The Birthday Castle Read online

  “What do you mean?” asked Caleb.

  “You can’t just build like it’s for you,” she said. “Your customers want to know what they’re getting.”

  “They’re getting a fort,” said Eddie. “It’s right in our name.”

  Kiara nodded. “Right. But you can make an official design and have them agree to it. Any changes will cost extra.”

  Caleb knew she was right. “That makes sense,” he said. “But we don’t know anyone who can make a design.”

  Kiara laughed. “You do now,” she said with a smile. “I’ve learned some things from my mom. She helps people plan their designs. She’s an architect.”

  “You’d do that for us?” asked Jax.

  “Sure,” said Kiara. “I want to be part of the team. Plus, I’m saving for a new design app.”

  “Equal partners, then,” said Jax. “Everyone agree?”

  “That’s fair,” said Eddie.

  Caleb held out his hand. “Welcome to Team Fort Builders.”

  5 Making a Plan

  Back in Caleb’s garage, Kiara walked around the fort.

  She took a piece of paper and made a sketch for the castle. She listed which box sizes they would need to finish it. She made an estimate of how much tape would be used.

  After a while, she showed everyone what she’d done.

  “Wow. You’re really good at this,” said Eddie.

  “Thanks.” Kiara smiled at her creation.

  “Let’s move this out into the driveway,” said Caleb.

  It took a few pulls and pushes to get it to the middle of the driveway.

  They carefully removed all the tape and took the box fort apart.

  They were pretty much starting from scratch.

  With Kiara’s design and Jax’s building skills, they got to work.

  “The tower goes in front on the left,” said Kiara.

  “But then it’s in the way of the drawbridge,” said Jax.

  Kiara checked her design. “We’ll have to move the drawbridge to get it how Analise wants it.”

  “We worked really hard on this drawbridge.” Jax crossed his arms.

  “I know, but she wants it to go up and down, right?” asked Kiara.

  Eddie and Caleb stopped picking up boxes. They didn’t want anyone arguing, but they didn’t know what to do either.

  “Yes, but that’s another hour of work to redo the drawbridge,” said Jax. “And we have no time.”

  “That’s why we made a plan,” said Kiara. “You’re supposed to follow the design.”

  “We wouldn’t have needed a plan if she didn’t ask for changes,” Jax snapped back.

  Caleb stepped in. “You guys. We’re a team here.”

  Kiara and Jax stopped and both took a deep breath.

  “Okay, give me a minute,” said Kiara. She erased and sketched. “If we put the tower in the back, you won’t have to move the drawbridge.”

  Jax moved next to her and studied the design. “Good idea,” he said.

  “Great, let’s get this thing done,” said Caleb.

  “Where’s the tape?” asked Jax. It wasn’t where he’d left it.

  All around the fort was a big mess of tape and supplies.

  “Where’s the tape?” he asked again.

  The four of them searched through the mess. Finally, Eddie raised his hand, holding a roll of tape. “Found it!” he shouted.

  But just as they were about to get back to work, Jax’s twin sisters showed up.

  “What are you guys doing?” asked Amber.

  “Yeah, what are you guys doing?” echoed Dove.

  Jax pulled at the duct tape. “We’re working,” he said. “Go play, okay?”

  “We want to work,” said Amber.

  “Yeah, we want to work,” echoed Dove.

  Kiara handed the girls a box. “Can you put this on top of that box for me?”

  The girls took the box. But they had other ideas.

  Before everything was taped together, they were crawling through the fort.

  “Stop!” shouted Jax. “You’re going to—”

  But it was too late.

  Everything was already tumbling down!

  Jax chased his little sisters to the backyard. His yell was clear from the front. “Mom! They’re ruining our fort!”

  Caleb took charge.

  “We have less than a day left to build this fort,” he said. “Let’s get back to work.”

  They used Kiara’s design to rebuild, again.

  Box by box.

  At first, Eddie was in charge of supplies, but he kept losing them.

  Jax was putting boxes together, but they needed him to build.

  Kiara ripped the tape, but she had to have it perfect, so it was taking way too long.

  And Caleb couldn’t find his checklist.

  “Team!” Caleb yelled.

  Everyone stopped what they were doing.

  “This isn’t working,” he said. “We should each use our skills.”

  He lifted his foot to get the piece of paper that was stuck to his sneaker. It was his checklist.

  “Here’s the new plan,” he said. “Eddie, you put the boxes together. I’ll measure the tape. Jax, you stack the boxes. And Kiara, you can attach everything together.”

  He took the design from Kiara and taped it to the front of a box. “All supplies and lists go here. This is home base.”

  Caleb was really good at managing the team.

  “Okay,” said Jax. “All in.” He put his hand out, and one by one the others put theirs on top.

