“To hand-compute just one of these trajectories,” she said, reaching over and touching one of the calculators on a desk, “takes us about thirty or forty hours of putting pencil to paper and tapping numbers into a calculator. Then we put all our calculations into booklets and ship them off to the front lines for the soldiers.”
My jaw dropped nearly to the floor. To think of my sharp-as-a-sewing-needle cousin ringing up milk sales at a market seemed ridiculous now. She was so much more than that. She was a computer—a human computer!
Kay loved math, puzzles, and patterns the same way I did. Sometimes when she was relaxing after a shift, we would sit at the kitchen table together, and she’d serve me a cup of tea, a shortbread cookie, and a problem to solve. At this point, she had me doing algebra already. Kay said I could be a mathematician like her one day if I wanted to.
When this war is over . . . , she’d always say.
There were so many things we’d do when this war was over.
Mae was staring at one of the computers in particular, though her good manners meant she wouldn’t point. “What about her?” she asked gently, tugging on my arm. And to my surprise, she wasn’t looking over at the blonde in green whom we’d seen with the Duke. Mae was looking at someone else entirely.
“She looks just like my mother,” Mae said. “Is she a computer like all the others?”
Kay and Jean nodded, telling us that this group had been picked from colleges all over the country. Because most of the men were overseas fighting, women math majors were asked to do their part.
I craned my neck to get a look at who had caught Mae’s attention, and Akiko stepped into the aisle for a better peek too. From what I could see, it was a youngish black woman seated at the far side of the room along the windows. Her hair was stylish, and she wore a neat rose-colored blouse tucked into a dark skirt. When she turned to chat with the woman working beside her, I noticed her eyes were soft and even a little shy.
“That’s Alyce Hall,” said Kay.
“Her sister Alma is a mathematician too,” Jean pointed out. “Two mathematicians in one family? Can you imagine?”
I looked right at Kay and held my breath. Because I imagined it every day.
Nineteen
RIGHT-E-O. LET’S GET BACK TO the point, Josie,” Kay said, her hands on her hips now and her patience running thin. “What are you doing here—”
“I haven’t even introduced you to my puzzler friends,” I said quickly, hoping to dodge that question. How could I explain how we found her this evening? If we involved Kay, surely we’d be putting her and the other computers in danger. The Duke was already nosing around. What if he did something to Kay? The thought made me shudder. “Kay,” I said, my voice tight, “meet Akiko and Mae.”
“So you made the cut?” Kay asked, the irritation on her face finally softening now. “All three of you? You passed the puzzle tests?”
I hated to disappoint Kay, and I guess my expression said enough. I stared down at the floor. Akiko and Mae went silent.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Josie,” she said, patting my arm. “That’s a shame, when you studied so hard for it. I bet you girls did too.”
“It’s okay,” said Mae, a little too brightly. “We met each other. And we’ve had plenty of other adventures—er, I mean, things—to keep us busy today.”
“No, it’s not really okay,” corrected Akiko, folding her arms across her chest with a cranky huff. “Mae likes to wrap everything in rainbows. The instructor only looked at the boys’ exams this morning. So we didn’t make the cut, and that really stinks.”
“Right, but we’ve gotten to know each other,” said Mae, raising her eyebrows at Akiko and trying to say something without really saying something. “And everything else made the time fly. . . .”
“Right!” exclaimed Akiko, as if she’d forgotten all about our superpowers. “Exactly! Who cares about those tests?”
I was standing between Akiko and Mae, but I certainly didn’t want to get caught between them as they squabbled or babbled or whatever it was they were doing. My eyes shot over to the blonde in the green coat again. I felt certain she was working for the Duke and spying on the computers. But I didn’t know how to prove my suspicions were real and not the wild imaginings of a comic book fan.
Kay could be in danger! And Jean and the other women too!
I let out a frustrated sigh. We needed to get Kay and the others away from this place. For just a few days or so. Then we could focus on finding Emmett, catching Mr. Hissler, and stopping whatever scheming the Duke was up to.
