A tall building, with one apartment stacked on top of another — that is where Nick and Maxine came to live with their parents. They had not lived there very long when Maxine said to Nick, “Come to my room. I have discovered something.”

“What?” Nick asked. “What have you discovered?”

“You can see it out the window,” Maxine said. “But you have to stand with your head in that corner.”

“But there is a chest of drawers in that corner,” Nick said.

“I know there is,” Maxine said. “You have to stand on top of the chest of drawers and lean your head into the corner and look out the window and down. Then you will see it.”

“Is that how you saw it? What were you doing standing on top of the chest of drawers?”

“Just do it. Tell me what you see.”

Nick climbed onto the chest of drawers. He leaned his head into the corner.

He looked out the window and down.

“I see grass. I see trees and flowers. There is a little old-fashioned house.”

“It is nice,” Maxine said. “The house is cute. Did you know there was a backyard to this building with a cute little house in it?”

“I did not,” Nick said. “We should go down there.”

“Yes,” Maxine said. “How do we get there?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said. “The whole street is tall apartment buildings, one after another, side by side. I don’t know how to get to the back.”

“I suppose it would not be a good idea to lower a rope out the window and climb down,” Maxine said.

“There might be an easier way,” Nick said. “We should ask someone.”

“Could we ask Mike the janitor?”

“Yes. That is a good idea. Let’s ask Mike the janitor.”