The Dead Sea Squirrels Series
Squirreled Away
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Squirreled Away
Copyright © 2019 by Mike Nawrocki. All rights reserved.
Illustrations by Luke Séguin-Magee. Copyright © Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Designed by Libby Dykstra
Edited by Sarah Rubio
Published in association with the literary agency of Brentwood Studios, 1550 McEwen, Suite 300 PNB 17, Franklin, TN 37067.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Squirreled Away is a work of fiction. Where real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales appear, they are used fictitiously. All other elements of the novel are drawn from the author’s imagination.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Nawrocki, Michael, author.
Title: Squirreled away / Mike Nawrocki.
Description: Carol Stream, Illinois : Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., [2019] | Series: Dead sea squirrels | Summary: Ten-year-old Michael sneaks into a cave near the Dead Sea where his father has been working and finds a pair of 2,000-year-old squirrels, which he stows in his backpack and takes home to Tennessee.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018037427 | ISBN 9781496434982 (sc)
Subjects: | CYAC: Squirrels--Fiction. | Christian life—Fiction. | Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan)—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.N185 Sq 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037427
ISBN 978-1-4964-3500-2 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-3499-9 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-3501-9 (Apple)
Build: 2019-04-23 16:38:58 EPUB 3.0
To Michael—
Though you are now an adult, you will always be my little boy. I hope your childhood was as adventurous and enjoyable for you as it was for me.
With love and pride, Dad
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Character Profiles
Dr. Gomez’s Historical Handbook
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
ISRAEL, NEAR THE DEAD SEA
PRESENT DAY
Michael and Justin had been best friends ever since kindergarten, and when our story begins, they were a few days away from being fifth graders at Walnut Creek Elementary School. On this exact day, however, they were exploring a cave in the Middle East. If you’re wondering where the Middle East is, look for east on a map and go to the middle. If you can’t find east, just take a right at the Mediterranean Sea.
And if you’re curious about why Michael and Justin were there . . . we’ll get to that later.
“What is that?” Michael questioned, pointing his flashlight at something on a small ledge popping out from the rock wall a few feet above Justin’s head. “You think it’s some kind of animal?”
“Whatever it is, it’s not moving,” Justin replied.
“Maybe it’s a bat,” Michael suggested.
“Bats hang upside down,” Justin said.
“Maybe it’s a dead bat? That would be cool.” Michael grinned.
Justin grimaced. “That would be disgusting.”
“You do know a pet bat would make us the coolest kids in the fifth grade, right?” Michael said.
“A dead pet bat?” Justin raised his eyebrows.
As the two friends debated the value of a dead bat, the alarm on Justin’s wristwatch went off.
“Oh no!” Justin said, looking down at the rubbery band around his wrist. “We have to go!”
Michael stood on his tiptoes. “Give me a quick boost so I can see what’s up there.”
“We don’t have time! If we’re late for dinner again, your dad will kill us!”
“Relax. We’re not going to be late,” Michael assured his friend. “Just give me a boost.”
Justin knew Michael well enough to realize that arguing with him would only waste more time, so he reluctantly assumed the boosting position. Michael placed his right shoe in Justin’s cupped hands then stepped up and wedged his left shoe into a small crack in the cave wall. As Michael pushed himself up with his left leg toward the mystery ledge, his foot slipped out of the crack, and he fell face first into the wall. Justin held helplessly onto Michael’s right foot as Michael’s face slid down the gravelly wall and onto the dusty cave floor.
“Owwwww,” Michael groaned, his voice muffled by the dirt.
A second alarm sounded on Justin’s watch. “Time’s up. Let’s go!”
CHAPTER 2
Nothing bothered Justin more than being late. If he wasn’t at least 30 minutes early to school, he started to sweat. Inside of 15 minutes, he broke out into hives. The one time he was five minutes tardy, he nearly exploded. Running toward the cave entrance in danger of being late for dinner the second night in a row, Justin was in complete panic mode. That’s probably why he ran straight past the turn he should have made.
Michael, jogging carelessly behind his friend and digging cave pebbles out of his nose, assumed Justin knew where he was going.
After a number of minutes of running past unrecognizable cave features, the panicked late feeling in Justin’s stomach gave way to a different kind of horror.
He stopped cold.
Michael, whose right pinky was reaching for the very last pebble lodged deep in his right nostril, ran right into Justin, hitting his elbow against Justin’s back and forcing the pebble even deeper up his nose. “UGH!” He grunted with the impact, which forced him to swallow the pebble.
“Oh. Thanks!” he said.
“We’re lost,” Justin whispered.
