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that no one may question someone carrying a signed perMission slip without permission.”
    Lines of sweat streaked from Mister Snow’s white sideburns down his cheeks. Diana imagined that this must have been an unusual experience for him. People rarely questioned his vast knowledge of Winterpole statutes, let alone junior agents.
    â€œVery well, Junior Agent Maple.” Mister Snow cleared his throat. “You may accompany us. Here, be of use and carry my briefcase.”
    He tossed the briefcase to her. The leather brick was so heavy it nearly dropped her to her knees. Straining to carry it, Diana couldn’t help but smile.
Take that, Benjamin
, she thought smugly. She may have been the “boss’s stupid daughter,” but
theft and forgery were two skills Vesuvia had insisted Diana learn long ago. Sure, they were heinous crimes, but as her ex-best friend had frequently reminded her, they’d only get her in trouble if she got caught.

“MOM, CAN I FLY THE
ROOST
?”
    â€œNO, EVIE, YOU CAN’T FLY THE
ROOST
.”
    â€œBut M-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-m!”
    The trip had gone smoothly so far except for this current fight between Evie and her mother. They were a little more than halfway to Texas, and Rick sat in a cushioned seat at the back of the
Roost
’s bridge, listening to his mother and sister argue. He was trying to study Professor Doran’s research in the hope of identifying plants that might help them root the eighth continent, but he was finding it hard to concentrate.
    â€œHey, Mom,” he called out, hoping to distract her from Evie’s pleas, “how do you and Dad know Professor Doran?”
    His mother almost laughed. “Nathaniel was pursuing his doctorate while your father and I were undergraduates.”
    â€œI’m surprised you haven’t stayed in better touch,” Rick mused. “The more research I conduct, the more it seems like Professor Doran is a fascinating individual.”
    â€œResearch?” Evie repeated.
    â€œWhy yes, just a little.”
    â€œHow much is ‘a little’?”
    Rick pulled up a document on his pocket tablet. “I compiled a twelve-page brief on the subject. Feel free to review it.”
    Grimacing, she took the tablet. “I guess I am curious why we’ve never met him.”
    â€œWell, it wasn’t as easy to stay in touch back then,” their mother explained. “And you can’t stay close to everyone. Still, I hope he can help us.”
    Evie spun around in her cushioned swivel chair. “I’m going to ask Professor Doran to transform Evie World into a big old jungle where every tree is bigger than the
Roost
and has vines you can swing from and leaves the size of your head! And we can run around and hunt and play, and I’ll be like a lioness, queen of the jungle!”
    Rick blinked in disbelief. “Lions live on the savannah, not in jungles. And what in Turing’s name is
Evie World
?”
    Evie snorted, as if the answer to this question was as obvious as the forty-seventh digit of pi. “
Psssh.
Why, it’s what we’re naming the eighth continent, silly!”
    â€œFirst of all, there is no way we are naming the eighth continent ‘Evie World.’ You might as well call it ‘Evie Thinks She’s the Best Person Ever so We’re Naming the Continent After Her Even Though a Lot of Other Important People Helped Make the Eighth Continent Too . . . World
.
’”
    Scratching her chin, Evie mused, “That’s not a bad name, actually.”
    â€œForget it, Evie. And second, you can’t make the continent a dense jungle. That would be totally counterproductive to our goal to develop an urban infrastructure capable of sustaining a large permanent population.”
    Evie clutched her head. “Ugh, Rick. That’s so boring you’re making my brain hurt. We finally have a vast untapped continent, and your