“You’re the one who found the meteorite,” she says.

“Yes, I saw it fall.”

“I saw your picture in the paper. James always talked about you. He said you’re his best friend. He told me you’re building a stone wall. Can I see it?”

“It’s underwater now.”

“Sorry,” Fiona says.

She sounds so genuinely sad I say, “I can build another wall sometime. There’s lots of good wall-building rocks around.”

“When I help my parents at the store, I carry boxes of groceries out to people’s cars. Some of them are really heavy. So I can definitely move rocks around. Let me know when you start.”

“Sure, it goes faster with two,” I answer.

“Are you going to have some pie, like your uncle said?”

I realize how hungry I am after being outside in the cold all morning.

“Okay.”

“We brought the pumpkin. You should try it, it’s really good.”

Fiona cuts a piece of the pumpkin pie and hands it to me on a plate. Her hair is almost the same orange color as the pie. She watches while I take a small bite.

“It’s very good. Very pumpkiny,” I say.

“I don’t think that’s a word. Pumpkiny,” she says.

“You just said it,” I point out.

“That doesn’t make it a word.”

“Anyway, I like your pie. It’s very good.”

“I know. So how come you’re homeschooled?”

“My mom says I can learn whatever I want to right here. But each year I get to choose—home or school.”

“Are you ever going to choose school?”

“My sister might miss me if I was gone all day.”

Birdie is swinging in her swing in the living room, still wearing the red tie. And I realize I just gave Fiona an answer that’s not really an answer.

“She’s sweet.” Fiona waves at Birdie. “Did you know that all the seventh graders at school are getting their own laptop this fall? For free. All the seventh graders in Maine can get one.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said. “If I had a laptop, I could email the curator of the science museum. He came to see the rock and gave me his business card.”

“You probably could, if you wanted to. Oh, and I heard about your house. I’m sorry it got flooded,” Fiona says.

“Thanks. The meteorite is safe where it is, though. Do you want to see it sometime?”

“Yes!”

I see Mom getting her coat on.