“We’re what?” Michael asked.
“We’re lost. I don’t know where we are. I must have missed the turn!”
“That’s not good,” Michael said casually.
The boys looked at each other. “AHHHHH!” they screamed in unison.
Being lost in a cave, whether it’s in the Middle East or the middle of Tennessee, is most certainly not good.
“Fortunately,” they would tell their friends when they were back at school later that year, “we had two years of Junior Ranger Patrol training!”
In reality, Michael just happened to remember the story of Hansel and Gretel.
“Why don’t we just follow our footsteps back to where we’re supposed to turn?” Michael said. “Like breadcrumbs.”
“Oh. Yeah. Good idea,” Justin said, looking slightly calmer.
&n
bsp; Thirty minutes later, and one hour late for dinner, the boys spotted daylight.
CHAPTER 3
“Michael!!!”
Whenever Michael heard his name yelled, he knew he was in trouble. And he heard his name yelled a lot. According to his little sister, Jane, Michael was the most used word in the English language. But this time Michael didn’t mind hearing it. Being in trouble was nothing compared to being lost in a cave.
“Dad!” Michael ran to hug his father. “I am so happy to see you!”
“What were you doing?! What were you thinking!?! Why were you—?” Michael’s dad stammered. “You can’t just wander into a strange cave by yourself!”
“We were exploring!” Michael said pathetically. “Besides, Justin was with me . . .”
“It’s also a strange cave for Justin!” his dad yelled.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Michael said.
“I’m sorry too, Dr. Gomez,” said Justin.
“If I lost you two on our next-to-last day here, I would be in big trouble with your mothers. Both of you are grounded until we ship out in the morning. Go to your tent!” Michael’s dad ordered.
Usually when kids are grounded, they are sent to their rooms (in a house), so this may require further explanation. You see, Michael’s dad was a college professor studying people who had lived in the Middle East thousands of years ago. He was working in an area close to where many of the stories from the Bible took place—from Joshua leading the Israelites into the Promised Land to David hiding from King Saul; from Elijah going up into heaven in a chariot of fire to John baptizing Jesus. Dr. Gomez thought coming along on the trip would be a good learning experience for his son. Michael, who was always up for an adventure, liked the idea, but he wasn’t crazy about spending an entire summer away from his best friend, so he convinced his dad to invite Justin, too. For two months Michael and Justin shared a tent in the desert beside the Dead Sea in Israel. If you’re wondering why it’s named the Dead Sea, the answer is very simple: the water is so salty, fish can’t survive in it. Have you ever tasted ocean water? The Dead Sea is ten times saltier! Not only that, but the Dead Sea is smack-dab in the middle of a desert, so the land around it is hot, dry, and dusty. Very few plants or animals can survive in the harsh environment. But the land is still beautiful and, most importantly, fun for a couple of 10-year-olds. When they weren’t busy helping to lug broken pieces of old pottery around, they spent their time capturing scorpions in pickle jars, rolling down sand dunes, and, of course, exploring.
“Michael, I’ve told you before to never go into a cave without an experienced guide.” Dr. Gomez leaned down and got eye to eye with his son. “I love that you love to explore, but it’s important that you listen to me. It’s for your own good, because I want what’s best for you. Understand?”
“I understand,” Michael said as they returned to camp.
CHAPTER 4
“Grounded on our last night here!” Michael whined as he lay on his cot, sketching.
“Well, we wouldn’t be if you would’ve listened to your dad in the first place,” Justin replied. “It’s been a fun summer, though. Hard to believe we’ll be back in a boring old classroom in a couple days.”
“Yup.” Michael sketched quietly for a moment, then asked, “Hey, when we entered the cave, did we take two rights and a left, or three rights?”
“Three rights, I think,” Justin replied. “Um, what are you doing?”
“Drawing a map.”
Justin knew Michael well enough to know that this could not be good. “Michael, you are not going back into that cave.”
Michael showed Justin his map. “Check it out! Here’s the ledge. Don’t you want to know what was up there? It could be a treasure. What if we made THE discovery of the summer? Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
“WE? Don’t bring ME into this! And YOU are not going back into that cave.” Justin crossed his arms. “Remember what your dad said? ‘Never go into a cave without an experienced guide.’ Those were his exact words.”
“Exactly! I’ve been into that cave, and now I have a map of it. If that’s not experience, I don’t know what is!” Michael reasoned.
“Do us both a favor and forget about whatever is up on that ledge,” Justin said.
“I’m not sure I can,” Michael replied. “We leave tomorrow, and we may never come back. What if I go my whole life wondering what was up there?”
