girl. Why would I want to shoot bad guys?” She matched the last name and then clicked on the “Done” button. The screen displayed her score: 100%! You’re ready for Level 2!

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Morgan looked up at her parents. Her father looked a little confused, and her mother looked as if she were trying not to smile. Morgan opened her desk drawer and took out a copy of a game she hadn’t played for months. She handed the game to her dad. “Now this game has no educational value at all.” Her father accepted Morgan’s peace offering, and kissed her on the head. “I’ll take it instead then.” He left the room. Morgan’s mother put her hands on Morgan’s shoulders and bent to kiss her cheek. “Next time you leave the house, just let us know, okay?” Morgan nodded. Her mother squeezed her shoulders and closed the door behind her as she left. Morgan picked up the Club4Girls box and hugged it. “That was a close one.” Asleep on Morgan’s bed, Oscar whimpered. His legs began jerking as he chased the neighbor’s cat in his dreams.

Her answers were: a troop of kangaroos, a flock of sheep, a dray of squirrels, a string of ponies, a labor of moles, a pack of dogs, a rag of colts, a gang of elk, a litter of cubs, bale of turtles.

Andi looked at the clock beside her bed. It was almost time for their meeting. Jennifer’s mid-term exam was on Wednesday, so she was in her room studying pictures of art and trying to memorize facts about them. Her parents had gone to bed early. Tomorrow was Presidents Day, but Andi was the only one in her family who had the day off. She took out her journal. February 20, 10:45 p.m. We’ll see tonight if anyone else is using our clubhouse. It still amazes me to think about meeting other girls from all over the country in cyberspace — especially girls who are so like me. At first we thought we might all be related, like quadruplets. But our birthdays aren’t the same, and our birth parents were definitely all different. I’ve also been wondering why only four of us have made it to the virtual clubhouse. I read that thousands of Club4Girls games have been sold, so where are the others? All these mysteries are making me crazy. I hope we find some answers soon. Gotta go.

Andi peeked into the hall and then closed the door. She picked up the paper clip and turned out the lights. If 58

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Jennifer got bored studying and wanted to talk, she wouldn’t knock if she thought Andi was asleep. By the light of her computer monitor, Andi walked to the computer and pushed the paper clip into the hole. The other girls helped her up from the pad. Andi looked at her watch. No matter what time zone they came from, they were all early. Charlie nodded at Andi’s watch. “We couldn’t stand to wait another second. We just finished hooking up the camera to one of the television monitors.” “Anything on it?” Morgan reached for the Play button. “We haven’t had a chance to check yet.” The first few frames showed Andi stepping away from the camera and running to the portal. The girls giggled. They stopped laughing when next they saw a hidden door open and a blonde-haired woman walk into their room. Taylor pointed at the woman. “That’s the woman on the badge!” Morgan chewed on a lock of her hair as she studied the video. “She’s very pretty, and taller than I imagined.” They watched as Maria picked up the badge, and walked around to all the consoles, taking notes. Charlie adjusted her glasses. “I wonder what she’s writing down?” Andi frowned. “I wonder if when we play games here, it tells her something about us.” Taylor turned to Andi. “What would games tell her? 59

Club4Girls What do you think she’s looking for?” None of the girls could think of an answer. They watched as Maria pushed the button on the wall to open the panel hiding the keypad. Charlie looked from the video to the actual wall where Maria had pushed the button. “Did you see that? I can’t even see where that button is.” On the video, Maria punched in numbers on the keypad, and the hidden door opened. She stepped through it. When the door closed behind her, the video recording stopped. Andi stood up, pressed the Rewind button, and stopped at the point where Maria was pressing the numbers on the keypad. Andi pushed the Zoom button to get a close-up of the keypad. She hit Play, and the girls watched as Maria’s finger pressed the buttons. Charlie leaned toward the screen. “5-3-5-something. Rewind it and play it again.” As Andi replayed it, she froze the frame just as Maria punched in the last number. She stood up. “That last number’s a 9. It’s 5-3-5-9. Let’s try it.” The girls jumped up and ran to the wall, looking for the button. Taylor found it first and pressed it. The panel slid open, revealing the keypad they’d seen on the video. Andi pressed the buttons — 5-3-5-9 — and the secret door opened! The girls hesitated. Andi straightened her shoulders and walked in. The other girls followed closely behind her. Taylor spoke first. “This room doesn’t look anything like our virtual clubhouse room.” 60

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Morgan nodded. “I’ve seen rooms like this before. My father used to be in the Navy, and this room reminds me of a place they call the War Room.” Morgan hugged herself. “I don’t like the sound of that.” They noticed a big map on one of the walls. Four cities were marked with red lights. Andi put her hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Those are the cities where we live.” Charlie noticed Maria’s chart. “Look at this – it’s all about us!” The girls looked at the rows and columns. “It’s like someone is looking for girls just like us,” Taylor said. “You’re absolutely right, girls,” said a woman’s voice from behind them. They turned around to see a blonde-haired woman standing by an elevator they hadn’t noticed. It was Maria Mitchell — and she did not look happy. Maria took a step toward the girls. “How did you get in here?” Andi stepped forward. “We set up a video camera in the other room. We saw your badge on the floor, and we wanted to see if you would come back for it.” Maria’s eyes widened, and the corners of her mouth turned up as if she were trying not to smile. “Very clever. Now what am I going to do with you girls?” Charlie stepped up beside Andi. “Why are our names on your wall? Are we in some kind of test program or something?” Maria half-turned away from the girls, paused, shrugged her shoulders, and turned back. She had made 61

Club4Girls her decision. “No, girls, this is not a test program. It’s the real thing.” She walked over to the wall and pushed a button. Morgan gasped as another panel slid open, revealing — a refrigerator. The girls started to relax as Maria handed out four cans of soda and got a bottle of mineral water for herself. “You want to hear the whole story?” “Yes!” the girls shouted together. Maria looked at her watch. “I have a plane to catch very early in the morning, and I haven’t even packed yet, so I need to make this quick. And then you have to promise to go home. Do we have a deal?” The girls nodded. Maria reached over and opened a drawer in her desk, pulling out a thick folder full of papers. She opened it, picked up an eight-by-ten-inch photograph, and held it up. It was a picture of a blondeheaded toddler — a little girl. “This is Casey Marks. She was kidnapped eight years ago.”

