Even after several minutes of running, leaping, hugging, and shrieking, Karina refused to believe that she was free of Lovecraft Middle School once and for all.

“You’re sure I can just walk out of here?” she asked. “Nothing bad’s going to happen?”

“We’re going to find out,” Robert said.

But Karina didn’t have any winter clothes, so first they had to raid the school’s lost-and-found box. She took her time, matching checkered hats with striped scarves and vice versa, while Pip and Squeak helped her sort the garments into winners and losers.

“Can’t you just pick something and get on with it?” Glenn asked.

“I haven’t tried on new clothes in thirty years,” Karina reminded him. “Let me enjoy this, all right?”

As she sifted through the box, Robert paced in circles. His excitement over Karina’s transformation was short-lived. Yes, she was finally free of Tillinghast Mansion—but now what? Where would she live? Who would take care of her? How would she get money for food, clothes, or shelter?

Every time Robert thought he had middle school all figured out, the rules seemed to change and everything got more complicated.

Pip and Squeak came scurrying over and crawled up Robert’s leg. Don’t worry, they told him. You know what you have to do. Often the rats would read his thoughts without Robert even realizing it. He scratched his pets behind the ears and then helped them crawl inside his jacket pocket for the long walk home.

Karina emptied the entire lost-and-found box before deciding on a spectacularly mismatched outfit: blue jacket, black scarf, green cap, one left glove, and one right mitten. “And here’s my favorite part,” she said, plucking orange Garfield earmuffs from the box and placing them on her head. “Are these cool or what?”

“Hey, that reminds me,” Glenn said, turning to Robert. “Did you ever give her that card?”

Robert blushed. “No—”

“What card?” Karina asked.

“Robert bought you a valentine. He told me yesterday, when we were out on the ledge. He said that if he fell off the ledge, I was supposed to give it to you.”

Karina turned to Robert. “Seriously?”

“It’s just Garfield,” Robert said. “I know how much you like him—”

“Like him? I love him!”

Robert gave her the envelope. She began to open it, but he stopped her. “Open it later,” he said. “Open it when you get home.”

The word home stopped Karina in her tracks. She suddenly realized she didn’t have one. “Where am I going to go?” she asked. “What happens when we get to town?”

“Come on,” Robert said. “I have an idea.”

They walked outside the school and found Mrs. Arthur peering out across the frozen landscape, dressed in her coat and hat, still searching for Mac. “I can’t imagine where he’s wandered off to,” she said. “It’s the weirdest thing. Like he simply vanished.”

“Mac’s not coming with us,” Robert said.

“What do you mean?” Mrs. Arthur asked. “Why not?”

He took a deep breath. “Mac’s been captured,” he said, and then the whole story came spilling out: “He’s imprisoned in Tillinghast Mansion. His soul is trapped in a small ceramic urn, but I think we can rescue him. Yesterday, Glenn and I found chorus robes that will let us sneak into the mansion unnoticed. But first we have to go home, because Karina doesn’t have any place to live. She’s been trapped here in spirit form for thirty years—”

“Stop,” Mrs. Arthur said. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“You’re telling it wrong,” Karina said. “Start from the beginning. Tell her about your first day of school.”

“Yeah,” Glenn said, “tell her how you found Pip and Squeak.”

“Who?” Mrs. Arthur asked. “What’s a Pip and Squeak?”

At the mention of their names, the rats emerged from Robert’s coat pocket, twitching their noses, and Mrs. Arthur shrieked.