At bedtime, Nory snuck a still-sleeping Roarie into the cabin and under the covers. Exhausted from her first day on the planet, Roarie slept through the night quietly.

Nory did, too. In the morning of her last day at Dragon Haven, she tucked the baby dragon gently into her duffel bag while she got dressed and brushed her teeth, making sure Roarie stayed hidden from Ms. Starr. Then she pulled on her same dirty hoodie from yesterday and tucked Roarie back into the pocket.

The sky was clear and blue. The storm had washed everything clean. Dragon Haven was as beautiful as ever. Maybe more so.

I’ll miss my bunk bed, Nory thought as she ate her scrambled eggs.

I’ll miss this bacon, she thought as she ate her bacon. And the waffle bar.

I’ll miss sleeping to the sound of dragons howling.

I’ll miss brushing my teeth at a row of identical sinks.

I’ll miss the meadow and the kittenball green and the paths and the lake with its Bubble Dragons.

She dragged her duffel bag over to the bus. Nurse Riley was already busy loading the luggage compartment.

I’ll miss you, curb. I’ll miss you, picnic table.

Nory hadn’t seen Father yet this morning, but she spotted Mitali and called her over.

“It was so fun hanging out,” she told Mitali as they clasped hands. “Give me your email.”

Mitali did. “Maybe if you come home to visit, we can see each other? I live in the dorms when school is in session.”

“Absolutely,” Nory said. “I’ll miss you, Mitali.” They hugged good-bye.

Nory left the parking lot and walked a little way into the forest, away from the prying eyes of Ms. Starr and Nurse Riley. On the woodland path, she let Roarie out for a walk. Roarie stretched like a puppy and then flapped and blurped about quite happily.

I’ll miss you most of all, Roarie.

Tip appeared on the path from the boys’ cabins. He approached Nory with his shoulders hunched and his hands jammed into his pockets.

“Excuse me,” he said. “Can I talk to you?”

Nory bristled, but nodded.

“I’m sorry about last night,” explained Tip. “What I said about Dr. Horace. Your, um, dad.”

Nory waited, arms folded over her chest.

“I didn’t realize he was your dad, but I still shouldn’t have said what I said. Imitating him and everything.”

“It was pretty rude,” said Nory.

“I like to make people laugh, that’s all. And I don’t want people laughing at me, because I’m so short, so sometimes I … well, I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Apology accepted.”

Tip crouched down. “Is that your whelp? Can I pet it?”

“Sure,” said Nory. “Go ahead.”

Tip scratched Roarie’s tiny head. Nory half expected him to scold her, to tell her she had to tell Mo about the whelp.

He didn’t. He rose to his feet and said, “What Dr. Horace did, making the walls invisible and stuff—that was excellent. And he does care about the school. I can tell.”

Someone cleared his throat. It was Andres, wearing his brickpack. “We’re almost ready to leave,” he told Nory. “You have to say good-bye to Roarie. Ms. Starr says so.”

“Ms. Starr knows about Roarie?” Nory had kept the baby dragon hidden so well!

“Um, everybody knows about Roarie,” said Tip. “All the fifth graders, anyway.”

“Marigold really, really cannot keep a secret,” Andres said.

Nory smiled. It was true.

“We didn’t tell the dragonologists, though. Or the Sage teachers.” Andres bent down and patted Roarie. “It’s got to be hard to say good-bye. She’s something.”

Nory’s eyes started to tear up. “It is hard. She just—she thinks I’m her mom! She doesn’t have a mom!”

“She can still go live with the Tangerines,” said Andres.

Nory started crying for real. She picked up Roarie and cuddled the Blurper. “I don’t know if I can say good-bye!”

“I’ll come with you,” said Andres. “Come on. It’s time.”

Nory confessed to Mo about Roarie.

It was very, very awkward.

Mo wasn’t mean about it, but she was not at all happy that Nory had kept a rare Blurper in her hoodie and allowed it to eat spaghetti.

But when Nory told Mo that she suspected her dritten was actually a Blurper-kitten, Mo got an excited glint in her eye. “Really?” Mo asked. “Can I see?”

Nory nodded. She scrunched up body and fluxed into a kitten. Then she felt her wings sprout. She shot into the air, Roarie close behind her.

After two minutes, Mo waved them back down.

Nory popped back into girl form.

“Wow,” Mo said, nodding. “Yes, your dritten definitely has Blurper characteristics. I wish I had known that you flux into a dritten earlier in your trip so I could have observed you. Perhaps you could return to our reserve in the future?”

“I’d love to,” said Nory.

Mo confirmed that Roarie could indeed live with the tangerines. She drove them to the bridge overlooking Rock Garden Creek, the place where they’d flung the cantaloupes their first morning.

They walked onto the bridge with Nory carrying Roarie. They looked over at the mother with her two younger Tangerines, super gigantic, rolling around like puppies, all three of them. They didn’t need anyone. They didn’t look like they wanted anyone, either. Especially not a tiny Blurper.

Andres shielded his eyes with his hand. “Look at Ernesto!” he said, pointing. “All by himself, just like the other day.”

Nory saw the dragon Andres was talking about. She hadn’t noticed him last time, even though he was bigger than two elephants, because of how he tucked himself into a shallow cave made of rocks.