Maria tilted the photograph at the map on the wall. “She’s out there and we can’t find her.” A sheet of paper was stapled to the back of the report. Maria began to read from it. “Casey Marks, age 3, was abducted from a car parked in front of her Novi, Michigan residence. A ransom note was sent and the parents delivered the money. Despite a promise that the girl would be returned, she was not. Several months later, a second ransom note was delivered to the Marks family, again demanding cash. The note was accompanied by a recording of Casey’s voice. As of this writing, eight years have passed and ten demands for ransom have been made. The Marks family has spent nearly four million dollars to date in ransom payments, and another two million in advertising and related costs.” Maria pointed to herself as she continued reading. “Maria Mitchell of this department has been working with the Marks family for the past two years, testing a new method of locating missing children (through cyberspace). She is presently using the ARPANET facilities, which were built in 1957 and vacated in 1969. This file contains all the notes from the kidnappers.” Maria turned the photo over and looked at the girl, 63

Club4Girls almost as if she was trying to see if she was still breathing. Maria pulled a few pages from the folder and handed them to Andi. “This is a first-person account given by Casey’s nanny, a woman named Brenda Jackson. It describes the kidnapping the way she remembers it. Andi, would you start reading this to everyone? Everyone take a turn – then I’ll tell you the rest of the story. Remember, she’s describing what happened eight years ago, when Casey was only three.” Andi cleared her throat and began to read the nanny’s story. “Casey lived with her parents in Novi, Michigan. It’s named after the sixth stagecoach stop on the route between Detroit and Lansing, “No. VI.” Over time, “No. VI” became Novi. Mr. Marks’ family has lived here forever, and he’s got an important job with a big automobile company. It was time for the annual Michigan 50’s show, and Mr. Marks’ famous antique automobile collection was one of the main attractions, as usual. Mr. and Mrs. Marks were part of the show — they rode in one of the cars. Casey and I were going to go later and watch the big parade. I remember Mr. Marks told me they’d be late getting back.” “I told him to say as late as he wanted, because we would be just fine. I grew up here in Novi, and I was looking forward to showing her all the sites at the car show. So I dressed Casey in her favorite green outfit, which brought out the green in her eyes. I packed a bag with snacks and her favorite toys — her baby doll, and Cottontail — a fuzzy pink bunny with a blue bow between his ears and a huge white ball of a tail. Casey 64

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names wouldn’t go anywhere without Cottontail. I didn’t notice anything unusual when I put Casey in her car seat. I had just closed the car door when I realized I’d forgotten the bag with the food and toys in it. It was just a few steps from the driveway to the front door, so I knew little Casey would be fine while I ran real quick to the house and got the bag. I remember I told Casey I’d be right back, and then I ran into the house. I had just picked up the bag when the telephone began to ring. Everyone else was gone, and Mr. Marks sometimes gets important business calls at home, so I stopped and answered the phone. It was a man’s voice. “Eric Marks, please.” “He’s not here,” I told him, “Can I take a message?” “Yes,” the man said, “tell him that he’s about to spend a lot of money.” Well, that didn’t make any sense to me, so I asked him, “Is that the message?” “Yes,” he said. Then he said, “Now, you’d better get back to the car before someone takes the girl away.” I screamed, and I think I dropped the phone on the floor as I ran back to the car. She was gone! The car seat was empty and my Casey was gone! Soon the police came, and the neighbors. Everyone looked for Casey, but no one found any clues at all. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help then. I kept crying and telling Casey’s parents how sorry I was. I remember how nice Mrs. Marks was to me. Even though her child was missing, she took the time to try to 65

Club4Girls comfort me. She put her arm around me and I remember she said, “We must believe that they’ll find her.” The police told us that our best hope was to wait for a ransom note. It came in the mail the next day in an envelope with no return address.” Morgan was holding the ransom note. She began reading. “Your child is safe. For now. $250,000 cash, used bills. Packed in a red gym bag at the main escalator at the Renaissance Center.” “That’s in Detroit,” Maria said. The girls nodded. “We will send someone to pick it up,” Morgan read. “Don’t follow him, don’t arrest him, don’t talk to him. When the money comes back to us, we’ll release your daughter. 2 p.m. tomorrow. Thursday.” Morgan turned the piece of paper over to see if there were any more instructions. There weren’t. Andi continued reading the nanny’s statement. “Mr. Marks delivered the ransom money just like the note said, and we waited for Casey to come home, but she didn’t! Then, a few weeks later, the Marks got another note.” Taylor was holding the note. She cleared her throat and began reading. “Thanks for the money. We’ve never seen so much. Your daughter is fine. I would have given her back right away, but my old lady kinda likes her. You’ll have to pay more money for her. You probably want proof that she’s still alive. We made a tape recording of her talking. We’ll let you know where to bring the money, and when.” Maria took out her phone, found the recording and began to play it. It was the voice of a three-year-old 66

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names girl: “Hi Mama, hi Dadda, hi Bwenda. Man say you sick. Lady mean.” And then, in the background, an angrysounding woman growled something that sounded like “that’s enough” – and the recording ended. “Poor girl!” Charlie exclaimed. The girls all agreed as Andi started reading again. “I remember when we got that second, horrible note, Mrs. Marks started crying. It was the first time I’d seen her cry since Casey was taken from us. And, of course, I started crying like a baby too. Mr. Marks tried to calm us down. He was so strong. After they heard her voice, Mr. Marks hugged his wife and said ‘At least she’s still alive. Nothing matters to me except seeing those little green eyes again’. Well of course, that started me crying all over again.” Morgan was the last girl to read the account. When she finished, she looked at Maria. “This is one of the saddest stories I’ve ever read. But this happened eight years ago. What’s been going on since then?” Maria sighed. “I think the kidnappers decided that little Casey was their own private gold mine. We know from later notes that those people made Casey think she was their adopted child. Remember, she was only three when she was taken. She probably soon forgot her real family. And we know from a later note that they changed her name.” Maria took a sip from her water bottle and then continued telling the story. “We think the kidnappers moved often, judging by the notes. Mr. and Mrs. Marks have never stopped hoping for the return of Casey. 67

