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lot of theories about what had happened to the missing caterpillar and a lot of ideas about what to do about it. Chance did not contribute to the debate. He thought about Matilda, happy in her nice big box with all her green leaves. And he smiled inside himself. So what if everyone else was upset? He had saved Matilda. That was what mattered.
    While he listened to the discussion, Chance had been peering through the sides of the plastic container on his desk. Now he stopped listening and stared intently. Something was different in there, wrong maybe. The caterpillar wasn’t moving right. She was dangling. Her bottom part was wriggling around, but her top end was stuck to the lid, right in the middle of the lid.
    As the realization hit him, he was out of his desk and shouting all in a second. “Hey, she’s turning into a chrysalis. She’s attaching!” He danced around the room, holding the container high in the air.
    Ms. Samson’s hand came down firm on his wrist from behind. “Give her to me, Chance. Let me see,” she said. And he did, all of a sudden frightened. What had his jumping done to the little creature? Had he hurt her?
    But no, she was fine. And yes, she was getting ready to change form. The lost caterpillar was forgotten as everyone turned to see if his or her caterpillar was attaching too. And six were.
    Ms. Samson explained that the caterpillars would start forming their chrysalides now. That would take about two days, she said, two days for them to build their protection so they could turn into butterflies. When the chrysalides were ready, she would take the lids from which they hung and tape them to the butterfly bush, leaving the tiny creatures hanging freely.
    Chance turned to look at the back of the room where the bush waited on a low table, planted in a big bucket and covered with netting. He couldn’t wait to see the chrysalides hanging there.
    At the same time, though, he wondered what he would find when he pulled back his curtain later that day. Matilda would want to attach like the others. Maybe she was trying to right this minute. But what did she have to attach herself to?

Chapter 10
    â€œMove it, kid,” Mark called from the doorway, as he did every day.
    And, “He’ll be right with you, Mark,” Ms. Samson said, as she did every day. But today, she didn’t stop there. “Have you seen our butterfly bush? We have six chrysalides now!” she said. “It’s hard to believe that it’s already two years since you were helping me with the very first butterfly bush at our school.”
    â€œYeah,” Mark said. “It was amazing!” And he walked into the room and over to the bush. Chance watched from the cloakroom in horror. That bush had nothing to do with Mark. It was not Mark’s business. And now it was turning out that Mark had done it already. Two years ago.
    â€œI’m ready,” Chance said, stepping forward. But both foster brother and teacher ignored him. They were standing together, gazing through the netting that would keep the butterflies from escaping, and talking together in low voices.
    â€œI said I’m ready,” Chance said again, more loudly this time.
    â€œYeah, all right, Chance. Give me a break, okay?”
    It was not okay, and it got worse. “We seem to have lost one,” Ms. Samson was saying.
    â€œThat’s awful!” Mark responded. “Remember when that happened to us? We were so sad.” Chance almost forgot his horror that Ms. Samson was telling Mark about the lost caterpillar in his shock that Mark could talk like that.
    â€œNo, no, none have died. At least I hope not! One disappeared,” Ms. Samson said.
    That was it. This conversation had gone way further than it should have. Chance gathered himself together and spoke more words to his foster brother than ever before.
    â€œWe have to go right now, Mark. Angie said. We’re all going out somewhere