“Well, thanks for the visit, Josie,” said Kay, “but it’s time you three—”
“Allow me to explain a bit,” Mae began in her polished, charm-school way. “Josie here worries so much about how hard you work. She just, well . . . She was thinking it might do you some good to take a day off.”
“Not a day off,” corrected Akiko firmly. “When you put it that way, it sounds like a vacation. We’re talking about possible danger, Mae.” Akiko might have thought she was whispering, but her voice was loud enough for all of us to hear. “It could come from anywhere! Even that evil mastermind Hank Hissler!”
Kay suddenly wrapped her arms around my shoulders and ushered me toward the door, with Jean shepherding Mae and Akiko behind us. Hushing our protests and offering apologies to the other women at their desks as we stumbled past, they quickly moved us out into the hallway, then shut the door firmly behind them.
“This sounds a little like a comic book story, don’t you think? Complete with danger and an evil villain.” Jean chuckled. “Didn’t you tell me she was obsessed with that caped hero Zenobia? And her sister—what’s her name?”
“The Palomino,” answered the three of us.
“Look, Josie,” Kay said in a fierce whisper, “we don’t have time for silly games. You girls talk about danger. Well, of course there is danger—a war is on! All of us have to pitch in as best we can.”
“And for your cousin Kay and me,” added Jean, her words coming in a slow drawl, “the way we can fight this war is with our brains. You children are young, and you might not understand the seriousness of what’s at stake. But for Kay and me and the others, what we’re doing here is important work.”
“When it comes to beating our enemies,” Kay said, gesturing toward the women computers behind the door, “math is a powerful weapon!”
The sound of shoes tapping up the hallway toward us grabbed our attention, and we fell to silence. A tall, thin man was walking our way. As he passed, he gave Kay and Jean a quick nod and said something about a meeting on their new project in the basement. It was happening in a few minutes, he said, turning his wrist to glance at his watch. And as he did, I caught a glimpse of the folder in his arms. It read, CONFIDENTIAL: PROJECT PX.
“Listen, Josie, I know you have a pretty good imagination,” Kay began. “And sometimes your stories . . . Well, I think of them like taffy: The truth gets stretched and pulled.”
More women rounded the corner, and my cousin thankfully went silent about my imagination. The group greeted Jean and Kay, eyebrows raised at the sight of us. Two of them were holding the same folder I’d seen before, PROJECT PX emblazoned across the front. Kay looked embarrassed and began moving us toward the staircase that led to the front door, eager to clear us out.
“My little cousin and her friends,” she said by way of introduction, awkwardly turning to speak to them. “Girls, these are my colleagues—Marlyn, Ruth, Betty, and Fran.”
One, two, three, four, I counted. And with Kay and Jean, five, six.
Unlike the Duke, I could do it in my head instead of on my fingers.
Six computers on a special, secret project.
A moment later, a door shut and another woman joined them from the calculating room. It was the blonde in the green jacket—the Duke’s friend.
“And this is Ursula,” Kay said, with a friendly nod in the blonde’s direction. “She’s new but very good.”
> The three of us stared wide-eyed at Ursula for a beat or two. Then we began a bit of curtsying and nodding and hand-shaking with the whole group, thrilled at the chance to meet these computers in person. Not to mention being so close to a possible spy.
“Listen, Josie.” Kay started again, turning away from her colleagues and leaning in close to my ear. “You aren’t supposed to know anything about what’s going on here, about the computers or the project Jean and I and these others are working on. Nothing. What we’re doing here is important. And confidential. I appreciate your concern, but I cannot have children popping around playing games down the hallways.”
“But if you’re playing softball, I’m in.” Jean, who was leaning close to Kay and me now too, laughed. “I’m a great pitcher.”
Kay gave me a firm look and nodded toward the front door.
“Goodbye, Josie,” she said, waving over her shoulder as she headed off toward the other women. “I have no idea how you found me today. But please don’t worry. Very few people know about this place. We’re safe.”
