Jack stood near the front of the skiff, looking for Tom. The whale shark was gone. Maybe Tom had swum off to keep somebody else company. There was no telling how many other kids were living on deserted islands for one reason or another. Or maybe Tom had just eaten up all the plankton and went somewhere else to find more. There was no way to know.

As Jack and his parents sped across the sea, he briefed them on the decision-making rules.

“Brilliant,” his dad said. “Almost like a decision-making thermometer.”

“It will be fascinating,” his mom said. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be in your head, Jack. What’s your favorite food?”

Jack sighed. Getting the hang of the rules would take some practice. “Chocolate,” he said over his shoulder.

“Ah,” his mom said. “Mine is eggplant Parmesan. Couldn’t be more different.”

After an hour, the island appeared on the horizon. Jack began to pick out landmarks. There was the beach where the drift-snorkeling fiasco had begun.

Jack swung the boat into the channel and yelled, “Hold on!”

“Brilliant!” his dad shouted back.

At the dock, Jack put Loco on his shoulder and said, “Let’s go find Ms. Seldie and see what she has to say.”

“Miss Seldie,” Jack called from the yard.

“Halloo?” Seldie called back. She leaned over the railing and laughed. “Look at you, boy. I would hardly know you. Here I was, sorry the poor boy had gone and drowned, and here you are looking like you’ve grown an inch. Well,” she said smiling, “you did it. You lived.”

“Miss Seldie,” Jack said, “can we come up and talk to you? We have a plan, and we need your help.”

“Now, baby, I think you need food before you go planning anything. C’mon up and eat. Then we’ll see about your plans.”

Seldie made them heaping plates of rice and beans. Between bites, Jack explained why he and his parents had come.

“So you see, Ms. Seldie,” he said, “that way you get renters for your apartment, and my parents can get advice from you while I’m in school. You know, in case they come up with a new idea.”

“Let me see if I got this straight in my mind,” Miss Seldie said. “You got a set of rules to live by? I’ll have to draw up my own rules for myself, I think. And we’re going to check the rules. Like, there’s no digging for pirate treasure on a workday. Though, child, I’m not sure there’s a point to digging for pirate treasure on any day.”

“I know,” Jack said, “that’s not me.”

“That’s us,” his mom said. “If we find a pirate chest full of gold doubloons, we’ll buy Jack a … well, we were going to buy him a pony, but he doesn’t want one.”

“Something will catch his fancy, I’m sure,” his dad said.

Seldie looked hard at Jack’s parents.

Jack told her, “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s harmless, and they’re only going to do it on their days off. They’ve had worse plans. Trust me.”

Seldie nodded. “Everybody got their little habits and inclinations, I suppose. It’s not for me to tell another soul whether or not they should be digging for pirate treasure.”

“If you could just make sure they don’t do anything dangerous, that’s what we really need,” Jack said.

“Well, baby, I will say right now if I find any holes in my yard, my cane might get a little dangerous. At my age, I can’t afford to fall into a hole and break a leg on account of anybody digging for doubloons.”

“Do you hear that?” Jack said. “Mom? Dad? Absolutely no digging in the yard.”

“Got it,” his dad said.

“And,” Seldie continued, “you got to be respectful tenants. No loud music after ten o’clock in the night.”

“Done,” Jack said.

“And the boy has got to go to school. A young person needs an education, you see. And he’s got to do his homework, even if he’d rather be swimming in the sea or playin’ a game.”

“Gosh, that’s hard,” his mom said.

“I actually like school, Miss Seldie,” Jack answered.

“Well then, child, I don’t know if you got yourself a perfect plan. Only time will tell on that. But it seems to me that there can’t be many perfect plans around anyhow. I’d say it’s like most plans. Sometimes they work; sometimes they don’t. But you never gonna know until you try the thing out.”

Jack looked over at his parents. “All right, Berensons. We’ve got a new plan.”