Chapter 3

The wings were easy to work. Both boys were quickly flapping away, Hoagie following Nigel's lead as he moved toward the abandoned field.

Nigel laughed, exhilarated by the feeling of flight… He could see why Hoagie liked those ships so much and often built them without any roofing in the cockpit, the wind on his face felt wonderful. After a moment, he experimentally fiddled with the wings, maneuvering around in different directions and heights, even hovering for a moment. This felt so cool and so right, like he belonged in the air as much as he did on the ground.

A dark shape came into view next to him. It was Hoagie. While he was not having any major trouble with them, did not seem to do as well with these wings as he did with his own contraptions.

Nigel did a lap around Hoagie and the other boy turned back toward the tree house to face him. Both hovered in the air a few feet away from each other, big smiles on their faces.

Still, as cool as this felt, he imagined that in the light of day, that would hardly be the word anyone who saw them would have used, wearing the flower curtain butterfly wings on their backs making them look like some sort of giant fairies.

Suddenly, Hoagie stiffened and called out, called out, "We've got company!" Nigel turned and glanced back to see three figures moving across the sky toward them and another two across the ground. Cree Lincoln spearheaded the areal persuit, using a pair of cool looking jet boots. Her sister was to the left and a big kid named Maurice to her right, both using jet packs. The kids on the ground had special looking bikes. They zoomed down the road quickly toward them.

The areal group was quickly closing in on them, their jets carrying them forward much faster than the butterfly wings could ever go. Nigel glanced back at Hoagie and said, "follow my lead," before closing his wings and falling toward the earth. He heard the kids chasing them call out in surprise and hoped Hoagie guessed what he was planning. He quickly snapped the wings open just before hitting the ground and heard a rustle of fabric that told him his friend had done the same. They soared into the field.

Nigel made for the far side of it, soaring over the pond landing in a dip where the stretch of the stream ran between the bushes which created a sort of tunnel, just beyond the shallow pool of water. It was hard enough to find at ground level and he hoped it would be even better for concealing them from above, especially in the dark. He flew a few feet in before landing in the ankle deep water, leaving space for Hoagie to come in behind him, which the other child did with a large splash.

Quickly, Nigel slipped off his set of wings and turned to help the other boy get out of his.

They both were extra quiet as Cree stopped and hovered almost immediately above their hiding spot and growled. "Where'd they go? They couldn't have just vanished into thin air."

I don't know where they went, Numbuh Eleven," the boy who flew in with her stated. "They flew too low to see where they landed exactly."

"They can't have gotten far." Abby stated. "They must still be around here somewhere, probably close enough to hear us."

"We have to find those kids. No one breaks into my tree and gets away with it."

Nigel ground his teeth, fighting the urge to yell that it wasn't her tree. It belonged to his family and they were lucky his dad was so child friendly that he let them use the fort that they loaded with their stuff. Instead he silently pulled Hoagie to a break in the bushes as the kids started flying away to look over other parts of the area. He stifled his annoyance as, instead of stepping on a stone at the edge of the water, the other boy planted his soggy shoes in the mud at the water's edge, leaving a nice 'we were here, you're on the right track,' sign for any of the kids who might stumble across it.

Nigel led him to another set of bushes back in the direction that they came from.

"Don't you think we should run away and come back later?" Hoagie asked quietly.

"No." Nigel replied in a whisper, "That's what they expect us to do. It's part of the reason I flew so far over, so they would think we were running further away, rather than double back to the tree. Plus, your mom will be at my house any minute. If we're not there, we'll be in big trouble."

"We're already in trouble. Look at me…wet sneakers covered in mud, and I splashed the bottom of my pants, too." He shivered and said, "It is a bit cold though…"

At this comment, Nigel nodded, immediately becoming aware of just how cold he felt with his the bottoms of his pants and his shoes completely soaked through. The sooner they could get back to his house, the better.

