Tess pulled on the coveralls. “It’s not Halloween. Besides, everyone knew the ghost was you.”

“They did not.”

“Yes, they did,” said Jaime. “The whole block knew.”

“Even when I went as the nerdy ghost?”

“Especially then.”

Aunt Esther patted Theo on the shoulder. “Next time, I’ll lend you the giant ham sandwich.”

Aunt Esther loaded them up with real sandwiches for lunch and then waved good-bye as they sneaked out the back door, just in case anyone was, in Tess’s words, “casing the joint.” Once they were out on the street, no one seemed to give them a second glance.

Jaime patted his front pocket and whispered, “Okay, Ono, do your thing.”

“To the Land of Kings?” the robot said.

“That’s right.”

The robot reached one arm out of Jaime’s pocket and pointed. They started walking.

“Let’s hope the Land of Kings isn’t in Canada,” Theo said.

“What do you have against Canada?” Tess said, but she said it absently, as if she weren’t the one making the joke, as if the answer didn’t matter in the least. Her mirrored gaze swept side to side. As they walked, she would occasionally turn around and walk backward, scanning the street behind them. Maybe she was looking for blondes in red dresses. But more likely she was looking for one ginormous Cat.

When they reached the bus stop, the robot pointed at it and said, “To the Land of Kings!” They got on the Q19.

“Maybe it’s not in Colorado or Canada,” Jaime said.

“Maybe it’s on the Canary Islands,” Theo said.

“The Q-19 is going to drop us off on the Canary Islands?”

“No, but maybe your friend will walk us right into the Atlantic Ocean,” Theo said.

“So it’s my friend now.”

“Oh, shut up,” Tess said. “You two are bickering like, like . . .”

We normally do? Theo thought, but didn’t say it. Jaime didn’t say it, either, just watched the landscape outside shift from the tightly packed houses and delis and shops of Astoria to Sunnyside Gardens, through Woodside and Jackson Heights. When they reached Flushing, the robot pointed again. “To the Land of Kings!” it said.

“I think this is our stop,” said Jaime.

They got off the bus. Wherever the robot pointed, they walked, until they reached Bowne Street and a sign that said KINGSLAND HOMESTEAD.

“Well! The Land of Kings,” Jaime said.

The robot’s jeweled eyes flashed, and it beeped with primitive robot joy. Jaime tucked it down into his pocket and buttoned the flap over its head.

“Oh no,” it said, its voice small and muffled.

The trees surrounding the homestead were spectacular, but the homestead itself was not. It was a rather plain yellow house, smallish and modest.

“Built around 1785,” said Jaime.

“You know about this house?” Theo asked.

“No, I’m reading the plaque,” Jaime said, pointing to the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the property.

Tess swore.