“Yes, ma’am, Captain. You can trust me, Captain, ma’am.” He saluted again and opened the door.

“Hang on.” Julia, who was standing next to me, frowned. “How can the newbie be first mate?”

“You’re first lieutenant,” I said.

She squinted at me. “I thought first mates were next in line after the captain.”

Like I knew anything about naval ranks. “On the bookmobile, it’s the first lieutenant. Unless we’re in England, and then you’re the first ‘leftenant.’ ”

Julia brightened. “I always wanted to do a Gilbert and Sullivan show, but it never worked out because I can’t carry a tune in a bucket. Hunter, do you know any of the lyrics to H.M.S. Pinafore?”

“Um, maybe.”

I was sure he didn’t, but I was equally sure that Julia, with the help of her cell phone and YouTube, would get him on board—on board? hah!—by the end of the day.

“Mrr.”

“Yes, Mr. Edmeister,” Julia said, “you can sing any part you’d like. Maybe you could do multiple parts? How do you feel about being cast as both Captain Corcoran and the First Lord of the Admiralty?”

“Mrr!”

“Now you’ve done it,” I said. “He’s going to want to be an admiral the rest of his life.”

Julia picked up the cat carrier. “Say good-bye to your mom, Eddie. Tell her we promise to take good care of you.”

“Absolutely,” Hunter said. “If anything happens, we’ll call right away. If he even sneezes, we’ll let you know.”

“Well, maybe not sneezes.” Julia looked doubtful. “Sometimes he does that a lot.”

I laughed and reached into the carrier to give Eddie a chin scratch. “Hope all of you have a fun day. I’ll be here when you get back to help you unload.”

It was all smiles and waves as they drove off, but the second they were out of my sight, I found breathing a little hard. What had I been thinking? How could I let the bookmobile go out without me? How could I let Eddie be out there without me? How could—

My very personal version of fearmongering was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone.

Julia. I thumbed the Accept button immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said. “And the odds of there being anything wrong this entire day that you’ve released Eddie to our custody”—I heard a faint “Mrr” from the background—“are infinitesimal. Now go forth and do your librarian thing so you can come out and play on the bookmobile next week.”