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damage. Instead he flattened his back against the side of the house and peeked around toward the front.
    This is when I need Chip with all his Middle Ages training , Jonah thought desperately. He’d know how to figure out where that barb was shot from. He’d know how to set up a defensive battle station. He’d know how to put together scary-looking weapons from a few sticks from the ground and a handful of dead oak leaves. And he’d know how to fight off dozens of enemies. . . .
    Jonah didn’t even know how far it was safe to stick his neck out, peeking around the corner of the house.
    He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary—hecould barely see anything at all through the various tree limbs blocking his view. Why had his parents in their adult days thought it was such a great idea to plant a spruce tree right there at the corner? He shoved his head out a little farther—and then instantly jumped back.
    â€œHa-ha!” someone screamed right beside him, right at the edge of the tree. “You should have seen your face a minute ago!”
    Jonah backed away even more, slamming his elbow into the side of the house. He had to get that much distance to actually see who was laughing at him: a kid. A kid who looked about thirteen; a kid with thick, glossy dark hair; a kid who was so good-looking Jonah was willing to bet all the girls at his middle school would be in love with him . . .
    That is, if the kid actually was in middle school, and Jonah was pretty sure that he wasn’t.
    At least he wasn’t now.
    â€œJB?” Jonah whispered.
    â€œHe’s a genius!” the kid said mockingly, and laughed again.
    â€œYou went back to being thirteen too?” Jonah asked.
    This time the kid—JB—only nodded and frowned.
    â€œDo you know how to fix it?” Jonah asked.
    â€œWell . . . ,” kid JB began.
    â€œNo,” someone else said, stepping up quietly behind JB.
    This was another kid—probably another thirteen-year-old, Jonah guessed. But this was a very tall, very pretty girl with dark skin.
    â€œAngela?” Jonah said. “You’re a kid now too? Are there any adults around who are still adults? What about Hadley or the other time agents—”
    â€œWe can’t reach Hadley or any other time agent,” kid Angela said, her face creased with worry. “Whatever changed us also zapped our Elucidator.”
    â€œWe know the un-aging affected at least this immediate area,” kid JB said. “We’re not sure how much farther it went than that, but Angela and I were just turning in to your neighborhood—”
    â€œâ€”when suddenly my feet didn’t reach the gas pedal anymore,” kid Angela said. “Or the brake.”
    â€œI had to dive down and hit the brake for her,” kid JB bragged.
    â€œI told you, I would have gotten it myself!” kid Angela argued. “I was stretching my leg out and sliding forward . . . And then I was going to move the seat up—that was all I needed! You almost caused an accident, getting in my way!”
    JB and Angela didn’t sound like themselves. It wasn’t just their kid voices—it was the fact that they were squabbling like . . . well, like Jonah and Katherine.
    It’s like one of those stupid cartoons from when we were little ,Jonah thought. Baby Looney Tunes. Bugs Bunny should not be a baby. Tasmanian Devil should not be a baby. JB and Angela should not be teenagers.
    JB and Angela were supposed to be the adults. The ones who could take care of Jonah’s problems.
    Jonah looked down at kid Mom, still unconscious on the ground. She was someone else who had always taken care of Jonah. But now she had dead leaves blowing over against her body, starting to bury her.
    Jonah shivered.
    â€œSo—were you two planning to shoot my mom with a tranquilizer dart even before you turned into