“It was a pleasure to meet y’all,” added Jean with a polite bow, and I noticed now that she had one of the evening newspapers tucked under her arm. I could read the “Wee Three” headline blaring above the photo that featured the three of us in our capes, masks, and boots in the Carson Building’s courtyard.
“Now, if you want an exciting story,” Jean said, unfolding her newspaper and tapping the headline, “keep a lookout for these superheroes who showed up in town. I sure wish I could work with them for an hour or two. I’d calculate their flight trajectories!”
And with that Jean turned and joined my cousin and the others. I stared after them, watching their shapes disappear down the staircase.
Six women mathematicians. Six human computers. My instincts told me not to count the Duke’s friend Ursula among them.
“What do you think they’re up to?” I whispered to Mae and Akiko as the echo of the computers’ footsteps faded. “Their folders said ‘Project PX.’ I wonder why it’s marked ‘confidential.’ ”
“We’d better go,” Mae said softly as she tried to move us toward the door. “Come on, Josie, let’s get out of here.”
“Mae is right,” agreed Akiko. “You don’t want to get your cousin mad at us.”
“Sure,” I whispered, “we can go. But only after I take a peek at where they’re heading. The Secret Six. Don’t you want to know more? Don’t you want to keep an eye on the blond lady? That Ursula?”
With silent footsteps, I tiptoed down the staircase. Leaning over the railing, I listened to the murmur of the voices chatting down below. I heard a door shut, then silence.
“I’ll be right back,” I called in a hushed shout over my shoulder.
“You don’t have to be so loud,” said Akiko, her face suddenly inches from mine. “We’re right here.”
“Did you honestly think we’d let you do this alone?” said Mae beside her.
I couldn’t stop the grin that took over my cheeks. Together we slinked down the staircase and along the basement hallway. The closed wooden doors all looked the same. Finally, the last one showed promise.
“That has to be the one,” I whispered, trying not to shout. “Look!”
A big sign hammered onto the door warned us away:
HIGH VOLTAGE: KEEP OUT!
“We can’t exactly barge in there and sit down at their secret meeting,” Akiko said tightly. “We’ll just have to come back, maybe when nobody is around.”
“But someone is probably always around if this project is so top secret,” whispered Mae, looking nervously up and down the hallway.
“You’re right. We can’t just barge in,” I said, finally surrendering. “Let’s get out of this place. But promise me we’ll come right back here and check this out tomorrow. Even if the Duke and Ursula aren’t up to bad things, I still want to find out what makes this project so secret.”
We quietly tiptoed back up the staircase, then we dashed out the front door.
The sun had set, but the sky still glowed in the west. We crossed the street and began our walk home. “We have so many things to figure out,” Mae said. “Project PX, the Duke, Ursula—”
“Mr. Hissler, Mrs. B, Astra,” added Akiko, “and of course, finding your friend Emmett.”
We passed a newspaper stand on the corner selling the day’s papers. The headlines caught my eye.
“WEE THREE” CAPED KIDS SAVE DOZENS IN OFFICE FIRE
“Let’s head to my apartment for the night,” I said, feeling a little woozy as I peered up at the first stars twinkling overhead. “I have to watch my little brothers while Mam and Kay work late shifts. Maybe you both can spend the night, and we can talk through everything that’s happened today. Because aside from all you named, there’s something else we have to figure out.”
“What’s that?” they both asked.
“Us.”
Twenty
WE WERE ALMOST TO MY apartment When Mae and Akiko ducked into the phone booth at Mr. Hunter’s barbershop to call their families. Mae’s grandmother was just closing up at the library where she worked, and after much begging and sweet-talking and apologizing for missing supper—as well as telling Granny she had something early tomorrow morning having to do with puzzler work—Mae finally convinced Granny Crumpler to allow a sleepover at my apartment. Akiko’s aunt and uncle were so busy closing up their store and rounding up all of Akiko’s cousins that they said yes right away.