Club4Girls Every year or so, another ransom note shows up, and there is always proof that Casey is still alive — a handwritten note or Casey’s handprint. And the Marks kept paying ransom. The kidnappers didn’t return their daughter, but they never gave up hope.” “When did you get involved?” Taylor asked. Maria smiled. “Right after I heard about it. The Marks’ family fortune was dwindling quickly. That’s when I called Mr. Marks about my program. I told him I had developed a plan to use computers to try to find missing children. I thought, since Casey’s case had been going on so long, it might be a good one to use to test out my theories. Unfortunately, I had been unable to convince the government agency I work for to fund my project. But Mr. Marks invited me to Novi to discuss my ideas anyway.” “I described my ideas to Eric and Nicole — Mr. and Mrs. Marks — and they decided that my project was probably the last and best chance they had to find their daughter. Mr. Marks sold his entire antique automobile collection — the only valuables they had left — to pay for the project. So you see, I’m their last hope. They have no more money to give the kidnappers.” Maria took a long sip of water and looked at the girls. Four pairs of green eyes were watching her intently. Charlie spoke first. “And then you started making the Club4Girls game?” Maria nodded. “We spent a long time – and all the money – to make sure that just about any girl with a computer could get it.” 68

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Morgan shifted in her seat. “That’s why I bought it. It looked like a lot of fun and it was so cheap.” Maria looked at the clock. “You girls need to go home.” Taylor held up her hand. “Wait. Did you find Casey?” Andi shook her head. “No, don’t you get it? The reason we’re here has to do with the project.” She looked at Maria. “Right?” Maria Nodded. “We knew from a letter the kidnappers sent that Casey had gotten a computer. That’s how we found out they’ve changed her name.” Charlie half raised her hand. “How did you do that?” “Casey always signs her letters, but the kidnappers mark over her signature. But in one of the letters, Casey talks about people confusing her for a boy until they see her.” Taylor nodded. “We know what that’s like.” Maria pointed to the wall chart. “We also know that Casey has a scar on her right leg, from falling down the stairs as a toddler. Her eyes are green, and she was blonde the last time her parents saw her.” Andi smiled. “So Club4Girls is not only a game, it’s like a giant filter.” Morgan frowned. “I don’t get it.” Charlie jumped up and pointed at the chart. “I do. Say a thousand girls buy the game, but only a hundred have green eyes. Now you’re looking at a much smaller group.” Morgan still looked a little puzzled. “So it’s like those machines that sort out different coins?” 69

Club4Girls Maria nodded. “Just like that. I should add the word “smart” to that list of items about each of you. In my business, we call that filtering process sub-setting.” Taylor nodded. “We learn about sets at the beginning of every math course.” Charlie rubbed her chin. “So how did we get subsetted?” Maria threw her empty water bottle into the recycling bin beside her desk. “Each of the puzzles in Club4Girls is designed to get one piece of information about you. Remember the family tree puzzle?” Andi nodded. “That was a lot of fun — trying to see which guys were fair game.” Andi was talking about one of the games in Club4Girls. You entered some names and facts about your immediate family. After that, the computer made up the rest of your family tree — displaying names and pictures of uncles and aunts, cousins, and other relatives. There were a lot of cute boys in the family tree, and you had to figure out how they were related to you. But it wasn’t easy. The game might describe a really cute boy as your uncle’s brother’s daughter’s grandmother’s great grandson — which when you diagrammed it all out, turned out to make him your first cousin — no potential romance there! Taylor nodded. “All the best-looking guys were first cousins. But since I’m adopted and not really a blood relation, the program let me pick them as possible boyfriends.” “Me too,” said Morgan. Charlie and Andi nodded as they remembered. 70

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Maria began rearranging pages in the folder. “Each puzzle was designed to be fun, but we also wanted to get information about you. The family tree puzzle told us that you were adopted.” Charlie frowned. “Isn’t that like spying or something?” Maria smiled at Charlie. “We were trying to find one girl, but we just don’t have enough information. The last thing we wanted to do was make you feel uncomfortable.” Charlie smiled. “That’s okay. I’m mostly glad you did it. Otherwise, I would never have met all of you.” The other girls nodded in agreement. Maria looked at her watch. “I’ve got one more thing to say and then we all have to go. More than a million girls now have a copy of Club4Girls. Out of all those girls, only you four made it through the filter into this room. Unfortunately, Casey didn’t.” Maria pushed a button on the wall to open the door back into the cyber-room. The girls sighed and stretched as they stood up and walked through the door. Andi stopped. “So why this special room in cyberspace?” Maria pointed to the consoles in the cyber-room. “There’s only so much you can get through a keyboard. We developed the games in here to give us the rest of the information we needed. The maze puzzle over there gets your fingerprint. The voice game compares your voice with Casey’s voiceprint from the kidnapper’s message.” Morgan was twirling her hair again. “I guess you 71

