by KD Blakely
“I’ve researched a lot of information on the internet and at the library. It’ll help me decipher the information from the cave and the chest. I’m going to build a computer program that could help.”
Olivia rolled her eyes, but she sounded encouraging as she said, “That would be cool.”
He smiled shyly and a blush crept up his neck. He fell completely silent.
Note to self — You want to stop Brady talking so much? Just give him a compliment.
The silence was becoming uncomfortable. I asked Brady to let me see the map. I looked it over carefully for a sign of Ray or the others.
Doug said, “I overheard Ray talking to Andrew at the mini-mart this week. Ray was upset ‘cause they haven’t figured out what we’re up to. He’s determined to get us alone in here. Where no one will interrupt.”
Faith shivered and hunched her shoulders. “I’m scared about what they might do.”
Doug gave her a don’t-you-worry-your-little-head-about-it smile. Faith didn’t look mad, but my teeth ground together. “If we stick together, they won’t be able to get us.”
Faith nodded, but I noticed she didn’t look convinced.
“Look,” Doug said impatiently. “We won’t let them get close enough for a fight. We have the map. We’ll just stay away from them.”
I handed the map back to Brady and said, “Well, they aren’t in here yet. If we hurry, we might get to the cave before they even come in.”
Brady grinned. “I’ve been thinking. The map only shows the entrance to the cave. I’m going to draw the cave’s interior on the map. Maybe we’ll be able to see the Rejects if they follow us into the cave.”
“I’d just like to know where they are now,” Faith whispered. “I don’t want to bump into them inside the cave!”
I watched as Brady checked the map again and shook his head. “They haven’t entered yet,” he told her.
So, we’re the only ones in here. At least for now.
Then I shuddered. Of course there was something other than us in here. Something had been howling at us just a few months ago.
Why are some magic creatures still here? Why didn’t they disappear when everyone else did?
As we passed Ghalynn’s cabin, it was clear it was still deserted. At that moment I was sure we wouldn’t find anyone in Chimera. The best we’d do was find what had happened.
I decided to promise Ronny I’d keep coming until I did.
When we started the climb to the cave, I was still feeling great. I’d always felt tired when we got this far, but not today. It was like I couldn’t get tired.
I looked around to check on the others.
Faith and Doug were a short way ahead. I could hear brief snatches of their conversation.
Oh goody — heavy on the sarcasm — they’re talking sports.
Brady trailed a short distance behind, a strange pinkish leaf clutched in his hand. I watched as pink goo dripped from it. He’d pulled a book on plants out of his backpack and was comparing the leave to several of the drawings in the book.
Good luck finding magic plants in Plants of the Southern California Coast!
Olivia was behind me. She had Pyg on her shoulder and was gently petting his feathers.
Everyone looked happy, even though we couldn’t listen to music, play video games, or watch television. If Ronny decided to give up, maybe I’d convince the others to keep coming with me. I wondered if any of them would agree.
As we started up the narrow switchbacks to the cave, I tripped on a rock and decided I should be putting all my extra attention on my feet, not on a future that might never happen. By the time we finished the strenuous climb to the cave, the others were all breathless, but I still felt great.
Olivia rested her hands on her knees and hung her head down as she tried to get her breath back. She complained, “Doug and Faith are both big sports nuts. And you two must be closet nuts, because none of you are out of breath like me,” She turned to Brady. “What’s up with that?”
Why wasn’t I out of breath as usual? Then I laughed as I reminded her, “You spend your time at the beach lying out to tan. I swim while I’m there.”
I pretended not to notice when Olivia placed her deeply tanned arm next to mine. The contrast with my lightly tanned, freckled skin was pretty pathetic.
“I haven’t turned into a sports nut, but I’ve been lifting my dad’s free weights,” Brady said. “I want to be ready for rock climbing and digging for treasure and the other crazy stuff we do in here.”
He lifted the map to check it again, and then stopped. “Darn! Let’s hurry, the others just came in.”
