“We need to stop speaking all at once,” they complained, chuckling at how they couldn’t get out of sync. “Great minds think alike,” they muttered.
Racing around to the back of the bushes, they found the Explorer parked where they had left it. The tires had sunk into the ground a little, but otherwise the vehicle looked fine. They crouched together. The nearest Nate poked a finger into the tailpipe and retrieved the keys.
“We need to figure out a way to tell ourselves apart,” they all said. “How about the Nate holding the keys is number one? Okay, sounds good.”
“You’ll be Two,” One said, pointing. “And you’ll be Three. Remember, we’re all the same guy. We need to trust that about each other as we split up.” Nate thumbed the unlock button twice. “I’ll drive.”
“Shotgun,” the other two Nates called simultaneously.
“Two, you take shotgun,” One said.
They loaded into the SUV, and One started the engine. “The pedals are a lot harder to reach,” One said, adjusting the seat as much as possible.
“Need me to work the pedals?” Two asked.
“I think I can manage,” One said, backing out from the bushes, stretching to both reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel. “We’re not tall, but we’re not tiny.”
“Do we all have the same plan in mind?” Three asked.
“What are you thinking?” One and Two inquired.
“We’ll probably want to split up to make the most of our advantage,” Three said. “One of us should go to the school to meet up with Pigeon and try to make that turn out better, hopefully ending up with the goblet.” One and Two nodded.
“Another of us should go to the candy shop,” Three continued. “We know that Mauricio and Wyatt will both be gone, along with Denny, Eric, and Kyle. While they’re away, we might have a chance to free Summer and John, which could create a second chance to intercept the goblet if the Nate at the school fails.”
“Still with you,” the other Nates said.
“And, as I know we’ve been thinking, the last of us should go home and use a Mirror Mint to try to save Trevor.”
“It’ll be risky,” One said, guiding the SUV along the dirt road. The road was significantly more rutted than when he had driven the Explorer along it earlier. The rains must have caused the erosion.
“We have two mints,” Two said. “We use one to get into the mirror, and give Trevor the other to get out.”
“And we hope that by having two of us outside the mirror, the one inside will teleport out when we reunite at a central point,” Three concluded.
“We have to try,” they all said.
“Who goes where?” Three asked.
“Let’s go by number, in the order you laid out the plan,” One said. “I’ll go to the school, Two will lurk around the Candy Shoppe, and Three will go into the mirror.”
“Not that the mirror is the riskiest part,” Three grumbled.
“They’re all risky,” Two said. “If any of us get hurt, we all get hurt.”
“What if being in the mirror keeps me from getting drawn back to you guys when we’re supposed to reunite?” Three said. “I could exist as a Nate duplicate trapped in the mirror forever. I’m just as much Nate as you guys!”
“I bet we’ll either all get sucked into the mirror, or you’ll get sucked out,” One speculated.
“Easy to say when you’re not the guy in the mirror,” Three muttered. “One of us has to take the risk—I’ll do it. But if I end up stuck in there, you guys better never rest until you get me out.”
“We won’t,” One and Two promised.
“I know you won’t,” Three sighed. “I wouldn’t.”
“We should drop off One first,” Two said. “He most needs to be early. Then drop me off near the store, then Three can take the car home.”
“Sounds like a plan,” One said. “I’ll drive to the back of the school. I don’t want to risk being spotted by entering from the front.”
“Let’s spend some time thinking separately about our own missions,” Two said.
“Good idea,” One and Three agreed.
The truck bounced along the rutted road for a while in silence.
“Are we getting close to the paved road?” Three asked.
“Not far,” One said.
They continued for some time without speaking.
“I thought up a joke,” Three announced. “Want to hear it?”
“You’re supposed to be planning for your mission,” Two said.
“My mission is easy,” Three said. “Go into the mirror, give Trevor the candy, and wait.”
“There’s Gold Coast Drive,” One said as the street came into view.
“What has three heads, six arms, and half a brain?” Three asked.
One and Two answered in unison. “Nate Sutter.”
*****
“I’ve never actually bitten anyone,” Diego said. “I mean, I’ve fantasized about it, but now that I might have to actually do it, the thought makes me a little squeamish.”
“You’ll do great,” Pigeon said, patting his Labrador reassuringly as they hurried up the ramp at the rear of Mt. Diablo Elementary.
“Most of my food isn’t much more than meaty porridge,” the dog said. “I’m not complaining, it tastes good, but it doesn’t really test my teeth. Do you think I could break skin?”
“For sure,” Pigeon said. “You just need more confidence. Don’t you think I’m worried too? How am I supposed to succeed where everybody else failed? But we have to give it a shot. The bad guys will probably show up here soon to claim their treasure. We have the element of surprise on our side. If we’re stealthy, we might find a way to stop them.”
“I can do stealthy,” Diego assured him. “You wouldn’t believe how many birds I’ve almost caught.”
Pigeon knelt just before they reached the top of the ramp. He held out some Brain Feed in his palm. “You better have a little more,” Pigeon said. “I don’t want you to relapse.”
Diego ate the kibbles. “You say I get all slobbery and stop responding to your commands?”
“Pretty much,” Pigeon said. “Without the Brain Feed, your only tricks are sit and shake. And I have to help you shake by grabbing your paw.”