Felix's PoV

"How could this possibly get any worse?" I whined, throwing myself into one of the straight-backed chairs on the top floor of the library. "Well," Ash began, "it could possibly be worse if this building blew up this very moment and we all died."

I glanced at her funny. "How did you think up that?" I asked, and she shrugged. Harlow held up her hand. "That's not important now, guys. What's important is that we figure out how to get this book." Chase looked up from where he was sprawled out on the floor, and I noticed he kind of did that a lot when he was thinking hard. "Can't we just look in a bookstore or something? It's not like that was the only copy in the whole world."

It was quiet as we all looked at each other, then Indy stood up, looking pretty much back to normal after her whole emotional "I-almost-fell-from-the-sky-at-100-miles-per-hour" thing. It'd be pretty bad if she died, I supposed.

"I'll Google it." She offered quietly, then without waiting for a reply, dashed off to one of the many computers in this top floor. I scooted my chair over to Chase. "Hey Chase? Why did Indy start falling when you asked about her sister?" I asked, dropping my head onto my hand. Chase frowned for a moment. "Um, you see, Felix, I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that something really bad happened, and don't talk to Indy about..." He stopped abruptly as Indy hurried back, worry etched into her face.

"I can't find any results for the book. At all." She said, sinking into a cross-legged position in the chair next to me. Harlow's eyebrows shot up. "Not at all?" She echoed. "I tried everything." Indy replied simply. "Absolutely no results. According to the Internet, that book does not exist."

Ash stopped playing with Andrew. "But we read the book." She insisted. "Why is it only at this library, and why is there only one copy in the whole world?"

It was at that moment when Horace, who usually didn't say anything in most of our situations, spoke up. "Child, the book exists for a reason. It was created for your purpose."

Now, I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I had no idea what he just said. "But why?" Chase groaned. "And doesn't that seem really, really far-fetched? I mean, seriously. Why would this children's book be created for us?" He said. Horace looked at all of us disapprovingly, and it made me feel squirmy. "I believe it. And you will never know, unless you find that book." He leaned back in the chair he was on. "So! How do you plan on doing that?"

Again with that deathly silence. We all looked at each other, then all at Chase. "Why are you guys looking at me?" He asked. "Well, you are the leader now." Harlow pointed out. Chase glared at her. "Thanks, Harlow, I needed that right now." He snarled. I guess it didn't sound all that mean to Harlow, because she just laughed in that nice, quiet way that makes her look really pretty.

Just then Andrew stood up, and walked to the middle of the rough circle we were forming. "How about we just go to the person's house that has my book, and just ask 'em for it?" He said, crossing his arms across his chest. Indy's shoulders slumped. "Are you serious? Why's the three year old coming up with ideas?" She murmured.

Andrew stalked up to her, pointing into her face. "I am almost five, meanie."

Harlow's PoV

"Andrew, you're really smart." I admitted, holding his little hand while we all trooped up the front steps to the door of this cute house about a ten-minute's walk from the library. It was a dark blue home with white shutters, and a red door. It looked very cute and family-like, the kind of house that'd have three young children, a frazzled mom, and a cheerful father.

I stepped forward, being the oldest here, and rapped on the door. Horace had left about a half-hour ago, saying he was going to sit this one out and find a quiet spot near a lake to rest a few hours. So we'd gone on without him, with only a little hesitation from Indy. She was really getting used to us, taking a special liking to Chase and I. Most people did, actually.

The door opened, and it was not, in fact, a frazzled mom. It was a teenage boy, who looked around the same age as me, maybe older. "Whattup." He said, jerking his head up at me. I blinked, surprised at the weird feeling I got looking at this...cute guy. He had white-blond hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. "Uhm...Hi." I stammered back.

What was I here for again? I thought desperately, looking meaningfully at Chase. He shot this totally silly grin at me then replied to the guy. "Sorry to bother you guys, but we were wondering if...Maybe you have any younger kids in your house? Like about his age?" He said, motioning at Andrew, who waved. The guy looked at all of us suspiciously. "Yeah." He said, slowly. "Who wants to know?"

"We do, duh!" Ash laughed, obviously not understanding what this guy meant. I nudged her back. "We were just at the Lay Park Resource Center, looking for a book, but someone from this address had already checked it out." I said, finding my voice again. "And we need it. Like, really bad."

The guy's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Is that right, honey." He replied, grinning at me. Indy sighed, annoyed. "Actually, yeah. It is right." She snapped. "We need this freaking book, so if we could just get it, that'd be fabulous." Her words were coated in sarcasm, hands clenched. I guessed she didn't like it when people doubted or didn't believe her, it made sense.

I remembered my brilliant, useful skill I retained about how people naturally like me, and also remembered Indy didn't have it. The guy raised his hands in mock defence. "Chill, sweetheart. Why don't you guys...come in." He offered, then yelled "MOM! WE HAVE COMPANY!" Over his shoulder into the house.

