Chapter 4

That afternoon, Kamala tried—and failed—to study for her test.

“Come on,” she told herself, squinting at her Biology textbook. “You aren't meeting Thor until tonight. You have three hours of primo study time. You can do this. You have to do this.”

She gripped her highlighter tight and started reading. But the words ran together on the page. Kamala stared blankly down at the book while her mind raced over the mystery of the pet-shop burglaries. Why were these bird-people stealing from pet shops? What were they after? And why was this happening in New Jersey? In Ms. Marvel's territory?

Come to think, why were they talking about going after Ms. Marvel in the first place?

Finally, Kamala threw down her highlighter in frustration and instead opened a web browser on her computer.

If I can't get any studying done, she thought, I might as well do something productive.

Soon, Kamala was deep in a search through local news sites, looking for any information about the pet-shop robberies.

She clicked through to an article about a break-in at the Puppy Pile, a pet store in Edison, NJ.

Meanwhile, the Puppy Pile is planning to reopen on Monday, but Ms. Batra says she still hopes the police find her missing birds soon.

That night, after bedtime, Kamala stuffed a pillow under the covers. She hoped it looked like she was still in bed, asleep. Then she changed into her “sneaking around” clothes, grabbed her backpack, and embiggened her legs until they were long enough to reach the ground outside. She stepped quietly out of her second-story window.

Kamala shrank her legs back down and looked around. Sure enough—Thor was standing in the shadows under a tree. He waved at her and Kamala trotted over, being careful to make no noise. The last thing she needed was to wake up her parents.

“Hail and well met, my sister in arms!” Thor boomed out as she reached him.

“Shush!!!” Kamala said, waving her hands desperately at him. Then she panicked for a whole different reason. Thor was an Avenger and she'd just told him to shush?

“I mean,” she said, backpedaling, “I'm sorry, but if you wouldn't mind—”

Thor shook his head. “No apologies are needed, except from me. I admit I am not accustomed to stealth.”

“I can tell. You wore the cape and everything,” Kamala said, relieved. “But let's get out of here, yeah?”

“Yeah!” said Thor. “I mean, yeah.”

Thor wanted to see the pet store where Kamala had foiled the latest robbery, that morning. So they went there first, and Kamala showed Thor the scene of the crime.

“I was standing out here,” she said. “The robber was in the back of the store.”

Thor peered through the window into the darkened store. “What manner of animals are kept in the back?” he asked.

“Not sure,” Kamala said. She pulled out her flashlight. “Let's see.”

The bright circle of light glinted off a row of birdcages in the back of the store.

“Birds again,” Kamala said thoughtfully. She explained to Thor about the article she'd read earlier. “So they're stealing birds, wearing bird masks, and making sounds like birds... what else do we know?

“At least some of the suspects have supernatural abilities, perhaps all of them.”

“Superpowered bird fans stealing birds,” Kamala said. Then something occurred to her. “Hey, there's a pet store right here in Jersey City that only sells birds. It's called Betsy's Bitsy Birdies. Do you know if it's been robbed, too?”

“Not yet,” Thor said. “But perhaps...”

“Just in case...” Ms. Marvel agreed. She looked up the address on her phone, and they were off.

Kamala and Thor arrived at Betsy's Bitsy Birdies ten minutes later. The store was dark and quiet. All the windows were unbroken, and the door was closed.

Kamala and Thor climbed into a tree and hid quietly. Sure enough, not long after that, a group of teenagers wearing bird masks came sneaking up to Betsy's Bitsy Birdies.

“This is the place,” one of them said.

“Jackpot!” said another. “We're going to be his favorites after we come back with all these birds.”

A third birdlike teen raised her arm. She was gripping a brick. Just as she was about to smash it through the window, Kamala shot her elongated arm out and grabbed her.

“Squawk!” yelled the teen.

“Squawk! Squawk!” yelled her friends, trying to tug her out of Kamala's grip. But it was too late. Hanging from his flying hammer, Thor glided out of the tree and straight into the fray. He kicked the two teens away from their friend and got to work tying them up.

“This young woman seems to have super strength,” Thor remarked. He grunted as he struggled to subdue the girl. “Luckily, my ropes are magic bindings from the halls of Asgard.”

The girl chirped sullenly as Thor tied a firm knot around her wrists.

“Okay,” Kamala said once the three teenage burglars were all tied up. “I've called the cops. Now talk. Why are you stealing birds? Who do you work for?”

The three teens stared at Kamala and Thor in silence.

“Wait,” Kamala said, “are your masks made of real feathers?”

“Peep,” the superstrong girl said, glaring defiantly at Ms. Marvel.

Thor reached out and plucked a feather from her head.

“Peep!”