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carnivores.”
    Hugh didn’t answer. He was poking along the front of the card catalog, holding the index card from the bird book and studying the labels on the alphabetized wooden drawers. “ R  … R …” I heard him whisper to himself. “ R for Ren, not W .”
    I watched as Hugh stopped halfway down the card catalog, stood on his tiptoes, and opened the R drawer. From where I was standing, it looked like all the original cards listing the library books had been removed. Without even glancing inside, Hugh dropped his own card into the empty drawer and quietly slid it shut.
    â€œHey, buddy,” Mine said, louder this time. “Up and at ’em. Time for grocery shopping.”
    Hugh whipped around, bursting out of his silence like a boiling teakettle. “Do I have to? Can’t I stay here? With Ren?”
    Mine looked baffled. “But you love going into town. And Ren … well, she doesn’t even know us. And she might not want any company right now.” She glanced over at me with an apologetic smile. “Right?”
    â€œOh, I don’t mind,” I said.
    â€œAre you sure?” Mine asked, once Hugh had run off to put his bird book away. “You don’t mind keeping an eye on him while I’m gone?”
    â€œNot a bit,” I told her. Sure, her son might be a little on the strange side. But I was almost certain he’d be better company than Mr. Bonnycastle’s skull.

 
    SIX
    I WAS SO HUNGRY that anything would have tasted good—even Mine’s muffins that made a thud when she dropped one on my plate before she headed off to the grocery store. Luckily she had also poured us glasses of milk to help wash things down. I sat with Hugh at a red Formica table in the kitchen in front of the old serving window, peering out at the giant room on the other side. It was empty except for two picnic tables with benches that had been pushed together end to end. The cafetorium, Hugh called it. “Because it’s half cafeteria, half auditorium,” he said. Then he pointed to the stage that stretched across the opposite side of the room. “Hildy lives up there.”
    I might not have believed him if I hadn’t heard her bumping around behind the red velvet curtains, getting ready for her son’s visit. The stage actually seemed like a pretty smart choice for a bedroom, considering how close it was to the kitchen. I glanced around. Nothing in the kitchen matched anymore. There was a gold fridge and an avocado-green stove, and long rows of cupboards painted the color of canaries. And the kitchen felt lots homier than a cafeteria, with its smell of coffee and molasses and the trail of mixing bowls and muffin tins that Mine had left spread across the metal counters.
    Hugh gnawed a tiny chunk off the top of his muffin. “Tastes like birdseed,” he said. Then his face spread into a grin, wide enough for me to see his big front teeth. “That must be why you like it. Because you’re a wren. Did you know wrens are famous for their loud and complex songs?”
    â€œNo, I didn’t,” I said through my bite of muffin. “But that’s probably exactly how my sister would describe me. Loud and complex.” I took another swig of milk. “Is that what you were looking up in that bird book? Wrens?”
    Hugh nodded. “I like to keep notes on people.”
    â€œSo how come you didn’t tell Hildy and your mom that we had already met last night? Was it because you didn’t want them to know I caught you spying on me?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hugh said, but I could see a flush of red creeping up his pale neck.
    When I raised one eyebrow at him, he turned away, rushing to change the subject. “I wish I could have Lucky Charms instead of this yucky muffin.” He pointed to some cereal boxes that sat on top of the refrigerator.
    â€œWhy can’t