“Zoe says they’re pink.”

Doug scrunched up his nose. “Pink? Nah. That’s just the fakey plastic ones in Florida.”

“Oh, puhleeeeeeze!” Zoe growled. “Must we go over the finer points of flamingos out here where people are bound to walk by and see him?”

“Did you steal him from the zoo?”

“I wouldn’t exactly say we stole him. He just sorta hitched a ride with us in an elevator at the Beijing Zoo.”

“Beijing Zoo?!?” Doug grabbed my forearm and pulled me into the house. Zoe followed. “Have you been travelin’ with that token again?”

I set Flames down on the area rug in Doug’s living room, handed Zoe her backpack, and took a seat on the couch.

“Ewwwww. Arcade! He did his business in my backpack!” Zoe dropped it on the floor and covered her face with her hands.

I tried not to laugh. Actually, no, I didn’t. I laughed out loud. “Well, he’s just a little guy. And at least you have a backpack.”

“What happened to your backpack, Arcade?” Doug sat down on the floor and reached out to pet Flames.

“It was stolen by a sack of potatoes at the entrance to the subway right before Arcade belly flopped down the stairs,” Zoe said.

“And we thought we’d have to walk all the way home, but when we reached the park, Elijah gave us a ride in his pedicab. Well, right after we took a little trip through the earth and ended up at the Beijing Zoo.”

Doug put both hands on his forehead. “THROUGH the earth? To the Beijing Zoo?”

“That’s what I said, Doug.”

“Aww, man, you’ve been goin’ to all kinds of crazy places since you got that token. My favorite was my time on Food TV, though.”

Doug was the first of my friends to accompany me and Zoe on one of our token adventures. He ended up on a food show called The Munch, and was about to make a spectacle of himself, when the token returned us to our regularly scheduled school day—filled with bullies and a nearly impossible year-end assignment from our teacher, Mr. Dooley.

I put my hand over the token. “Yeah, this little token is full of surprises.” It heated up just a bit. “But I think—”

“What?” Zoe got a concerned look on her face.

“I think it’s changing somehow. The lady on the top of the Empire State Building told me things were about to heat up . . . to test my metal. I don’t get what she meant by that.”

“The lady?” Zoe stood up and started pacing. “The one who gave you the token in the library? You saw her again? You didn’t tell me she was up there.”

“I didn’t have time! Mom and Dad showed up and then . . . well . . . we’ve been a little busy digging through the earth and back.”