"Are you sure you looked everywhere?" April asked Augusta, who was seated at the desk in her apartment, wearing a striped blouse, dark red slacks, and sandals.

"I left no stone unturned," the rabbit woman insisted. "If it were anywhere near here, I'd be able to locate it with my magic sense."

"We've got to find it," said April as she bent her head to the floor and scanned carefully underneath the bed. "If someone else uses it, they could cause a disaster."

The cat girl threw open one drawer after another, pushing aside Augusta's newly purchased clothes in a futile search for the lost time reverser. She stopped abruptly upon hearing a knock at the door.

"Oh, no, it's Maria," groused Augusta, rising to answer it. April hurried from the bedroom, trying to act unworried and inconspicious as she helped to greet the smiling squirrel woman.

"Sorry for being a little early," said the casually dressed Maria Harris.

Augusta slapped her forehead. "Oh, the dress! I would've put it on, but I lost something important, and we've spent the last hour looking for it. I'll go change right now."

"I'll wait," offered Maria. As she watched Augusta grab a floral dress from the wardrobe and disappear into the bathroom, she struck up a conversation with April. "What did you lose? Maybe I can help you look."

April waved her hands dismissively. "Uh, we don't need your help, but thanks anyway."

Maria shot her a quizzical look.

"What brings you here?" asked April.

"Tomorrow's Augusta's first day as a real estate agent," Maria answered with a hint of pride. "She agreed to let me teach her how to fix her hair and put on makeup, so she won't look like--if you'll pardon the expression--something the cat dragged in."

"I'll pardon the expression," said April. "This time."

----

The next day, Binky and Mavis spent every free minute at school together, giggling and laughing while they labored over a drawing. Whenever one of their friends happened by and attempted a curious glance at the paper, they covered it. The artistic project was "top secret", they were told.

Salma continued to haunt Dudley, seldom granting him a moment of peace. Snake this, snake that. The rat boy couldn't bear to be rude to her, and pretended to relish their conversations, but his patience was reaching the breaking point.

She came running to him during afternoon recess, calling out, "Dudley! Dudley, come quick!" With an exasperated groan, he followed the moose girl to a thicket of trees on the edge of the school property. He had to run, as Sal was apparently in a terrific hurry.

"Look, Dudley," she said, pointing. Through the bare dirt between the trees slithered a red striped snake, about three feet long, its tongue flickering in and out. "It's a thamnophis sirtalis," Sal informed him. "An eastern garter snake. It's the biggest one I've ever seen. Will you help me catch it? Maybe my mom will let me keep it as a pet."

Dudley could finally endure no more. After giving Sal a wordless, dirty glare, he shrieked furiously and leaped into the sky. The girl's eyes widened with horror as Dudley's well-aimed jump brought his feet down directly over the hapless snake's head and neck. He then stamped repeatedly with his sneakers as the creature's body hopped and writhed. Finally he stepped back and looked at the crushed, dead serpent with an expression of satisfaction.

He seemed not to care about the tears that had started to flow from Sal's eyes, or her anguished sobs. "Murderer!" the girl screamed.

"Murderer, am I?" replied Dudley callously. "And I suppose your precious boa constrictors have never harmed a living thing."

Sal ran away, weeping bitterly, as Dudley poked at the snake's lifeless form with the tip of his shoe. "How very fortunate that you happened along," he said aloud. "Fortunate for me, that is."

Word of Dudley's heartless deed spread rapidly through the school, as nearly everybody, students and faculty alike, was able at one time or another to hear Sal's pathetic wailing.

"Georgie," she sobbed to her brother as he was about to enter Mr. Wald's classroom. "Georgie, Dudley killed the poor little snake. He jumped up and down on its head. He's a horrible, evil boy!"

Disturbed by the news, George looked up and down the hallway and saw Dudley some distance away. Pulling Sal along by the hand, he approached the rat boy and confronted him with a scowl. "Is that true?" he asked accusingly. "Did you kill a snake in front of my sister?"

"Yes, I did," Dudley answered jokingly. "It was quite a struggle."

"Snake killer!" Sal bellowed at him. "I hate you!"

"Snakes are pests," Dudley retorted. "You're a pest, too."

Sal wailed louder than ever as the unfeeling boy walked past her and into the classroom.

George pulled a slightly used handkerchief from his pocket and wiped Sal's tears with it. "Stay here," he instructed, pressing the cloth into her hand. "I'll be right back."

When he found the desk where Dudley had seated himself, he looked at the boy scoldingly. "What you did was mean. You owe my sister an apology."

Dudley tossed open his notebook, half-pretending not to listen. "All I did was kill a snake," he said petulantly. "Did that become a crime in the last three hundred years?"

----

George's success in wringing an apology out of Dudley was matched by Augusta's success in attracting customers to her newly organized real estate office. Unsatisfied with sitting in a chair, looking pretty, and feeling stupid, she entertained herself by reading home improvement magazines and causing electrical sparks to fly from the fingers of one hand to the other. She soon became adept at the latter, and started to wonder if she should have taken the stage magician route.

At shortly after four p.m., a potential customer finally stepped into her office. He was a young-looking, well-groomed bulldog man who wore a navy blue business suit and black shoes, and carried a brown leather briefcase. Augusta quickly rose from her chair and shook hands with the man.

"I'm happy to meet you, Augusta," he said, reading her name from the inscribed plaque that sat on her desk.

"Are you looking to move into the area?" Augusta asked him.

"I certainly am," he replied with a grin. As he sat down he continued, "I heard so many stories about Elwood City, and now I'm here, and they're all true. I'm planning to move my practice here from Philadelphia. I'm a psychiatrist."

"Really," said Augusta, trying to sound intrigued. "And your name is...?"

"Rick," answered the man. "Dr. Rick Portinari."

TBC