Midnight Gang: The

That night, their target was Mr. Pemberton, a gruff old man in the geriatric wing who had no visitors, no family, and no reason to smile. He lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, until Tom, Molly, Raj, and Leo rolled in a rickety tea trolley they had “borrowed” from the second-floor pantry.

The first rule of the Midnight Gang was simple: Find someone who is lonely, scared, or forgotten, and give them a story they’ll never forget.

At 11:03 p.m., Tom appeared at the foot of Leo’s bed like a ghost. The Midnight Gang

Their leader was a wiry, sharp-eyed boy named Tom, who had been a resident of the third-floor long-term ward for eleven months—long enough to know which floorboards groaned and which door locks were broken. His lieutenants were Molly, a girl with a cloud of frizzy hair and a plaster cast on her left leg, and Raj, a quiet, watchful boy who hadn’t spoken a word since his operation, but who could pick any lock in the building with a bent paperclip and a calm focus.

And somewhere, in a quiet ward on the third floor, Tom, Molly, and Raj were already planning their next adventure—waiting for another lost child to find them, and for the clock to strike eleven. That night, their target was Mr

The next morning, Leo walked out of St. Willow’s with his father, a clean bill of health, and a small, tattered notebook hidden in his coat pocket. In it, in wobbly handwriting, were the rules of the Midnight Gang and a list of unfinished wishes.

He tapped his chest, just over his heart. The first rule of the Midnight Gang was

“Get up,” he whispered. “You’re coming with us.”

That night, the gang held one last meeting in the supply closet. Tom, for the first time, looked unsure.