Club4Girls have to be very sure, don’t you?” Maria nodded. “We can’t risk scaring every adopted girl in America, and we can’t risk the kidnappers finding out and taking away Casey’s computer. Or I guess we should start calling her Jess.” Morgan stopped twirling. “Jess? What do you mean?” Andi nodded. “I thought you said that the name was always crossed out.” Maria smiled. “I didn’t want to confuse you with two names.” She reached into her purse and unfolded a piece of paper. “The kidnappers sent this a few days ago. For the first time, they left in her name — they call her their ‘little Jess’. So now we know exactly which name to look for. But even with this important information, we’re still going to have to stop the search in a few days.” “Why would you do that when you’re so close?” Andi asked. Maria handed her the paper. “The Marks have used every penny they have and borrowed everything they can to support this project. Go ahead, Andi, read what it says.” Andi held up the note. “We want $500,000, and we want it by noon on Wednesday. At the gates of Fun World in Long Beach, California. You might not hear from us for awhile, but our little Jess is doing great.” Andi looked up at Maria. “What does it mean?” “We think they’re leaving the country. If they do, it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see Casey — I mean Jess — again.” 72

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Taylor wrung her hands. “Is there anything we can do to help?” “I can’t think of a thing, girls. I’m leaving for Novi in a few hours to be with the Marks family. I owe it to them. But feel free to look through the room and the files. If you discover anything, my number’s in the desk.” Maria turned and looked at the girls as she was about to close the secret door behind her. “Like Cinderella, you girls need to be home before the clock strikes twelve.” She waved to them as the door closed. Andi watched the door close and then realized she still had the ransom note in her hand. She folded it carefully and put it in her pocket. “She seems pretty upset,” Morgan said. Andi nodded. “There must be some way we can help her.” She looked up at the clock. It was almost midnight. “Let’s meet here again in a few hours. Everyone in?” “I’m in,” said Charlie. “Me, too,” said Morgan. “I’ll be here,” Taylor added. The girls went into the portal, one by one. Just as the cyber-room was empty once again, the portal monitor flashed a new name: Jess

Status: Full Access

Andi was so tired she almost skipped brushing her teeth. As she sat on the edge of her bed and set her alarm clock for 6:45 a.m., she decided that she’d better write at least a few notes in her journal before she began to forget details. February 21, 12:05 a.m. I don’t usually stay up this late, but we found out why we were able to get into cyberspace. They’re looking for a girl who was kidnapped eight years ago! The really weird thing is that she’s a lot like me (and Taylor, Charlie, and Morgan). I wonder where she is right now. I’m starting to feel really guilty about not telling Mom or Dad or Jennifer about all this. I’m going to tell them in the morning. They might take away the computer, or be mad at me, but I promised them that I would always let them know where I was — so I’ll tell them about cyberspace, even though I have no idea where it is!

Andi was asleep almost before she put her journal back in the drawer. It seemed like only five minutes later when her alarm started ringing. Andi jumped up and turned off the alarm. She didn’t want anyone else in the house to hear it. With eyes more closed than 74

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names open, she dragged herself down the hall to the bathroom to wash up and comb her hair. As she came out, she bumped into Jennifer. “What are you doing awake and washed up so early on a holiday?” Andi suddenly felt wide-awake as she frantically tried to figure out what to tell Jennifer. She decided it wasn’t the right moment to tell Jennifer about cyberspace, not before her meeting this morning. She would tell everyone later when she returned — both Jennifer and her parents. “I woke up from dreaming about falling down and getting muddy. I thought if I washed up a bit, I could relax and get back to sleep.” Andi stretched her arms over her head and opened her mouth wide in a fake yawn. “It’s working, too. I’m sleepy again, and I don’t have school today. Goodnight.” Andi could feel Jennifer watching her as she walked back to her room. She waited by her door until she heard Jennifer leave the bathroom and walk to her own room. She looked at the clock — it was already 7:00 a.m.! Andi picked up the paper clip and put it in the little hole. In a few seconds she was lying on the landing mat in front of the other girls, who were waiting for her. Charlie grabbed Andi’s hand, pulled her to her feet, and pointed at the names on the portal monitor. “Andi, we think we’ve found her!” Andi looked at the name ‘Jess’ on the wall. “I wonder how we can contact her without going back to our 75

Club4Girls rooms?” Taylor pointed toward the wall that hid the secret room. “I saw a computer in Maria Mitchell’s room. I’ll bet we can use it to send a note to Jess.” The girls opened the secret room and Taylor turned on the computer. A small window came up: Name: Maria Mitchell Password: ????

“Try the door code,” said Charlie. Taylor typed in 5-3-5-9, and hit the Enter key. The message came back “password incorrect.” Morgan tapped Taylor’s shoulder. “How about c-as-e-y?” Taylor typed it in. It worked! “Maria must really be interested in this case,” Andi said. When the computer was ready, Taylor opened the email program. They composed the letter together. To: From: Msg: Date:

jess@club4girls.com maria@club4girls.com Secret Club Monday, February 21 – 7:20am EST

We are four girls who want you to come and join our club. We are sending this from someone else’s computer, so it looks like our name is Maria. We are Taylor, Morgan, Charlie, and Andi, and we are all girls your age. Finish the puzzles in the Club4Girls game as fast as

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names you can and then follow the instructions. You have to hurry or you won’t be able to join the club. Send us a note or, better yet, FINISH THE PUZZLES! Your Friends, The Club4Girls

Taylor clicked the Send button and the message went out. Charlie yawned. “I wonder if she’s awake?” “I’ll bet she is,” said Morgan. “When we moved a year ago, I couldn’t sleep for days before we left.” Andi moved toward the door to the cyber-room. “What do you want to do now?” “I don’t know how many more times we’ll be here together,” Taylor said, “so why don’t we just sit around and play some games?” Charlie nodded. “Good idea. I can hardly believe our parents haven’t caught us yet. We can’t keep it from them much longer.” “You’re right,” said Morgan, remembering how close she came to losing her Club4Girls game to her father. “Let’s just have fun while we wait for Jess to solve the puzzles.” Morgan twirled a strand of hair. “I wonder what she looks like?” Andi laughed. “Let me guess. Green eyes. Light hair. A scar on her leg.” The girls all laughed. Andi picked up a deck of cards and started dealing. They were on their third game of Hearts when the portal light started flashing! The girls rushed over to the portal just in time to see someone shoot out of it and onto the floor. 77

