“It was awesome,” Nudge admitted. “I loved it. In just a few days, I learned more than I’d learned from weeks of watching TV.”

“That’s good,” I forced myself to say, and given my highly developed skills of deception, I even sounded very sincere. “And I’m glad to see you’re still among the winged.”

Nudge looked embarrassed. “Yeah. But anyway. I realized I just missed you guys so much. And I was too worried about your mom,” she told me. “I had to be here to help, if I could.”

I hugged her. “I’m so glad to have you back! Although you missed all the BS.”

“Whaaat?”

The others filled her in while I checked on Gazzy and watched the clock. The doctor said the Gasman would sleep for a day, which I took to be about four hours in bird-kid time. Sure enough, along about four-thirty in the morning, he woke up.

It was time to head down to the dock — I wasn’t going to risk missing the sub. It felt like a month ago that my mom had been kidnapped. Who knew what had happened by now?

“You good to go?” I asked Gazzy, fluffing his saltwater-sticky hair with my fingers.

He did a systems check, then nodded. “Yep. Feel like crap, but I’m okay.”

“You look pretty tough with that face,” I said admiringly, and he gave a pleased smile.

“Okay, troops, let’s mobilize,” I said. We were all a little punchy from lack of sleep, but I knew a couple cups of coffee would perk us right up.

“Whoa, hold it!” said a voice. It was the nice doctor, standing in the doorway, holding Gazzy’s chart.

“Sorry,” I said briskly. “We’ve got a sub to catch.”

“He can’t go anywhere!” The doctor looked appalled. “People stay in bed for days from a man-of-war sting!”

“We heal fast,” Gazzy said modestly.

“We were hoping for a chance to study you some more,” the doc admitted.

I sighed. “If I got a nickel every time I heard that… Okay, guys, let’s go.”

The doctor planted his feet, crossed his arms, and blocked the door to the hallway.

“I’m sorry. I can’t let you leave.”

“Uh-huh.” I looked at Fang. In seconds he’d crossed the room, opened the casement window, and jumped out. Total jumped out after him. A nurse, passing by in the hallway, screamed and dropped an armful of files.

Gazzy was next. “Thanks for everything, doc,” he said, then leaped lightly out. He dropped out of sight, but soon rose, working his wings powerfully, looking good.

Someone yelled, “There goes another one!” as I was busy hustling Iggy and Nudge out the window. Finally, it was my turn, and I hopped up to the window ledge.