Chapter 3—The Third Location

The three friends and their dog made it out of the crater and down the side of Scouter Mountain before dark. Jesse's dad, Jonathan, had invited Nikki and Chaz to dinner. The trio decided to keep the apparition a secret—not that anyone would believe them anyway, especially not their parents, who were NASA scientists.

"I'm starved," Chaz said as they pedaled hard to Jesse's house. They threw their bikes on the lawn, pushed open the front door, and practically fell into the house together.

"Wash up first," Jonathan called from the kitchen. The three friends scrambled into the downstairs bathroom. Nikki's hands went under the faucet first, and she smirked as the boys tried to slip in.

Once everyone was settled at the table, Jonathan placed three homemade cheese and sausage pizzas in the middle. "Dig in, kids," he said as they grabbed and shoved pieces into their mouths. No one spoke all through dinner.

Jonathan noticed the unusual silence and the kids' odd distraction. Usually everyone talked at once. He decided to interrupt the quiet. "Jesse, I have some good news."

"Yeah?" Jesse mumbled, staring out the window.

"We're headed to France this summer. I've taken time off to help Aunt Celeste run the inn. She'll be shorthanded during her busy season. I can work on my projects from there. You'll get to see your cousins."

The trio came alive imagining the new possibilities. They heard the faint voice inside their heads.

Remember, not in a billion stars....

Chaz's mouth looked like an open flycatcher. Ranger whined under the table, and Jesse's heart raced as he reached down to quiet the dog. Nikki's emotions weren't as easily sparked. "When do you leave?" she asked in her best adult-sounding voice.

"Right after school ends," Jonathan said. "We'll stay for a month."

"That's great, Dad," Jesse said, acting composed when what he really wanted to do was give everybody a high five. It seemed he would lead an expedition after all, and in France. The angel had said she'd guide them. He snuck a bite of pizza to Ranger and felt grateful that dogs couldn't talk.

The trio finished eating in squirmy silence, giving each other stealthy looks. After all the watermelon was gone, Jesse stood and pushed his chair back so hard it tipped. He grabbed it before it hit the floor and then gave his dad a meek look while gently pushing it back in. "Can I walk these guys home?" This would give the friends a chance to gloat and scheme in private.

"Sure. Come home right away, though. You have a biology chapter to finish."

"I know," Jesse said, sighing as if he had ten chapters to read.

Chaz and Nikki slurped the last of their spritzers and put their glasses in the sink before following Jesse to the front door.

"Later, Mr. T," Chaz said, and they all ran out, leaving the door wide open. Jonathan walked to the front door and stared after the chattering trio. What's up? he wondered, as he closed the door.

At the end of the block lined with small grassy yards and garages with hoops hanging off their doors, Nikki stopped and pumped her arms up and down as if to quiet the conversation.

"Whoa, whoa, one at a time, me first," she said. The boys rolled their eyes. "Well, I am the girl," she added.

"Oh, all right...girl's privilege. Go for it," Chaz said, looking around and wondering if the crystal angel was watching them. If so, he wanted to be on his best behavior.

Nikki cleared her throat. "I'll summarize. We three in particular, and for reasons I have yet to understand, were approached by a being who says she needs us to help change the world, and for the better, which sounds kind of hokey to me. The supposed angel somehow morphed into a lookalike."

"That was obvious, Nik," Chaz said in a grumpy voice as they walked along the sidewalk toward his home. "We were there too, remember?"

Chaz had to pick his arguments with Nikki. She was often right, but her constant skepticism could be maddening and frustrating.

"And if this really happened, which I'm beginning to doubt," Nikki rambled on, as if Chaz hadn't spoken, "she said find twenty crystals—not fifteen, not twenty-five—but twenty, located in three places. Here in Happy Valley, in New Zealand, and maybe in France—though we don't know for sure. Is everyone with me?"

Chaz groaned but threw up his arms in surrender.

"I'm totally on board," Jesse said.

"So am I," Chaz said.

Nikki stopped and stared at them with her laser-blue eyes. "Aren't you guys ever skeptical about things? If you remember, she never said the crystals were in France. And even if they are, you have no idea where to begin looking."

"She hinted at France and said she'd guide me through the psychic link," Jesse said. "That's enough for me."

He and Chaz continued walking, leaving Nikki behind. "We'll find all twenty crystals and activate them—whatever that means—on the next full moon." Jesse was determined.

"The precise moon times will be different in France and in New Zealand," Chaz said.

"We'll have to do time calculations," Jesse said.

Nikki ran to catch up. "One month isn't enough time," she said. "We have school to finish, which leaves only ten days till the full moon."

They felt a gust of wind and then heard the voice inside their heads. Remember, you're not doing this alone. I'll be with you all the way.