“I think the real question is, are you going to listen to your dad or not?” Justin said. He blew out the lantern between their cots and rolled over. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Michael replied, but his mind was racing, and he was not feeling the least bit sleepy. So many questions, he thought.
CHAPTER 5
When a boy’s sense of curiosity outweighs his common sense, he can sometimes find himself alone in a cave in the Middle East in the middle of the night. It doesn’t happen that often, but when it does, it usually means trouble. As hard as Michael tried to fall asleep, and as much as his conscience told him to stay in bed, in the end, he decided that he just had to know what was on that ledge.
I’m the son of a scientist, he reasoned to himself as he plodded through the cave with only the sound of his footsteps on the dusty stone floor to keep him company. Discovery is in my blood! These thoughts helped him feel a little better. Conveniently, they also let him blame his dad for his decision not to listen to his dad.
The loud squeal of a bat pierced the silence.
The louder scream of a frightened boy followed. Michael dropped both his flashlight and his map. He heard the creature’s wings flapping behind him toward the mouth of the cave as he leaned against the rock wall, breathing heavily. The fact that a dead bat is what Michael was expecting to find at the end of his quest didn’t do much to lessen his surprise. “It’s just a bat. Bats live in caves,” Michael said out loud, reassuring himself. He picked his flashlight back up, located the map, and was soon on his way again.
It turns out that Michael’s memory—and his map-drawing skills—were pretty good. After about 20 minutes, three right turns, two left turns, and one more squealing bat encounter, Michael found himself exactly where he hoped to be—at the foot of the ledge.
Justin will be amazed when he sees what I bring back, Michael thought proudly as he took a length of rope out of his backpack. Holding tightly to one end, he tossed the other end of the rope up and over a rock that jutted out from the ledge. It looped smoothly over its target and fell softly at his feet. “This is almost too easy!” Michael said out loud, impressed with his own rope skills. “Yep. Exploring is definitely in my blood.” He anchored one end of the rope to a heavy rock on the floor of the cave, put the flashlight in his mouth, and began his climb. In no time, he found himself peeking over the top of the ledge, his eyes going wide as he made his discovery. If he hadn’t had a flashlight in his mouth, he would have said, “Whoa . . .” But since he did have a flashlight in his mouth, what came out was,
CHAPTER 6
“You guys up?” Michael’s dad called from outside the tent.
Justin cracked open his eyes to see the dim light of daybreak. “Ummhmm,” he managed to groan out in response.
“Okay. Let’s get packed up. We’ve got a long day,” Dr. Gomez said.
“C’mon, Michael. You heard him.” Justin flopped an arm onto Michael’s cot. His hand landed with a thud on an empty sleeping bag. Justin shot up, suddenly 100 percent awake. “Oh no!” he shouted out without thinking.
“Everything all right?” Dr. Gomez called.
Justin started to panic. He needed to buy some time to think. “Uh, yeah . . . everything’s fine,” he called. Maybe Michael got up to go to the bathroom, Justin thought. No. His dad would have seen him. Justin’s eyes shot around the tent. Michael’s boots, backpack, flashlight—all gone. He must have snuck away to the cave during the night. The fact that he wasn’t back yet could not be good. Maybe he hasn’t been gone for long and will be here any
minute. Justin sat back down with a thud on his cot. He knew better. Michael slept like a rock. He had to have left before he fell asleep, which meant he had been gone all night.
“Boys?” Dr. Gomez called out again. “Up and at ’em!”
Now Justin had a decision to make. Should he cover for his buddy? If Michael went back into that cave, his dad will be furious! he thought. Or should he sound the alarm? If he’s lost in that cave, his dad being upset will be the least of his worries. Justin knew what he had to do.
The zipper on the tent door slid down, and Justin popped his head out. “Um . . . Dr. Gomez?”
CHAPTER 7
Michael’s plan was going so well. His map had led him to exactly what he had gone looking for.
“Eww, gross!” Michael said as he hung from the rope with one hand. He held his flashlight in the other hand, illuminating a couple of dried-out and long-gone mammals, each about the size of a loaf of bread. (For Michael, like for a lot of 10-year-olds, “gross” meant pretty much the same thing as “cool.”)
There was no way he wouldn’t be taking these treasures back home with him. He placed the flashlight in his teeth to free up a hand then reached around and unzipped the top of his backpack. No sooner had he stashed the treasure in his pack than another bat came flapping past his face in the darkness.
Michael screamed.
The thing about “AHHHHH!” is that your mouth has to be all the way open to say it. And the thing about having your mouth all the way open is that anything you are holding with your teeth will fall out.
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