“Absolutely not!” Cypher stood tall and resolute in his dark wool suit.

Audie thought he had looked grander in the Secret Service uniform, but evidently guarding President Taft proved too calm for Cypher’s taste. He had recently signed on with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and was now enlisting Audie’s help with his first solo case. “I came to gather up one child. Not two children and a cat.” He paced in front of the grand Dutch-tiled fireplace in the room formerly known as the Punishment Room but now known to all the Waywards as the library. Miss Maisie, however, still avoided this gracious space at all costs. How one survives without books and stories is beyond comprehension, but there are evidently persons who do not partake of the written word. I know, dear reader, it causes you to shudder as it does me.

Beatrice entered bearing a silver tray from which emanated a rich and honeyed aroma. “Bonjour, monsieur. Tea?” Her pale cheeks were brushed with pink as often happened when she was in Cypher’s presence.

His attention was diverted from Audie’s outrageous request to the offered sweets. “Is that baghlava?”

“But of course!” Beatrice blushed a deeper rose. “After the excitation grande in the capital city, and your kindness in driving me to Miss Maisie’s, it was only good manners to find a recipe from your native Persia as a way to say merci.”

The notion that Beatrice would trouble herself in this regard seemed to flummox Cypher completely. He was thrown for such a loop that he added both milk and lemon to his tea. In rather astonishing proportions. And he did not even flinch as he took a sip of the disagreeable combination.

“Won’t you try one?” Beatrice offered the glazed, layered pastries, glistening with rose water and finely ground pecans. “I know they will not be as, how you say it, délicieuse, as those your mother prepared. But perhaps they will remind you of home, in some small way.”

Cypher lifted one of the squares to his mouth and took a tentative bite. He chewed. A sigh escaped his lips. From his expression, it was clear he was no longer standing in the library, but had been transported to his desert homeland, seated on rich carpets among loving family and friends.

“They are bons, yes?” Beatrice watched anxiously.

His eyes slowly opened. He cleared his throat. “They are”—he licked a crumb from the corner of his mouth—“quite adequate.”

Beatrice clapped her hands. “Merci, merci.” She held up the tray, urging him to take another. “Please, enjoyment of your tea while I assist the young mesdemoiselles with their packing.”

“Do have a seat, Cypher,” Audie urged. “We’re nearly ready.”

He chewed, nodding thoughtfully. Then he sat bolt upright in the chair, coughing pecans all over the Tabriz carpet. “No. No. Not mesdemoiselles plural.” He reached for his teacup, drank, and coughed even harder. “I am here for Audie. Audie alone.”

Beatrice wisely removed herself from the library.

Audie perched primly on the reading chair that had belonged to Miss Maisie’s late father, Mr. Witherton. “About that.”

She studied her patent-leather footwear, a souvenir from her recent adventure in the nation’s capital. She wiggled the toes in her left boot, reassuring herself that the remaining precious gold coin from her parents was still safe and secure, its partner having gone to a good cause in Washington, D.C.

As a general rule, Audie was loath to cloak the truth, but she had regrettably learned that there are times when such a strategy is essential. Cypher did not need to know the true reason Audie was keen on Bimmy’s company. “Miss Maisie has been under some scrutiny,” she began. “By the county board of … board. It seems they found her decision to allow me to go off with the Commodore ill-advised.” Audie patted the cushioned arms of the reading chair. “From now on, any Wayward who leaves the School must do so in the company of another Wayward.”

Cypher blotted at the front of his dark jacket in an attempt to absorb the tea that had sprayed when he coughed. “You said nothing about this when I first wrote you.” His hand froze in mid-blot. “Exactly which board?” he inquired. Had Audie not been so extremely fond of him, she would have been crushed at the suspicious nature of the question.

Audie swung her legs, donning a look of sheer innocence. “Oh, you know they don’t really let us in on such details.” She shrugged, bringing her shoulders daintily up to her ears. “Being that we are mere children.”

