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No need to make any enemies. In her old neighborhood, some of the kids could be really mean. “I was just checking this place out. It’s pretty cool—for a tree house.”
    “Yeah, it is,” the smaller boy said. “That’s what we thought when we found it.”
    “So you didn’t build it?”
    “Nope. But it’s ours. And it’s got our stuff in it.”
    Well, it had her stuff in it, too.
    “You know,” she said, “I’ve been wanting to find a fort like this for a long time. Would you guys mind if I used it for a few days?”
    “Heck, yeah, we’d mind.” The older boy, his thick dark hair in need of a trim, chuffed. “What good is a secret fort if people know where it is and can use it whenever they want to?”
    “Besides,” the smaller boy added, “you’re a girl.”
    There was that. She supposed she could figure out something else to do, find somewhere else to spend the nights until she got a job, but there was still the money issue. “What if I paid you to let me use it for a few days?”
    “You mean you want to
rent
it from us?” the younger boy asked. “With
real
money?”
    She nodded. “I guess you could say that. I’ll give you five dollars if you let me … uh …” No need to tell them she wasactually going to live in it. “… if you let me use it and keep my stuff in it for a while.”
    The younger boy looked to the older boy for direction, his expression hopeful. “We could buy that kite we saw down at that store that sells beach stuff, Danny.”
    “Not with five dollars. It’s not enough.”
    What was this? A major real estate negotiation? Renee crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. No way was she going to pay them more than that. Not when she might luck out and find a real place to stay in the next day or two.
    They seemed to be at an impasse, so she came up with an idea that might please them all. “How about a dollar a day?” If she found a place soon, she’d spend even less than the five bucks she’d originally offered them.
    “Hey, we could make thirty dollars if she used it for a month,” the younger boy said.
    Renee grimaced at the thought. She didn’t even want to think about living in a tree house that long. “But here’s the thing,” she said, tossing out a stipulation. “You can’t tell anyone that I’m using it. If you do, the deal is off.”
    The boys looked at each other. The older one—Danny—shrugged at his friend before nodding in agreement.
    She kind of liked negotiating with them and wondered how far she could push. “You know, I’d throw in an extra fifty cents each day if the place was furnished.”
    The younger boy seemed to be doing the math, while Danny narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean by
furnished?”
    “Well, for one thing, I could use a blanket and pillow in case I ever need to … you know, take a nap or rest.” Again she thought about what might happen if they told anyone about this. “But like I said, if you can’t keep a secret …” She let the threat hang between them.
    “No one is better at keeping their mouths shut than us,” Danny said. “Me and Tommy took a blood oath when we found this place. And if one of us breaks it, we’ll die.”
    Renee figured it was in her best interest to let them believe in the dire consequences of breaking a blood oath, so she held her tongue.
    Finally, the younger boy seemed to shake off the threat of death and spoke up. “Hey, you know what? My mom has a whole bunch of junk in our attic that we don’t ever use. She’ll never know it’s even gone.”
    “What else do you need beside a blanket and a pillow?” Danny asked.
    Renee bit back what she really wanted, like a front door with a deadbolt lock and a bathroom with warm running water, instead figuring she’d better take what she could get. “I’d like whatever else you can find that would make this place comfortable.” Then she had an Oh-wow! moment.
    She had no idea why she hadn’t thought of it first. “You