Club4Girls As she sat up and shook her head, the girls realized that Jess was a very pretty girl. Her pale blond hair just brushed her shoulders, and her wide green eyes shone like emeralds in the delicate bone structure of her face. Andi put out her hand to help Jess up. “Hi. You must be Jess. Welcome!” Jess ignored Andi’s hand and stood up by herself. She looked at the room and each of the girls before she answered. “Who are you and where am I?” The girls all started talking at once. Charlie held up her hands for silence. “Jess, you may have trouble believing this, but you were kidnapped.” “When you were three years old,” Taylor added. “And then you were adopted. But your real parents are still looking for you.” Jess half turned away from the girls and then turned back. “Yes, I am adopted. But my real parents were killed in a terrible accident.” Morgan shook her head. “Your real name is Casey Marks.” Jess frowned and wrapped her arms around herself as if she felt cold. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are and where you got this idea. But I don’t know anything about any kidnapping.” Jess looked around the room. “My parents don’t like me to go anywhere without telling them first. How do I go back?” Morgan pointed to the portal. “You go back the same way you came in, by putting your paper clip in the hole there next to your name. But first you really need to listen to us. We have a whole file about you.” 78

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Taylor shook her head. “No we don’t. Maria took it with her.” Jess bent to pick her paper clip off the floor where she had dropped it during landing and turned toward the portal. “Look, I’m sure you are all very nice, but you don’t understand. My parents will really punish me if they think I tried to leave my room.” She walked to the portal and raised her hand with the paper clip to the hole next to her name. Andi rushed to Jess’ side and grabbed her other hand. “Wait, Jess! You can’t go…” And then they were both gone! Andi had been holding onto Jess as she inserted the paper clip and both girls were pulled into the portal. Morgan screamed. Charlie walked to the spot where the girls had disappeared. “I don’t believe it. Andi got pulled in with Jess.” Morgan was trying not to cry. “Now they’re both kidnapped!”

Jess and Andi sat on the floor and looked at each other. Jess’ white poodle jumped off the bed and started barking at Andi. “Shhh!” Jess said to the dog as she scooped it into her arms. She looked at Andi. “I can’t believe you came with me.” “I didn’t plan to. I just didn’t want you to go so quickly. You can only go in and out of cyberspace twice a day.” She looked at the clock. It was almost six a.m., and the small basement window was dark. “So you can’t go back right now?” Jess asked. Andi shook her head. “No, and my parents are going to be so mad!” “You haven’t seen mad parents until you’ve seen mine. Sometimes I wonder why they adopted me.” Andi stood up and looked around the room. It was small and dark. She didn’t see many things to play with, except for the outdated computer on the desk and a well-worn doll sitting on the bed. “You didn’t believe anything we said, did you?” Jess shook her head. “It can’t be true. If it were, well, I wouldn’t know what to do. If you were adopted, you’d understand.” “Jess, I am adopted.” 80

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Jess’s eyes widened. “You are?” “And so are Charlie, and Taylor, and Morgan.” Jess stood, still holding her dog. “So? Lots of kids are adopted.” Andi wanted to scream but she knew that wouldn’t help. She pointed to the dog. “This is Snowflake, right?” Jess’ jaw dropped. “How did you know that?” Andi tried to speak calmly. “I know a lot about you. More than you know about you.” She pointed to the computer. “They made Club4Girls just so they could find you.” Jess hugged Snowflake so hard that he whimpered. She set him down. “They created the game to be a filter — the only players who can get into cyberspace are girls who are a lot like you. We are all adopted, with green eyes, the same age, and we all have names that could be boy names.” Heavy footsteps sounded just outside Jess’ door. Jess grabbed Andi’s arm and pulled her toward the bed. “Hurry. Under the bed!” Just as Andi slid under the bed the door banged open. “Why are you up?” said a gruff woman’s voice. “And why was that stupid dog barking?” Andi held her breath under the bed. She was so scared she was afraid the woman would hear her heart beating. “I’m sorry, Mom. I must have rolled over and knocked Snowflake off the bed. I’m really sorry.” 81

Club4Girls “If I wasn’t this tired, I’d really make you sorry. Now I don’t want to hear another sound from either of you again. Got it?” “Got it.” The door slammed shut so hard the window rattled. Andi heard the heavy footsteps move away. Jess peeked under the bed and looked at Andi. “You all right?” Andi nodded. “You can come out now. But don’t make any noise.” As Andi slid out, she remembered the ransom note she had put in her pocket. She pulled it out and unfolded it. “What’s that?” Andi handed it to her. “Just read it.” Jess read the ransom note that Maria had shown the girls. Her hands started to tremble as she tried to refold the paper, and her face turned red. She handed the paper back to Andi and tried to keep the shakiness out of her voice. “You mean my real parents have been looking for me for eight years?” Andi nodded. “From what I read, they were really rich, but they’ve spent everything they had trying to find you.” Jess fell onto her bed and started crying. She buried her head in her pillow to muffle the sound. Andi sat beside Jess on the bed and patted her shoulder. She didn’t know what to say. Andi let Jess cry for several minutes, then gave Jess’ shoulders a squeeze. “Jess, I can imagine how upset you are, but now that you know, let’s get out of here and go find the police.” 82

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Jess stopped crying and rolled over to look up at Andi. Her bright green eyes were red and swollen. “We can’t. We’re in the middle of nowhere. The nearest store is about ten miles away. Let’s just go through the computer again.” “I wish it were that easy, but remember what I told you? We already used up our a.m. travel. It won’t let us back into cyberspace until noon.” Jess sobbed and looked at the clock by her bed. “Noon! That’s almost six hours away! And we’re moving today. My parents, well my – whatever you call them – want to be on the road by nine.” “We’ve got to stall them somehow.” Andi frowned, thinking hard. Then her face relaxed. “Jess, is there any place to hide here? You know, a place where they can’t find you?” “There are a few places, but if I make them late, they’re really going to be mad.” “If my plan works, you won’t be around to get mad at. I need some paper, scissors, a pen, and some glue.” “Okay, but if this doesn’t work…” Andi cut her off. “I know. If this doesn’t work, we’re both in big trouble.” Meanwhile, in Maria Mitchell’s secret office, Charlie, Taylor, and Morgan were going through every drawer, trying to find Maria’s phone number. They couldn’t find it. Taylor looked up from the drawer she was inspecting. “Silly us! Why don’t we get on the computer and send email to her?” Morgan frowned. “Do you think that will work?” 83

