DURING MOST OF his father’s nearly four-year absence, Emmett lived on the streets. Miss Adelaide, the kindly old woman who operated the local bookmobile—a covered coach that functioned as a sort of mobile library—had offered to care for him. Sadly, Miss Addie passed away not long after Captain Lee’s disappearance, and Emmett was forced to survive on his own. He did so by hiding the bookmobile deep in an east side ash dump and turning it into a makeshift home. It was to this small, secluded hideout that Emmett now led his father and the Peppers.
“This is where you lived?” Captain Lee asked, gaping at the ten-foot piles of soot and dirt that surrounded them like coal-colored sand dunes. Molly couldn’t tell if he was horrified or impressed.
“For almost three years,” Emmett replied. “But mostly inside the bookmobile. I spent as little time as I could out here with the rats and shadow monsters.”
“Shadow monsters?” Cassandra asked.
“In retrospect, they were probably just bigger rats,” Emmett explained. “But I was young and easily frightened back then. You know, as opposed to now.”
Outside the small but fully enclosed wagon, Captain Lee paused, letting Robot’s crate roll to a stop in a cloud of black dust. “I’m sorry, Emmett,” he said, shaking his head. “I failed you. The things you were forced to do without me here . . .”
“It’s nicer on the inside,” Emmett said, trying to sound upbeat.
“I thought you said it was a dank, cramped pit and that’s why you never wanted me to see it,” said Cassandra.
“Uh . . .”
“Wait’ll you see the amazing contraptions Emmett built in there, Captain Lee,” Molly interjected.
“Contraptions? Well, why didn’t you say so sooner?” Cassandra said eagerly as Emmett unlocked the small door on the side of the wagon. He ducked the broomstick that swung out at head level as he opened it. Cassandra gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. “It’s okay that your sweeping machine malfunctioned. They can’t all be winners.”
“It’s a booby trap, Mother,” Molly scoffed.
“Well, in that case, bravo!” said Cassandra. “The thief sees the sweeping machine and assumes he’s found a nice, clean place to burgle, but he doesn’t realize the sweeping machine is broken and gets scared off by all the dirt inside. Clever.”
“Um, why don’t you come in?” Emmett said, stepping into his former home. “You might want to watch your head, though.”
“I once spent two days trapped under a very fat and lazy seal,” said his father. “I will be fine.” He ducked the low doorframe to climb in, as did Cassandra, the tallest of the group.
Before joining the others inside, Molly cracked open Robot’s crate. “I bet you’d like to get out of there,” she said.
“The person with whom you made that bet owes you some money,” said Robot. “Because, yes, I would like to get out.”
Molly took his cool metal hand in hers and helped him. “Hooray!” Robot said. “I am free! No more cramped, dark boxes for me!” He followed Molly into the bookmobile crawling on all fours to avoid the low ceiling. “It is cramped and dark in here.”
“I can light the lamps!” Emmett said.
“Oh, this is gonna be amazing, Cap,” Molly said. She flashed an enthusiastic smile toward where she thought Emmett’s father was. “Wait till you see it!”
Emmett lit a candle and began turning a crank, which caused the flaming taper to move along a wire around the perimeter of the ceiling. “See, the first candle lights the other candles as it goes along the—oof! Sorry about my elbow, Mrs. Pepper! It’s not usually this crowded in here. So, anyway, as the candles are lit, the glass jars automatically lower to—ooh, you might want to duck, Molly. Whew! Okay. So, the jars—ow! That was my foot, Robot. Can you please keep still for a—”
“Cap, your hat’s on fire!” Molly cried as the sliding candle collided with Captain Lee’s wide-brimmed cowboy hat. The captain yelped, tried to stand, and bumped his head on the ceiling, causing all the candles to shake. “Don’t do that!” Molly shouted. “You’ll set the whole place on fire!”
“Me? I’m not the one making open flames fly around in a tiny wooden box filled with paper!” the captain sputtered. Robot snatched the smoldering hat from his head and smothered the fire in his aluminum hands.
“I’m sorry, Papa!” Emmett said. “I’ve never used my lighting device with more than two people in here. I’ve never even had more than three people in here. The glass jars usually cover the candles to, you know, prevent any heads from catching fire.”
“It’s okay,” Captain Lee said, his breath calming. “I know that coming here was a plan born of desperation.”
“Desperate or not, it was still a solid plan,” Molly said. “Since none of the people chasing us even knows this place exists.”
“That’s true,” said Cassandra. “Space may be tight, but at least we’re safe.” She tapped her finger against her lips. “Curtains might be nice, though. Emmett, have you ever considered putting some windows in here so you’d have a place to put curtains?”
“I feel I must announce my amazement at the number of books you have, Emmett,” Robot said, looking around. What the tiny wagon lacked in floor space, it made up for in bookshelves. They ran along all four walls, showcasing everything from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre to Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island. “I have never seen so many books in one place,” Robot continued. “Although I have only been alive for nine months and have spent most of that time on a boat.”
“Ooh, Captain!” Molly said. “Emmett’s lighting system may have hit a snag, but check out his book-selecting claw! See? You use this lever here and the claw slides down the wires to grab a book for you and—” The metal claw swooped down from the center of the ceiling and rammed two of its tin talons straight up Captain Lee’s nostrils. “On second thought,” Molly said, “we should probably start reading through these newspapers for information about the MOI.”
“Okay,” said Cassandra. “But can I try the claw game first?”
“There they are!” Cassandra cried, popping up from where she’d been lying on Emmett’s skimpy mattress with a newspaper over her face. Her head, and the newspaper on it, got tangled in the web of wires above, but she quickly plucked herself free. “I found the MOI!” she repeated. “Not literally, mind you. They weren’t shrunken to flea size and squished inside that paper, in case that’s what any of you thought I meant.”
