Nova looked. The earth was lit up from behind. Nova grinned. It must be far out, since they had traveled such a long way. They had gone this far before, but never farther. Never all the way to the moon.

Nova kissed NASA Bear’s soft plastic helmet.

From behind her back, Bridget produced a large white balloon. She blew it up, so big it was almost the same size as the globe, tied it off, and placed it in front of Nova.

“Moon!” Nova said, pointing. Bridget beamed.

“That’s right, moon!” Bridget picked up her walkie-talkie and held it to her lips. “Ground Control, space shuttle NovaBridge here! We are now safely soaring above the earth at approximately three hundred fifty miles beyond sea level, traveling at a speed of twenty thousand miles per hour. Next stop, the moon. Over.”

“Please!” pleaded the distant voice of their mother, somewhere back on Earth. “Please don’t take my girls!”

“Moon!” Nova hugged NASA Bear.

“Yes, moon. We made it, Nova,” Bridget whispered. “We’re safe now. We’ve just landed. The next thing you’ll feel is space dust beneath your feet.” Then she sang a line from their favorite song, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, about an astronaut named Major Tom communicating with Ground Control: “Now it’s time to leave the capsule, if you dare!”

Nova nodded. She could no longer hear anything happening down on Earth.

She could not hear the stranger calling their names.

And she could not feel anything either, not anything except zero gravity and moon rocks.

She did not feel it when Bridget helped her into her jacket or when Mama kissed her on the forehead.

She did not feel it when a police officer gently picked her up and carried her to an unfamiliar car.

And she did not make noise, not even a hum, to drown out the Earth sounds around her.

She did not make noise when the social worker buckled her into the backseat or when Bridget took her hand and held it tight.

She did not make noise when they were driven away from Mama.

She was too far away. On the moon.

With her big sister.

Safe.

Alone in the attic Nova was not tired, not at all, not even with her eyes closed, but when she opened them again, light was streaming through the round attic window, the snow had stopped falling, and Francine was calling her from the bottom of the stairs.

“Are you up there, Nova?”

“Ah!” called Nova, scrambling to her feet. How long had she been asleep? Did she miss the first day of school?

She rushed down the stairs to the bedroom, where Francine was waiting.

“Thank goodness! I panicked when I saw your empty bed. Come on, let’s get you dressed, then we’ll eat breakfast. Billy’s making his special chocolate chip banana pancakes.”