“Zoe, remember what you said to me in the elevator at the refinery? What if I never opened another library book? Maybe that’s the test. To see if I’m adventurous and open to new things.”

“NO! It’s to test your mettle, remember? You heard the lady! Where is that brain of yours?”

I didn’t have time to answer, because the doors opened and Loopy ran out.

*  *  *

“Loopy! Get back here!”

We chase Loopy down a sloshy, mud path, getting sloppier each moment from cold, pouring rain. After our blazing summer in New York City, the cold is a welcome feeling . . . until I start to shiver as water drips down my back.

“Loopy!”

Loopy stops on the banks of a river, where several rugged-looking young men in dirty clothes and tattered hats are squatting, holding something out in the water.

“They’re gold panning!” Doug says. “Good thing I brought pans!”

Zoe puts an arm out to stop us. “I don’t think we should go down there.”

I push through. “Too late. Loopy’s already there.”

He’s sitting between a couple of the guys, and one of them is petting him while Loopy licks mud off his fingers. “You’re a sight for sore eyes, pup. Where’d you come from?” The young man stands, stretches, and turns around. He almost falls into the river when he sees us. “Hey, you kids! What are you doin’ down here? This your dog?”

That gets the attention of all the men, who also stand and stare.

“I’m thinking we look out of place,” I say quietly through clenched teeth.

“Ya think?” Zoe replies.

The tallest man, who also looks to be the oldest, walks a few steps our way. “You lookin’ for somethin’, young people? Come down here.”

“I don’t wanna go.” Doug backs up a step. I reach for his sleeve and pull him along with us anyway.

I clear my throat. “Hello, sir. My name is uh, Arcade—”

The man scrunches up his face. “Arcade? Like the architecture? All them arches?”

I grin. “Well, yeah, that’s one of the meanings of the word, but I like to think it’s more like a gaming arcade.”

The guy raises an eyebrow. “Gaming? You mean like gamblin’?”

Zoe cuts in. “NO. Not like that at all. Like a . . . uh . . . penny arcade.”

The guy gives me a blank stare. “Don’t have a clue about no penny arcade.” He puts his hand on my shoulder and grips hard. He pushes me down to the edge of the river. “So, what do you want, Mr. Arches?” He laughs, and the rest of the gang joins him. “You wanna join the crew? We’re about to score big on this claim. Got ourselves a valuable piece of the river to mine.”