  “ ‘Go, team’ on three,” said Eddie.

  “One, two, three,” they all counted. “Go, team!”

  They got right to work, doing the jobs they were best at.

  A couple hours later, they were almost done.

  “Did you feel that?” asked Eddie.

  “Feel what?” asked Caleb.

  But he got his answer quickly. Rain started coming down fast!

  “We have to move the fort!” shouted Kiara.

  “Grab that side,” Jax said to Eddie and Caleb. “Kiara, get the home base box!”

  The twins came running out front. “It’s raining! It’s raining!”

  “Grab that last box,” Jax yelled to them as the team carried the fort to the garage.

  But instead of carrying the box, the girls used it as an umbrella.

  6 Teamwork!

  They stood in Caleb’s garage as the rain poured down. Half of Analise’s castle fort was a soggy, crumbling mess. The paint was running down the sides, and the tape was peeling off.

  “Now what?” asked Caleb. How could they finish it in time? The party was the next day!

  “We’re out of boxes,” said Eddie with a glum look on his face.

  “And we’re almost out of paint,” said Jax.

  “Our model fort and sign are destroyed too,” Eddie pointed out.

  They had come so close!

  Kiara took the paper with the design and grabbed a pencil. “We can fix this. Give me a minute.”

  They waited as she drew.

  “We only need two more boxes if we do it this way,” she explained. “And Eddie can draw pink stones on the sides so we don’t need a lot more paint.”

  “We don’t have more boxes,” Eddie reminded her.

  “I have a plan,” said Kiara. “I just need to get to Nani’s house.”

  Caleb handed an umbrella to Kiara. “I’ll go with you,” he said.

  They ran up Mrs. Mohan’s driveway, into the garage.

  “We took all the boxes yesterday,” said Caleb.

  Kiara gave him a sly smile. “You took all the empty boxes.” She went to the door and called inside. “Nani, can we empty a couple boxes for our fort? We’ll replace them.”

  “Of course,” answered Nani. “Put everything on the shelf for now.”

  Caleb and Kiara began emptying the boxes.

  Caleb let out a sigh. “Running a business is harder than I tho
ught. I guess my new book will have to wait.”

  “Which book?” asked Kiara.

  “The first Castle Quest,” he answered. He took blankets out of the box in front of him. “It’s a special edition.”

  “That’s a great goal,” said Kiara.

  The boxes were ready, but it was still pouring outside.

  “What if it doesn’t stop raining?” asked Caleb. But neither of them had an answer.

  Could they finish Analise’s dream fort in time for the party?

  * * *

  The Fort Builders team met at Caleb’s house Saturday morning.

  After a night of thunderstorms, the sun was finally shining.

  “We have a fort to build!” said Caleb.

  They quickly got to work.

  Jax and Eddie tore down the parts of the fort that had been destroyed. Kiara and Caleb got the new boxes ready.

  “This box will be for the new tower,” said Kiara. “The other one will be for the drawbridge and the extra window.”

  While Jax and Caleb attached the tower, Kiara and Eddie outlined what they needed cut. Mr. Rivers came out to supervise.

  “We’re going to need a lot of tape,” said Jax.

  The team worked hard to piece it all together.

  They used every scrap of cardboard they had left.

  “Kiara and I will finish the drawbridge,” said Caleb.

  “And we’ll paint,” said Jax. He handed Eddie a brush.

  They sang as they worked. They even danced a little.

  Caleb made holes on each side of the castle door. He made two more on the drawbridge. Kiara poked the rope through and knotted all the ends.

  Eddie and Jax used every last drop of paint.

  Finally, it was done!

  The pink castle with purple tape was finished, and it looked amazing!

  When Analise got to Caleb’s house at noon with her dad, the garage door was closed. The Fort Builders crew was waiting on the porch for her.

  “I got your message,” she said. “I’m so excited to see it!”

  They stood in front of the garage door for the big reveal.

  Caleb handed Analise the garage door remote. “Go ahead. Press the button,” he said.

  Analise pressed it. She waited eagerly as the door inched up.

  “It’s beautiful!” she yelled. She ran right over to the fort.

  “I guess that means you like it?” asked Jax, laughing.

  “Like it? I love it!” Analise hugged the side.

  They showed her how to work the drawbridge. And the secret entry they’d added to the back, like a tunnel.

  “Will you tell your friends about our business?” asked Caleb.

  “Of course!” said Analise. “You built me my dream fort!”

  There it was. The perfect quote for their advertising.

  Analise handed Caleb ten dollars, as promised. The team carefully loaded the fort onto the back of Mr. Stevens’s truck. They waved as they rode down the street to Analise’s house.