Club4Girls “It’s worth a try – Andi and Jess might be in real trouble.” Charlie logged back onto Maria’s computer, using the password they discovered before. To: From: Msg: Date:

maria@club4girls.com maria@club4girls.com We found Casey! Monday, February 21 – 6:01pm MST

We found Casey, alias Jess. She was in cyberspace. She didn’t believe us, so she went back. Not only that, Andi got pulled through with her! If you read this, please come at once. Charlie, Taylor, and Morgan

Morgan put her hand on Charlie’s shoulder as she finished typing. “Do you think she’ll get the message? I mean, when you call yourself on the phone, you can’t get through.” Charlie hit the Send key. “If she checks her email, she’ll get it.” Morgan was twirling her hair frantically. “I wish we knew for sure. And what do we do now — should we wait here?” Taylor nodded. “What else can we do? We could go back to our rooms, but how would that help us?” Charlie shook her head. “One of us should go back and tell all our parents, or they’re going to be very worried.” Taylor rubbed her chin. “How are we going to contact them? We don’t even know each other’s last 84

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names names.” Morgan smiled. “We can use the CyberPhone! If we let it ring long enough, they’ll figure it out and answer.” Taylor looked at the clock. “It’s after nine here, which is six o’clock my time. My parents won’t be up for a few hours.” Charlie looked at Taylor. “Do you want to go back?” Taylor shook her head. “Not yet. I’d like to stay here if it’s okay with you.” Morgan nodded. “I’ll go. My parents always get up early. I’ll go back to my room and call your parents.” Charlie’s brow furrowed. “What are you going to say to your parents?” Morgan shrugged. “I’ll tell them the truth. My parents are strict, but I know they’ll believe me this time.” As Morgan disappeared through the portal, Taylor and Charlie looked at each other. Charlie was the first to speak. “What do we do now?” “I guess we should just sit by Maria’s computer and wait for a message.” The girls went back to the computer. There was a new message – from Jess! To: From: Msg: Date:

maria@club4girls.com jess@club4girls.com We’re safe – for now Friday, February 21 –7:10am MST

Dear Taylor, Charlie, and Morgan, We hope that you’re still there. We’re in Jess’ room for now. Her parents are moving today, so we have to

Club4Girls act fast. Jess lives in Montana, in the middle of nowhere. She says that the nearest store is about ten miles away. Her school is in a town called Flatwillow, which is sort of near Billings. You know we’re stuck here until 12:00. We’re trying to delay the move as long as we can, but noon is still hours away – which is probably too late. Help us! Jess and Andi

The girls were writing a reply when the next email message came in. This time it was from Maria. To: From: Msg: Date:

maria@club4girls.com jess@club4girls.com maria@club4girls.com We found Casey! Monday, February 21 – 8:12am CST

Jess/Casey, Andi, Charlie, Taylor, and Morgan, Smart move, writing to me. I’m in Detroit, but I’ll come back to the secret room as soon as I can. I was going to pick up a copy of Club4Girls at the store and try to get there through cyberspace, but there isn’t enough time to solve all the puzzles! Jess and Andi, hang tight. Don’t do anything foolish. Charlie, Taylor, and Morgan – one of you needs to go home and let all the parents know what’s going on. I still don’t know where any of you live, or how to contact you by phone. But you can call each other on your CyberPhone. Tell them to call the Pentagon at (703) 555-3900, and ask for Department 450. This is top secret – even though the room you’re in is 300 feet below the Penta-

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names gon, not many people who work there know about it. When the parents call, we’ll fill them in. I’ll see you in a few hours. – Maria

Charlie whistled softly. “Underneath the Pentagon! Isn’t that where all the military decisions are made?” Taylor looked up at the ceiling. “And they don’t even know we’re here. So that’s where the elevator goes.” Charlie nodded. “Maria must be some kind of secret agent or something.” Taylor nodded and sighed. “I hope she makes it back in time.”

Andi and Jess worked on the note for more than an hour. They cut words out of magazines and glued them on the paper. When they finished, they thought they had a fairly convincing note: Dear Slones- We know all about Casey and what you did. We don’t want no trouble, just a piece of what you got. Bring $100,000 to the Daniel’s store by 11:00 this morning or we will tell all. Give the money to the girl at the store.

Andi looked at Jess. “Do you think they’ll believe it?” Jess crossed her fingers on both hands. “I sure hope so. Do you think you can find the store?” Andi looked at the map that Jess had drawn for her. “I think so.” The girls put the note on the bed. Jess gave Andi her coat and gloves and a warm knit cap. Jess opened the window and Andi climbed out into the freezing air. Jess closed the window behind her and then went to her closet and crawled through the small hole in the back wall. She had found it a few weeks ago when she was looking for Snowflake. Andi hiked through the snowy Montana countryside. 88

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names The sun had only risen about an hour earlier, but the white snow and bare trees made it as bright as noon. As a New Yorker, she hadn’t spent much time in the woods. Her class had taken field trips to Tallman State Park in New Jersey, and she went to summer camp once in upstate New York, but she was never alone. Every time she heard a rustling in the bushes, she jumped. Could it be the kidnappers? Was it a wild animal? After trudging through the snow for what seemed like an hour, she wished that she could walk faster. She wanted to walk along the road, which was plowed, but Jess said that that would be too dangerous. So she hiked in the woods, about a hundred yards from the road, toward the small crossroads store. Jess’ hiding place was dark and warm, and she quickly fell asleep. A loud scream woke her so fast she almost screamed. It was her “mother.” She had found the note she and Andi had left on her bed. “Joe, come in here! Hurry!” Jess heard heavy footsteps as Joe ran to her room. “What is it now, Aggie?” “Look at this. They’ve taken Jess!” Jess heard a rustling of paper. Joe was reading the note. Jess heard Joe swearing. “I told you we should have gotten rid of that brat long ago.” “You were right. I just kind of grew attached to the little thing.” “That little thing got us four million dollars that’s sittin’ in them trunks, and I aim to keep my retirement 89