“This is blackmail,” Cypher sputtered.

“Of course”—Audie’s legs paused in their swinging—“I could always remain at home.”

Cypher nearly growled, “I will agree to the other girl.” He set his cup down with a clink and a rattle. “But no cat.” His strong hand sliced through the air like a scimitar. “Not even one as clever as Min. And that is my final word.”

Audie opened her mouth to protest. But a good trader knows when to stop haggling. “I completely understand your feelings.” She selected a small piece of baghlava and took an experimental bite. Scrumptious! As was everything Beatrice created.

“If you would only tell me a bit more about what I am to do as your assistant, I would be ever so grateful.” Audie slowly studied the library’s book-lined shelves, from the tip-top of the coved ceiling to the worn oak floorboards, then indicated a row of titles on the nearest bookshelf. “Shall I bring titles on alchemy or horsemanship or rare Chinese herbs?”

“Suit yourself.” Cypher stood abruptly. “I am going to the car. I have some headache powders there of which I am suddenly in need.” Not unlike a cranky toddler, Cypher stormed out of the room. Audie couldn’t be certain, but he might even have been pouting!

A meowing at the window caught Audie’s attention. She nudged the sash up to allow admittance. “And where did you get off to?” she asked as Min leapt gracefully from windowsill to floor. Audie bent to scratch behind the cat’s ears.

“I haven’t much time, dear Min.” Audie smoothed out the skirt of her pinafore as she straightened up. “What reading material shall I take along this time? A good geography book?”

Nethery’s New World Atlas had proved quite helpful on the mission with the Commodore. “But that seems redundant. I already know we are going to New York City.” Simply speaking the name of that grand metropolis gave Audie a thrill. “I should continue to work on my mathematics, but I have been quite diligent lately. Might I leave that calculus book behind?” Audie crouched to appeal to her friend. Min answered with a jump to the library table and a second leap, which left the cat perched precariously on a shelf that Audie had not much explored in the past.

“Hmm.” She pulled out the slim title shifting under Min’s paw. Sleight of Hand: A Practical Manual of Legerdemain for Amateurs and Others by Edwin Sachs. “This looks quite interesting.” She reflected on the postcard that Cypher had sent, first notifying her of his need for her assistance. The image on the front had been of the world-famous magician Harry Houdini. “Good advice, Min. What else?”

The cat’s tail snapped back and forth like a metronome. Then it flicked twice more, tapping two additional titles: Animal Kingdom, Volume 1 and Harmsworth Natural History. Audie quickly skimmed the books before adding them to her pile, noting that both seemed to focus on large animals. The library clock chimed the hour. “Oh, I’d best be scooting along.” She shifted the books so she could properly pet the top of Min’s head, dreading what she must say. “I do have some wretched news, stalwart friend. It appears Cypher is quite firm about you remaining behind at the School.”

Min meowed.

The disappointment in that meow grieved Audie. “It’s no doubt for the best.” She resettled the slippery stack. “After all, Beatrice has grown so fond of you. And since she’s still settling in, I need you to help her.” Audie gazed into Min’s golden eyes. “I promise to bring you a treat. Perhaps a new collar that will turn Mr. Schumacher’s puss green with envy?”

Min shook herself thoroughly, ending with a sharp twitch at the end of her tail. It troubled Audie to see how cross Min was at this turn of events.

“Do let’s part on good terms,” Audie pleaded.

Another tail flick. A long pause. And then Min padded close, snaking herself around Audie’s legs, purring as if a motorboat engine were lodged in her chest.

“That’s the spirit!” Audie gave one last pat. “I must be off.” She blew Min a kiss and hurried to complete her packing.

Had she glanced back, she would’ve seen Min leap to the sill and out the open window. After a graceful landing in the rose bed below, the agile cat shook herself slightly before sauntering along as if the ways of humans were of no consequence in the least. Without even bothering to take cover under the hedge of snowball bushes, she made her way to the very automobile where Cypher awaited.