  “We did it,” said Caleb. “I’ll go get some change so we can split this. Meet me on the porch.”

  But when he went inside, Jax, Eddie, and Kiara made a different plan.

  Caleb came back out and reached into his pocket. “Here’s your share of the profits.” He handed each of them two dollars and fifty cents.

  They all smiled weird smiles. Sneaky smiles.

  “What?” asked Caleb. “I know it’s not enough for what we wanted, but we’ll get more customers.”

  Jax laughed. “It’s enough,” he said. He held the money out to Caleb.

  Eddie and Kiara did the same.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Caleb.

  “This all started because of you,” said Eddie.

  “And we think you should get that book you want,” added Jax.

  “But—” Caleb started.

  “But nothing,” said Kiara. “You earned it. We’ll get our stuff when we get more jobs.”

  “Are you sure?” Caleb asked. They were being so generous.

  “We’re sure!” they all said at once.

  A big smile lit up Caleb’s face. “Thank you! You guys are the best!”

  Caleb would finally have his special-edition copy of Castle Quest. But best of all, he had become part of a team. And who knew what the Fort Builders team could accomplish next?

  Word List

  advertise (AD•vur•tize): Provide information and draw attention to goods or a service

  architect (AR•kih•tekt): Someone who designs buildings

  displayed (dihs•PLAYD): Showed or put out to view

  estimate (ESS•tih•miht): An educated guess

  generous (JEN•ur•uhss): Willing to give and share

  laddoos (luh•DOOZ): An Indian dessert made of flour, sugar, and ghee, butter, or oil

  motto (MAHT•toh): A phrase that states the mission of a business

  official (uh•FI•shull): Approved by authority

  profits (PRAHF•itz): The money made after costs are paid

  replace (rih•PLAYSE): To restore what was taken

  reveal (rih•VEEL): A show of what was hidden

  supervise (SOO•pur•vize): To oversee a task

  Questions

  1. Why did Caleb and Jax want to start their fort-building business? Did they get what they wanted in the end? Why or why not?

  2. What did the Fort Builders group learn about working together as a team? Why is teamwork important?

  3. What kind of business would you like to start? What would you name it?

  STEM Activity

  How to build a drawbridge:

  Step 1: Starting at the bottom of a cardboard box, draw a closed drawbridge. It can be arched or rectangular.

  Step 2: With the help of an adult, cut along the lines, leaving the bottom attached to form a hinge.

  Step 3: Use a screwdriver to make one small hole on each side of the drawbridge and one small hole on each side above the doorway.

  Step 4: Cut two pieces of string or rope (about twice the length of the drawbridge). Feed them through from the drawbridge to the doorway on each side. While the drawbridge is open, tie knots to secure the rope behind all four holes.

  Step 5: Pull the ropes to raise and lower your drawbridge.

  Step 6: Have fun!

  More from this Series

  Athena & the Island…

  Chocolate Challenge

  Geeger the Robot Goes to…

  Happy Tails Lodge

  Artemis & the Awesome…

  Rockin' Rockets

  About the Author

  DEE ROMITO is an author of books for young readers and a former elementary school teacher. Her middle-grade books include The BFF Bucket List, No Place Like Home, Postcards from Venice, and coauthored Best. Night. Ever. (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster). Her debut picture book, Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Little Bee Books), received a starred review from Booklist and a Crystal Kite Award. Fort Builders is her first chapter book series. And it’s quite possible there’s a box fort or two in her living room at this very moment. You can visit her website at DeeRomito.com.

  Aladdin Quix

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Dee-Romito

  Read more ALADDIN QUIX books!

  By Stephanie Calmenson

  Our Principal Is a Frog!

  Our Principal Is a Wolf!

  Our Principal’s in His Underwear!

  Our Principal Breaks a Spell!

  A Miss Mallard Mystery

  By Robert Quackenbush

  Dig to Disaster

  Texas Trail to Calamity

  Express Train to Trouble

  Stairway to Doom

  Bicycle to Treachery

  Gondola to Danger

  Surfboard to Peril

  Taxi to Intrigue

  Cable Car to
Catastrophe

  Dogsled to Dread

  Stage Door to Terror

  Little Goddess Girls

  By Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  Book 1: Athena & the Magic Land

  Book 2: Persephone & the Giant Flowers

  Book 3: Aphrodite & the Gold Apple

  Mack Rhino, Private Eye

  Book 1: The Big Race Lace Case

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN QUIX

  Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin QUIX paperback edition May 2020

  Text copyright © 2020 by Deanna Romito

  Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Marta Kissi

  Also available in an Aladdin QUIX hardcover edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN and the related marks and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Cover designed by Karin Paprocki

  The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2020933549

  ISBN 978-1-5344-5239-8 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-5238-1 (pbk)