Chapter 25—Jake’s Call

During dinner that night, Laurita noticed her daughter was unusually quiet, brooding over having broken her favorite water glass, the one with swans etched on it, while setting the table.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Laurita smiled and pushed her shiny black hair behind her ears.

"No." Christina wiped her lips and crunched her napkin. She had no idea what she would tell Jake when he called. It sounded like a great adventure, especially the part about the crystals, yet she was afraid. Everyone on the team had hiking experience. She had none. Not even walks in the woods. She hated bugs and flying creatures, especially bats.

After the dishes were washed, Christina dragged herself up to her room to fold laundry, which sat in baskets near her bed. Every five minutes she glanced at the clock and at the iPad on her desk. Finally, she dropped a towel, picked up the tablet, and logged on. A search box popped up and she typed: "minerals and crystals of Oregon mountains."

A list of choices lined up on the screen. She clicked: "rare crystals of Scouter Mountain."

Interesting, she thought as she scrolled down. Some of the old mines really did have veins of rare crystals like blue lazulite and snakeskin agate. Maybe there were others to be found. Her mom seemed to think so. She felt her excitement growing. Soon her phone buzzed. She let it buzz a couple of times to avoid seeming eager.

"Hello," she said, as if she had no idea who was on the other end.

"Hi, Christina." Jake's voice was loud. "Have you decided? Are you with us? If not, I'm going to have to muzzle and drag you along. You know too much now." He laughed at his own joke—a lame joke, she thought.

"Can I sleep on it?" Her mind was still going back and forth.

"Not really," Jake said. "We're doing a familiarization hike tomorrow and..."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. We need to get oriented inside the mine crater and figure out which tunnels to start with. I have to know now, Christina." He paused. "We could use someone with emergency medical skills. And someone with your strong intuition."

Christina heard herself say, "I'll go," even though she wasn't entirely sure. "But what do I wear? And I have no idea what to bring."

"Lizzi will outfit you. Can you come over?"

"Now?" Her cheeks heated up thinking of the time wasted. She could have been to his house and back home again to watch her favorite dance show. It had been his idea to make her wait to give her answer.

"Yeah, now. We plan to leave tomorrow at o-dark-thirty."

"O-dark-thirty? What's that? I can't just drop everything and come over now. And besides, we don't have a car; ours is being fixed."

"O-dark-thirty, it's a military term for really early," Jake said. "Sunrise for us is at four-forty-three a.m. Dad will drive me over now to pick you up so we can get ready. We'll be there in ten minutes." He clicked off.

"Wait!" Christina yelled into the phone, but he was gone. "Hmph!" She stomped her foot under the desk. Jake had to be the most frustrating friend she'd ever had. Did he always get his own way? She supposed that would make him a good hike leader. Decisive was the word. But she would never admit it to his face.

Christina ran downstairs to tell her mother she was being picked up by Jake and his dad in less than ten minutes.