The first day of school had seemed so far away at the start of the summer, but suddenly it was upon them. Ada was excited but nervous. She’d never been the new girl before. Luckily, she had a friend already. She also had a boot to replace her cast, which allowed her to move around better.
The day after the girls had found Marguerite, they had accompanied Mr. Peebles to the dog shelter. Mr. Peebles was thrilled with his new companion, Alan. Nina was right. The dog looked a lot like Marguerite. And he seemed to love Mr. Peebles right away. Marguerite and Alan became fast friends. Sometimes they let Rodney tag along too.
Nina and Ada walked to school with Mr. Lace and Captain Bluebeard—only he was Elliott the Magnificent now. He wore a cape and a hat and carried a wand.
“Behold! A perfectly normal top hat,” said Elliott. He reached into the hat. “But inside . . . a little turtle.”
“Elliott!” said Ada. “You can’t bring Hydrogen to school!”
“But she’s my assistant,” said Elliott.
“She can assist you when you get home,” said Mr. Lace. It was his first day of school too—he was the new art teacher.
Along the way to school they passed Mr. Peebles walking Alan. “See you this afternoon, kids!” Mr. Peebles called.
“He’s so nice,” Ada said to Nina. “I can’t believe we thought he kidnapped Marguerite. And I can’t believe he wasn’t mad that you snuck into his apartment.”
“Well . . . I didn’t really sneak in,” Nina said.
“But I saw you climb through the window,” said Ada.
“I know,” said Nina. Her eyes drifted down to the pavement. “I got into the building because Mr. Peebles’s neighbor left the door open. But Mr. Peebles came back upstairs just as I was about to try his door. He invited me in to meet Rodney. So I asked him if I could try climbing through the window. I wanted you to be impressed.”
“I am impressed, Nina,” said Ada. “I’m impressed by how silly you are!”
Nina gave Ada a gentle punch on the arm.
“It’s too bad Mr. Peebles isn’t really building a spaceship,” said Nina. “Maybe we should build one!”
“I like the way you think, Nina.”
