It was Lilac’s day to be head of the Order of Percy, so it was she who answered the door to the telegram delivery boy who insisted he must surrender his missive directly to Miss Maisie’s hand. But Lilac took him into the kitchen where Beatrice served him hot chocolate and fresh croissants, and he soon forgot about telegrams altogether.

“Won’t you have another?” Lilac offered. “Four croissants is hardly enough for a strapping young lad such as yourself.”

“I think I have room,” the delivery boy answered with chocolate-stained lips. Lilac delivered the fifth pastry on a small sterling tray. “Let me get this out of the way.” She slid the telegram into her pocket. The boy—in a chocolate-and-butter stupor—did not even notice.

After reading the message, Lilac set about finding her sisters. Violet was teaching the littlest Waywards to ride the School’s one bicycle. Lavender was leading interpretive dance sessions in the parlor. “Important meeting,” she whispered in her sisters’ ears. “Ten minutes.”

When the meeting was convened in their hiding spot, Lilac shared the telegram.

“Oh, dear,” Lavender sniffled, threatening to burst into a full-blown sobbing episode. “How on earth could we possibly help?”

“Tears are not going to solve anything.” Envisioning Audie’s own response, Violet squeezed her sister’s hand firmly. “Audie left us in charge. And if she thinks we’re capable of assisting with her scheme, we cannot disappoint.” To remind her sisters of all they owed Audie, she merely held up a fabric fragment of Audie’s old stuffed giraffe.

Lavender hiccupped softly, putting an end to any waterworks. “But hiding an elephant?” Her blue eyes grew wide. “How on earth could we do that?”

Lilac chewed her lip, concentrating. “We need someplace big,” she said.

“And free,” added Lavender. “We don’t have any money.”

Violet nodded. “These are mighty obstacles.” Her fingers stroked the tiny bit of Percy’s ear.

The triplets sat quietly, racking their brains for an idea.

“You know.” Lilac hesitated. Should she reveal what she’d heard in the still of the night? It might offer a solution to the problem at hand. Yet it was Divinity’s secret. Lilac weighed the pros and cons and arrived at a decision. “Divinity said something very odd in her sleep.” After drawing a deep breath, she confided all in her sisters.

“Farm?” Violet’s ears perked up. “But that’s the perfect solution!”

“She’d never agree.” Lavender’s eyes glistened. “It’s hopeless.”

For a moment, Violet, too, nearly succumbed to doubt. Then an image of their initiation ceremony flashed in her mind. “What does Audie always say?”

The girls knew the words so well, they did not need to say them aloud.

Violet clapped her hands together, once. “All right, then. We need to get to work.”