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Whittaker-Austin."
    Cornelia told him, "This is the little boy who made the perfect score on the entrance exam."
    Dr. Austin's gray eyebrows arched ceilingward. He smiled broadly, revealing a row of square white teeth. "You're George Melvil?" He evidently raised one finger and pointed at George, because a narrow blue fin emerged from the shower curtain, like the sudden appearance of a shark.
    "I have been looking forward to meeting you, George Melvil! You are the kind of student that the Whittaker Magnet School was created for. A single superlative student can make a great difference. Am I right?"
    Cornelia answered for George. "Of course you're right."
    "The Whittaker Magnet School first came to national attention because of a single superlative student, Ashley-Nicole Singer-Wright." He turned to Cornelia. "Show them the photo."
    Cornelia, with some reluctance, took down a photo from a bookcase shelf and handed it to her husband. He gripped it through the blue plastic and explained admiringly, "This shows Ashley-Nicole posing with my father-in-law, Cornell Whittaker Number Two."
    He turned the frame to reveal a little girl dressed in a plaid skirt and white blouse with her blond hair tied back in a ponytail. She was accepting a plaque from a very large, round-shouldered old man in a black suit.
    "I was the first to identify her genius. I administered her first standardized test, the PSAT." A dreamy look appeared on his face. "She was, of course, off the chart."
    Dr. Austin handed the photo back to his wife. Then he pushed his arms straight out, causing the blue shower curtain to fall in a crumpled semicircle at his feet.
    Kate and the others could now see the rest of his body, clad in a natty cream-colored suit and seated atop a high stool. He said, "Now we have you, George Melvil," and he slid down from the stool to the floor.
    Kate's gaze slid down with him. Down and down. She tried not to look surprised, but he wasn't even five feet tall. Barely taller than George! Yet poise and self-confidence radiated from him at such high wattage that he managed to be just as intimidating as his giant wife.
    Cornelia picked up the shower curtain and shook it out. Then she pulled a Dustbuster vacuum from its wall socket, switched it on, and started to clean up.
    Dr. Austin snapped the lapels of his suit and checked himself in a wall mirror. He gingerly touched the sparse patch where the razor had slipped. Then he turned his attention back to George, shouting over the sucking noise of the vacuum, "Are these people your parents?"
    George nodded. Ma and Pa stepped forward with big grins on their faces.
    Dr. Austin read the message on their matching T-shirts. "Now what does this mean, 'Un-clog your arteries'?"
    Ma cackled. "It's a joke. We're cloggers. And clog-gin's good for your arteries."
    Dr. Austin spoke as if thinking aloud, "You clog. That means that you take part in some sort of ... folk-dance ritual that requires shirts."
    "And shoes! Don't forget the shoes."
    "And for how long have you participated in this activity?"
    Ma looked at Pa for help with the question, but no help was forthcoming. She finally answered, "Since about a year before Georgie was born. The day after I delivered him, we competed in the Midwest Clog-off."
    "And we took third place," Pa added.
    "So, do you engage in this clogging activity still?"
    "All the time, Doc. We're part of the Tri-County Cloggers. We do it all—Appalachian flatfoot, modern clogging, buckdance, pitter-pat, you name it."
    "I would if I could." Dr. Austin smiled his square-toothed smile. "Anyway, congratulations to you both. I'm sure you are very proud of your son."
    Ma whooped at that, and Pa joined her.
    Cornelia clicked off the Dustbuster and shouted, "Good heavens! Don't do that in here! Find yourselves a barnyard."
    Ma looked down. "Sorry, ma'am. Sorry again." She turned to Dr. Austin. "But you'll see. Little Georgie ain't like us. Never has been. He's smart, just like June used to be