Call me a slow learner, but it took me a good 15 seconds before I shook my head.

“I’m not going up there,” I said. “And neither should you! Ethan — this is insane!”

He pointed to the Ouija board. “You saw it.”

“So?”

“So — this is how I make decisions.” Ethan ran his hands through his dark curls, only it didn’t singe my eyebrows this time. He looked sort of out of control. “I wish I had my cards. I have to get centered.”

He pulled his feet into himself and sat up straight with his eyes closed. I felt a rush of relief.

“I’ll pray with you,” I said.

“I’m not praying. I’m focusing on my own center.”

“What about God?”

He didn’t have a chance to answer. Fletcher blundered into the rec room, hair practically standing on end.

“Dad says to come on!” he said. “They’re feeding the firefighters at the school. We’re gonna go over and take stuff and pray and all that. . . .” His eyes flickered over the Ouija board, which lay there exposed between Ethan and me. “What’s that?” he said.

“Nothing,” I said woodenly.

Fletcher shrugged. “I’m gonna go call Cheyenne. But I doubt Tassie’ll let her come.”

He disappeared, and I stood up. “You coming?” I said to Ethan.
He sat there, eyes still closed, and shook his head. “I’m going to the fire,” he said.

I did some hair-raking of my own. “You’ll never get past the firemen and police.”

“If it’s meant to be, it will be,” he answered. “I have to save my house. I can feel it.”

“Can you feel yourself getting killed?”

His wonderful blue eyes came open and focused on me. “You have to help me, Tobey.”

I shook my head, and this time there was no wavering.

“You don’t have to go with me,” he said. “Just let me use your car.”

“No way.”

“Tobey — you all coming?” Dad yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

I gave Ethan one last look and took off. In the doorway, though, I stopped. “Put that away before you come down, okay?” I said. “I don’t want to play with it any more.”

Dad grabbed my arm when I got to the kitchen where sandwiches were being slapped together and potato salad was in its final stage.

“Could you call some of the Girls?’ he said. “You can help serve.”

I was on the phone before he even finished the sentence. It kept my mind off of Ethan. Fletcher had already gotten in touch with Cheyenne, and Diesel was bringing her. Norie said she’d pick up Wyatt and Ira and Brianna. Marissa and Shannon had gone off to camp.

“You want me to load some stuff in my car?” I said to my dad.

“No. You and Fletcher take mine. It already has the first load in. We’ll meet you there.”

Pulling Together
When we got to the school, up to our chins in Tupperware containers of salads and sandwiches, Norie and the rest of them were already there. The minute we got into the kitchen and started piling ham-and-swisses onto a platter, she cornered me.

“What is wrong?” she said. “You look way stressed.”

“Ethan,” I said. “It’s a long story.”

“So, what else have I got to do?” she said.

Norie listened intently, the way she always does with her little eyes narrowing in, while I told her everything. By the time I was finished, the rest of the group had clustered around us. I let out a long sigh.

“I know it was stupid, you guys,” I said. “But at least I finally said no to it, right?”

“What a bummer that you had to give up Ethan, too, though,” Cheyenne said. “You’re probably gonna jump all over me, but doesn’t it seem like sometimes just when you’re starting to have a good time, some rule of God’s comes up and messes it all up?”

“I’m thinking it’s a good thing it does,” Brianna said. “I should have said more that day when you called me, Tobey.”

“Uh-oh,” Wyatt said. He was watching Norie, who had the Norie-has-a-thought-we’re-not-going-to-like look on her face.

“What?” I said.

“You said no to the ‘evil Ouija board’,” she said, “but I think you have to go a step further. I mean, what’s Ethan up to right now?”

“He’s pouting because I wouldn’t let him use my car to go up there,” I said.

“Where is your car?” Ira said.

“At my house . . .”

As if somebody had given us a cue, we all locked eyes with each other.
“What are you saying, Norie?” Wyatt asked.

“I’m saying we should make sure Ethan doesn’t follow his Ouija board. We need a plan of action.”

Immediately, heads bobbed together in a tight circle, the way we’d done about a hundred times over the last year. Brianna started a prayer, and we all put in what came to us. For a moment in there, I thought, How is this any different from using a Ouija board? We’re asking for answers.”

Except that no unseen force came down and moved us like little robots to do what we did. We lifted our faces to each other and Norie said, “What now?”

Big ol’ Diesel grunted. “First thing we got to do is take care of that car.”

“Then we can take it from there,” Wyatt said.

