Instructor Bill Cooper visits Ms. Morelli's classroom to run a firearm drill as part of a nationwide safety program. The 7th graders struggle to adapt to the newest member of their class, a Sig Sauer P-226 handgun.

While wandering Burien searching for her lost parents, Lilly stumbles upon a secret society of children much like herself who have lost their parents and now live under the chaotic rule of a girl who calls herself The Countess. Lilly soon discovers that the children of the society believe that she is part of a prophecy that foretold the coming of herself and her stuffed teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles.