“Can we sail a ship to Borneo instead of facing Vlad Luxor?” Pirate Girl asks.

  “Oh no. This is Lizardo Nakedismo. Mr. Thackaray was wearing a sunhat. Besides, that ship was wrecked in a storm on the voyage across the sea. Broken into a million pieces. I had to swim to shore, clutching a bit of planking, wearing only my striped bathing trunks, popular at the time.”

  Striped Bathing Trunks, Popular at the Time

  “Your poor ship,” Pirate Girl says.

  “Poor you,” Jo says with her usual thoughtfulness. “What happened then?”

  “Well, as the spell breaking required, there was a ritual with a troop of orangutans, involving a large snake, a few feathers, and a coconut.”

  “That sounds terrifying,” Apollo says.

  “Not half as terrifying as the giant mosquito humongo who bit a chunk out of my leg, right through the mosquito netting above my bed. I still have the scar. Unfortunately, this particular bug was carrying malaria, which resulted in a jungle fever, bizarre hallucinations, and rivers of sweat. I wasn’t sure I’d survive.”

  “Oh no,” Henry says.

  “I fought a torrid delirium and the black rumbling of thunder in my lower guts. Finally, the fever lifted. I was too weak to continue, however, and so I caught a cargo ship and returned home, the spell unbroken.”

  “How discouraging,” Jo says.

  “And yet delicious. It was a cargo ship of coconuts.”

  “Yum,” Pirate Girl says.

  “And that was when, much to my surprise and delight, I got a telegram from Antonia Dante, saying that the lizard had turned back into Mr. Thackaray. I knew my efforts had paid off. Coconut on two separate occasions! I had the stuff. And so do you. I had a duty. And so do you.” Captain Every looks at each of them, until his eyes land on Henry. “I had the ability to be much more than I ever thought I could be.”

  All of the cookies have vanished from the plate, nervously eaten same as the Dante children devour a bowl of Kernel Krispy Pops during a particularly nail-biting episode of Rocket Galaxy. Apollo’s cheeks are flushed with excitement. Pirate Girl’s eyes are practically dancing. Jo sits with her arms folded in determination. Even Button and Rocco have been listening, animal chins up and ears alert. And Henry feels different from how he did when he first heard the news, too. When his grandfather looks at him like that, he feels that little flickery flame again.

  “That’s a very inspiring story, Captain Every,” Jo says, putting it perfectly.

  “I’m so excited to have a duty,” Pirate Girl says.

  “Of course, this doesn’t mean that I didn’t nearly lose my life on numerous occasions. And if Vlad Luxor ever learns you exist, there will be many more reasons to be afraid.”

  “Big. Don’t scare the children,” The Beautiful Librarian says, most definitely scaring the children.

  “Spell breaking requires great courage,” Grandfather reminds them. “You will need to be alert when you are drowsy. Aware when you are distracted. There will be many great dangers and difficulties.”

  Rocco waves his little thimble for more pink juice. “Urp,” he burps, as loudly as possible.

  “Like hiding in plain sight when your naked lizard loves to monster belch.”

  “Say ‘excuse me,’ Rocco,” Apollo says.

  “Excuse me, Rocco,” Rocco says in his tiny voice.

  “What do we do next?” Henry asks.

  “You look,” Grandfather says. “You seek more information. You listen. You try to understand. You see with new eyes. And the answers to your questions will appear.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Henry Returns to His Hideous Home

  On the ride home, the children stop at the Circle of the Y. Button hops out of Pirate Girl’s sidecar. Rocco pops his head from Apollo’s pocket. There, with the Hollow Valley and the Wilds in front of them, and the Jagged Mountains beyond that, with the road down to the sea on one side, and the road up Rulers Mountain on the other, it seems like they’ve already gone through something together. Something large and very important.

  All of them feel this, Henry knows. He can tell by the way Pirate Girl gets off her bike, unsnaps her helmet, and takes it off. And how Jo takes hers off, as well, in no hurry to leave just yet. Apollo’s expression is serious. They can feel it all around them—the deep knowing that much more is to come. Before today, too, Henry felt mostly just lonely, like the one strange fish among the other fish. But now, in spite of the terrible troubles ahead, he feels the new possibility of belonging.

  The One Strange Fish Among the Other Fish

  Jo tucks her hair behind her ears, in a way that means an important moment has arrived. She puts her clasped hands in front of her. “Everybody in,” she says.

  Apollo piles his hands on top, and then Pirate Girl does, and so does Henry. Henry has seen other children do this on the playground. In the movies they watch at school, it also happens whenever a sports team has no chance of winning. He always wished that his hands might be in a stack like that one day, and it’s just as warm and wonderful as he imagined. Standing all together, with this dazzling flowering meadow around them, he believes in magic. At least, he’s trying very hard to believe, with the tower still looming within sight, its shadow growing even larger as the day goes on. Henry tries not to look up there.

  Pirate Girl is also aware of that tower. She scans their surroundings before she speaks. “Spell breakers,” she says, oh so quietly.

  “Spell breakers,” Apollo and Jo and Henry repeat with a whisper.

  “Doo-doo breakers,” Rocco shouts, his little reptile head sticking out from his brother’s pocket.

  “Oh, Rocco!” Apollo moans. “You’re going to get us all turned into naked lizards!”

  “Should we meet here tomorrow?” Henry asks. After this whole, incredible day, an unfamiliar confidence is rising in him. At least, it’s there if he keeps his eyes away from that shadow.

  “Tomorrow,” they agree.

  They pedal back through the meadow, and at the edge of town, at the very spot where they’ll go their separate ways, they stop once more.

  “Come here, Button,” Henry says, and the dog hops out of Pirate Girl’s sidecar.

  “Bye, Button. See you soon,” Pirate Girl says.

  “It’s weird. But I don’t want to leave you guys,” Jo says.

  Henry knows just what she means. He’s too embarrassed to say anything like that back, so he just pats her shoulder awkwardly, until she leans forward and hugs each of them quickly before pedaling off.

  Henry watches the shiny stream of Josephine Idár’s hair falling down her serious back as she rides into town. Jo lives with her mother, Isabelle, and two little sisters, Luna and Lola, in an apartment above Rio Royale, where Jo’s mother is owner and head chef. Henry’s seen Jo through the window of the restaurant, doing her homework in romantic lighting at an elegant table, underneath the huge painting of a fancy fox.

  Jo’s mother works so hard that Henry has also seen Jo taking care of her sisters, zipping their jackets, holding their hands as they cross the street. It must be a heavy burden sometimes, watching others like that.

  The Huge Painting of a Fancy Fox

  “My turn,” Pirate Girl says. She snaps her helmet back on.

  “Bye, Pirate Girl,” Henry says.

  Pirate Girl waves as she disappears down the cobblestones, and they wave back. After she rides through town, Pirate Girl will have to bump down the dirt road to the house in the field where she and her father live. Sometimes, in the winter, that field is covered with enormous sheets of ice, which Pirate Girl must cross all by herself to get to school. He remembers other things about her now, too—how some of the kids call her names until Apollo tells them to stop. How, on the days Pirate Girl packs her own lunch, he’s seen Jo trying to give her half a sandwich, same as she does for Henry. For the first time, he wonders if Pirate Girl is ever as lonely as he is.

  Henry and Apollo head to their own street now. When they finally reach Apollo’s huge house, which sits next to Henry’s small and leaning one, Apollo gets off his bike again.

  “Hey, Henry?” he says. “Thank you for helping us. Thank you tons.”

  Henry right then . . . Well, his insides gush up with feeling, like a glorious fountain. He wants to hug Apollo right around the middle and squeeze him so hard that his eyes pop. He wants to soar like an eagle, or slay a dangerous dragon in the name of friendship. He tries for something more dignified and suitable to the occasion.

  “Hey, no problem,” he says with a shrug.

