After a night of fitful slumber, Sue Ellen arose, bathed, ate breakfast, and started to pack her belongings into her trunk. She could finally breathe easily, free from the fear of being adopted or abducted by the Krantzes, for Carla and Nigel were coming to reclaim her.

The Ratburns looked somewhat pallid and weak, but their reunion with their young charge helped to revive their spirits. "I missed you so much," Sue Ellen gushed. "I'm glad you're okay."

"From now on we'll be more careful when we go to sushi restaurants," said Mr. Ratburn jokingly.

"The next time you get sick," the cat girl requested, "can I get sick with you?"

"Of course you can," Carla replied. "Then the three of us can have a party in the hospital."

Before picking up her trunk, Sue Ellen turned to take one more look at the Krantzes, who appeared quite dejected that she was leaving them. "I'll see you again, won't I?" said Mrs. Krantz longingly.

"Well, duh," was Sue Ellen's response. "You're my teacher."

Soon she and her trunk were on the road with the Ratburns, as Carla kept her company in the back seat. She sighed with relief as the home of the Krantzes faded from her view. "I'm so glad to get away from that place. They wanted to adopt me, you know."

"Maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea," said Carla in a slightly raspy voice.

"It's a terrible idea," Sue Ellen protested. "My teacher can't be my mom. I'd get tired of looking at her all day."

"I used to be your teacher," Mr. Ratburn reminded her. "You don't seem to have a problem with that."

"You're not trying to adopt me," Sue Ellen responded.

They reached the Ratburn residence before long, and Sue Ellen had just started to unpack her clothes when Carla summoned her to the living room. She sat down before her guardians, who had serious looks on their faces.

"As much as we'd like to," Mr. Ratburn began, "we can't let you stay with us forever."

"But you said you would never abandon me," Sue Ellen pointed out.

"And we won't," said the rat man. "But Carla and I don't have the time or means to care for you like parents would. You need to start thinking about who you want your new parents to be, before the choice is made for you."

"I wish Francine's parents would adopt me," said the girl sadly. "But they don't want to."

"And there's another problem," said Carla. "An FBI director from Los Cactos tried to call us while we were in the hospital. April is coming back."

Sue Ellen's eyes went wide with joy at the news.

"She's been released on her own recognizance," Carla went on. "She'll arrive here on Wednesday."

"She'll need a place to stay," said Mr. Ratburn. "Her only friends are Augusta Winslow, the Coopers, and us. Augusta's been drinking, the Coopers already have five children at home, and we don't have room for both you and her."

"That's the trouble with time travel," Carla remarked. "People appear out of thin air, and then someone has to take care of them."

Sue Ellen racked her brain, but no solution was evident that would allow her and April to stay together. At least no palatable solution...

----

After an acrimonious dispute, the Coopers agreed to split up for their Sunday meetings. Mr. Cooper walked the nine blocks to Reverend Fulsome's parish with Odette and Logan, while his wife drove to another meetinghouse with Van, Dallin, and Megan. To Mr. Cooper's extreme displeasure, this was the same chapel where the Englands attended worship services. He would have been even more put out if he had seen Mrs. Cooper and her children seated on the same pew as the Englands.

"All things are possible through faith," preached Reverend Poundstone, an old aardvark man with a strong voice and piercing gray eyes. "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can move mountains. And if you can move mountains, imagine what you can do to your day-to-day problems."

When the service was over, the reverend greeted the new half-family that had joined his flock. "I've been going to Reverend Fulsome's parish for the past seven years," Mrs. Cooper told him. "Not once have I heard him deliver a sermon as inspiring as yours."

Poundstone nodded knowingly. "I've been watching him. He's one of the new crop—fresh out of divinity school, full of liberal ideas."

Turning to the three duck children who accompanied Mrs. Cooper, he asked Van, "How long have you been in that wheelchair?"

"Three years, sir," was the boy's reply.

"And how much longer will you be in it?"

"The rest of my life, sir."

"Hmm," said the reverend with an air of superiority. "Someone wasn't listening."

