Having made a list of all the girls she knew, Muffy proceeded to eliminate all those who had known Dudley when he was still Dolly—Francine, Fern, Mavis, Beat, and Prunella. "Too awkward," she told herself. Yet quite a few names remained, among them some very obvious choices.

She located Marina just before the start of first period on Thursday morning. "Hey, Marina," she hailed the blind rabbit girl. "There's this boy I want you to meet."

"A boy...?" said Marina hopefully.

"He's having a tough time, and he could really use a girlfriend," Muffy went on, trying to cram her spiel into one breath. "There's just one catch—he used to be a girl himself—but he's a very nice, very cool boy."

"Slow down, Muffy," said the rabbit girl firmly. "Back up a little."

"What part didn't you hear?" Muffy asked her. "He's a very nice, very cool boy? He could really use a girlfriend?"

"You said he used to be a girl," Marina noted. "How is that possible?"

"Magic," said Muffy matter-of-factly.

Marina groaned and started to walk away, tapping the floor with her cane. "Come on, Marina," Muffy urged her. "I know you believe in magic. You're the president of the Lakewood chapter of the Henry Skreever Fan Club."

The blind girl tried to shoot Muffy an incredulous look, but missed. "If you want him to have a girlfriend so badly," she suggested, "why can't you be his girlfriend?"

"Are you kidding?" said Muffy with disgust. "He used to be a girl."

After Arthur and D.W. had arrived at the school and gone their separate ways, Van rolled up alongside Arthur on his way to Mrs. Krantz' room. "Any news about Fern?" asked the duck boy.

"Nope," Arthur replied. "But my mom's having another baby."

Van suddenly went white as a sheet.

"What?" said Arthur.

"Sorry," said Van, apparently quite shaken. "For a minute I thought you saidmy mom's having another baby."

Meanwhile, D.W. met up with the Tibble twins on the way to Mrs. Frensky's class. As was common that morning, the boys were talking about Fern's disappearance.

"I think she was abdicated by aliens," Tommy speculated.

"Abducted," Timmy corrected him.

"It wasn't aliens," D.W. chided the twins. "Buster saw the whole thing. Even he says it wasn't aliens."

"I'm scared," admitted Nadine, who had just joined the group. "What if we never see Fern again?"

"I'm scared too," D.W. confessed. "I was so scared last night, I slept in Arthur's bed."

"You slept with your brother?" Timmy marveled. "You must be a baby."

"I'm a little baby," said Tommy mockingly. "I sleep with my big brother because I'm afraid to sleep alone."

"Cut it out," D.W. grumbled. "If you had a big brother, you'd sleep with him whenever you're afraid."

"Our mom slept with a man last night," said Timmy.

"She must have been really scared," Tommy added.

As Vicita was hurrying to catch up with the other first-graders, she heard a girl's voice calling to her. Stopping, she saw a tall fifth-grader with rabbit ears, an aardvark nose, and a red dress, gazing intently at her.

"You're Alberto's little sister," said the tall girl.

"I'm Vicita Molina," answered the pint-sized Ecuadorian.

"I'm Beat Simon," the fifth-grader introduced herself. "I wonder if I could ask you a favor."

Startled, Vicita took a tiny step backwards. "Alberto told me all about you," she said nervously. "You pretended to be a teenager."

"I didn't..." Beat started to say, but the little girl fled in haste without bothering to listen.

----

Razor wire lined the top of the high stone wall surrounding the atrium of the Elwood City Juvenile Detention Center. On the ground far below, a mob had assembled to witness a fateful confrontation. Binky, Molly, and the kids who favored them stood on one end of the basketball, while the other end was occupied by the hulking monkey boy Brick and his friends. Everyone present wore drab lime-colored uniforms.

The combatants, Binky and Brick, stepped out from their respective crowds. "You broke Dudley's nose," Binky hurled his challenge. "Now I'm gonna break something of yours."

"And I'll break whatever he doesn't," Molly threatened.

"I'm gonna pound you till you can't tell up from down anymore," Brick bellowed.

Gritting his teeth and pushing down the fear in his stomach, Binky stepped into the arena, his fists clenched into hams. The other boy was his equal in size, possibly in strength as well. Would he win this one?

As the other inmates held their breaths and waited in silence for the first punch, a man wearing a cap and uniform appeared before them. They began to groan, knowing that the presence of the warden would dampen their hopes of witnessing a rousing fight.

"Message for Molly McDonald," shouted the warden, holding up a sealed envelope.

The rabbit girl took a step forward. "That's me."

The warden stood by motionlessly as Molly tore open the blank envelope with Binky looking over her shoulder. She gasped as she unfolded the enclosed papers and saw the signature at the bottom. "It's from Mansch!"

His own interest piqued, Brick walked up and took a position behind Molly's other shoulder. "This had better be really good," he said gruffly.

Molly's consternation grew as she read the letter aloud. "Dear Molly: I hope this letter finds you in good health. Please rest assured that the bitterness your father harbors against me is not mutual. Rest assured also that your charade is fooling no one. You and Binky did not steal the necklaces, and your insistence to the contrary only places a roadblock in the path of justice. The sooner you come forward with the truth, the sooner the true culprit will be found and punished. I am not trying to destroy your father. On another note, I found the enclosed article in this morning's Times. I know Fern Walters is a friend of yours. I hope no harm comes upon her, as that would be a tragedy for all of us. Sincerely, Raymond Mansch."

A newspaper clipping was included in the envelope. Molly recited the headline—MASKED MEN KIDNAP 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL.

"Omigosh, it's Fern," said Binky, looking at the photograph. Molly cursed bitterly and quietly.

They stared at the article, soaking in its grim meaning, as the surrounding inmates gave up hope of a fight and trickled away.

"I hope nothing bad happens to her too," said Binky solemnly.

"You doofus!" Molly snapped with fire in her eyes. "Don't you get it? Mansch kidnapped Fern! He's trying to force us to tell the truth about the diamonds!"

Binky became angrier than ever as Molly's accusation gelled in his mind.

"We have no choice now," said Molly with resignation. "We have to admit everything, or he'll kill Fern."

----

to be continued