Wouldn’t you know it, the day that Dad went to speak to my class, I was feverishly sick. Caught it from Sydney, I guess. Mom made me stay in bed and wrote a note to my teacher, which Dad delivered. To top it all off, Sydney went to feed the cats at Mr. Left’s that afternoon. I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for her to come back, knowing that she would somehow find Stenway and not be back until dinnertime.

  Downstairs the doorbell rang. And rang. And rang. I slowly peeled back the covers, hoping whoever it was would go away. It kept ringing. Finally, I made it to the doorknob and swung open the door. Donny stood on the stoop, shuffling his feet.

  “What.”

  “You’re reinstated. We’re meeting tomorrow at the drugstore. Chris says he hopes you’re well enough to make it.”

  “Thanks.” I started to close the door but Donny stopped it.

  “Don’t you want to know what your dad said today?”

  “Can’t I ask him any old time?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess, but you won’t have him answer the questions that we did.” Donny held up a folded sheet of yellow, lined paper. “Peach took notes on the whole thing.”

  I held out my hand for it. “Thanks.”

  “Yeah. Clive says that when you come, make sure your sister isn’t with you.”

  “I can’t really make any promises.”

  “Yeah, well, Clive likes having things to be mad about.” Donny grinned a little bit. “Bye.”

  I poured myself a glass of milk and found a blanket in the living room. I was freezing, but my insides felt like they were on fire. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it to the drugstore tomorrow. I opened the paper that Donny had given me and started to read it. Peach’s handwriting was very large and neat, and there were very few scratches or line-throughs. I wondered if he’d written these up after class.

  The notes said most of the things that Dad usually talked about when he said anything about his job. Lab at the hospital, grant from Mr. Left, working with college students and technicians, computer technology... things got interesting when people started asking questions. Peach was pretty good at taking notes, turns out. Even though the fellows were still not giving me information, meaning no editorials from Peach, his attitude showed through in the notes, writing some words bigger, writing others sloppily, taking less notes on less important questions, and practically giving a word-for-word response on the more important questions.

  The fellows had discovered that Mr. Left’s current project had a deadline of two years from three months ago, but apparently Dad felt like they were much closer to a breakthrough. Weird, considering what the men at the lab had said. Chris Blue had posed an ethical question, which Dad had neatly answered, apparently impressing the fellows. Someone asked if there was any way kids could help in the research; Peach apparently thought very little of this question. Dad did encourage everyone to become more interested in research, saying that we were “the future of science.”

  I’d heard that speech before. The notes were nice but I wanted to talk to the fellows. I shivered and checked the clock. 8 hours since the pills Mom had given. Time for another. The door burst open just as I reached the kitchen and Sydney flew in.

  “Tyler! Why are you out of bed?”

  “Why are you home so early?”

  She flushed. “Mom wanted me to keep an eye on you. What are you doing?”

  “Getting more medicine.”

  “I was supposed to get that for you. That’s why I came home.” Sydney looked at me oddly. “Mom probably doesn’t want you in the medicine cabinet.”

  “Then she should have told me that you were coming home.”

  “That’s not my fault.”

  “Sorry.” I truly did realize that it was nice of Sydney to come home and take care of me. It was more that I was frustrated that I probably had to “drag her away” from something thrilling at the Left mansion. She handed me a little round pill and a glass of water. “Thanks.” I swallowed. “How were the cats?”

  “They have such funny names. It’s interesting that he named them what he did.”

  “After the Dwarves? Yeah that is weird.”

  “And the housekeeper lady is so sweet. She asked after you.”

  I grinned. “Ms. Higley is the best.” I tried to reach out and be friendly. “How was Stenway?”

  Sydney flushed. “I barely got to see him. He asked after you, and said to remember what he told you. What did he tell you?”

  I grumbled. “Just something. He came in for muffins the other day when Ms. Higley pulled them out of the oven.”

  Sydney sighed. “I bet they steamed up his glasses.”

  “I didn’t notice.” I stood up uncertainly and headed towards the stairs. The stairs seemed to wobble and shake as I took my first step. Sydney was at my side immediately.

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  “Tyler, let me help you.” She slid her arm around my shoulder. “Honey, you need to be in bed.” Carefully we navigated the stairs and she helped me into my bed.

  “Syd? I left a piece of paper on the table, can you get it?”

  Sydney ran downstairs, clattering on the steps. I heard her shuffling things around in the kitchen for a while, then she clattered back up. “Here you are. I saw Donny down the sidewalk. That was nice of him to bring you your schoolwork.” She handed me the paper, then put her hand to my forehead. “You’re very warm. I’m going to get a compress and you’re going to fall asleep.” Her hand squeezed my shoulder gently. “Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  I passed out and slept all through dinner and until 10 the next morning. It didn’t look like I was going to be able to meet the boys at the drugstore after all. Sydney fed the cats again, much to my chagrin, but she also came home early to make sure I took my medicine. I was feeling a lot better as dinner rolled around, and Mom decided that I should be able to go to school the next day. I knew I’d have a lot of homework to catch up on, but it was going to be worth it. Finally, I was going to be reinstated.

  The school day passed pretty uneventfully. I didn’t really talk to the fellows, except to stop by their lunch table and say hello, mainly because I knew that I could. Angie was not amused and tried to pull me away from the table quickly. I glanced back over my shoulder at Chris and the fellows. Clive was frowning, but Peach waved slightly and grinned.

