“This time we'll have more than a pencil” Astor said, and the cool ferocity she said it with absolutely warmed my heart —but it was still out of the question.

“No” I said. “It's too dangerous.” Cody muttered, “Promise” and Astor rolled her eyes in an epic fashion and blew out a matching breath.

“You keep saying we can't do anything,” she said. “Not until you teach us. And we say go ahead and teach us, and we don't do anything. And now when we have a chance to really learn something real you say it's too dangerous.”

“It is too dangerous” I said.

“Then what are we supposed to do while you go doing something dangerous?” she demanded. “And what if you don't save Mom and you both never come back?” I looked at her, and then at Cody. She was glaring at me with her lower lip quivering, while he settled for a stony-faced expression of contempt, and once again the best I could manage was to open my mouth soundlessly a few times.

And that is how I ended up driving to the Convention Center, going slightly faster than the speed limit, with two very excited children in the back seat. We got off 1-95 at 8th Street and headed over to the Convention Center on Brickell. There was a lot of traffic and no place to park —apparently, a lot of other people had been watching public television and were aware of the Art-stravaganza.

Under the circumstances, it seemed a little silly to waste time looking for a parking spot, and just as I decided to park on the sidewalk police-style, I saw what had to be Coulter's motor-pool car, and I pulled up onto the walk beside it and slapped my Department placard on the dashboard and turned to face Cody and Astor.

“Stay with me” I said, “and don't do anything without asking me first.”

“Unless it's an emergency” Astor said.

I thought about how they'd done so far in emergencies; pretty good, in fact. Besides, it was almost certainly all over by now. “All right” I said. “If it's an emergency.” I opened the car door. “Come on” I said.

They didn't budge.

“What?” I said.

“Knife” Cody said softly.

“He wants a knife” Astor said.

“I'm not giving you a knife,” I said.

“But what if there is an emergency?” Astor demanded. “You said we could do something if there's an emergency but then you won't let us have anything to do it with!”

“You can't wander around in public holding a knife” I said.

“We can't go totally defenseless” Astor insisted.