By the time we climbed to the third floor and stepped into my apartment, we were exhausted. The radio blared from its corner stand in the dining room, and a war correspondent was reporting on an Allied battle against the Nazis. “By land and by air, American and Allied forces are overpowering the Nazi army at every turn!” the reporter shouted. “Even in heavy winds and rains, bombs are striking with pinpoint accuracy.”
Pinpoint accuracy.
I thought of Kay and the other women computers.
“I’m home!” I hollered.
My little brothers came running full speed down the hallway toward us, their arms outstretched like they were imaginary bombers on their own flying missions against the enemy.
Our apartment was small, so there wasn’t really a need for yelling. But with the constant noise and commotion that came with my family, shouting was sometimes the only way to get anybody’s attention.
“I hear you,” came Mam’s exasperated reply. “How was the diner today?”
She greeted me in the hallway, familiar teacup in her hands and singsongy lilt in her voice. Even though we emigrated from Ireland, nobody could detect an Irish accent in my voice—except Akiko, I guess. But with Mam, just a simple yes or no revealed rolling green fields and rainy coastlines. “Goodness, what a surprise! You’ve brought friends home. How do you do, girls?”
Mam stuck her palm out and gave Akiko’s hand a firm shake. Then she did the same with Mae, who added a little curtsy too. I was beginning to suspect Mae’s granny wasn’t a librarian but rather headmistress of a charm school. Mam was clearly impressed.
“You’re a bit late tonight, Josephine,” she said, cupping one warm hand to my cheek while she balanced her teacup in the other. “I was worried. But I can see you’re safe and sound.”
Mam’s eyes looked tired and her face thin.
“Kay won’t be home until midnight, and I’ll be soon after. Now, I’m late for work already, so mind the boys.” And then, lowering her voice so my brothers couldn’t hear, she added, “That awful landlord Mr. Hunter stopped by today to complain about the noise. We can’t have him upset, so keep it quiet up here tonight. And please, Josie, stay safe. No trouble.”
With the war on, my mom had taken a second job—working the late shift at the naval shipyard, helping build battleships and things. It sounded boring to me, but she got along well with the other women. And the pay was good, though not as good as her day job at the veterinary clinic.
“The kettle’s on for tea,” she
called from the kitchen. I knew she was searching for her pocketbook. “And there’s the stew you made yesterday. You can serve it to your friends.”
“Only if she wants to kill them!” shouted Vinnie. Then he announced, to nobody in particular, the gory details of food poisoning. “Vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea, fever. And that’s just from bad meat. Now, potatoes, they can be just as deadly. . . .”
“Jothie’s food is poithon!” joined Baby Lou, dropping to the floor and pretending to gag. Since he’d lost his two front teeth, Lou had lost his S, too. “We won’t touch the th-tuff!”
Nobody appreciated my cooking around here. But to be perfectly honest, neither did I. The meals I made were pretty wretched. Thank goodness for Gerda’s pies and milkshakes.
“My friends need to sleep here tonight,” I told Mam, trying not to lie but definitely not giving away anything about Room Twelve. “We’re . . . working on a complicated project. It has to do with . . . puzzle solving. We might have to run through some problems tomorrow morning. . . .”
Since Mae was visiting from Chicago and Akiko had just moved here from San Francisco, they were already out of school for summer. But my school still had another agonizing day before summer vacation started. I had no intention of going—not with Emmett missing and all the other questions swirling in the air. But if I got caught, my mother would never let me leave the house again.
“Set your alarm clock so you don’t oversleep,” Mam called from the other side of the bathroom door. “But it’s straight to school afterward. You can’t be missing lessons, even on the last day. There’s nothing you could possibly do tomorrow that’s more important than school.”
I heard Akiko gulp, her noisy breathing suddenly silent. Mae let out a little gasp. If my mom only knew.
She hustled out of the bathroom again, slid into her shoes at the same time she knotted a scarf over her hair, then kissed me on the forehead. Mam always seemed to be in motion. “Mercy me! I forgot to pack a late supper,” she sang, rushing off to the kitchen. “Good luck to you on the puzzling, Josie. You’re as brilliant as Kay.”
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