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Henry remembered their mission. “Do you know Andrew Beldon?”
    Nelda stopped and stared at him. “Andy! Yes, we’ve worked together for years. But I haven’t seen him lately.”
    “Neither has anyone else. And his father hasn’t heard from him in quite a while,” Jessie said. “Mr. Beldon asked Grandfather to come down here and find Andrew.”
    “He’s usually assigned to the Shark Valley Center,” Nelda said.
    “He hasn’t been to work in days,” Benny put in. “A lady told us he was sick, but we still can’t find him.”
    “Benny means Melanie Harper,” Violet supplied. “Melanie is doing both her job and Andrew’s. She told us yesterday Andrew had called in sick.”
    Jessie picked up the story. “But we went to Andrew’s boardinghouse and he wasn’t there. We’ve heard that Andrew is interested in the Florida panther. Maybe if we knew more about them, it would help us find Andrew.”
    “Boy,” Nelda said, almost to herself. “I hope Andrew isn’t in trouble.” Louder she said, “Andrew and I work together a lot with the big cats. He’s afraid they’ll become extinct.”
    “Are they that rare?” Violet asked.
    Nelda’s cheerful voice became somber. “There are no more than thirty to fifty Florida panthers left in the wild. Probably closer to thirty.”
    “What happened to them?” Benny asked.
    Nelda waved an arm. “The Everglades is their home. But the Glades are much smaller than they used to be. As more people moved in, that made less space for the big cats. They need lots of territory to hunt and live in.”
    “I’ve heard that some are killed by cars,” Grandfather said.
    Nelda nodded. “And hunters. The Florida panther was only given federal protection in nineteen fifty-eight. Now it’s an endangered species. They live deep in the Glades.”
    “We keep hearing they are hard to see,” Henry said. “If a panther is so hard to spot, how do you keep track of them?”
    “We use electronic collars,” Nelda explained. “We track the cats — they do leave signs, like paw prints or tufts of hair. Then we give the animals something to make them sleepy. While they are asleep, we treat them for illnesses or injuries and then put an electronic radio collar around their necks. Then we let the cats go. Now we’re able to keep tabs on them.”
    Benny was confused. “Watch has a collar. It doesn’t have a radio on it.”
    “Watch is our dog back home in Connecticut,” Violet told Nelda. “I’m confused, too. How does the collar work?”
    “Each collar is a transmitter,” Nelda said, speaking more slowly so Benny could understand. “The collar sends out high-pitched beeps or signals. We can hear those beeps on special equipment we have.”
    “How do you know one cat from another?” Henry asked. He knew a little about radio electronics.
    “Good question. Each cat is assigned a number and its personal signal. For example, Cat Number Three has a special frequency. When we tune in our transmitters and hear that signal, we know we’re picking up Cat Number Three’s movements.”
    “And that signal tells you where Cat Number Three is?” asked Grandfather.
    “It tells us what area she’s in,” Nelda said. “If she’s not moving, we can get an even better idea of where she is.”
    Jessie shook her head. “It’s so complicated! Don’t the cats mind wearing those collars?”
    “At first they do, but then they get used to them,” Nelda said. “It’s the only way we can help them survive in the wild. Andrew has followed more cats than any of us. He monitors them day and night sometimes.”
    Violet had an idea. “Do you think that’s where Andrew might be now? Following one of the cats?”
    “He could be,” Nelda replied. “But it would be foolish for Andrew to go into the Glades alone, especially if one of the big cats was hurt. Andrew could be injured himself. No one would know where he is.”
    The Aldens were quiet for a moment.
    “Couldn’t Andrew call you on