Club4Girls money!” “What about the note and Jess?” “I say we leave her with whoever took her. Then she becomes their problem.” Aggie was silent for a moment. “I don’t want them to hurt her or nothin’.” “And I don’t want to lose my hard-earned money! I say we pack up and get out of here right now.” “What if they’re watching us, and they call the cops when they see us takin’ off?” Jesse leaned forward in her hiding place, straining to hear Joe’s answer. “You’re right, Ag. Here’s what we’ll do. You pack up the van, and I’ll take the money to Daniel’s. Once they have the money, they won’t care about us, and we can be on our way to the easy life.” Jess listened as they unlocked one of the trunks and counted out the money. She had always wondered what was in those trunks, but they were always locked. Now she knew why. Jess heard her bedroom door close, and soon she heard Joe’s truck rattling down the driveway. Jess crossed her fingers. “Good luck, Andi,” she whispered to herself. The clock in the grocery store window read 10:50 a.m. as Andi stomped the snow off her shoes and blew on her hands. She was tired, and her toes and fingers tingled so hard they hurt. She leaned against the side of the building and clapped her hands together. About twenty or thirty minutes later, an old pickup truck pulled in, and a tall man with a dark, bushy beard got out. He carried a large duffel bag in his left hand as he 90

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names looked around. He spotted Andi. “You seen anybody hangin’ around here?” Andi wanted to run away but her feet wouldn’t move. “Um, uh, no, I haven’t.” Then she remembered the lines she and Jess had rehearsed. “The girl is safe and will be released soon. Give me the bag.” Joe’s eyes opened wide. “You mean to tell me that I’m supposed to give this to you?” Andi nodded. She held out her hand to take the bag. As he walked toward her, he noticed her coat. He stopped and pointed. “Wait a minute, that’s her coat!” He looked around to see if anyone was watching. The yard was empty. “I bet she’s already dead, and you’re the only one who’s seen me.” Joe lunged at Andi, grabbed her around the waist, and carried her to the truck. Andi screamed and tried to hit the man. “But they’ll call the police!” “Kidnappers calling police? Ha!” Joe started the engine. The trip that had taken Andi nearly four hours by foot took about twenty minutes by car. Aggie was at the front door. Her arms were crossed and her face looked mad enough to scare anyone. Joe stopped the car and dragged Andi out by the arm. Aggie pointed at Andi. “What’s this?” Joe spit on the trampled snow. “No way I’d give a hundred thousand to this.” “Well, I’ve got news for you, too.” Aggie reached 91

Club4Girls into the pocket of her housecoat and took out a handful of magazine clippings. “Our little Jess was busy at work makin’ ransom notes for herself!” “Where is the little brat? I’ll give her a clippin’ she’ll never forget.” “She had Snowflake all cooped up in the shed. Once he got back to her room, he led me right to her, hidin’ in the walls.” Joe took off his cap and scratched his head, deep in thought. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll take the girls with us in the van until we’re out of this state. Then we’ll get rid of them.” Joe dragged Andi to the van and pushed her into a seat. Andi noticed that the van already had suitcases packed in the back. A minute later, Aggie dragged Jess to the van. She was holding her hands over her head and crying. “Don’t hit me, Daddy, please.” “I’ll take care of the two of you later.” Joe’s voice was so scary, Andi could barely breathe. She wanted to close her eyes and wake up safe in her own room. Joe glared at the girls. “Now don’t you get any ideas about running, because I’ve got no patience left.” He slammed the door shut and marched to the house, where Aggie was standing. “Hurry up, Woman. Let’s get the trunks and get out of here.” Jess was curled up in a tight ball, crying. Andi looked at the van’s dashboard. It was 11:45 a.m. She was scared and tired, but she had to think fast. What could she do? She straightened up — she had an idea. 92

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names She whispered her idea to Jess. Jess wiped her eyes. “It won’t work.” “It may be our only chance. We have to try.” Joe and Aggie carried the last trunk out and wedged it into the back of the van. Aggie got into the car as Joe took one more look around the house. Jess cleared her throat. “Mom, did you bring my computer?” Aggie glared at her. “There’s no room for any of your trash.” “I understand. It’s just that I have pictures of you and Dad on the hard disk.” “You what?” Aggie opened the door. “I’ll have Joe take a sledge hammer to that machine!” Andi spoke up. “That won’t work.” Aggie turned and looked at Andi. “I took a computer course at school, and they said that, unless you erase your disks, experts can get information off of them, even after a fire.” Aggie looked at Jess. “Is that true?” Jess nodded as Joe came out the front door. Aggie met him halfway to the van. They talked for a few moments, and then Aggie walked back to the girls. “All right, Jess. Go in with your father and erase it.” Jess got out of the van and stopped. “But I’m not exactly sure how to do it.” Aggie looked at Jess, then Andi. “You go, too. But we’ll be right with you all the way.” The girls held hands as they walked back into the house. Joe stayed right with them. As they entered Jess’ room, Snowflake jumped into her arms. 93

Club4Girls Jess’ jaw trembled. “You were going to leave him here?” Joe sneered. “I sure wasn’t gonna bring him with us. Now hurry up so we can get out of here.” Jess turned on the computer. It was 11:51 a.m. Joe didn’t know anything about computers, so they moved a lot of files and tried to make it look like they were getting rid of pictures of Joe and Aggie. But Joe was in a hurry. “Okay, I’ve had enough. Get back in the car.” He moved his hand to the power button. Andi raised her hand. “Wait!” She looked at the purple Club4Girls box. “I can do one thing that will take care of everything. All I need is a paper clip.” Joe frowned. “A paper clip? What do you need that for?” But he went to the dresser, picked up a paper clip, and handed it to Andi. She quickly bent it open, grabbed Jess’ hand, and poked the clip in the hole. Nothing happened! Jess squeezed Andi’s hand in terror. She looked at the computer clock. It was still 11:59! Joe snarled. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’ve had enough of your little girl games.” As Joe reached for the power button, the clock turned to 12:00. A moment later, Jess, Andi, and Snowflake were sitting on the landing pad in the cyber-room.

