As Fern tried to comfort the weeping Muffy, several other fourth graders, including Arthur, Francine, and Beat, gathered around them. They were soon joined by Mr. Haney and Muffy's parents.

"Muffy, let's go," said Mrs. Crosswire.

Fern, now indignant, jumped up from the bench and glared at the Crosswires. "Why do you have to send her to that school?" she bellowed. "Can't you see it's killing her?"

"You don't understand," said Muffy's father emotionlessly.

"Mr. Crosswire, if you want to force someone to attend Uppity Downs, force me," Beat said to him. "I'll gladly go."

Pretending not to hear, the man grabbed his daughter by the arm and yanked her to her feet. Accompanied by his wife, he led Muffy toward the school exit as the kids watched with a mixture of fear and resentment.

"Child beater!" Fern yelled after them.

----

"There must be something we can do to help Muffy," said Arthur to his friends, who were gathered at the Sugar Bowl. "She's so miserable at that school."

"She's miserable at home, too," Francine observed. "Her dad's so stressed out about the lawsuit that he doesn't pay attention to her anymore."

"But what can we do against someone who has so much money?" asked Fern rhetorically.

"Okay, Beat," said Arthur to Beat, who sat across from him. "You're the smart one. How do we help Muffy?"

Beat became pensive for a moment. "Well, seeing that my father is suing her father, I'm not in a good position to offer assistance. However, there may be something that the rest of you can do if you pitch in together."

"What's that?" asked Francine.

Beat opened her mouth, and then her cell phone rang. "Excuse me," she said, jumping down from the table.

She flipped open her phone while walking out of the shop. "Hello?"

"This is Mr. Pryce-Jones," came a man's voice.

Beat smiled with joy. "You've never called me before. It must be something important. Did you find a way to enroll me?"

"Possibly," replied Pryce-Jones. Beat felt an urge to leap into the air and click her heels. "I've talked to my superiors, and they say they would like to meet you and get to know you better."

"Fab!" exclaimed Beat. "When?"

"Thursday, after school."

"I'll be there." Beat closed her cell phone and started to skip down the sidewalk, crying, "Yes! Yes!"

Meanwhile, Arthur, Francine, and Fern sat silently at their table, wondering about the nature of Beat's brilliant idea.

Fern sighed. "I don't think she's coming back."

----

The day passed, and the night arrived. The temperature had dipped into the low 10s by midnight. Most of Elwood City's inhabitants were resting in warm beds, but Dick Reno, a blond-haired cat man who served as a security guard at the Crosswire Motors lot at Fith and Lopez, had no such privilege.

He tried to entertain himself through the long, lonely hours of the night shift by eating donuts and watching TV. On this particular occasion he was munching on a chocolate cruller and flipping through the channels, looking for something better to watch than infomercials and sleazy movies.

Then he heard a very unwelcome sound...the breaking of glass.

At first he wasn't sure what to think. The lot was well lighted, and he had seen no intruders approach. Had the noise come from a neighboring building?

Another sound reached his ears. This time it was the impact of a blunt object with metal. Before he had a chance to make a judgment, the sound repeated itself.

Swearing under his breath, he laid down the donut and the remote control, and threw open the door of his security booth. He cast his eyes in all directions, and saw nobody in the lot. Maybe they're hiding, he thought.

He began to walk around the rows of used cars, carefully checking the spaces between the cars for unbidden guests. Nothing. Nothing.

Then he heard glass breaking again. He whirled.

He didn't believe what he was seeing.

Just four cars away, a large sledgehammer was repeatedly swinging against a gray Pontiac, crushing glass and denting metal.

Nobody was swinging the sledgehammer.

(To be continued...)