“He has no family,” said Andres. He sucked in a breath and turned to Mo. “Hey, could Ernesto take care of Roarie? Instead of the mama Tangerine?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” she told Andres. “In fact, it’s a fine idea, and certainly worth a try.”

“Roarie?” Nory said. She gazed into the whelp’s lollipop eyes. “I have to go, and you have to stay here.”

“Blurp?” Roarie trilled.

“You belong here with the other dragons. I belong back at Dunwiddle—that’s my school—with other kids. And my aunt Margo. You couldn’t live there. You’re not a pet, even if you do love me a whole huge amount.” She felt a bit weepy. “I have to say good-bye,” Nory said firmly. “I’m doing what’s best for you, so that you can be the best Roarie possible.”

She hugged Roarie tight, then gave her to Mo. The dragonologist nodded and flew down into the rock garden with Roarie in her arms.

Nory and Andres held very still as they watched Mo set Roarie gently next to Ernesto.

Ernesto sniffed the tiny whelp, then lumbered to his feet and backed away. Roarie tilted her head and made a curious trilling sound. “Blurp?”

Ernesto watched her warily.

One of the young Tangerines ran by, followed by the other. The vibrations caused by their enormous bodies knocked Roarie off balance.

“Blurp!” she whimpered, sprawling. “Buh-luurp!”

Ernesto shook his enormous head at the young Tangerines. He made a low, gravelly sound and took two gentle steps toward Roarie. He bent down and sniffed her.

She sniffed him back.

Then Ernesto flopped onto his side, showing her his dragon tummy. Mo hovered over them. “That’s a sign of trust and friendship,” she called to Nory and Andres.

Roarie flapped into the air and flew a few feet to settle in next to Ernesto. She curled herself into a small ball and tucked herself in next to his neck, safe and protected from the rowdy Tangerine family.

“She’s going to be just fine,” Mo said as she flew back to Andres and Nory on the bridge. “They’ll be good for each other, those two.”

“I hope so,” said Nory, gazing at Roarie down in the rock garden. “Could I please have a minute by myself?”

“Andres and I will head to the jeep,” said Mo. “We need to get back soon, though.”

Nory’s teardrops splashed onto the wooden railing. They were the good type of tears. She knew she was doing the right thing. “You’ll make a new life for yourself,” she said to Roarie. “You’ll learn dragon stuff, ’cause you’re a dragon, and you’ll get taken care of by somebody who’s going to be really, really good at it, I can tell. And I’ll come back and visit. This summer, maybe.”

Ernesto’s dragon tail was thumping the way a dog’s tail thumped when the dog was happy.

Nory felt the air pressure change. She smelled coffee and sandalwood aftershave. Her father shimmered into view.

“Ms. Starr said you were up here,” he said. “I wanted to say good-bye.”

“Tell Hawthorn I miss him roasting marshmallows for me by hand,” said Nory. “Tell Dalia I miss how she makes me laugh.”

“I will. I know they’ll be thrilled to hear of our unplanned reunion.” He looked thoughtful. “Your teacher, Ms. Starr, gave me an earful just now about parenting. All I asked was where I might find you, not what child-rearing books I should read. She is full of opinions and ideas, isn’t she?”

Nory nodded.

“I suppose the same could be said of me,” Father said.

Nory nodded again.

Father ran his hand over his neatly trimmed hair. “I heard what you said just now, to the whelp.”

Nory held still. Had he also seen her crying?

“Your observations were smart,” he said. “And … you’re making a new life for yourself as well. You’re learning skills to deal with your upside-down magic, because like it or not, that’s the magic you have.”

“I’m happy with my upside-down magic,” Nory told him. “I wouldn’t trade it.”

Father smiled and awkwardly patted her back.

On the bus, Nory took a seat next to Andres, who held his brickpack in his lap.

“Guess what I have?” he said.

“What?”

“Gummy unicorns. I found a whole bag of them at the bottom of my suitcase. My dad must have packed them.”

“Zamboozle!”

Andres popped the bag open, and Nory took two. The cherry gummies were sticky, but she put them both in her mouth anyway.

After some fussing from Ms. Starr and Nurse Riley, and some grumbling from the bus driver because everyone was taking so long, the door finally hissed shut. The engine started and the blue bus chugged down the driveway. Sebastian opened his window and let the sun bounce off his spiffy new aviator goggles. Nory leaned across Andres and opened their window. She stuck her hand out and waved.

“Bye, Father!” she cried. “Bye, Anemone and Fred! Bye, Mitali! Bye, Dr. Nubbly! Bye, Mo! Bye, Roarie and Ernesto, even though I know you can’t hear me! Good-bye, good-bye!”

When Nory could no longer see Dragon Haven at all, she shut the window. She stared straight ahead. Then she looked around, taking in the world around her.

The day was bright. Willa was laughing with Marigold. There were a lot of unicorn gummies to share.

Ms. Starr started singing “This Land Is Your Land,” and Nurse Riley joined in.

Pretty soon everybody joined in. Even Bax.

The sun shone through the window, and Nory closed her eyes and let it warm her cheeks. She felt warm inside, too.

Also sadder, happier, wiser, friendlier, dirtier—

—and ready to be heading home.