Faith stopped. “Aren’t any of you worried about getting trapped inside that cave by the Rejects? There’s no back door. No way to get away from them.”
That thought made me shiver.
“We haven’t finished checking out the cave. We don’t know if there’s another exit,” Doug said. Let’s get there and check out that upper tunnel.”
As we entered the cave, I said, “At least we’ve got familiars that can see in the dark. They’ll help if we get lost.”
Olivia grinned. “Maybe the Rejects’ll get lost. They won’t let their familiars help.” She turned to Brady, “Did you remember to bring climbing rope?”
“Yeah, it’s in my backpack.”
“Where’s your backpack, Doug?” Olivia was staring at his back, which was clearly missing a pack.
“We’re climbing today. Climbing with a backpack would be a pain. I’m surprised you didn’t think of that.”
“Some of us had to carry things with us.”
“Since you brought yours, Kat, would you carry my slingshot? I’m afraid it’s gonna fall out of my pocket.”
“So, you can’t be bothered carrying a backpack, but you’re happy to use ours?” Olivia sounded really annoyed!
I wasn’t too happy myself, but a war over carrying a slingshot in my backpack seemed silly. I shrugged out of my pack and stuck out my hand. When Doug thrust it at me, I shoved it out of sight. As I slung the pack back on, I turned to Brady. “So, you think we’ll be able to climb into that cave?”
He grinned. “We shouldn’t have any problems.”
Faith bit her lip and shoved her hands in her pockets. “Aren’t any of you worried about being in the same cave as Ray? He’s going to trap us in here.”
Doug shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not getting trapped in here. Besides, there’s five of us and only four of them.”
“In a couple months they’ll be sorry if they try anything,” Brady said, standing up straight. “I’ve convinced my Dad to let me start TaeKwonDo.”
“Well, you don’t have a black belt yet,” Olivia said, impatience clear in her voice. “For now, we’ll just have to avoid them. I only wish we had a back door out of the cave.”
We all came to a quick stop as the owl flew down and circled Olivia before flying away. “Pyg is trying to tell me something.” Olivia practically danced with excitement.
I bent down and asked Shadow, “Is there another way out of the cave?”
The cat circled my feet and meowed. Rusty danced on his hind legs, barking excitedly.
Doug smirked at Faith, “See, we’ll hide in a cave or leave out the back.”
Brady said, “I’m going to check the walls of both caves to make sure we haven’t missed anything. I’m also going to draw the tunnels on the map.” He smiled at me. “Come on. You can hold the, what did you call them? Lightberries?”
We quickly split up, agreeing to meet in a few minutes to explore the last two tunnels.
I watched Brady as he drew different parts of the cave on the map. Then I noticed the strange neon light glinting off the large glass face of his watch. I said, “I’ve never heard of buying a watch to honor someone before. Your father bought that watch to honor your great-grandfather?”
“You heard the story about my great-grandfather Arthur, right?”
I tho
ught for a moment, then shrugged. “No, I don’t think so. What about him?”
“He disappeared. On the fourth of July, in 1934. No one ever saw or heard from him again. My Grandpa Chuck was only ten when his dad disappeared. It changed his life.”
“That’s like a Cold Case. What happened to him?”
“No one knows. Grandpa Chuck used to say his dad would’ve been the greatest inventor of all time. He created a watch like this.” Brady held up his wrist, nodding at the bulky watch. “Grandpa Chuck used to tell me about him.”
Brady cleared his throat and spoke in a deep voice, very different from his own. “Nothing is impossible, Brady. Determine the outcome you seek, develop methods to reach it, and test each until you discover the one that works best.”
“So that’s where he gets it,” Olivia muttered as she and Faith walked into the small cave where I was sitting with Brady. I watched Brady quickly lower his head and place the last few lines on the map. I was surprised how detailed his drawing was. He didn’t look at Olivia as he stood up and headed back out to the main cave.
We checked the other tunnel we’d already entered. Brady kept checking the map, telling us the Rejects were getting closer. As if they knew where we were, they kept heading toward the cave.