  Apollo and Rocco disappear through their front door. Henry can smell the smells of Meat Magnifique and Gravy drifting deliciously from the Dante house. He misses everyone already.

  After this day, it’s hard, very hard, to do what he must do next.

  Henry goes home.

  CHAPTER 14

  A New Disaster

  As soon as Henry shuts the front door behind him, he and Button discover that the beer can chicken has already been eaten. The boiled potatoes are gone. Even the last magenta, dirt-flavored beet has vanished. Button’s eyes look as sad as Henry’s.

  “Where have you been?” his father snarls the moment he sees him. “Out playing with your friends? It must be nice to be a child who is given everything and does nothing in return. When I was your age, I worked my bones to the ground every day at the shipyard.”

  “You never worked a day in your life,” his mother snaps to his father. “And you,” she says, pointing at Henry. “You left without cleaning your room. It’s a pigsty.”

  “I’m sorry,” Henry says.

  “No television for a week,” his father says, from in front of the TV.

  “All right.” Henry nods, his head down. He’s never allowed to watch television anyway.

  A Pigsty

  “And what is the meaning of leaving this trash outside?” His mother waves Henry’s treasured Ranger Scout Handbook, which he left under the bush for safekeeping. “Do you think it’s polite or respectful to just leave your junk anywhere you wish?” She presses the silver pedal of the garbage can and the lid pops up. She tosses the handbook inside. “No television, and you are grounded for two weeks. You will not leave this house, Henry Every. Sloppy, ungrateful boys must be punished. Selfish little brats need to think about something other than themselves.”

  Henry’s stomach hurts. His heart hurts, too, for his beloved book now lying among coffee grounds and canned beet juice and chicken bones. He’s hungry and exhausted, and now he’s also very worried. Grounded! What will happen tomorrow, when the children meet at the Circle of the Y and he never shows up? This is a disaster.

  When Henry’s sure his parents are asleep, he tiptoes downstairs. He listens for any creaks on the stairs or squeaks of bedsprings. He finds an apple and a plate of chicken, hidden far back in the vegetable bin. He steps on the metal lever of the garbage can and takes the Ranger Scout Handbook, sixth edition, out from the trash. He wipes its cover clean.

  Upstairs, Henry eats the apple. He gives the chicken to Button. She’s been a good dog and a real friend. She overcame her worst impulses and didn’t eat a scurrying creature. She ran a great distance, and was quite patient with an annoying naked lizard. She led the way right beside Henry.

  As he eats, Henry sits on his bed and looks through his book and tries to find a way out of his current problem. Button lies beside him, panting a calm and steady huh uh huh uh huh. His grandfather said that there would be answers when they needed answers, and so Henry hunts for them. How to send silent signals. No. How to identify poison plants. No. How to live the Scout ideals. How to measure the length of your step. How to stalk a herd of grazing deer. How to make a bear-claw necklace. No, no, no, and no.

  How to Make a Bear-Claw Necklace

  Henry misses his grandfather with such an ache that there are no words for it. He misses Apollo and Jo and Pirate Girl. He sets his cheek on Button’s soft side and listens to her heartbeat. His head goes up and down with her breathing. He feels a pain at the center of his chest, where every human being feels longing.

  It’s almost impossible not to believe the lies people tell you about yourself. Henry wants to cry. It’s like all the magic of the day has vanished. He gets up from his bed. He opens his window and leans out. The moon is big, and the summer air is cool. He listens for any noises at the Dante house. But no one is laughing tonight.

  CHAPTER 15

  A Lizard’s Plea

  Well, it was a long and sleepless night for Henry, as you can imagine. But now, after the summer sun has risen once again, he hears Apollo out on his front lawn, calling toward Henry’s open window.

  “Henry! Come on! Where are you?”

  Henry wants to fold his thin, featherless pillow over his head. Button sits beside his bed and stares at him like she has serious matters to discuss. People who think dogs don’t talk are wrong, Henry’s sure. Talking does not always need words.

  “Okay, okay,” he says to Button.

