I put my face closer to the picture. Pulled my glasses off my face to use my nearsightedness to my advantage. Yes, there was something else glowing. Mom wore a golden chain, and whatever hung on that chain was glowing right through her high-necked dress.

The token around my neck sparked and jumped and sent a jolt of heat to my head. I grabbed the chain and pulled the token out from under my shirt. “Oh, man, here we go!”

Zoe dropped the book. “You’ve got flames coming out of that thing, Arcade! It’s going to burn you!”

I held it out as far as I could. “It’s never been this hot before, Zoe! What do I do?!?”

Do I ask for Doug, Loopy, or . . . help for the Badgers?

I licked my fingers and tried to touch the token. “It’s too hot! How am I supposed to get it off the chain?”

Gold glitter swirled inside the storage room. It flew up my nose, in my mouth, and coated my eyelashes. Zoe began throwing boxes around, frantically searching for something. Finally, she handed me an old baseball glove from when I played T-ball. “Here! Pull it off with this!”

I shoved the glove on one hand while holding the chain out with the other. As Zoe reached over to help me, Milo’s cage enlarged and turned into elegant elevator doors with shapes of flamingos etched in them.

“Now pull the token off with your glove and BE SPECIFIC with your request.”

I reached up with the puffy leather fingers and, after a few fumbles, was able to pinch the token. It came off the chain, as usual, and it dropped in the netted pocket of my glove. Immediately, it started to burn through the leather.

“Get rid of it, Arcade! Throw it in the coin slot!”

“But Zoe, I can’t see a coin slot!” This had never happened before. There had to be a coin slot, right?

Trust the tester . . .

“Take us back to San Francisco!” I yelled. “To the year 1937. To the Badger brothers. I want to help bring them home!” Then, right as the token was about to burn a hole through the glove, I flipped it up in the air. It sparked and flamed. The words on the back—Arcade Adventures—glowed brighter than ever as the token fell.

My old piggy bank sitting on the floor of the storage room turned gold and pulsed light. The token fell in the slot at the top.

Here we go . . .

I slapped my hands together, pulled them apart, and the doors opened.

Chapter 36
Badgering the Badgers

The elevator is full of fog.

Let me guess . . . San Francisco?

Last time we were here, the doors opened up on top of the unfinished Golden Gate Bridge. This time, I was hoping to arrive a couple of years later, but where?