  I got to the drugstore as quickly as I could after school let out. I had fed the cats that morning, so I had nowhere else to be. A few new comics had hit the shelves since I had been here last, so I pulled a Dr. Strange book out and started reading it. I had just gotten to the part where Shuma-Gorath was revealing his dastardly plan when a cough interrupted my concentration. Only Clive could make a single sound so irritated.

  “What, Clive.”

  “Are you alone?”

  “Yes.”

  Clive left and a few minutes later the whole group appeared in the aisle. Peach shook my hand. “Welcome back.” Donny grinned at me. Chris didn’t seem to notice. We spent about ten minutes poking through the comic books, picking out new ones, or discussing plot points. When I say “we,” I really mean “they.” I stood by myself, trying to finish my Doctor Strange.

  Finally, Chris looked up and called the boys to order. “Anything to report?”

  The fellows were a pretty frustrating group to work with. They spent the next ten minutes discussing the new comic books as a group, arguing amongst themselves. Eventually, Chris called them to order again. “Alright, can it. T.J. is back.” Scattered applause. “Her research on the Left coats of arms and her father’s speech to the class got her back in.”

  “I didn’t get a lot from his speech.” I looked at Peach. “I feel like I missed a lot.”

  “You didn’t, really.” He pulled out a notebook, flipping through to a weirdly scribbled page. He flushed, holding the book up. “My own shorthand. Your dad didn’t say anything outright amazing, mostly a few clues as to Mr. Left’s involvement, the timeline of the project, and a general idea of the purpose. For instance, it doesn’t appear to be a philanthropic measure, despite its ‘general benefits.’”

  “Meaning?”

  Donny piped up. “It’s basically a pet project. I did a little research and practically all the funding is coming from Mr. Left. A little bit is coming from the college, and there’s one other donor, a silent partner.”

  We all looked at Chris. He remained quiet. Donny sighed and looked from Clive to Peach. “What’s the relationship with the college?”

  Peach flipped through his notebook. Chris spoke up. “Clive, doesn’t your sister go to that college?”

  “Yeah, but she’s in for nursing.”

  “That’s the best link we have. Follow it up.”

  “Okay, but it’ll probably take me a year or two.” Clive rolled his eyes.

  “Get it done. Peach, progress report.”

  Peach pulled out a legal pad and looked it over. “Currently we have me looking into the details of the Left family falling-out, Donny is on surveillance duty, and now Clive’s role.”

  “What about her?” Clive jerked his head in my direction. “She should earn her keep. We could have her…”

  “I got an invitation.” The words spilled out of me.

  The fellows turned as one. “What?”

  “I got an invitation. To come over to the Left’s house.”

  “Like, for a party?”

  “No, well, see…” Last time I had withheld the truth, it had gotten me suspended, and technically I hadn’t used all due speed in telling the fellows about my tea-time at the Left’s. Still, it would be better to just come out and say something, right? “When I went to feed the cats last week after school, before I got sick, Ms. Higley was making muffins and…” The whole story spilled out. I told them about Mr. Left’s casual attitude, Stenway’s nickname for his employer, the phone call which had abruptly ended the little tete-a-tete, and finally, Stenway’s odd request.

  “So you have access to the entire house.”

  “No, not really. I think he just mainly wanted me to keep Ms. Higley company.” I closed my eyes, thinking. “It was so strange. He seemed to be trying to tell me something, you know? It also may have had nothing to do with anything and just have been about Syd.”

  Chris raised an eyebrow. “We won’t assume that.”

  “So if you just happen to be keeping Ms. Higley company while she’s dusting his desk, that would be allowed, right?” Peach looked at me sideways.

  “I don’t think Mr. Left would be alright with that, no.”

  Chris rubbed his chin. “So he gave you a vague invitation that’s not very open.”

  “‘He’ being the… whatever Stenway is, not Mr. Left.” I clarified

  Clive rolled his eyes. “That’s the worst kind of invitation.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s all that I have.”

  “It’s a start.” Chris Blue punched Clive’s shoulder. “Shut it. It’s closer than any of us have gotten.” Clive muttered to himself as he stepped back. “T.J., do what you can. See if you can find Stenway when you’re there. He’s trying to get on your good side, it looks like.”

  “Yeah, weird.” Peach was jotting things down on his legal pad.

  I looked around the group. “Do you guys have anything else? Anything come up recently?”

  “Just your father’s speech. Really, that’s it.”

  “We should make something happen.” Clive was definitely the troublemaker.

  “Like what.” Donny threw his hands in the air. “We’re kids.”

  “We could… create a crisis! That a Super would have to take notice of.”

  “Again. We’re kids.”

  “Anyways, we’re too small of a town. Nothing ever happens.”

  “Okay, Peach. We aren’t small. We’re one of the biggest metropolises in the Midwest!”

  “Come off it, Clive.” Chris glared at his minion. “You know what he means. Crime rates are way down. There’s no way any Super would respond to a crisis here, especially not in a noticeable way. We’re going to have to find him out the hard way.” He glanced around at our little group. “Good talk. We’re going to meet at the park tomorrow.” With that bare final remark, the knot of boys evaporated and a few seconds later, I was standing there alone, holding on to my Doctor Strange comic.