“We’ll talk about it in the Suburban,” Norie said.

Secret Strategy
The rest of the crew from my house was just arriving as we were leaving the school. I told my dad we were going back to the house to be with Ethan. I’d tell him the rest later. That just felt right somehow.

And just like Norie said, we figured out a plan of action in the car. When we got to my house, she turned around and said, “Everybody ready?”

“We better be,” Ira said. “Is that him?”

Ethan was, even as we spoke, hurling himself out my front door like he had places to go. They seemed to include my car, because he was headed right for it.

“Go!” Wyatt whispered.

Cheyenne and Fletcher bolted out and ran across the yard, Cheyenne shrieking, “Hey, Ethan!” as only she can do. Ethan’s body drew up like an exclamation point as he stopped and stared at the two of them. Cheyenne, we could see, immediately started “jacking her jaws” as Diesel would say. She was the perfect person for the job.

“Come on, get him to go back in the house,” Norie whispered.

“He’s turning around,” Brianna whispered. “There they go. Come on!”

The minute Ethan’s back was to us, the Suburban doors flew open. Ira, Wyatt and Diesel headed for my car, wrenches in hand, and Brianna, Norie and I scooted through the gate to the back yard and into the house through the back door. We could hear Fletcher still in the foyer as we tiptoed up to the rec room.

“I didn’t even know you had one ‘til I saw it this afternoon,” Fletcher was saying. “You just have to ask it this one question for me.”

“I haven’t got time, man,” Ethan said.

We didn’t hear the rest. I flipped on the light in the rec room, and the three of us stood there staring.

The Ouija board was still out. There was a candle in a holder next to it, though at least he’d thought to blow it out. The air smelled sweet and strong.

Norie sniffed. “That’s incense.”

“Yikes,” I said.

“There’s nothing wrong with incense in itself,” she said. “We use it in church at Christmas.”

“Nothing wrong with candles either,” Brianna said. “So why does this all seem so . . .”

“Wrong,” I said. “It just seems wrong.”

“So much for ‘if it’s right, do it; if it’s wrong, don’t’ “ Brianna said. “I told you, it isn’t that simple.”

I looked down at the Ouija board and started to say something, but we heard footsteps on the stairs, and Cheyenne’s voice, of course.

“You’re really going up to the fire?” she was saying. “Cool — I mean, not ‘cool’ like I think it’s good. I mean . . . I don’t know what I mean.”

We rolled our eyes at each other and got to our places. When Ethan came in, we were sitting around the Ouija board. His eyes — his wonderful eyes — popped like a pair of marbles.

“What’s up with this?” he said.

“We have a question for the Ouija board,” Norie said.

Ethan’s eyes fixed on me.

“Tobey’s having a little trouble believing in it,” Brianna said “So we thought if we asked it something we know is true, we’d just clear that little doubt up for her.”

Ethan’s face darkened like the smoke. For a minute, I almost backed out. He’d never looked at me like that before.

But then he shrugged and folded himself up on the floor on the other side of the board. “Let’s do it then,” he said. “What’s your question?”

“Are you in a hurry, Ethan?” Norie said sweetly. “Going somewhere?”

“He’s going . . .” Cheyenne started to say. This time, it was Fletcher who poked her. The poor kid must have had bruises for days.

“I want to ask it, is Jesus in charge of our lives?” I said. “Is He the only way we ought to be making decisions?”

Ethan’s eyes flickered over all of us, but he nodded and put his fingers on the piece. His fingertips didn’t touch mine. Ethan breathed deeply. I prayed. Please, God, let this work.

It seemed like forever before the piece started to move. The moment it did, I knew we were all right. Like a leaf skidding over a puddle, the piece skimmed — straight to NO.

I looked at Ethan. He had the beginnings of a smirk on that sensitive mouth I’d liked so much.

“Well, then,” I said. “I guess that takes care of that.”

“Takes care of what?”

“This thing is bogus, Ethan,” I said. “Because that’s the one truth I know — we all know it because we’ve lived it.”

Ethan gave a stiff shrug. “Think what you want,” he said. “Maybe God doesn’t see it the way you do.” He spread his hand over his chest. “I happen to know that no one is Lord and master over my life except me.”

“Really?” Norie said. She cocked an eyebrow at the Ouija board.

“Looks to me like you’re pretty tied to your little tools, boy,” Brianna said.

“Yeah,” Cheyenne said.

I picked up the box the board came in and tucked it neatly inside. “Would you mind taking this thing out of my house?” I said. “I don’t even like having it here.”