Suddenly,a shadow passed overhead and Nigel paused and motioned Hoagie stop behind him. Abigail Lincoln landed not too far away with some type of gun in her hand. She looked around the area and there was one moment where she looked right at their hiding spot. For a moment, Nigel thought she had spotted them. He tensed, waiting for her to call out to the others. Then the moment passed and, she took off again, apparently still unaware of their presence.

Nigel and Hoagie made it back under the shadow of the treehouse without any further issue. By the time the boys crossed the front lawn, they were no longer dripping with water. Finally, as they walked up to the doorway to the house at the base of the tree, the two boys breathed a sigh of relief. Nigel opened the front door to the house and wiped his shoes on the welcome mat before stepping in, hoping to avoid bringing it into the house and getting a further scolding than he knew was already in store for him.

Once again, Hoagie took the cue from him and did the same.

The boys looked at each other and chuckled.

"That was close." Nigel said.

"Yeah." Hoagie stated, "For a moment there, I thought we had landed in some hot water…" Nigel rolled his eyes as the other boy continued "get it, because we landed in a cold stream…which is the opposite of hot but…"

"That's a horrible joke." A voice exclaimed behind them, causing both boys to jump away, letting out startled screams. As they turned, they saw Abigale Lincoln standing in the doorway. She just stood there, smiling at the duo. "What? Didn't think Numbuh Five noticed you?"

Abby cast a glance around the room, taking in the surroundings and her relaxed demeanor seemed to momently give way to surprise before she covered it up. His house had that reaction to newcomers, with the tree limbs and roots running all through it. Still, her reaction was mild in comparison to most, probably because she spent so much time in the tree house above.

Before Nigel or Hoagie could form a response, Nigel's dad stepped out of the kitchen. "Son! I didn't know you'd gone outside." He took in the state of their clothes and added, "gone playing in the field again, I see." Nigel felt the smallest twinge of guilt at the statement, knowing his dad didn't want him messing up good clothes like the ones he was currently wearing in the field next to their house, nor bringing a friend out there and possibly getting him in trouble too. Still, considering the circumstances, it couldn't be helped.

Then the man looked at the girl standing in the doorway and added, in a tone that actually had a hint of worry in it "and you didn't tell me you were having another friend over." He sighed, got into kneeling position so he could be at eye level with the boy and added, "you need to let me know these things, Old Bean. What if something had happened and I didn't know about it?"

"Sorry, Dad." Nigel said.

"That's alright Son." Monty said, patting him on the head, "Just think about it for next time, alright."

The boy nodded, somehow finding himself feeling worse than if he had actually scolded for his behavior.

"Alright then," He stated as he stood back up and looked at the girl. "Who might you be?" Then, after studying her for a moment a look of recognition flashed in his eyes and he said, "Wait a minute, your part of that club that likes to hang out in the fort at the top of our tree. How are you doing up there?"

The girl smiled at the adult and said, "We're doing well, thanks for asking." She wondered deeper into the house as she said this.

Nigel glanced back outside to see that the other members of the tree house had found them while Abigale was talking to his Dad. He could feel their disapproving glares, even if he couldn't see their faces very well in beneath the light of the streetlamps at the end of the driveway.

"I've never been in the main house before." Abby stated, drawing Nigel's attention back to her. "I like the limbs in here, it's a lot like the tree house, isn't it, Nigel? Hoagie?" She added pointedly to the boys as she ran her fingers across one of the roots running through the living room, positioned perfectly to lean against if someone wanted to sit on the floor to watch TV.

Well, he was busted and since he was in for a penny, he might as well go in for a pound. He closed the door, blocking the view of the rest of the angry kids standing out in front of the yard before he jumped up and grabbed a limb which jutted out just above the bottom step of the stairs, swung onto it and said, "Some of it but we hardly have any beds who's frames are shaped by the limbs. I considered showing Hoagie tonight but didn't get that far."

Montgomery Uno smiled and said, "it's good to hear that you are all getting along so splendidly." He looked at the girl and asked, "Do your parent's know you are out so late? When I originally called them up, they said you were to be home before now on week nights."

