"Actually Michael, I think we've seen it all," Max replied.

"I think you're right," Michael said, smiling.

Leaning down, Max tried the television. To his surprise, it hummed when he turned it on. For a moment he smelled something that seemed like burning dust. Then a picture flashed on. It was black and white, which made sense. The set was old and had dials instead of buttons. Getting nothing but static, Max tried every channel on the dial. He found two stations that seemed to work.

"Cable must be out," Michael said dryly.

Max improved the reception by playing with the coat hanger.

"I vote for cartoons," Michael said.

"News," Max said. "I want to see if anyone's looking for us.”

"Waiting for special bulletin telling people to be on the lookout for three alien-human hybrids?" Michael said.

"Something more subtle," Max said.

There was a talk show on one of the channels, and a game show on the other. It might be a while. Then some- thing on the shelf under the television caught his eye.

He picked up the pack of cards and started counting.

"How many?" Michael asked.

"Fifty-two," Max replied.

"Things are finally looking up. Your deal, Max.”

8

When they stepped into the diner, Jimmy was already there and watching the door, as if he had been waiting for them.. By the time they got to the counter, the owner appeared and said, "I wasn't sure you girls were coming, but I'm glad you did. I'm Bell," she said, extending her hand.

Liz shook first. "I'm Liz.”

Maria followed. "I'm Maria.”

"And you really have done this before?" Bell asked.

"Yes," the girls said together.

"Well, at this point, it wouldn't matter much if you hadn't. I really need the help," Bell said.

Liz noticed that Bell was friendlier and more relaxed than yesterday. Maybe the prospect of some help had cheered her up.

"We have to be honest with you," Liz said. "We won't be staying long in Stonewall.”

Liz felt Maria's elbow stick in her ribs, but she did not want to mislead this woman. Creating bad feelings would just raise their profile in town. "We're in town with our friends and we're trying to earn enough money to fix our van," she continued.

"Your van's at Johnny's?" the woman asked.

"And we have a friend who's working there," Liz said. She wasn't really giving anything away. Liz knew that in a small town, keeping secrets was nearly impossible.

Bell nodded. "Okay, thanks for telling me. For as long as you can stay, I'm sure you'll be better than my sister-in-law. She's a better wife to my brother than she is a waitress… and she's a terrible wife.”

Both Liz and Maria smiled at that.

"Come on," Bell said, leading them into the kitchen.

She pointed to a thin, middle-aged man and said, "This is my husband, Sam. Sam, these are the new girls, Liz and Maria.”

"Nice to meet you," Liz said. Sam nodded and went back to cleaning the grill surface.

"Sam doesn't say much," Bell said as they went back outside. "It's the secret of our successful marriage.”

"If Sam needs help, my boyfriend cooks short order," Maria offered.

Bell shook her head and said, "Sam's okay on his own, but thanks. Look girls, if you are going to be short-timing it, why don't we just settle up at the end of each day.”

"Great, thanks," Liz said, glad that she had decided to tell Bell the truth.

"You eat free while you're here," Bell said. "Your friends can eat… how many of them are there?”

"Four more," Liz said.

Bell nodded and said, "They'll get a discount.

"We've got twenty minutes until we open. Why don't you find uniforms and aprons in the back? You can't miss the bathroom. I saw that you met Jimmy yesterday. Let me know if he's bothering you.”

"No, he's fine," Liz said.

Bell nodded. "He's had a tough time. His sister Jessica used to work here." Bell studied them for a moment and added, "She's missing.”

"We saw the sign," Maria said. "In fact, we saw more than one.”

Bell nodded again, "There's been some trouble. You'll notice that people stay off the street. You girls stay together when you go out. Or better yet, have your boyfriends come get you.”

"What do the police say?" Liz asked.

."They don't know anything, and the sheriff's… gone. We don't have a replacement yet. Just be careful," Bell said.

Liz and Maria headed into the back. A few minutes later, they came out in uniforms. Liz found one that fit a bit tightly, but was comfortable enough.

Looking at the clock, she saw that they had about fif- teen minutes before they opened. "Is there any side work to do?" she asked Bell.

Bell smiled. "You have done this before. Yes, why don't you two fill the sugars and marry the ketchups. Then put the clean silverware in the bins and set the tables. I was too beat to do it all last night.”

While Liz was filling sugars, Jimmy approached her and said, "That's my sister's uniform.”

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can find another one," Liz said.

Jimmy shook his head. "That's okay. She doesn't need it right now.”

"I'm sorry about your sister, Jimmy," Liz said.

"Me too," he said. Then he looked surprised and said, "Don't worry about it. I spill stuff all the time.”

"Spill?" Liz said, but Jimmy just shrugged.

When she turned, she swiped the sugar container she had been filling with her hand. It spilled across the counter.

"Jimmy, how did…?" Liz began, but Jimmy had already turned for the kitchen.

How did Jimmy know that 1 was going to spill something? Liz wondered. Further musings were cut short when Bell went to the front door and turned the sign around so that the open side faced front. There were people waiting out- side already.

A moment later they had filtered in and it was time to go to work.

"War," Michael said, tossing down a card.

Max started throwing down cards at the same time In the end, Michael threw down a Jack face up. Max had a five.

Michael took the next two rounds and got rid of his last card, leaving Max with six cards in his hand.

"I don't have to count them, Maxwell. That wasn't even close," Michael said, smiling. "I don't think you are cut out for war.”

"I was King, you were the one with the advanced mili- tary training," Max said, keeping his voice even and his expression neutral.

"I always knew it would pay off someday," Michael said as he shuffled the cards.

"My deal," Michael said when he was finished. But before he could deal out the first card, the door opened and Isabel stepped inside. He could see something was wrong by the look on her face.

Max was on his feet instantly. "What is it?" he asked.

Isabel sighed. "Nothing serious, Max, but it looks like it's so slow today that they don't need a relief Laundromat attendant trainee," she said, sitting on the bed.

Michael shook his head. "Look at us, three of the Royal Four, with incredible alien-powers at our command, and none of us have a useful skill. If it wasn't for Maria, Liz, and Kyle, we'd be in even more trouble than we are now," he said.

"You mean more trouble than being stranded in a noth- ing town with no money and a broken-down van. We wouldn't have even eaten today if it wasn't for the oatmeal we lucked into," Isabel said.

By the time she was done, Isabel's voice was tight. Max decided that he had waited long enough. He had wanted to do it before, but he didn't want to begin in the van in front of all the others.

Now, Michael was here, but Max knew he had a respon- sibility to his sister. "Isabel, do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She looked at him in surprise for a moment. "I think I said it all. Wait, I left out the part about sleeping in a van last night.”