Nick crossed his arms, which were paint splattered too. “Haven’t you listened to the news today?”

I had only listened to my iPod. I shook my head. “What happened?”

Nick walked over to his computer. “I’m sure it’s on the Internet by now.” He clicked a few links and then a newscaster popped up on the screen. She had a cheerful expression even though she spent most of her time doling out information about disasters.

“The usually uneventful town of Rock Canyon is experiencing a bizarre crime wave today. A gang wearing medieval garb carjacked a pickup truck, then robbed a Pizza Hut and two gas stations at sword-point.” The screen switched to a grainy surveillance tape that showed Robin Hood flanked by most of his men. He walked up to the checkout counter and drew his sword while his men went along the aisles emptying things into their sacks. They grabbed whatever was on the shelves—candy bars, chips, and lots of AA batteries. I had no idea what they were going to do with those. It was really too bad they didn’t hit a deodorant or soap aisle.

The surveillance tape ended and the screen went to a reporter, who stood next to the store clerk. He was a scruffy, overweight college-aged guy with spiky hair and a goatee.

“Can you describe the attack?” the reporter asked.

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The clerk leaned close to the microphone. “It was freaky. Sort of like a bunch of Renaissance festival actors turned bad. First the head dude asked for our gold and silver. When I told him we didn’t stock that, he said to hand over my jewelry.” The clerk shrugged. “I don’t wear any jewelry except my nose ring, and I never thought anybody would want to steal that, but I gave it to him. Then the dude asked for money. I opened the cash register drawer and tried to give them the twenties, but they threw those aside and demanded the coins.” The clerk scratched behind his ear. “They made off with about four dollars in change.”

That didn’t make sense until I remembered that paper money didn’t exist in the Middle Ages.

On the screen, the newscaster smiled sympathetically. “Unfortunately the robbers caused more than four dollars’ worth of damage to the store, didn’t they?”

The clerk nodded. “Yeah—while they were swiping things off the shelves, one of them tried to yank the hot dog warmer off the counter.

When that didn’t work, he hit the glass with the back of his sword and busted in the side.” The clerk shrugged again. “Not what I would call smart thieves.”

“They’re certainly a danger to our community though,” the reporter said brightly. “Anyone with information about these crimes is urged to call the anonymous tip hotline.”

I sat down with a thunk on Nick’s bed. A tight ball of dread bounced around inside me. “This is awful.”

“I didn’t call the hotline,” Nick said, turning so he faced me. “At least not yet. It might push your dad over the edge if he knew you were friends with those guys too.”

I stared at the computer. It didn’t make sense. “They were only supposed to rob from the rich.”

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Nick’s eyes narrowed on me. “I get the whole teenage rebellion stuff to a point. You’re mad that your dad left your family. I felt the same way when my parents split.” He held up one hand to emphasize his point. “But instead of dealing with it, you want to drive everyone crazy.”

I pressed my arms over my stomach as if this could keep it from hurting. “The books, the movies—they all said Robin Hood was a good guy.”

Nick looked up at the ceiling, contemplating. “What happened the first time you came out for a visit? Oh yeah, that’s when you pretended to be anorexic and wouldn’t eat anything.” The accusation momentarily snapped my mind off of Robin Hood. “I wasn’t pretending to be anorexic. Your mom was going through a tofu and bean recipe craze.”

“And the second time you came, you had that tattoo of snakes coiling down your arm.”

“It was just henna,” I said. “It washed off.” Nick leaned against his dresser. “Yeah, but you didn’t tell your dad that. You stepped off the plane and said, ‘How do you like my new tattoo? My boyfriend and I got matching ones.’ ”

“If my dad had called and talked to me at all beforehand, he would have known I was joking. I didn’t have a boyfriend at the time.” Nick drummed his fingers against the top of his dresser. “And since it wasn’t enough to have a fake idiot boyfriend, the first thing you did when you moved here was date Bo, the genuine article.” That was the thing about Nick. He thought my dad was great, so he was bound to take his side on everything.

“You’re a smart girl.” Nick waved his hand at me like it was an accusation. “You get As in math and physics, but what is your grade in English?”

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I didn’t answer. He knew as well as I did that I had pulled nothing but Ds in English since my dad left us. It went along with my refusing to read books. I wasn’t about to excel in anything Dad loved.

“And now you claim to have conjured up Robin Hood from the past,” Nick went on. “I admit I don’t quite see the angle on this one.

How is this supposed to make your dad nuts?” Robin Hood. The reference brought my mind back to the problem at hand. I stood up. “I’ve got to get ahold of my fairy godmother.” She would be able to put a stop to this medieval crime spree. “Chrissy!” I looked for an eruption of sparkles, but nothing happened. “Chrysanthemum Everstar!” I called.

Still nothing.

“Clover?” I asked, remembering the leprechaun’s name. No one appeared in the room.

Nick pressed his lips together, still questioning me. “Great fairy godmother you’ve got.”

Clover had said she was only fair. I was beginning to see his point.

“Well,” I said, “this means I’ve got to find Robin Hood myself. He thinks we have poor villagers who need his help. He’s probably out somewhere wondering why no one is thrilled to be the recipient of nickels, pennies, and a used nose ring.” Nick went through the stack of clean laundry on his dresser, putting some socks into a drawer. “Your dad isn’t going to let you go anywhere for a long time.”

“Then I’ll have to sneak out. This is important.” Nick let out an overlong “Ohhh …” as he turned back to me. “Now I get the whole Robin Hood angle. You have to sneak out to stop the Merry Men.” He picked up his jeans and put them into one of the drawers. “You’re creative, I’ll give you that. And you have a really impressive knack for getting guys to take revenge for you. First Bo 73/356

vandalized city hall, and now the Robin Hood dude is messing with the police. But as your little Frisbee there says, you think criminals are cool.” Nick shoved his T-shirts into another drawer. “I bet the city council totally wishes they hadn’t ticked you off now.” I didn’t appreciate his sarcasm, but what could I say? He didn’t believe me about the magical stuff, and the only proof I had was a pathetic-o-meter. “You won’t tell on me when I sneak out, will you?” I asked.

He grunted. “I’m not going to mess with you. You might set your battalion of evil boyfriends on me.”

“Thanks,” I said, and walked out of his room.

It wasn’t hard to sneak out. I went to my room and turned on my music loud enough so it seemed like I was in there, but not loud enough that my dad or Sandra would knock on the door and demand I turn it down. I didn’t know what to take with me, so I slung a small purse over my shoulder and put my cell phone, wallet, and the pathetic-o-meter inside. Since it was magic, I vaguely hoped it would be able to do something to help me, like contact my fairy godmother if my pathetic reading went high enough. At any rate, I didn’t want my dad to find it in my room. He would not be cheered by its pronouncement that I think criminals are cool.

Dad had bought a sheet of plywood and leaned it against my window. It moved easily enough, and I slipped outside into the warm September night. I went around to the side door of the garage. I couldn’t take one of the cars. I had grown up in New York with its sub-way systems, so I didn’t know how to drive very well. This left a bike as my only means of transportation. Bike riding isn’t the fastest way to track people, and it was probably a hopeless venture from the start, but I had to at least try to find Robin Hood and his men. I had brought 74/356