“That’s pretty cool,” Nate said. “See if you can throw me like a football.”

“No!” Summer warned. “Have you ever seen Pigeon throw a ball? No offense, Pidge.”

“None taken,” he said. “She’s right, I’m not very coordinated.”

“Check it out,” Trevor said. “Flying kick.” He jumped into the air and glided over to a tree, lashed out with his leg, and rebounded a dozen feet after striking the trunk.

“Cool,” Nate said. “We should practice jumping sideways off stuff, like Summer did with the bank. Trevor sort of did it with that kick.”

“You shouldn’t have spat out your Moon Rock,” Trevor said to Pigeon.

“It’s okay,” Pigeon said. “You guys bounce around. I need to go change my pants anyhow. Seems like I’m always the one who ends up in the creek!”

Chapter Four

White Fudge

Pigeon had plans to sneak in the front door. Since his mom was a homemaker with overprotective tendencies, he didn’t want to get caught in wet jeans again.

But his cousin Nile was waiting out front astride his motorcycle. Nile had picked out Pigeon’s leather jacket. At seventeen, with his head shaved, he looked a lot better than Pigeon in studded black leather.

“Where were you?” Nile asked. “Taking a swim?”

“I fell in the creek.”

“How’d the jacket go over?”

“I sweated like crazy,” Pigeon said. “And I got teased. I decided not to wear it today.”

“Those same bullies?”

“Mainly.”

“You ought to let me handle them,” Nile said.

“No way, that’ll just make it worse.”

“I’ll just scare them. I’m not going to rough up sixth graders. I’ll threaten to beat up their dads.”

“I’ve got it covered,” Pigeon said.

“If you say so,” Nile approved. “Remember, it takes time for a new image to stick. And you can take the jacket off if it gets too hot.”

“Okay.”

Nile revved the engine of his bike. “Say hi to your dad.” He pulled out of the driveway and noisily accelerated up the street.

Pigeon sighed. How could he be so clumsy with a cousin that cool? As Pigeon started up the steps, his mom opened the front door, a short, pudgy woman with thick black hair. She placed a hand over her mouth. “Paul, what happened to your jeans?”

“I fell in the creek,” he said.

“They were brand-new!” she panicked.

“It was just water,” he said.

“Filthy creek water,” she lamented, rushing down the steps to fuss over him. He wished he had a Moon Rock right then so he could fly away. She always made him feel like such a baby. “It may be time to give up playing down there.” He would have been worried, but she always said something like that after he drenched his shoes or got hurt.

“I’m fine. I was playing with my best friends.” That was the right card to play. He had not had any friends until second grade. And it was only last year that his friendship with Summer and Trevor had become cemented. His mom had been worried about him—she was thrilled that he was finally socializing.

“Well, come inside and get cleaned up. You need to be more careful down there. How was your day?”

“Good,” he said, following her inside. “I got another trivia question right. Miss Doulin seems uptight but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Where’s your jacket? You look so sharp in it!”

“I didn’t wear it today. Everybody liked it so much last week. I didn’t want to look like a show-off!”

His mom beamed. Although Nile had selected the jacket, his mom had paid for it. Pigeon hurried up the stairs to his room. He ditched his wet shirt and jeans and put on tan shorts and a T-shirt. He could hear his mom scolding his sister downstairs. He had two younger sisters, ages six and three. They gave his mom people to worry about besides him, for which he was grateful.

Newly dressed, Pigeon slipped out the front door and hurried back to the creek. Upon reaching the jogging path, he noticed a single bubble the size of a baseball hovering near the Nest. It was peculiar, because instead of drifting it maintained an unwavering position about eight feet off the ground. Curious, Pigeon approached it. As he drew near, the bubble lifted higher, floating out of sight behind some trees.

In the Nest, Pigeon found Trevor, Summer, and Nate sitting on the ground. “Pigeon!” Trevor said. “Welcome back!”

“Were you guys blowing bubbles?” Pigeon asked.

“No,” Summer answered. “Why?”

“I saw a bubble floating just outside the Nest. I guess you finished the candy.”

“It lasted pretty long,” Nate said.

“We were just talking about going back to the ice cream shop,” Summer said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Pigeon said.

“I hope Mrs. White will give us more Moon Rocks now that we believe her,” Trevor said.

“Who knows what other types of candy she might have,” Summer said.

“I wonder why she isn’t world famous,” Nate mused. “If she can make magic candy, she should be a zillionaire.”

“She probably wants to keep it a secret,” Trevor said. “Remember how she told us to try the candy when nobody was around?”

“We’ve finally uncovered a true mystery,” Summer said. “There’s really only one way to find out more about Mrs. White.”

*****

The bell jingled when Nate opened the door. A tall, plain woman was paying for a caramel apple at the register. A pair of teenagers slouched at a table eating ice-cream cones. A male dwarf with spiky blond hair shaved flat on top was balanced on a stool placing candy boxes on a high shelf. Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon entered the store after Nate. Pigeon waited to hold the door as the tall woman exited.

“How can I help you?” the middle-aged dwarf asked, hopping down from the stool and mostly vanishing behind the counter.

“These are friends,” Mrs. White said, raising the hinged countertop. “Mind the shop for a moment, Arnie?”

“You got it,” the dwarf said.

Nate and the others passed behind the counter and into the cluttered back room. “You hired a helper,” Nate said.

“I did,” Mrs. White replied. “And there will be more to come. I take it you tried the Moon Rocks.”