First Destiny tried the library.

Ms. Katz was alone in there. She was sitting at her desk.

Books were piled up in front of her.

Destiny called hello. She kept going.

She tried the girls’ room next.

Mitchell’s sister, Angel, was pinning a clip in her hair.

“How do you think this looks?” Angel tilted her head.

“Neat!” Destiny said. “Do you know where—”

Angel was still talking. “I’m making up a poem about it. Listen.…”

Destiny wanted to hurry away. But she couldn’t hurt Angel’s feelings.

Angel looked up at the ceiling. “My clip is green. I look like a …” She frowned. “I don’t know the rest.”

“Queen,” said Destiny.

“Great!” Angel said.

“Thanks.”

Destiny ducked out of the girls’ room. She headed for the gym.

Yolanda wasn’t there, either.

Sumiko was swinging on a rope. She was the best rope swinger in the school.

Where else could Destiny look?

How about outside in the school yard?

Destiny raced up the stairs. She went out the door.

Ramón was playing ball with Peter Petway and a couple of other sixth graders.

Peter’s brother, Trevor, a kindergarten kid, was bashing a ball against the wall.

And there was Yolanda!

She was sitting on the cement. In front of her was a big cardboard box.

“Whew,” Destiny said. “I thought I’d never find you.”

“Don’t worry about my shirt,” Yolanda said. “I think the pudding will come out in the wash.”

Destiny put her hand over her mouth. She’d forgotten about the shirt.

“I’m really sorry,” she said.

She looked down into the box.

Mrs. Terrible Thomas’s six kittens were rolling around. They were playing with each other. Their tiny claws were out.

Two were gray and white striped. Another two were white with black spots. One was gray, Ms. Katz’s favorite.

And then there was the orange ice pop kitten.

“Orange is my favorite color,” Destiny told Yolanda.

If she had a cat, she’d name it …

What?

Never mind what.

She had a bunch of fish in a tank. Mom said fourteen fish were enough pets in one house.

Fish didn’t do very much, though. They just swam back and forth. They gulped in water.

You couldn’t even tell them apart.

But never mind the fish.

It was Ms. Katz she had to think about.

“I have terrible news,” she told Yolanda. “Jake says Ms. Katz has to go.”

Yolanda looked as if she might cry. “Ms. Katz is the best teacher in the United States of America.”

“I guess she’s a little messy,” Destiny said.

“We have to save her,” Yolanda said.

“I know it,” Destiny said.

If only she were an excellent thinker!

For a moment, they petted the kittens.

“The Afternoon Center won’t be the same without Ms. Katz,” Yolanda said.

“I won’t have a teacher, either,” Destiny said.

“How about this?” Yolanda said.

At the same time, Destiny said, “I have an idea.”

“You first,” Yolanda said.

Destiny nodded. “When we go home tonight, we’ll think and think.”

“Yes! That’s what I was going to say,” Yolanda told her.

They gave each other a high five.

“And somehow,” Destiny said, “we’ll save Ms. Katz.”