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you want me to take Asta Magnifica home? I bet Mrs. Belphonia-Champlain is worried about her.”
    “Who?”
    “Mrs. Belphonia-Champlain. She’s Asta Magnifica’s owner.”
    Ms. Schnabel looked across the classroom and saw that Asta Magnifica was now eating a wall map of South America. She’d already chewed through most of Chile and Argentina and was just starting on Uruguay.
    “I don’t mind,” Jane continued. “I really like dogs, you see. I asked for one for my birthday, but my parents forgot about it.”
    “Your parents forgot your birthday?”
    “No, not this year,” Jane said. “They just forgot I wanted a dog. Anyway, I’d really enjoy walking Asta Magnifica back to Mrs. Belphonia-Champlain.”
    Ms. Schnabel didn’t say anything for a moment. She just stared out the window with that faraway look in her eyes she sometimes got. And just when Jane started to think Ms. Schnabel wasn’t going to answer, she said, “I’d appreciate it, Jane. Thank you.”
    * * * * *
    As Jane led Asta Magnifica out to the playground, she saw Melissa and Eddie huddled under the swing set, making a list in The Book of Dangerous Deeds and Dastardly Intentions.
    “Copper tubing,” said Eddie.
    “How much, do you think?” Melissa asked.
    “Oh, at least five feet.”
    “Did you write down the canister of carbon dioxide?”
    Eddie scanned the list.
    “I’m not sure,” he said. “It’s one of the disadvantages of using invisible ink.”
    “How about dry ice?”
    They didn’t notice Jane until she’d cleared her throat several times. And once they did notice her, they slammed the book shut and tried to act like they hadn’t been up to anything.
    “What are you doing?” Jane asked.
    “Oh, nothing,” they said in unison, each trying to sound more innocent than the other.
    “Really?”
    The twins looked at each other and shrugged.
    “It would be okay to tell her, wouldn’t it?” Melissa asked.
    “She is our most trusted comrade,” Eddie answered.
    “We’re working on our weather machine,” Melissa told her. “We’re trying to finish it in time for the science fair.”
    Jane was surprised. “You’re going to enter a project in the science fair? That’s fantastic. Ms. Schnabel will be so pleased.”
    Eddie and Melissa gave her identical, disparaging looks.
    “We’re not going to enter our weather machine in the science fair,” Eddie said. “What a revolting idea. What we’re going to do is—”
    Melissa kicked him hard in the shins to keep him from saying more.
    “Are you busy this afternoon?” Melissa asked Jane, changing the subject. “We have grand plans. Did you know that a villainous pirate has recently moved to town?”
    “Oh,” Jane said. “You mean Captain Rojo Herring?”
    “You know him?” Eddie asked.
    “Sure. He lives in the Mansion at the Top of Remarkable Hill. Only he’s not very villainous. He’s really very nice.”
    “Don’t be naive,” Melissa said. “All pirates are villainous. That’s why we’re so excited to go meet him. Do you want to come with us?”
    “I can’t,” Jane answered. “I’d told Ms. Schnabel that I’d take Asta Magnifica home. You could come with me, since it’s your fault she’s here in the first place.”
    “Sorry,” Eddie said. “But that would involve returning to the scene of our crime, and no self-respecting criminal mastermind ever does that.”
    Jane told them good-bye and started walking Asta Magnifica back to Mrs. Belphonia-Champlain’s house. There was nothing like taking a dog for a walk to make a person feel important. Maybe when she got home, she would remind her parents that she still wanted a dog of her own.
    When she’d asked before, they hadn’t told her no. Her mom had simply looked through her planner and said, “Well, Jane, I don’t believe we’ve scheduled getting a dog this year. I can check the schedule for next year if you’d like.”
    “Maybe we could add it to this year’s schedule,” Jane pleaded.