“Well, I’ll just begin at the beginning since that’s always the best place to begin,” said Louisiana.

Beverly snorted.

“Once upon a time,” said Louisiana, “in a land very far away and also surprisingly close by, there lived a cat named Archie Elefante, who was much admired and loved and who was also known as King of the Cats. But then darkness fell —”

“Why don’t you just say what happened,” said Beverly.

“All right, if you want me to, I will just say it. We betrayed him.”

“How?” asked Raymie.

“We had to take Archie to the Very Friendly Animal Center because we couldn’t afford to feed him anymore,” said Louisiana.

“What Very Friendly Animal Center?” asked Beverly. “I’ve never heard of any Very Friendly Animal Center.”

“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of the Very Friendly Animal Center. It’s a place where they will feed Archie three times a day and scratch him behind the ears exactly the way he likes. Still, I never should have left him there. It was a betrayal. I betrayed him.”

Raymie’s heart thudded. Betrayed.

“But don’t worry,” said Louisiana. She put her hand on her chest and took a deep breath. She smiled a dazzling smile. “I’ve entered the Little Miss Central Florida Tire 1975 contest, and I’m going to win that one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars and save myself from the county home and get Archie back from the Very Friendly Animal Center and never be terrified again.”

Raymie’s soul stopped being a tent.

“You’re going to compete in the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest?” she asked.

“Yes, I am,” said Louisiana. “And I feel like my chances at winning are very good because I come from a show-business background.”

Raymie’s soul became smaller, tighter. It turned into something hard, like a pebble.

“As I said before, my parents were the Flying Elefantes.” Louisiana bent and picked up her baton. “They were famous.”

Beverly rolled her eyes at Raymie.

“It’s true. My parents traveled all over the world,” said Louisiana. “They had suitcases with their names printed on them. The Flying Elefantes. That’s what their suitcases said.” Louisiana stretched out her baton and moved it around as if she were writing golden words in the air above their heads. “Their name was written on every suitcase in script, and the F and the Y had very long tails. I like long tails.”

“I’m in that contest, too,” said Raymie.

“What contest?” asked Louisiana. She blinked.

“The Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest,” said Raymie.

“My goodness,” said Louisiana. She blinked again.

“I’m going to sabotage that contest,” said Beverly. She looked at Raymie and then she looked at Louisiana, and then she reached into her shorts and took out a pocketknife. She unfolded the blade. It looked like a very sharp knife.

Suddenly, even though the sun was shining high in the sky, the world seemed less bright.

Old Mrs. Borkowski said all the time that the sun could not be relied on.

“What is the sun?” said Mrs. Borkowski. “I will tell you. The sun is nothing but a dying star. Someday, it will go out. Phhhhtttt.”

Phhhhtttt was actually something that Mrs. Borkowski said often and about a lot of things.

“What are you going to do with that knife?” asked Louisiana.

“I told you,” said Beverly. “I am going to sabotage the contest. I am going to sabotage everything.” She slashed the knife through the air.

“Oh, my goodness,” said Louisiana.

“That’s right,” said Beverly. She smiled a very small smile, and then she folded up the knife and put it back in the pocket of her shorts.