Joy flashed her light around the coop.
She saw something in the mud.
Were those chicken footprints or something else?
"Mom! Katie!" cried Joy, running into the kitchen.
"Someone—or something—is stealing our eggs!"
"What? Someone is stealing our eggs?" cried Katie.
"I think so," said Joy.
"There are still no eggs in the henhouse.
It doesn't make sense. And . . ." Joy lowered her voice.
"I found footprints."
Mom gasped. Katie's eyes grew wide.
"Whose footprints?" asked Katie.
"I don't know. But they're small," said Joy.
"Like a cat's? Or a raccoon's?" asked Katie.
"We need to investigate," said Mom.
"The chickens could be in danger!" said Katie.
"I'll call Grandpa.
He'll know what to do!" said Joy.
"Yes, but it's pretty late," Mom said.
"You can call tomorrow."
But Joy was already dialing.
"Please, Mom? This is important."
A few seconds later, Joy frowned as she hung up the phone.
"It went straight to Grandpa's voicemail so I didn't leave a message."
"See what happens tomorrow, honey," Mom said.
"You have more important things to worry about right now.
Like your homework."
Joy sighed. She wasn't happy, but she'd have to wait.
The next morning Olivia met the twins by the front door of Boone Elementary.
"I watched the best movie on Martin Luther King last night," she said.
"It really helped me with my project."
"These projects are fun, aren't they?" said Laura.
"Are you living like Martin Luther King?"
"I sure am!" said Olivia.
"Yesterday I tried a peaceful protest when my mom told me it was time for bed."
"Cool!" said Katie. "What did you do?"
"I sat quietly in front of the TV and refused to move," said Olivia.
"Did it work?" Laura asked.
"I got to watch 15 more minutes of TV.
So I guess it did!" The girls laughed.
"Good morning, fourth graders."
Ms. Olson greeted them as they walked into their classroom.
"Ms. Barrow is sick today, so Mr. Curtis will be your teacher.
Class, please say hello to Mr. Curtis."
"Good morning, Mr. Curtis," the fourth graders said.
"Good morning. Now, Ms. Barrow told me there are twins in this class.
Where are Katie and Joy Donovan?" Mr. Curtis looked at the girls. "Who is who?"
"I'm Katie," Katie spoke up.
"No, she's lying. That's Katie!" Luke said, laughing.
He pointed at Joy.
"Stop it, Luke!" Joy said angrily. "I'm Joy!"
"If you're Joy, then who is that?" Carlos said, pointing at Katie.
Everyone laughed, except for Mr. Curtis.
"Please settle down," said the teacher with a frown.
"Or I will have to ask Ms. Olson to come back."
After Mr. Curtis took attendance, the fourth graders had math.
"Joy," Mr. Curtis said, looking at Katie.
"What can you tell us about rounding six-digit numbers?"
Katie stared down at her math book.
"Joy," Mr. Curtis repeated sternly.
"You girls are making this very difficult."
Joy sighed. Ms. Barrow didn't have any trouble telling them apart.
Why was it so hard for Mr. Curtis?
"I know the answer." Larry raised his hand.
"Yes, Larry," Mr. Curtis said.
"It depends if you're rounding to the nearest hundred thousand, ten thousand, or thousand," Larry answered.
While Larry kept talking, Katie wrote a note to her sister.
It said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand . . ."–Abraham Lincoln.
Another note followed.
That means we have to stick together.
Do not answer unless Mr. Curtis calls you by the right name!
When Joy looked up, Katie was making a sign with her hand.
Joy recognized it right away—it was sign language for the word "twin."
Joy grinned and then signed the word back at her sister.
The Donovan twins were sticking together!