The Same Stuff as Stars

“Oh, Bernie. I’m just moving it from the shed to the house. It’s not even leaving the property. Don’t tell, okay, Bernie?”

“If you’re not stealing, how come I can’t tell?”

It took her a minute to come up with an answer. “Grandma doesn’t know us very well yet, see? She might not understand. She might not want us going into the shed at all.”

“I’m not going in anymore. I don’t like it, and it makes me breathe funny.”

“You don’t have to go inside anymore, but you might want me t

o.”

“Why?”

She paused and looked at him, Grizzle dangling from his left hand, his right hand on his hip, challenging her. “Because there might be a hidden treasure in there or something.”

“A treasure?” The hand popped off his hip. “A real one? Not just pretend?”

“Uh-huh.”

“If there was, would you share?”

“Of course I would. Don’t I always share with you, Bernie? Still,” she added, “we’d have to tell Grandma.”

“Why?” His eyes went wide.

“Because,” she said, “if we didn’t, it would be like stealing.”

“No, it wouldn’t! If we find it, it’s our treasure. That’s the law.”

“But you just said if I took the book—”

“Books are different.”

“Well, just to be on the safe side, maybe we better not say anything about the book, either, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, jamming his thumb into his mouth.

***

They waited until they were sure that Grandma was not in the kitchen before they sneaked in. They carried the book upstairs. Angel slid it under her pillow. She took a look around the room. “We better make up our beds, Bernie.”

“Why? Grandma won’t care. She never comes up here. She said so.”

“Because it looks nicer to have your bed neat.”

“Then you do it,” he said, turning on his heel and marching downstairs, still dragging the bear. He was going to ruin Grizzle, she knew, but how could she save the bear and still keep Bernie from throwing a fit? She sighed and began to make the beds. The bottom sheet wasn’t fitted, so it was hard to do the corners and smooth the covers, but with the quilts on top, the wrinkles didn’t show so much.

She could hear Bernie downstairs talking to Grandma, so she slipped the encyclopedia out from under her pillow and looked for “Astronomy.” The print was small, and there were no real pictures, just scientific drawings, but she’d have to try. “Astronomy is the most ancient of sciences, having existed before the dawn of recorded civilizations.” She let out a long sigh as though she’d been holding her breath all her life. She was about to embark on a mysterious make-your-own adventure. She was about to go back “before the dawn of recorded civilizations.”

***

“Angel. Angel. An -gel!” Bernie was leaning over her. “Wake up!”

She sat up on the bed. She must have fallen asleep over the heavy book. “I’m awake,” she said. “I was reading.”

“No, you wasn’t. You was snoring.”

“What do you want, Bernie? I’m really busy right now.”