Our whole group followed him into his house, which was just as adorable inside as it was out. The guy led us into a kitchen, where the mom was baking something, and a little girl with long blond hair was coloring at the table. The mom looked up, pushing frizzy red hair away from her face. "Hi guys! Are you friends from Matt's school?" Then she noticed our diverse ages, and shook her head. "Mmmm, certainly not." She decided in amusement.

Ever-charming Chase took the initiative. "This may sound totally weird, ma'am, but we came all the way from...Atlanta...to find a book for my little brother!"

The little girl coloring at the table jumped down from the chair that was way to big for her. She'd been sitting on stacked phonebooks. "Hi! I'm Chryssie." She announced, skipping over to Andrew. Andrew beamed. "Hi Chryssie! I like you. You're nice!"

I turned back to their mom, who was looking almost the same as the librarian had earlier today. "Which book?" She asked. "It's called I Like Red Trucks." Felix said. "It's Andrew's favorite book." He threw in. The mom nodded. "Oh, yes! It's his favorite book? I certainly understand why you came all this way, then. Chryssie would simply do anything to get a book she adored!" She said, smiling understandingly at us.

I let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Looks like this would be a lot easier than we thought! "Chryssie, remember the book about trucks you got? Go get it for a second, please." The mom told her daughter. Chryssie grabbed Andrew's hand. "Can my new best friend come with me?" She pleaded. The mom looked at me, and I looked at Andrew. Every warning sense in me screamed to never let Andrew out of my sight, but, the good outweighed the bad possibilities. I didn't think Andrew was going to be kidnapped by a four year old girl or her mother, and Andrew had never had a friend before, his own age. I figured to let him be normal, for once.

"Go ahead, Andrew." I nodded at him, and Andrew's grin seemed to light the room. "Thanks Harlow!" He cheered, then ran off with his new little friend. "Do you guys want some brownies? They just came out of the oven a few minutes ago!" Their mom said, motioning at the table. ""Please, sit.'"

We all looked at each other again, wanting to get out of here, but then the boy, Matt, nudged my hip. "I advice you to sit. My mother insists on feeding all her company." He told us. "Harlow? Chase?" Felix whispered to us, "please can we stay, just for a minute? I haven't had real brownies in...forever." He asked, hope in his hazel-colored eyes.

I supposed the same rule about not staying long in places or not trusting people applied to us too, but this was up to Chase, who looked like he really wanted Savannah right now. "Yeah, maybe a few minutes" Chase said reluctantly.

We all slid into chairs around the glossy oak table, and Matt sat beside me while his mother served us gooey, thick brownies. (A/N... I'm drooling just writing this...to bad I'm L.I ) "So, I never caught your name." He said, in a flirty tone.

Wait a second. Flirty tone? This has never happened to me before, but I was liking it. "Harlow." I said, batting my eyelashes at him the same way Savannah did to Chase, all the time. Used to do to him... I felt kind of moronic, but Matt seemed to like it. "As you know now, I'm Matt." He said sweetly. "Where are you from? You don't have my accent." He remarked. I froze. Where I was...from? I thought fast. Honestly, I didn't know what kind of accent I actually had. Fortunately, Chase (I love him), thought quicker than I did. "Washington State." He answered breezily. I shot him a look of appreciation, and he winked at me. "We're from Washington State."

"And you said you guys are related? You don't look that much alike..." Matt threw in. I bit my lip, trying to think of a way out of these questions. Questions like these were bad, would get us in trouble. "Adopted, that sort of thing." I shot him a faux-troubled look. "We don't like talking about it." I said, dramatically. "It...hurts." I smiled sadly at him. Matt looked really concerned. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." He said honestly.

Felix and Ash were looking at me with wide eyes, and Chase looked impressed. I was a little proud of myself too...I'd picked up a lot more than my flock thought. I bit into my warm brownie, which was all melt-y and fabulous, and savored every single bite. This was probably the first (and last) time I'd ever have a homemade brownie.

After a few more minutes of talking (flirting, yes, I was doing it) with Matt, it occurred to me that Andrew or his new little friend weren't back yet. So, of course, I panicked. I shot upright, glaring meaningfully into Chase's eyes as I mumbled "Why isn't Andrew back yet?" Matt stood up to, taking my elbow and already starting to lead me out of the room. "It's fine, we'll check on them." He said calmly, yet flippantly.

I followed him up the staircase, scanning the place for windows and any other place where I could make a quick escape with Andrew, if necessary. "Here's her room, Andrew's probably in there." Matt motioned towards the first white door in this hallway, eyes never leaving mine. It was sort of awkward, so I broke our gaze and opened the door.

