armrest and i t’ ll take you upstairs . ”
He did as directed and the chair began to slowly ascend. He grinned.
“ This is like Captain Kir k’ s chair on the old Star Trek ,” he said. “ Does it only go one speed ? ”
“ I’ m afraid so. I t’ ll take about two minutes to get to the second floor . ” Astrid shot up the stairs and was waiting when her friend reached her.
“ Tha t’ s pretty cool ,” said Austin. “ I t’ s not very fast though . ”
“ No. I used to like to ride it when I was a kid, but not so much anymore . ”
“ So, is your room up here ?” asked Austin.
“ Yes. My room and my parent s’ room, and their studies are here on this floor. There are a few rooms we do n’ t use too, like the music room. Sometimes I go in there to play my oboe, and ther e’ s a piano. We do n’ t use the third floor at all. Too bad too, cause ther e’ s a laboratory and an observatory. When I’ m grown up and this is my house, I might use them . ”
“ This house is huge. How can your mom keep it so clean ? ”
“ So, you think i t’ s automatically the woma n’ s job to keep the house clean ?” Astrid asked pointedly.
“ Um, n o… I guess not. But your da d’ s a famous scientist . ”
“ And my mother is Chairman and CEO of Maxxim Industries. All three of us have our evening chores, but we do have people come in to clean twice a wee k— the Burtons, a brother and sister. They do the Bundersmit h’ s home too . ”
Astrid led Austin to her room. It was a cozy bedroom dominated by a large four poster bed. Against the wall was her computer desk. The rest of the room was filled with a dresser and several bookcases. From the ceiling, which was painted to resemble a blue sky with a few wispy clouds, hung models of the planets and all the different manned spacecraft from Vostok to the space shuttle.
“ I expected it to be bigger ,” said the boy.
“ There used to be a really big bedroom here ,” explained Astrid. “ When I was four, my mom had it remodeled. They cut off that end of the room and made a closet and a bathroom. There used to be only one bathroom on this whole floor. Now there are four. Then they cut off that end of the room and made a play room for me. I never really used it very much . ”
“ You said you played the oboe ?” he asked.
“ Yes. Tha t’ s it right over next to the computer . ”
“ How come yo u’ re not in band or orchestra ? ”
“ I was last year at Thomas Paine. I had to give up the class to open up my schedule for other things . ”
“ But you have Independent Study and Fencing . ”
“ You have to take P.E. I t’ s required. I took Swimming first semester and Fencing second semester. I’ m doing nineteenth century European novels in Independent Study, so I can get a year ahead in English. I need an extra Science class next year . ”
Astrid sat on her bed and waved Austin to the computer chair. He sat and slumped.
“ My old school only had six classes. Rachel Carson is really hard ,” he said.
“ Where was your old school ? ”
“ It was called West Willows High School. It was in Washington . ”
“ State, right? Not D.C . ”
“ Right. It was sort of next door to the ocean. But I only went there for a few weeks. Then I had to move here . ”
“ Why did you have to move ?” asked Astrid.
Austin stared at his feet for a moment.
“ You do n’ t have to tell me if you do n’ t want to . ”
“ No, i t’ s alright ,” he said. “ My parents were killed in a car wreck. They got hit by a drunk driver . ”
“ I’ m sorry, Austin . ”
“ Yeah. I went to live with my cousins Bart and Mary for a while, but my Aunt Pam did n’ t want me to stay. Then I went to live with my Uncle Dan, but he does n’ t have a wife or kids and it did n’ t work out either. So the only place I could go was here, to live with my