Just as they were about to eat, Owen knocked at the door. Dad said Eleanor could play after lunch.
“Michael and my dad are in the yard,” said Owen, “looking for pillbugs, and then my mom will wake up and then I have to eat lunch too.”
Eleanor said, “Are you going to eat pillbugs?”
“No!” said Owen. “Michael thought you might like to see them. After lunch,” he added to Eleanor’s dad.
Eleanor’s dad said, “Pillbugs after lunch.” Eleanor could tell he didn’t know exactly what pillbugs meant. Even though he had lived in the United States a long time, sometimes he still didn’t recognize a word. He pulled out his phone to check his English–Spanish dictionary. “Ah. Pillbugs. Yes. Perfect.”
“Um,” said Owen. “I just have something to ask Eleanor.”
“One minute,” said Dad.
“One minute,” said Eleanor. She stepped out into the entryway with Owen and closed the door. “Did you get my message? The goldfish is hungry?” Suddenly everything seemed very exciting.
Owen didn’t look excited. “Yes,” he said. “Are you sure? I mean, you could just stay here.”
“And bury Scrumpy away from his family? And away from his real house? And my real house?” Then, worried she’d hurt Owen’s feelings, she said, “This is a nice duplex. But I want to go home.”
Slowly Owen nodded. “Okay then.”
“I have money for the bus,” said Eleanor. “But I don’t know which bus to take.”
Owen said slowly, “I figured out the buses this morning.”
“You did?” Eleanor had taken the bus only a few times in her whole life. What if she took the wrong bus by accident? What if she got off at the wrong bus stop? Then she had an idea. “Hey, you can come with me. To help bury Scrumpy. And I can show you my house.” She tried to make it sound like an adventure.
Owen stood still for a minute, thinking and frowning like he was making a big decision. Then he nodded. “I’ll go with you.” But he didn’t sound happy.
No matter. He’d love the tree house when he saw it. “Okay! Let’s go right after lunch!”
Owen nodded gloomily and went upstairs. Eleanor went inside to eat.
After lunch, Aaron biked to his job. Alicia biked to her friend Millie’s house. Dad phoned Mom just to say hi.
Eleanor sat on her bed in her and Alicia’s room—really just Alicia’s room after today—and packed her backpack. Two granola bars she hadn’t eaten at snack time yesterday and the day before. A full water bottle. A book, in case she wanted some quiet time in the tree house. Her money for bus fare. And on top, the dead fish, frozen into a little fish rock and still triple-bagged. She’d gotten him out of the freezer when Dad was busy phoning Mom.
She looked around the room. Alicia had put posters on Eleanor’s side of the room—of cats and dogs, because Alicia knew she loved animals. That was nice of her. She’d also put yellow tape on the floor to mark her side of the room so that Eleanor didn’t step there. That was less nice.
But the spaceship window was on Eleanor’s side of the room. Outside the window hung the rope of the Millennial Falcon, waiting to send another secret message. Beyond the rope she could see the backyard with its row of trees, weedy and shady almost like a real woods. On the ground were a lot of sticks for making lightsabers and rocks for building fairy gardens. Really, it was a good yard.
Dad poked his head into the room. “You going to Owen’s to play?”
Not play. Run away. This afternoon. But somehow, now, the idea didn’t make her happy.
She picked up her backpack. “I’m going.”
Chapter 12 Owen
Owen met Eleanor at the door, wishing he knew what to do to stop her from leaving.
She called out, “We’re going to play in the backyard!”
Owen’s mom appeared. She was dressed in normal clothes and had wet hair like she had just taken a shower. “If that’s okay with your dad,” she said to Eleanor.
“Me too!” said Michael.
Yes. Owen grinned. If Michael was outside with them, then they wouldn’t be able to run away.
But Owen’s mom said, “Not you, Mister Mike. You have a haircut today.” She herded him down the front stairs.
When they reached the shady part of the backyard, Eleanor tossed her backpack down. “See?” she said. “Everything’s perfect. We’re meant to escape.”
It didn’t feel like escape to Owen. It felt like mistake.
“Let’s go now!” she said.
“We have to wait until Mom and Michael get down the street so they don’t see us,” said Owen.
“Okay. Hey, let’s fence! You know, for old times’ sake.” She leaped into position. Owen told her that the first person says pray, then the other person says we, and then the first person says uh-lay, and then you fight.
“Why do you say pray and we and all that?” asked Eleanor.
“It’s French,” said Owen. “So it doesn’t really make sense. Maybe your dad would know?”
“He only knows Spanish,” said Eleanor. “Like me. Only better,” she admitted, “since he spoke Spanish when he was growing up.”
“That’s cool,” said Owen.
“He grew up in Costa Rica. And they talk in Spanish.”
“Does he miss Costa Rica? Do you ever visit? Do your grandma and grandpa still live there?” Owen had a lot of questions.
Eleanor laughed. “Yes, we visit, but not very often because plane tickets cost so much. One time our grandparents, Abuela and Abuelo, came here to visit us. Well, not here. To the old house.” She threw down her sword, frowning. “I bet your mom and Michael are gone.”
Owen thought about how much Eleanor missed the old house. He sighed. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”
They only had to wait a couple of minutes for the bus. It was the 67, and it would take them to