"I forgot something I had to do at the tree house."

Suddenly, a pair of car headlights shown light through the windows as a car pulled into the driveway. "Oh, it looks like your mother's here." Monty said to Hoagie. "I'll go grab a towel so that you don't mess up her car seat, I'm sure she can send it to school with you to give back to Nigel, tomorrow."

Hoagie breathed a sigh of relief as the man grabbed a towel out of the linen closet next to the Kitchen and walked to the door, preferring to face his mothers wrath at the dirty clothes than the unknown punishment from the children of the tree fort.

"See you at school tomorrow!" Abigale called out and the boy's shoulders slumped at the reminder that this was not over.

Nigel's dad stepped out to talk to Hoagies mom, leaving Nigel alone with the KND agent.

"You shouldn't be poking around inside the base." She said.

"You shouldn't be breaking into my house and stealing our drapes." Nigel replied.

"I was wondering where the twins got them from." Abigale stated looked at him thoughtfully. "If you two can stay out of the tree house, I might be able to talk the others into leaving you alone."

Nigel jumped off the branch and landed on the tree root, slipping down beside the girl and asking, "Why would you do that?"

She smiled and said, "My sis needed a reminder that her base wasn't impenetrable. There are lots of ways that could have happened that are worse than you coming in and mocking our systems. Besides, Numbuh Five thinks you were pretty cool. And your parents aren't too bad for Adults, either."

"Thanks," Nigel said, glancing toward where his dad had stepped out "Who's Numbuh Five?"

The girl chuckled and said, "It's my code numbuh for the Kids Next Door, but you can call me Abby." She offered him her hand to shake.

Nigel raised an eyebrow, tempted to ask why the girl referred to herself in the third person even as he took the offered hand and shook it. Instead, he just said, "Since I haven't officially introduced myself, you can call me Nigel." He smiled and added, "Nigel Uno."

"Someone's been hitting the spy movies a little too hard." Abby joked before saying. "It's a pleasure to actually meet you, Nigel Uno."

The two smiled at each other as Nigel's dad came back in and asked Abby, "Do you need a ride home?"

She looked at the Adult and said, "Nah, my sis is waiting just down the street for me with her friends, we'll walk home together."

"Alright. I hope that you have a good evening."

"You, too." Then to Nigel, "See you tomorrow."

Nigel nodded, wondering if he'd just made another friend.


As they separated from the rest of the team, Abby looked at her older sister and asked, "Can Abby make a request regarding the intruders?"

"You can make your request, but I'll make no promises about authorizing it."

"I want you to let me deal with them myself."

"What? You can't be serious."

"Numbuh Five is very serious."

"They just broke into my treehouse."

"Yeah, and one of them has admitted to doing it several times before. And we never detected him. "

"And why would I let you deal with them when they invaded my tree house?"

"Because Abby thinks she might have just met part of her future team in there."

Cree stopped and looked at her sister. "What are you talking about?"

C'mon Cree, you and I both know that, in the next year, I'll be the only member of this team who hasn't turned 13. I need to start thinking about who I want to work with. You should have seen the boy who lives in that house. Kindergartener or not, Nigel Uno already can jump and climb better than many seasoned operatives and has proven he can sneak into a base undetected. Hoagie Gilligan's no idiot either. He's one of the the best junior detectives the hall monitors have had in maybe a decade. On top of that, everyone knows how he likes to build things and even has a couple ships he works on in his garage. Most bases have to fight for a two by four specialist."

Cree stopped and looked at her sister thoughtfully. "You're going to encourage them to join the Kids Next Door. I could even get them ready for training."

"Not many Operatives Abby's age get a chance to influence who we get to work with."

Cree studied her sister and finally said, "Fine. I'll let you deal with them. Just make sure they stay out of the treehouse until they are authorized for being there."

Abby smiled and saluted her sister.

"We'd better get home before we get grounded for being out too late."