“None of us did,” said Emmett.
“Not even I,” said Robot. “And I take things very literally.”
“Good,” Cassandra continued. “But I did find the MOI. And the most fun thing about it? I wasn’t even trying! I only put this paper over my face because I’d been angling for a little snooze.”
“We know, Mother,” said Molly. “You’ve been snoring for hours while the rest of us have been poring over every word in these old papers.”
“Well, I’m sure there’s a lesson in that somewhere,” said Cassandra. “But I can’t be bothered to figure it out, because when I opened my eyes just now, I found myself staring at an article about five women who were arrested at a South Street wharf house.”
Emmett reached up and pulled the crumpled pages from the network of overhead wires. “It’s from late September, so the timing would be right,” he said, smoothing out the article and scanning it. “It doesn’t mention the women’s names, but it does tell us who arrested them: Federal Agent Clark Clark.”
“That man must have had very cruel parents,” Cassandra said. “Explains a lot, actually.”
“It says the women were arrested for harboring fugitives who stole government secrets,” said Emmett.
“Lies!” Molly said, old angers rising up. “We didn’t steal anything. Those ‘secrets’ were ours. If anyone stole anything, it was the government stealing our right to tell our own story!”
“Ah! Here’s what we’re looking for,” Emmett said. “‘The women were sent up the river to Sing Sing penitentiary to await trial in the spring.’”
“At least it’s not Blackwell’s,” Cassandra said with a shudder.
“I know, but—the spring?!” Molly said. “They’ve been locked up all this time without even getting their day in court? That settles it—we’re heading straight upstate to bust our friends out.”
Robot began crawling to the door.
“Oh, no, we are not,” said Captain Lee. “I thought I was clear about that.”
Robot crawled backward.
“Father, I think we need to at least consider—” Emmett began.
“Consider what? Making your situation even worse? No, I’m not losing my son again.” Captain Lee squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Look, maybe you’re right and turning yourselves in won’t win you any points with this Agent Clark, but committing an even more serious crime isn’t going to make him any happier with you. Can we consider a third option? Can’t someone go to the governor and advocate for their release?”
“Who?” Molly asked. “Us, the notorious fugitives who would be arrested on sight? Or you, the man who’s legally dead and has no way to even prove he is who he says he is?”
“Perhaps we can appeal to Mr. Bell,” the captain began.
“The man we abandoned at sea because we didn’t trust him?” Cassandra said. “He and the Guild covered up the fact that they ever sent you on that doomed expedition in the first place. Publicly acknowledging that you survived is only going to put a spotlight on the majority of the crew that didn’t make it back from his secret, experimental mission. I doubt the man wants that.” She had dark half-moons under her eyes and lines around her mouth. It was the first time Molly had ever thought her mother looked old. “Listen,” Cassandra went on, “perhaps there is some sort of hundred-percent safe and legal route to freeing our friends—something that involves paperwork and standing in lines at stodgy offices and waiting for men in expensive suits to make important decisions about our lives—but we don’t have time for that. I don’t have time for that. Right now, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to get all of this over as quickly as possible. We will never feel another moment’s peace until we figure out a way to get the authorities off our backs. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my mind is too frazzled to do that. We need more brains—and the MOI have got them in spades. We have to rescue those women because those women can help us.”
“And they can help Robot,” Molly added.
“Helping me is good,” said Robot. “I vote for that idea.”
After a short silence, Captain Lee spoke up. “I suppose I can’t stop you,” he said. “You Peppers do what you think you need to. We won’t get in your way. But Emmett and I will not be taking part.”
“Papa—”
“Emmett, I will not allow it.”
Emmett looked at the floor.
Molly opened her mouth, fully intending to give Captain Lee a piece of her mind and tell Emmett they needed him, but before she could, she felt her mother’s hand on her arm. She turned, and Cassandra, still looking at her, said, “Of course we understand, Wendell. You need to do what’s best for you and your family.”
Your family? No, Emmett was their family. And having him along could mean the difference between success and failure in breaking their friends out of Sing Sing. Her mother should know that. Heck, Emmett should know that himself. Why wasn’t he speaking up? Was no one on her side? She exhaled, her shoulders crumpling.
“I will go with you, Molly,” said Robot.
“Actually, Robot, you should stay here with the Lees,” Cassandra said. “Conserve what’s left of your space rock until we get Margaret and Hertha to examine you.”
Robot’s neck creaked as his head swiveled to Molly. “It is okay, Molly,” he said. “We will have more adventures together soon.”
Molly nodded, while her mother sorted through the items in her bag. From the corner, Emmett looked over to her with eyes that said, I’m sorry. Or maybe they said, You’re making a mistake. Or I’m worried about you. Molly looked away before the pangs in her heart grew too strong. She’d always known what Emmett was saying with his looks. Always. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing that connection.
“Ready, Molls?” her mother asked, knocking several books off a shelf as she strapped a bag to her back.
“Yeah,” she said. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Sing Sing is up the Hudson River,” Cassandra replied. “First thing we do is head back to the ferry port and get our hands on a boat.”
Molly nodded. “And once we get to the prison?”
“We’ll figure that bit on the way,” her mother replied. “It’s a long trip; what else are we going to talk about? Emmett, dear, would it be all right if I borrowed the crank mechanism from your candle-lighting fire-setting gizmo?”
“I suppose so,” Emmett said, though he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact. “I don’t think I’m going to use it anymore.”
“Wonderful.” Cassandra took a moment to disassemble Emmett’s machine and stuff the pieces in her bag. Then she crawled forward and opened the door. “Let’s do this, Molls. Peppers never quit, right?”
Except her mother had just quit. She avoided Emmett’s eyes as she followed her mother into the night.