----

Once her own church meeting had ended, Muffy hurried to the Westboro apartment building, eager to lend more assistance to her friend Augusta. What she saw took her by surprise. In the tennis court behind the complex, Augusta, clad in shorts, sneakers, an athletic shirt, and a sweatband, was playing a lively game against the similarly-attired Maria Harris. The rabbit woman appeared happy for a change, as opposed to dejected and drunken.

When Augusta saw Muffy approach, she lowered her racket and allowed the ball to sail past her. "Hi, Muffy," she greeted the girl warmly. "I want to thank you for all your help."

"Mr. Wells couldn't make it to the club last night," Muffy apologized. "But he said he could meet you on..."

"Before you try to set me up with your friend again," Augusta interrupted her, "let me tell you about the terrific time I had at the club."

Muffy felt impatient that Augusta was trying to take the conversation in another direction, but she fell silent out of politeness.

"I thought I wouldn't enjoy it," Augusta went on. "But I had so much fun."

"Once she learned the Macarena, she was the life of the party," Maria interjected.

"Weren't you afraid you'd run into a lot of creepy guys?" asked Muffy with concern.

"Yes, I was," answered Augusta, picking up the tennis ball to deliver another volley. "And there were some men who couldn't take their eyes off me. But how could I blame them? I couldn't stop staring at my body when it was still new."

"I really think you should meet Mr. Wells," Muffy insisted.

"Does he like dancing?" asked Augusta as she swatted vainly at the returning ball.

Muffy pursed her lips. "Well, now that you mention it, he is a bit of a stick in the mud."

"To be honest, I made up an excuse about going to the nightclub so I could avoid meeting him," Augusta admitted.

"But I managed to talk her into going through with it," Maria boasted.

"And I'm so glad I did," said Augusta cheerfully. "For the first time since Rick and I broke up, I enjoyed being female, and didn't feel awkward about it."

Muffy quickly changed her tune when she understood Augusta's meaning. "That's what I've been trying to tell you all along," she claimed. "You don't need a 'miracle boyfriend' to replace Rick. There are other ways to find happiness as a woman, but you can't expect them to fall from outer space."

"To think I needed a little girl to teach me that," said Augusta with veiled sarcasm.

Leaving Augusta and Maria to their tennis match, Muffy wandered along the street toward her condo, thinking about how she might apply what she had learned to Dudley's case.

----

"There was a show on the telly about Disneyland," Beat recounted. "I've never been there, but some of the attractions looked familiar, especially Tomorrowland and the Pirates of the Caribbean. And last night I had a strange dream where I went to Disneyland with my parents. I was on one of the train rides, and I leaned over the side, and my glasses fell off into the water. But I don't wear glasses."

"That's what happened to me," said Mavis in astonishment. "A park employee had to wade in and get my glasses back. It's a good thing they weren't broken."

In Beat's apartment, her parents and Francine were also gathered to hear her remarkable story. "And I had another dream," she went on. "I was in a battle, and I took out a nest of enemy soldiers. They were Asian soldiers. I think it was Korea. Mr. Putnam served in Korea."

"I wish I could help," said Mavis, "but I can't remember any of what happened with you and Mr. Putnam."

"It's a good thing you told us," Francine remarked. "Now if I wake up in someone else's body again, I'll know who to blame."

Beat shook her head in confusion. "What I don't understand is, why would I have Mavis in my head as well as Mr. Putnam?"

"Here's an idea," Mavis proposed. "After Mr. Putnam was erased from your brain the first time, he was copied back without your knowledge. But I was the only one who had him inside of me, so I was copied as well."

"Very clever," Beat mused. "Putnam was about to destroy himself forever by deleting himself from your brain, but first he arranged to somehow put himself back in my brain, in such a manner that he would resurface after a number of months had gone by."

"Why can't he just die like the rest of us?" Francine wondered.

"We need to find the people who worked for Putnam before he died," Mr. Simon recommended. "Maybe they know a way to stop the process."

"But the Putnam mansion has been closed down," his wife pointed out. "Nobody knows where they've gone."

"Whatever we do, we must do it quickly," said Beat. "I fear it may be only a matter of days before Putnam takes over for good."