Andrew was, in fact, in the room, facing Chryssie and holding both of her hands. "What...is going on?" I whispered, seeing Chryssie with a dress-up veil on. Andrew looked at me, grinning in that way that only four year olds can. "We're getting married!" He announced. I blinked. "You're what?" I repeated stupidly, and then I heard Matt laugh behind me. "Chryssie," he pretended to scold, "you've already gotten "married" to Jon, Lincoln, Alex, Evan, and Elliot!" He counted them off on his fingers, while I stared at him in horror.

Chryssie stuck out her lip. "Yes but I like Andrew best of all." She declared, pushing back the veil that was falling half-way down her face. Matt looked at me apologetically. "Seriously, she does this all the time. I have no idea why." He said. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time for some reason, but instead took Andrew's arm and hustled him out of the room. "No more getting married, okay kid?" I said, but it was more concerned than angry. "Aww, Harlow, it's fun getting married." Andrew insisted.

I rolled my eyes. "We're on a mission, remember?" I whispered. Then I remembered the book. "Where's the book?" I hissed. Andrew smiled, then turned around back to Chryssie. "Can my Harlow see the book please?" He asked, and Chryssie thrust it into my hands. "Here you go. I don't really want it anymore. I like princesses better than trucks." She shrugged.

I noticed the huge, halfway open windows on one of this little girl's walls, and believe me, there's nothing I'd rather do more than leap out them with the book and get far, far away from here. Then, as I oh-so-calmly walked back down the staircase with Andrew, decided two things:

One, flirting with a boy wasn't as hard as I'd imagined, and two, getting attention from a boy was something I could get used too.

(A/N... there, don'cha think Harlow deserved her little moment? :)

Ash's PoV

"Finally!" I yelled, when we were back at the top floor of the library again, after leaving the family's home, "We got the book, now we can figure out the code and save Savannah!" I cheered. Indy laid a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, girl. We don't even know if this will actually work." She reminded me. I sighed. "Come on, you are so totally negative. Didn't Horace just say that this book was created for us?"

Indy looked at me coldly. "He doesn't know everything. That was probably just some random guess to get our hopes up." Well, her moods changed fast... Harlow was already cross-legged on the ground, holding the book out on her lap. I looked at her closer and saw that her cheeks were pink and her eyes were kind of sparkling. I knew she was happy because of the boy she met, Matt.

"So, guys, it seems that there is some sort of code in here." Harlow said softly, but with excitement. We all crowded around next to her, trying to see the little tiny letters and numbers she was pointing out. "Woah, it's almost as if the characters were weaved into the pictures." Chase said in wonder. "I don't get it." Felix announced, and I totally agreed with him. Maybe this stuff was just way over our heads, but I had to understand this because this was our mission, and I wasn't about the let the older kids upstage me and Felix.

"We don't even know what this stuff means." Indy grumbled, kicking the floor with the toe of her boot. "Plus we don't even know the language."
Chase leaned back. "That's why we're in library." He said, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "We need a magnifing glass or something to even read what that says." Felix said, squinting at the page. "You can barely even see the stuff. You know, I think Horace is right. I think this book was meant for us to find."

I wasn't sure who I believed, and maybe I'd wait till we rescued Savannah before I decide. If we rescue her. Some part of my mind reminded me, but of course I pushed that away. I was going to be positive, just like Chase said earlier. "Want me to go see if this library has a magnifing glass?" I offered. Chase looked up at me with a tired smile. "That'd be good, Ash."

I shot upright and walked out of the large room, down the winding staircase and stright up to the front desk. The stern-looking libarian was still there. "Hi!" I said nicely. "I have a question."

"Yes?" The libarian, who had a nametag that said Johanna, asked. "Does this library have a magnifing glass?" I asked, as sweet as I could. The lady named Johanna sighed. "Yes. Children's section, downstairs. Ask the libarian down at the desk." She said, then turned away to help some other lady.

I ran down the second set of stairs, slowing down only for a second when I passed the huge sign that stated No Running, Please. When I was at the bottom, I looked around and saw another desk. "May I please use your magnifing glass?" I asked, feeling like I was at the end of my paitence level. Sometimes it was hard being polite all day! "Sure!" The man said, handing a sheet of paper. "Just sign your name here and when you return it, sign it again."

He also handed me a pen and I thought for a second, deciding which name to write. Of course I couldn't sign it as Ash, I knew better than that. Grinning, I carefully wrote Ashley Johnson in my best handwriting. "Thank you, young lady!" The libararian said, then gave me a big magnifing glass.

I dashed back up the two flights of stairs to the rest of my flock, then dropped the magnifing glass into Harlow's lap. "How are we going to read this anyway?" I asked breathelessly, from running up and down the stairs. In response Felix held up a book that had to be at least a thousand pages. "This is a list of all forgein languages known in the world."

