“Mon Mothma,” a voice snapped. It was Blair, with her hands on her hips. She glared at the boy.

He rolled his eyes and turned around to leave, but not before Jade walked over.

“Hey,” she said. “Are you being a jerk to my sisters?”

“No,” he muttered.

“Good,” said Jade. “Because I’d hate to have an issue.” Jade had no idea what a Padawan was, let alone who had been Anakin’s, but she was the only one allowed to tease me and Blair, and everyone knew it.

If someone had talked to me like that, I would have burst into tears. But he grumbled something under his breath and left, chasing after his parents. My face was still hot. I felt like I was going to cry.

“Abby,” said Jade, shaking her head. “You have to stand up for yourself. You can’t just let people be jerks like that.”

Blair snickered. “Did you see his face when Jade laid into him?”

Jade flipped her hair. “Ooh, big tough guy, picking on a little kid. Whatever.” She made a face, mimicking his wide eyes, and Blair and I cracked up.

“Me bully,” Jade groaned like a caveman, stomping around. “Me Star Wars expert. Me eat little girls for breakfast.”

Harriet walked over, her hands overflowing with books. “You girls,” she said. “I heard that little runt. What an idiot.” Were adults allowed to call kids idiots? Harriet did whatever she wanted.

“You all right, Abby?” I nodded, feeling better. Blair and Jade were like my own superhero cape. You couldn’t mess with me without messing with them. I didn’t need to be tough. I had them. And they were always there, a million times stronger than I was.

“Well, I know something that might cheer you up,” she said quietly. “I know a secret.”

“What?” asked Blair excitedly. Summer days were all starting to look the same. We wanted adventure. We wanted a quest. A secret, whispered to us by Harriet, one that would transform our day into an epic battle. We wanted to be like girls in books, ones with voyages to go on. We wanted to be larger than we were.

That’s when Harriet told us about the telescope buried outside. She had just stumbled upon the archives while helping Waukegan County scan them to the library database, and she knew I loved everything about outer space. Even though Jade couldn’t have cared less about the stars, it was still exciting—a telescope worth a gazillion dollars, buried underground? A hidden time capsule right here in Moose Junction?

I wanted that telescope. It was all I could think about for days. When Blair came into my and Jade’s room one morning, we knew instantly she had a mission. She was holding a bowl of cereal, but she hadn’t even touched it.

“I say we dig it up,” she said.

“Dig what up?” Jade rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She had already forgotten.

“The Star-Gazer Twelve. The telescope! It doesn’t deserve to be buried underground. It should be used,” she said.