On the way home, E.Q. watched the Magic Castle greenhouse shrink in the rear window of Max's pickup.
"Do you think those guys will come back?" said E.Q.
Max nodded. "Mary Anne needs a guard dog, like I told her. Maybe more than one."
E.Q. turned around to face forward. "Doesn't she have a gun?"
"I don't know." Max shrugged. "Guns aren't always the answer, though. Take it from me."
"What?" E.Q. scowled at his father. He hated when Max said cryptic things like that, referring to some kind of mysterious personal experience that he'd hint around about but never reveal. "How do you know?"
"Remind me to tell you about it sometime," said Max.
E.Q. sighed. He knew Max would never tell him. He didn't even bothering pressing the matter.
Instead, he decided to move on to something
