The children against the walls were beginning to loosen up, but none of them stepped forward.

They were all watching Kelly as she let the snake wrap around her arms. She rubbed her cheek against its head.

Charlie Barts was keeping watch out the window. “Mrs. Wilson is coming,” he yelled.

The children reacted instantly. Kelly opened her metal lunch box, took out her sandwich and cupcake, put the snake inside, closed the lid and latched it. With the speed of light, the kids righted the desks, picked up books and papers, and sat down.

When Mrs. Wilson entered, everyone was exactly as she’d left them. She didn’t notice the fast breathing or the red faces. At lunch, she saw that Kelly Exton, who usually had a dozen kids sitting by her, was isolated at the end of a table with the new boy. Kelly’s blue lunch box was in front of them on the table. Good, Mrs. Wilson thought. Kelly’s bringing that odd little boy into the fold.

On the Day of the Snake, as they came to call it, Kelly got off the bus with Paul and walked to Dr. Carl’s house, with his clinic next door. She’d always loved animals, but that day, when she saw the doctor’s surgery, with animals being kept under his watchful eye as they recovered, Kelly knew what she wanted to do with her life. She was going to be a veterinarian. When she told Dr. Carl, he smiled. “Not many girls become vets,” he said.

“I will.” She was so solemn that he stopped smiling.

“In that case, why don’t you come over Saturday morning and help me clean cages?”

She agreed readily. As for Mrs. Carl, which, to her annoyance, was what everyone in town called her, she was thrilled that her son had brought home a friend. And that Kelly was pretty and “normal” made her nearly frantic with happiness. She fed the children, asked Kelly a barrage of questions and called her son “Pauly.”

As Kelly was leaving, she heard Mrs. Carl say, “She’s not a Hatten, but she’s better than nothing in this hick town.”

That night, as Kelly’s father was tucking her in bed, she told him what Mrs. Carl had said and asked him what she meant. Her father frowned. “The Hattens are rich but we’re not. And Mason doesn’t have subways and tall buildings.”

“But we have cows,” Kelly said.

Her dad smiled. “I’d rather have cows than skyscrapers.”

“Me, too.” Kelly yawned.

He stood up. “Let’s not tell your mother what you overheard, okay?”

Kelly turned over. “I want to go to Dr. Carl’s again, so I won’t tell her.”

Mac chuckled. “What a smart child I have.”

“I’ll be Dr. Kelly,” she said as she closed her eyes.

“I’m sure you will be.” He shut the door behind him.