  He leans out the window. He’s afraid to say what he has to say. Henry hates disappointing people.

  “I can’t come.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t come? You have to come!” Apollo is wearing a pair of summer shorts and a new T-shirt that gleams in the morning sun. He has a backpack on his back. Rocco stands upright on Apollo’s shoulder, balancing on one foot, his little lizard arms out like a magnificent tightrope walker. He’s going to break his neck.

  “I’m grounded.”

  A Magnificent Tightrope Walker

  “How can you be grounded? You never do anything wrong!”

  “It’s a long story.”

  Apollo paces. “Henry. We need you. We can’t do this without you.”

  It seems incredible, doesn’t it? It is to him—to be a normal boy who suddenly finds himself necessary. The small, bright flame is there again. It fills Henry with a cautious flicker of courage.

  “Okay. Let me see what I can do.”

  He’ll sneak out even if he is grounded, that’s what he can do. Oh, it’ll be dangerous. He’s never done anything like that before. He tucks Button under his arm. At his door, he listens. He hears the television downstairs, and his mother’s voice. And then he hears quite a few crashes and bangs. He opens his door a tiny bit and peeks out, and immediately, his spirits sink and his courage evaporates.

  There’s a bunch of stuff blocking his exit. His mother is cleaning out her closet, and objects are flying out of her bedroom and forming a mountain in the hallway. There are skis, and there’s a barbell, and there are tracksuits in various colors, all unworn. There are dinner jackets, and there’s a briefcase and an ancient calculator.

  It’s like a big pile of good intentions gone wrong. A book, Vegetarian Cooking for the New Millennium, soars through the air and lands with a thunk on the pile.

  “None of this, none of this, none of this!” his mother shouts. “Useless trash, pointless garbage!”

  “What’s that, Mrs. Every?” his father shouts over the TV.

  “You never hear a word I say!” she shouts back.

  What was he thinking? Of course he can’t do something bold and dangerous like this! Henry returns to the window. “It’s hopeless,” he tells Apollo.

  Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle

  “Can’t you just explain things to your parents?” Apollo asks, proving that he’ll never understand. When Henry thinks of explaining things to his parents, he imagines the cover of one of his favorite comic books in the school library: Kona, Monarch of Monster Isle.

  “It’s no use.”

  “You can’t be defeated yet! We haven’t even faced Vlad Luxor!”

  Right there, stuck in his room, Henry wonders if Vlad Luxor might be easier to deal with than his mother and father.

  “Remember what your grandfather said? You’re supposed to be brave, Henry.” Apollo looks like he’s about to cry again. His face wrinkles up like an old Kleenex. His eyes get watery. He sniffs a truly long and—ew, so sorry for these details—juicy sniff. Oh, it’s awful.

  “Wait,” Apollo says, his voice wobbly. “What’s that, Rocco? Just a sec. Rocco’s trying to tell me something.” Apollo holds his little brother up close to his ear, listens, and nods.

  “Rocco says . . . ‘Please, Henry. You have the stuff.’”

  “Oh, Rocco . . . ,” Henry sighs.

  “He’s begging.”

  Ugh! It feels impossible. If Henry defies his parents, they’ll stand over him, gnashing their big T. rex teeth and reaching with their tiny T. rex arms. But if he obeys, Rocco will be a lizard forever, and more terrible things will happen to small children and grandmothers and science teachers and other innocent people.

  It’s very difficult to believe what his grandfather told him, about having the ability to be more than he thinks he can be. It’s hard to imagine that he even has the s or the t, let alone all of the stuff.

  He squinches his eyes tight. He tries very hard to feel that flame again. He concentrates, until there it is—the small burn of courage. It’s funny, but in that flame, he almost sees his very own self, his truest self, very far away but waving his arms as if to say, Over here, Henry.

  All right. He’ll let luck determine his fate, Henry decides in an instant. He opens his Ranger Scout Handbook randomly, and looks at the page to see if there’s an answer.

  The index. No! Try again.