Endangered

1: Saint Sticky

Sticky Washington truly felt sticky. He was sweating like a pig, though for sure, well-read as he was; he had never seen a pig sweat.

Reynie Muldoon eyed his friend with light sympathy. Sticky was one of Reynie's best friends, his secret society including two girls, Kate Wetherall and Constance Contraire.

Meanwhile Kate was riffling through her sturdy metal fire-red bucket that she always kept at hand. "Twine, glue, glove, keys, slingshot, marbles, spyglass, rope…" she droned on while taking inventory.

Constance, at that time, was brushing crumbs off her chin from a rationed pack of sugar cookies.

The reason they were sitting in a cramped little attic was because the inspectors were sniffing about downstairs and Mr. Benedict had warned them these were an exceptionally ornery group of officials. So, they had trouped upstairs in the following order/description: Kate, bouncy and cheery, eager to examine the cobwebby room; Reynie, with mock excitement, though actually feeling disappointed he hadn't been able to snatch a book or two when they'd been shooed upstairs; Sticky, mumbling about the history of Attic Stowaways in the Nazi era: "stayed up there till he was seventy five…"; and finally with obvious difficulty the short little Constance, muttering a huffy poem about the unfairness of being treated like a scrap of dirt swept to the side, was hiking up the groaning stairs.

When they finally opened the creaky door, Kate and Reynie had the sense to duck and thus avoid cobwebs; Sticky, however, engrossed in his memory recollection failed to see their common sense and walked face-first into an especially thick cluster of house spider nests, emitting a thin yell.

Constance, startled, tripped over the lower door frame. Getting up, she dusted herself off but didn't forget to step heavily on Sticky's left foot.

"Ow!" he cried and tried to thump her on the head.

Reynie held him back and said, "Sticky, do you want to stoop to her level?" Behind Sticky's back, Reynie winked at Constance. She got it clear. "Yeah, Saint Sticky, don't wanna get in the bad books," she leered.

Kate and Reynie chuckled. Saint Sticky, indeed! Kate repeated it: "Saint Sticky!" and now even Sticky had to join in on their fit of giggles.

It was innocent laughter – a silly childish joke shared between them. It was simply a laughing matter.

But, unknown to the children, their lives' fates would hardly stand a one percent chance of being funny. Danger and its game was on the way.