Faith was thinking the same way I was. “How do they know where we are?”
“I don’t think they do,” Doug told her. “They’re just exploring.”
“So you don’t think they’ll come in here?”
“If they get close enough to see it? It’s a cave. Of course they’ll come in here if they see it.” Doug was giving Faith a duh-do-I-actually-have-to-tell-you-this look.
“What if we can’t find the back exit in time?”
I spoke up quickly. “Don’t worry, Faith. We can always hide in the secret passage in the second tunnel. They’ll never know it’s there.”
Brady kept a nervous watch on the map. At first, I was sure they’d stop long before they got to the cave. But that pleasant thought began drifting away, like smoke on a breeze, as they drew nearer and nearer. Finally, it was clear they were coming straight here.
We crowded inside the second tunnel and made our way to the hidden passage. It was a tight fit with all of us crammed in there along with our familiars. Doug reluctantly put the bag of lightberries in his pocket, while we blew out the candles.
It was totally black inside. We’re talking totally, absolutely, pitch black. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. I’d have been feeling pretty spooked if I hadn’t been able to hear the quiet ragged breathing of my friends crowded next to me.
I wondered how we’d know when the Rejects got inside the cave. But that was a wasted thought — it was obvious when they came in.
Ray yelled, “Hey, Dog. Oh, sorry. You call yourself Doug, don’t you.” There was laughter from the other Rejects. “Actually, I like dog better. Come out, come out wherever you are. Come on, dog. Stop hiding like such a scaredy-Kat.” More laughter rang through the cave, echoing strangely from all around, like a haunted house at a carnival. Ray tried again, “Can’t you answer me, dog? Kat got your tongue?”
There were snorts of laughter from Ray and Andrew, and ear piercing shrieks of mirth from Polly. Only Carly was silent.
“Hey, dog. I’m talking to you. Don’t make me come after you!”
I gripped Doug’s arm tightly. He was vibrating with the effort to ignore Ray’s insults. I wasn’t sure if I was more worried about what Ray would do to us, or what Doug would do to Ray.
“We know you’re in here. We followed your footprints right into this place.”
I felt like slapping my forehead like some stupid commercial. I hadn’t even thought about footprints. No wonder they always knew where we were!
“What if they already left, Ray?” Polly already sounded bored. “You never want to do anything fun in here. All you think about is finding those guys.”
Can’t she ever stop whining? Note to self — Don’t ever whine like Polly!
“If you don’t like it, don’t come.”
Polly didn’t answer him. I didn’t blame her — he’d sounded fierce.
I could hear Ray stamping around in the main cave. Each time he got to one of the tunnels, he started insulting us again. I suddenly wished we were back in town. Then I’d be able to insult him back. It would be safer in town, where other people could step in if Ray got too mad.
As I listened to him prattle away, I had to stifle a laugh. It wasn’t much of a laugh, but in that place, I was amazed I was able to find anything funny. But really, Ray was not good at insults. They were all so…ordinary. Ugly. Buttface. Stupid. Dog breath. Idiot. Stupid idiot.
Boring!
When we got out of here, I was going to share my insult book with Doug and Brady. Maybe we could all gang up on Ray in front of his friends. We could have an insult contest.
It felt like a long time had passed when Polly finally said, “Forget it, Ray, they ain’t here. I’m going.”
“C’mon, Ray,” Carly urged.
Andrew added his voice. “There’s plenty other places to check out. Let’s go.”
Ray wasn’t having any of it. “You go if you want, but I have the flashlight. And I’m gonna find those creeps.”
He made a few more nasty comments, comparing Olivia to a fat hippo, Faith to a ginormous giraffe, and calling Doug a pus bucket. But he sounded like he was losing interest. We kept very still, waiting for him to finish.
When we heard them move away, I slumped back against the tunnel wall in relief. Faith whispered, so quietly I had to strain to hear her, though she was standing right next to me. “Wait a bit longer. They might hear us.”
