Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 Read Online Free PDF

above the stairs, here that wasn’t
an option. This world could be rearranged to suit their imaginations in many
ways but their shared agreement held some Rules in place. One of them being
that in this realm they couldn’t pass through walls or fly through the air at
will. Here, they agreed it was probably better to keep things as “normal” as
possible.
    Henry stepped out onto the veranda, carefully closing the
door, and took a seat in one of the Adirondack chairs. He could have gone to
his pond, he knew, or the stretch of beach he sometimes walked alone, but
he needed to stay close this time. He needed to be near these people, his
second family. If he and Nikki decided to do what Martha and Lysrus had asked,
Henry suspected it would affect all of them. Either way, whether or not he and
Nikki were successful. The look in Martha’s eyes had told him as much. They
were ready, she’d said, and Henry had sensed deeper meaning in her words.
Things were likely to shift soon. He could feel it.
    The fact was, he wasn’t sure what to do. Was trying to
save this person they’d never met a risk they should take? Mostly, he didn’t
want to influence Nikki. He knew that around him she’d act tough and
unemotional. She always did and Henry suspected he knew why. She’d helplessly
watched her family slip away even as she’d been able to read their thoughts and
feel everything they’d gone through. Until the end of their lives, she’d kept
trying to reach out to them. After that, Nikki had built her own sort of shell
around herself. Nothing like that girl, Rose, had done, but the purpose was the
same. Nikki too was a wounded soul, and the last thing Henry wanted was to
cause her more harm.
    The stars sparkled above and Henry looked up, no longer
questioning whether they were real or created as part of this in-between
existence. This was the same night sky he’d looked at as a child and wondered
about as his imagination had continued to expand. Some things were instinct and
Henry instinctively knew the truth of at least that much. He searched inside
himself, hoping instinct would tell him which way to go now. But too many
thoughts and feelings crowded in. What he felt was new to him, something he’d
never known before. Something he’d imagined, definitely, but just a few times.
After all, he’d been so young when he’d left the world he’d known for this one.
But lately he’d felt himself changing and those around him changing too. Sure,
they all tried to act like things were the same but they weren’t and, on some
level, all of them knew.
    Henry tried to push thoughts of Nikki, and the others,
away so he could focus on making a decision. Rose needed someone to help
her—someone who could possibly succeed where others had failed. It seemed
strange to him that Lysrus thought they were capable of doing just that. It
seemed somehow even more strange to think that Martha hadn’t been able to
accomplish what clearly she too thought they might. Henry tried to tell himself
he didn’t know Rose, that her life—no, her afterlife—wasn’t his concern. That
he and Nikki had no reason to put themselves in danger. At the same time, part of
him knew—had known even before he’d come outside to be alone—that he couldn’t
just turn his back on her and pretend things would be the same tomorrow. There
was no going back now and Henry knew it, just as he knew Nikki had probably
already reached the same conclusion.
    Henry sat for a few minutes more, gazing up at the stars,
then decided to go upstairs and knock on Nikki’s door. She’d still be up. He
had no doubt about that. And there was no way he’d be able to decide what was
right without talking to her.

4
    All I Have To Do
     
    Nikki could tell that Naomi was already in the kitchen when
she came downstairs the following morning. Naomi’s music was something new and
she’d installed a transistor radio on the counter, its antennae cocked toward
the window so she could get