After Mavis had departed, Francine joined Beat in the disconsolate rabbit-aardvark girl's bedroom. "Whatever happens, I'm at your side," she assured her friend.

"I'm not sure if that's wise," said Beat fearfully. "I may try to hurt you and Sue Ellen like I did before."

"But we already know Putnam's body-switching device doesn't work," Francine recalled.

"True," said Beat, "but who knows what else the old man was working on?"

----

Ever since learning of her parents' murder and her father's true profession, Sue Ellen had lost all desire for international travel. The world had become a dark and dangerous place, full of enemies who would kill her unless she killed them first. All she wanted was to make a home for herself in a safe place, surrounded by understanding and loving friends.

She never wanted to leave Elwood City, or her immediate neighborhood, again. Yet there was the thorny problem of who she would stay with, whose child she would become. She wished to the point of pain that she could live with Francine, but this option was denied her. However, if there was a chance she could be adopted into the same family as April—in essence, become her own sister—she couldn't let go of it.

She hated what she was doing, but she was determined to see it through. A few seconds after she rang the doorbell, Mrs. Krantz stuck out her antlered head. "Hi there, Sue Ellen," she said in her usual syrupy tone. "I'm so happy to see you again. Come in."

The cat girl stepped inside rather hesitantly. Her teacher held out a plate of oven-warmed oatmeal raisin cookies, but she waved them aside. "I'm here to talk to you about adoption," she said flatly.

Mrs. Krantz gaped expectantly, hoping the girl had reconsidered her outraged objection.

"I'm willing to let you adopt me," Sue Ellen went on, "but on one condition."

----

The BrainBusters held a meeting at Alan's house that afternoon. Buster was the first to arrive, and was delighted to see Alan's sister again. "Hey, Tegan," he said to the girl with the silver barette.

"Hi, Buster," she replied as she stood. The 14-year-old's shoulders were roughly level with the tips of the rabbit boy's ears. "Have you learned anything new about Mansch?" she then asked.

"How'd you know about Mansch?" Buster inquired curiously. "Did Alan tell you about him?"

"Er, yes," interjected Alan, who shot an accusing glance at his older sister. "In a manner of speaking."

"I want to help you get Fern back," Tegan told Buster. "I care a lot about her."

"But you haven't met her," Buster pointed out.

"You could say we both share the same feelings for Fern," said Alan, who still appeared to be scolding Tegan for some secret transgression.

As Buster and Alan discussed their lack of progress on Fern's case, and Tegan offered helpful suggestions, Beat arrived and greeted the boys. "I just called Odette," she recounted. "She says she can't get a ride here because her parents are fighting."

"That's horrible," said Buster. "What are they..."

Before he could finish, Beat looked over at Tegan and the barette on her head, and an explosion went off in her brain.

"Good Lord, it can't be," she thought in astonishment. "A neuroblocker."

"Beat?" called Alan to the wide-eyed girl. "Is something wrong?"

"She's a Brainchild," Beat said to herself. "I never thought I'd actually meet one. No, wait...the girl knows one...his name's C.V."

"Beat, this is Houston," said Buster, waving his hand in front of the British girl's unexpressive face.

"What's she doing here?" Beat wondered silently. "Is it safe for her to be here?"

A moment later she was shaken from her reverie by the concerned voices of Alan and Buster. "Huh?" she grunted, shaking her head.

"Are you okay?" Buster asked her. "You zoned out."

Beat rubbed her forehead weakly as she tried to make sense of her epiphany. Somehow she knew that there were Brainchildren in the world—youngsters with unnatural mental abilities. Tegan and C.V. were among their number. Putnam had invented the neuroblocker as a means of preventing the Brainchildren from using their powers in harmful ways, but he had never encountered one personally, as their identities were shrouded in the utmost secrecy. Now Beat had become acquainted with not just one, but two, and her mind was filling with strange and terrifying feelings. What seemed like stunned silence to Buster and Alan was really Beat's struggle to regain control of her runaway thoughts.

She finally peered at Alan and spoke. "Keep her secret. Keep her safe. Don't let anyone near her...especially me."

Having said that, she turned and marched out the front door.

----

to be continued