Olivia started to move around her. She sounded irritated. “I’m tired of waiting.”
Faith stopped her by blocking the way. The passage was so narrow no one could get by her unless they could shove her out of the tunnel.
Finally, when I was convinced Olivia was going to lose it and start screaming, Faith said, “Okay, I think its safe now.” She moved and we all rushed out.
Brady was the last one out of the hidden passage. He hesitated in the small cave and asked Doug for the berries. He blocked most of the light with his hands and body so it wouldn’t show outside, and pulled out the map. He whispered, “Wait.”
Suddenly Andrew’s voice came from near the main cave entrance. “Do something about that light. I can’t see a thing.” Ray’s flashlight was casting strange shadows, flickering on and off, and giving out only a dim glow.
Polly whined, “Come on, Ray, they aren’t in here. We’d’ve seen their flashlight. And if ours goes out, it’ll be really dark. Let’s get out of here.”
It happened so fast — Ray dropped the flashlight, cursing and swearing. He yelled, “That stupid thing burned my hand. What’s wrong with this place? Nothing works right!”
They were using a regular flashlight. That’s why it wasn’t working. I remembered how hot my cell phone was the first time we came here. Batteries really didn’t like Chimera.
A moment later, Brady folded the map and placed it back in his pocket. He said, “They left. We can talk now.”
“Dirty rotten rat finks!” Faith growled. “If Ray keeps calling me a giraffe, I’m going to do something scary to his face.”
“Get in line,” Olivia said. “I’m gonna break the rest of his teeth.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Don’t let him get to you. He was soooo lame. I’ll teach you some real insults when we get back to town.” Just the thought of it made me smile.
That idea didn’t make Faith smile, not even a little. “We don’t want to insult him. That would just piss him off.” At Olivia’s groan, Faith realized she’d broken the no cursing rule. “Sorry, Olivia.” She nervously tugged her hair over her shoulder, picking at the rubber band at the end of her braid.
“Ray won’t be any different than he is now,” Doug told her. His hands were still in tight fists. I knew how hard it was
for him to stay hidden while Ray insulted us.
Olivia grabbed Brady’s arm and looked at the watch on his wrist. “Can we check the upper tunnel before we go back?”
“I think so. Just let me finish drawing all the tunnels on the map. I added the main part of the cave last time, and I could see the Rejects.”
“Maybe there’s nothing up there,” Faith said. “For all we know, we won’t be able to stand up in there. It might only be a few feet long.”
“Well that’s just great,” Doug told her. “Are you wishing we won’t find anything else?”
“No, that’s not what I meant!” Faith said, sounding cross. “We’ve already found stuff at the cave. Ronny said there’s a lake and a forest and other places in Chimera we can check out. We should go somewhere new.”
I forgot, Faith really hates high places.
“We’ll go somewhere else next time. But you know we promised Ronny we’d finish with the cave first,” I reminded her. “Brady brought climbing stuff. It won’t be hard.”
“I know,” said Faith quickly. “I just don’t think we’re going to find anything.”
As we headed for the short tunnel on the right, Brady pulled a long coil of rope out of his backpack. “Who wants to climb to the top and anchor the rope?” He asked like this was a great prize.
No one answered. We all just stared. He looked disappointed at our lack of enthusiasm.
Finally Faith said, “Uh, it’s your rope, Brady. You do it.”
Brady’s shoulders drooped. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
He slung the rope over his shoulder, looking like a young, skinny version of Indiana Jones. He walked up to the cave wall, and hesitated for a moment.
“You can do it,” Olivia encouraged.
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Jeez! I know how to do this. I’m just checking for the best handholds.”
I watched as he reached up the wall and found a small jut of rock where he could grab on with his right hand. As he pulled himself up, he found a horizontal crack where he could jam his foot. He stood up, raising his left hand above his head, searching with his hand until he found another small point of rock where he could put his hand. He continued to find cracks and ridges as he inched his way up the rock face.