“Throw it in the fire,” Cheyenne said.

Ethan’s head jerked up, and his lips mouthed, “Fire.”

“I’ve got to go,” he said.

I handed him the Ouija board. “Don’t forget to take this with you,” I said.

We had the self-control to wait until he got down the stairs before we all scrambled to the window and looked down. Ira and Diesel and Wyatt were nowhere in sight. Only my little car was in the driveway.

Moving like an eerie shadow through the smoke, Ethan went for it, Ouija board tucked under his arm. He fumbled for something in his pocket.

“My keys!” I whispered. “He stole my keys.”

“Truly a spiritual being,” Norie muttered.

“Let’s just hope they don’t do him any good,” Fletcher said.

They didn’t. Ethan got in the car and tried the ignition, but the engine gave him nothing. He tried about seven more times and even used the slam-your-fist-down-on-the-steering-wheel approach, but my little car was dead.

“Diesel is a genius,” Norie said.

I nodded. I was going to have to rethink my attitude toward Diesel.

“What’s he doing now?” Brianna whispered.

We watched as Ethan hurled himself out of the car, slammed the door behind him, and stomped off down the sidewalk, empty-handed.

“Is he going to walk up to the fire?” Cheyenne said.

“If he is, he’s going the wrong direction,” Fletcher said.

“Looks like he’s walking off some steam,” Brianna said.

Norie nudged me. “He’s doing it without the Ouija board, which means he left it in your car.”

Brianna smiled a slow smile. “You’ve seen those signs that say, ‘Not responsible for articles left in vehicle while parked on these premises.’ "

“Dump it,” Cheyenne said. “Dump it big-time.”

I didn’t have to. Below us, Wyatt strolled casually over to my car, reached inside and pulled out the board. A minute later it was in the garbage can waiting at the curb for tomorrow’s pick-up.

Assessing the Summer
The next morning the news came in that the fire was 90-percent contained. Ethan’s house was out of danger, and they should be able to move back in within a few days. They decided to go to a hotel and have a little family celebration while they waited. He didn’t even say goodbye.

It took several days for the smoke to clear so that I could see the mountains again. There they were — charred but as solid as ever. The downtown streets cleared, too, as Hot August Nights partied itself out. We knew it was safe to go back to the Pneumatic Diner, our favorite place to pig out downtown. We all went, except Marissa and Shannon who were still off at camp. After all that had happened, I thought I’d feel safe and happy back in the circle of my best friends. But I was still in a funk.

“We didn’t change Ethan,” I said to them. “He’ll just go buy another Ouija board or go back to his Tarot cards.”

“He has Tarot cards?” Wyatt asked.

“What are Tarot cards?” Cheyenne asked.

“Maybe not,” Brianna said. “You said what you know to be true. He’s got that in his head now.”

“Are they those things that tell the future–like psychics use?” Cheyenne asked.

“We can all keep praying for him,” Wyatt said.

“Somebody tell me what Tarot cards are!”

I looked at Cheyenne–although not as hard as Norie was looking at her before she turned to me.

“I think you’re still feeling funky because you aren’t done yet,” Norie said. She tossed her hair toward Cheyenne. “You’ve got to get this one’s head out of this whole Tarot card thing, for openers.”

I felt a pang and nodded. “Marissa and Shannon, too,” I said. “They were ready to come over with their list of questions for the Ouija board because I thought it was okay.”

“Plan of action,” Wyatt said, grinning.

Diesel held up his key chain, laden with miniature wrenches and screwdrivers. “I got my tools ready.”

“I don’t think we’ll need those, thanks, Diesel,” Brianna said.

I shook my head. “Maybe all we need is that thing Tassie said — 'If it’s right, do it. If it’s wrong, don’t’.”

“Simple,” Ira said.

“It is,” I said. “What if that Ouija board had told us it was all right to — what – start making out on the rec room floor or light up a joint to take us to a higher level of consciousness or something? I mean — would I have done it?”

“No way,” Brianna said.

“But I left myself open to it.” I shook my head. “You know what — Ethan was wrong . . . way wrong.”

“No kidding,” Norie said dryly.

“I’m serious. He said Christian kids are limited.” I looked at Cheyenne. “You know what? I don’t think God took away my fun at all. There aren’t any limits to the fun I can have. I mean, look at you all.”

“What about us?” Cheyenne asked.

I grinned at her. I grinned at all of them.

“You guys singe my eyebrows,” I said.

“Is that good?” Fletcher asked.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “That is very good.”