My eyes grew wide. "How on earth are we supposed to match our language to the one in the book? There's got to be a quadrillian languages in there!"
Harlow didn't even look up as she replied, scanning the pages with the glass. "Yes, but the key is to narrow it down." She said, then suddenly shouted in exclamation. "Chase!" She screamed, then lowered her voice. "Look at this! I found something!"

Again, we all pushed to crowd around Harlow, who was pointing at a few scrambled up letters that did, in fact, look sort of woven into the picutre of a red truck. My mouth dropped. "OMG I totally see it." I whispered. Just then Harlow's head shot up. "This is the language I saw in my dream, on the walls of the cells, Chase." She whispered, looking terrified and horrified at the same time. Chase gently took the book and magnifing glass from her. "Maybe we should use the internet for this, after all, these letters are actual letters. We could type them in at some translating site and see what we get." He suggested.

There was this sense of fear and anticipation hovering over our group as we all moved to one of the computers, and Chase typed in "translation" in the search bar. Up popped a bunch of websites, and when we settled on one, typed in the random letters we'd seen in the book.

I think we all held our breath as the site took forever to process the detected language into English, but after about ten seconds of loading it was compete.

"South." Harlow said, softly. "It says South. What does that mean?" She glanced around at all of us, who were studying the computer screen intently. "Well," Felix said after a minute, "that could be just one word of a sentence or something, you know?" He shrugged. "You found that word on page three? Maybe on other pages you could find more words!"

After that, it almost turned into a game as we hunted for the strange letters, typed them into the computer, and let them translate. Finally, when we'd gotten to the page eighteen, the last page of the book, we found our last word. Indy, who had been writing all the words down, frowned at the pad of paper. "We have a bunch of random words. Maybe they're just mixed up?" She sighed. "What are the words?" Chase asked.

Indy ran her fingers through her long hair. "We have South, of, place, Peru, victim, is, holding, America, and the" She read off. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is mixed up." Indy sounded aggravated and like she'd rather be anywhere but here doing this, and she sunk down into a chair again. Despite all, I saw Chase smile. "Guys, this is amazing. We're getting somewhere. Now everybody unscramble these letters, and we'll see who comes up with the best sentence that sounds right."

Felix and I glanced at each other at the same time, and both knew what each other was thinking. We'd be a team on this, we'd always be a team. He and I hunkered down next to each other at a different table, with our words that we'd copied off of Indy's sheet in front of us. After a few minutes of thinking and piecing together words, Felix said he thought he came up with something. "How about: South of America is Peru's holding place, victim." He said. "It...sort of makes sense, right?"

I tilted my head, thinking about it too, but it didn't seem right. "I suppose it could be correct but it just doesn't help us much, you know? Like it isn't that big of a clue." I muttered. "Let's keep trying." In another few minutes, I came up with the next one. "What about: Peru is holding the victim of South America?"

"Um," Felix admitted, "it makes more sense. I think that's our best shot. I wonder what the others came up with?" We stood and hurried back to Harlow and Indy, who were working together, and Chase, who was (again) sprawled out on the floor on his stomach with Andrew holding the paper upside down. "I like pie." Andrew announced. "That's what it says." He laid the paper on the ground neatly next to Chase, as if finalizing it.

"I'm with Andrew on that one." Chase agreed, rolling over and sitting up. "What have you lovely ladies come up with?" He asked Harlow and Indy. Harlow's lips were pressed tightly together and Indy looked frustrated too. "Well, we got nothing. At all." Harlow said quietly. "My brain is fried." Indy threw in. "This seriously isn't working."

Felix and I looked at each other and then back to them. "A lot of times, little kids like us are way smarter than older kids like you." I said, placing my hands on my hips. "Yeah!" Echoed Felix. "We got: Peru is holding the victim of South America. Now doesn't that make sense?" He asked happily. Indy stood, nearly knocking her chair over but grabbing it at the last second. "See? What'd I tell you earlier about these kids always getting inspiration?"

Chase looked glad, too, and my insides felt like they were unknotting in a really good way. "It's saying that Savannah's probably getting held in Peru! A victim is the person that the bad thing is happening to, right?" I confirmed, and Indy nodded.

"Great job, you guys." Harlow said, then glanced outside the window. "Would you believe we've been going at this for hours? It's way past lunch." Chase nodded. "Why don't we get something to eat, then..." An odd expression crossed over his face. "Go to South America?"

Okay, okay. So that chapter just reeked with no inspiration. Yeah, that's really my fault, I was having kind of a down-week. So hopefully the next chapter will be better, and that I'll have more time to work on it and update much sooner.

Right, and sorry if I've been having bad or incorrect grammar on this chapter, because, as Indy said, my brain is FRIED right now. The only opportunities I've been getting to write are at 12-2 in the morning.

REVIEW, please, I love to hear your comments. Thanks!