Ma Kent frowned at her son. "Clark! Slow down! Just because you have super-speed, that doesn't mean you have to gobble your breakfast." Clark looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Ma. It's just that your pancakes are especially good this morning." He held out his empty plate. "Could I have another stack, please?" Ma Kent began pouring batter onto the skillet. "Are you sure you have time?" she asked. ...

CHAPTER 7 Dear Diary, I know I haven't written in a while. Between school and my "secret activities," I've been a very busy girl! But so much happened today, I just have to tell you all about it! This afternoon I went swimming in the Chukchi Sea, way up above the Arctic Circle, about two hundred miles from the coast of Alaska. I just love that part of the world! It's so spacious, and the ice and ...

------------------- CHAPTER 13 DECEMBER ... Like ducklings trailing after their mother, a dozen children followed Mrs. Hart out of the orphanage dormitory. Chattering excitedly, they traipsed across the snow-covered lawn toward the new recreation building, their cheeks rosy in the cold air and their eyes shining with anticipation. A large envelope was pinned to the front door, right above the ...

CHAPTER 19 A shiny black Cadillac was parked in a narrow strip of shade that ran along one side of the old meat-packing plant. Tony D'Amato stood leaning against the cracked cement wall, smoking a cigarette and scowling at the empty dirt parking lot that baked in the early-afternoon sunlight. He flicked his cigarette aside and glanced at his watch. It had been twenty minutes since he'd phoned ...

CHAPTER 25 MARCH ... CHICAGO. SATURDAY MORNING. Lieutenant O'Malley raised his bullhorn. "Let the woman go, Scanlon!" A dozen police officers were crouching behind a row of patrol cars, watching the brick tenement across the street. A volley of bullets rained down from the sixth-floor window and traced a line of pockmarks in the asphalt. Cursing under his breath, Lieutenant O'Malley stepped ...