Andi, Jess, Charlie, Taylor, and Snowflake waited in the big room. They sat in velvety plush armchairs around a long shiny wooden table. They were in the Pentagon, and had been waiting in this room for several hours. All of the people who worked on the Club4Girls game were there, treating them like princesses, with all the food and soda they wanted. Maria Mitchell was at the airport, meeting their parents as their planes arrived. Jess’ parents had missed their first connecting flight, but Maria had made arrangements to get them to Washington as soon as possible. The door flew open and Morgan ran in with her parents a few steps behind her. “Morgan!” the girls cried as they surrounded her and hugged her one by one. Morgan pointed to each girl as she introduced them to her parents. Morgan’s father smiled after his daughter completed the introductions. “Morgan talked so much about you on the flight here, we feel like we already know all of you.” Charlie’s family came next. She ran and hugged her parents, and then Alec. She tried to introduce the girls 95

Club4Girls to her parents, but they seemed to be more interested in meeting Alec. He just smiled and mussed Charlie’s hair, but for once, Charlie didn’t mind. Taylor whispered to Charlie, “Why didn’t you tell us about your brother?” “He’s really cute,” Andi whispered to Morgan, who nodded in agreement. Their appreciation of Alec was interrupted by the entrance of Andi’s parents, with Jennifer right behind them. Andi’s mother held out both arms. “Andrea, I need a hug this instant!” Andi happily gave her mom a big hug. The girls and parents were all chattering happily with each other. Everyone wanted to meet Jess and Snowflake and hear all about cyberspace. When the door opened again, it was Maria Mitchell. She looked at Jess, who was holding on tightly to Snowflake in her lap. Everyone quieted down so Maria could speak. “Are you ready, Jess?” Jess nodded. Eric and Nicole Marks walked into the room. They immediately saw their daughter. “Casey!” her mother cried, running to her and wrapping her arms around her. Her father was only a step behind her. Both their faces glistened with tears as they held their girl for the first time in nearly nine years. Nicole Marks smoothed her daughter’s hair. “We never gave up hope.” Eric Marks nodded. “Every night I went to bed thinking about this moment.” 96

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names Another woman was standing in the doorway, watching and crying. Maria motioned for her to come in, but she wouldn’t. Jess looked at the woman and then at Maria. “This woman was your nanny, Jess — Brenda Jackson.” Jess smiled as the distant memory returned to her. Then Brenda reached into her purse and pulled out her favorite doll, the bunny named Cottontail. Jess’ face lit up with delight. “Cottontail!” she cried, and ran into Brenda’s open arms, squishing the stuffed rabbit between them. The yelling and crying was too much for Snowflake, who barked in protest. Everyone laughed. Jess cleared her throat. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment, but from now on, everyone please call me Casey.” Later, the girls were honored with a small ceremony. Maria presented the girls with a plaque as their parents watched proudly. “In honor of the Club4Girls,” Maria read, “Andi, Charlie, Morgan and Taylor.” Charlie looked from the plaque to the girls. “Where should we keep it?” Morgan took the plaque from Charlie for a closer inspection. “Shouldn’t we keep it in our cyberspace clubhouse?” Maria smiled and shook her head. “No, you can’t do that. I’m afraid that the program has ended now.” Morgan put her hands on her hips. “Ended? What about us?” 97

Club4Girls Morgan’s father laughed. “You still have email, IM, and the telephone.” Maria nodded and looked at Casey. “Girls, the cyberspace project was created to find a missing girl. Now I must move on to other things. But don’t think that I’m going away. I expect each one of you to email me at least once a month. Agreed?” “Agreed,” they all said together. Later that day, Andi and her family flew home to New York. On the way, she described how she and Jess had been trapped with the kidnappers, and how they had made the fake ransom note. She told them about getting caught, and being put in the van, and escaping at the last possible second. Jennifer squeezed Andi’s hand. “You were very brave and very lucky. But what happened to the kidnappers?” “Maria was waiting for us when we got back to the cyber-room. We told her where Jess had been living, and I gave her the map Jess had drawn from her house to Daniel’s Grocery.” Andi’s mother squeezed her other hand. “It’s a good thing you had it.” Andi nodded. “Maria faxed the map to the Montana state troopers. It didn’t take them long to spot the van and arrest the kidnappers.” Across the aisle, Andi’s father had been listening too. “Did the troopers find the money?” Andi nodded. “Every trunkful of it.” It was after midnight before Andi got to bed. She looked over at her computer and thought about the past 98

#1: The Girls with Boys’ Names few days. She reached over to her night table and took out her journal. February 22, 12:45 a.m. Tomorrow, I will write this whole adventure down from the start. Not only did I help find a girl who was missing for almost nine years, I found something that will last a lifetime — my new friends! Mom told me that I could stay home tomorrow if I’m too worn out. But I told her I wanted to go to school so I could tell my friends everything. After all, it’s not every weekend you have an adventure in cyberspace.

The End

About the Authors Bob and Marilyn Tschudi are both professional writers. Bob is a speechwriter and Marilyn is a novelist. She is the author of the award-winning novel, Pike Place (Quarrystone, 2007). Born and raised on opposite sides of America (Bob in New York and Marilyn in Washington), they now live in Raleigh, North Carolina with their three children.

Club4girls 2: Danger in a Safe Place