“More mail for you. You’re becoming quite popular.” She rushed in after the flying envelope and plopped down on the mattress. “This one looks intriguing!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s from San Francisco!”

“What?” I grabbed the envelope and read my name, scrawled in messy handwriting.

“And check out the postmark.”

“What’s a postmark?”

“This right here!” Zoe pointed to the inked circle toward the top of the letter.

It was stamped May 27, 1937. My body went cold and my heart began to pound. I pinched the end of the envelope in my hand and ripped downward.

Zoe palmed her face. “I’m getting you a letter opener for Christmas.”

I tilted the envelope and a note fell out. It was in the same messy handwriting that was on the envelope, and there were dirt smudges on the paper. I took a deep breath and read.

Dear Arcade,

The bridge is complete. All is forgiven. Come back and bring us home. You have the power to destroy us or redeem us. Choose the latter.

Sincerely,

Lenwood and Kenwood Badger

My hands started to shake. Zoe had to take the letter. “Zoe, what exactly does redeem mean?”

“It means to save.”

“And what does latter mean?”

“It means they want you to pick redeem.”

“So, do you think I really have the power to do that? And if I do, do you think I should go back for them? That would be the compassionate thing to do, right? Do you think all is really forgiven?”

Zoe stared down at the letter. She pushed fingers into her temple and thought a minute.

“NO! I think they’re LYING! Look at this letter, Arcade! Did they even say please? Or sorry for all the trouble they caused you? And what do they mean by ‘all is forgiven’? Do they think they’re supposed to forgive you for something? YOU didn’t do anything!”

“But they think I stole their token. Maybe if I go back and explain things—”

Zoe turned to me and grabbed my shoulders. “They’ll take the token from you, then they’ll leave you there! I’m sure that’s their plan! Miss Gertrude even said not to do it! And she’s their grandma! If someone’s grandma doesn’t even trust them, why should you? Nuh-uh, Arcade. You just ignore that letter. Forever. You got it?” She balled up the letter and heaved it against my wall, where it fell behind my desk.

“Kids! Time for dinner!” Mom called up the stairs. “Zoe, can you bring me a clean tablecloth from the linen closet?”

“Sure, Mom!” Zoe stood up and pointed her index finger toward my nose. “Ignore it.” Then she disappeared out into the hall.