[Chapter 8] Story of My Life

The new room was about as contrary to the first as you could get. The walls and floors sparkled a light blue. A fancy crystal chandelier hung above, casting pleasant shadowy designs everywhere. There was no furniture, but mirrors with intricate silver frames were placed on the walls about every four feet. In these, I could see how my hair had somehow been blown around and was now a total mess. Normally I would’ve cared, and fixed it before anyone could see. Right now I had bigger problems, and that was enough to scare me.

The real scare came when I heard a voice come from one of the mirrors. Or, I thought I came from the mirror.

“Welcome. Please state name and intent.”

It was a women’s voice, but obviously computerized. The strange thing was, there wasn’t any sign of technology here, and there hadn’t been anywhere else that I’d seen. Now I was truly confused, and walked toward where I thought the sound had come from. As I did, it repeated itself.

 “Welcome. Please state name and intent.”

This time there was no doubt about it; the voice was coming from a mirror to my right. I walked up to it and look around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary there. I couldn’t see any speakers or wires or anything that even looked like it belonged in the 21^st century.

“Welcome. Please state name and intent.”

It continued giving its request, and I finally decided to try and respond.

“I’m Liz Moore, and… I want to go home?”

“Welcome Liz,” replied the voice, to my complete dismay. Things only got weirder from there.

All of a sudden, the mirror I had been inspecting swung out from the wall. I couldn’t believe it, but there were tiny hinges along the edge that somehow I had missed. The space left by the open mirror held the most unexpected thing; a computer screen. As I stared in astonishment, a keyboard slowly slid out underneath the screen. It wasn’t by any means a fancy computer. In fact, it looked like it had come out of the eighties. A small green line blinked on the black background of the eight-inch wide screen, as if waiting for words to be entered. Before I could touch anything, one word appeared by itself: Name.

Not sure what to make of any of this, I typed in my name: Elizabeth Moore. Nothing happened. I pressed enter. Then the flashing green bar jumped to the next line and began to type:

Elizabeth Anne Moore

Birth date: August 10

Age: 15

Hometown: Thousand Oaks, California, USA, Earth

Parents: Samuel J. and Margaret N.

Currently residing: Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA, Earth

Residing with:   Timothy Moore

                              Sarah Moore

                              Kimberly Moore

                              Nicole Nobel

                              Jakob Nobel

                              Kristyn Jacobson

                              Baylee Jacobson

                              Levi Jacobson

                              Logan Littleton

                              Zachary Littleton

Date arrived at Shandery: April 10

I caught my breath. This was my life. Someone had all these facts about me written up on a computer. It wasn’t just me, either. All of my friends and family were here. Whoever was so interested in me was probably just as interested in them. I had never been so scared as I was in that moment. One thing did puzzle me, though. What was the Shandery?

[Chapter 7] Tired, Anyone?

Soon enough, all of our legs were aching. We’d been walking for at least a couple hours, and our pains was evident on our faces. Only Levi had started to complain, but Logan quickly punched him in the arm, and he took the hint. There hadn’t been much conversation since the outburst by Jake and I earlier. Something had come over everyone, including myself. I could tell this place – wherever it was – was messing with our minds, and we needed to get out as soon as possible. The only problem was that I still hadn’t seen any other path than the one we were following Blaine down. Trying to not worry, I pushed myself and caught up to my new friend once again.

“Hey, um, Blaine?”

“Yeah?”

“How long, uh, do you think we’ll be walking? You know, give or take?”

He raised his eyebrows at me. “Could be days. Or a few minutes.”

“What?!” I exclaimed, louder than I meant to. Even without turning around, I knew everyone behind us was now listening intently to this conversation. “What I mean is, how can you not know? Days isn’t exactly close to a few minutes!”

“No one knows how long it takes to get to the Shandery.”

“Yeah, that didn’t really answer my question.”

“You know what I think?” Suddenly Jake was pushing his way between Blaine and I, his stare firmly fixed on the other boy. “I think you let your little childhood fairy tale go to your head. I think you’re over-dramatizing this whole thing. I think you like that suddenly you’re our only hope. The hero. Ha! You’re just another kid who thinks he knows what he’s talking about, but really he’s got nothing to show for it.”

“Jake!” I pulled on his arm. “What is wrong with you?”

“No, Kris, what’s wrong with you? Can’t you feel it too? Something about this place isn’t right. We need to leave. Now! This guy isn’t getting us anywhere. He just said he doesn’t even know how long until we get to this Shandery place. I think the sooner we stop following him, the better off we’ll be.”

I just stood there, shocked that he was acting like this. Everything he said was true of course, except maybe the part about not following Blaine. It just wasn’t like him to go off like this, especially to someone he didn’t even know.

The others caught up to us. Niki grasped her brother’s hand and pulled him away, whispering to him as she attempted to smile sympathetically at me. Levi gave Blaine a look, and the other boy continued walking away without a second glance back. Before I could go after him, Zach grabbed my shoulder tightly.

“Jake’s right. We can’t follow him anymore. We were willing to try it for awhile, but we’re not getting anywhere. You know it’s true.”

I reluctantly nodded, trying to hold back tears. This was just too much. My best friend was still missing, and we had no idea how to find her. Now what I believed was our only hope was rounding a corner and about to walk out of sight. I wasn’t the kind of person who could function without some kind of plan, and that was exactly what we were stuck with right now. No plan. No hope. No nothing.

“Hey!” The shout echoed through the alley. Niki and Jake looked up from their conversation a few feet away, and my little group turned to face the corner Blaine had just walked around. There was no mistaking his voice, and it sounded… excited? At least, that’s what I hoped.

In Zach’s moment of surprise, his grip loosened, and I slipped away, running down the path toward Blaine. As I rounded the corner, my feet lost their grip on the dirt, and I fell, landing almost on my face right in front of Blaine. He laughed and held his hand out, obviously pleased about something. Embarrassed and confused, I took it and he helped me up, then turned me so I saw what he was smiling about. There was a gate less than ten feet away. It was pure white and barely open, but I could tell by the look on Blaine’s face that this was the end. We were about to go into the Shandery.

My jaw dropped for a moment and I just stood there for a moment before I regained my composure. By then, Blaine was already shouting to the rest of my group some more.

“Come on! We’re here! You don’t have to find your own way!” Moments later Jake came running around the corner, followed closely by Niki and the rest of the boys. They pulled up to a stop next to us, with the same gaping expression I had just wiped from my face. I laughed at them then, realizing how funny it was that we had even been worrying. We should’ve known that we’d get here eventually, and everything would all be okay.

“What’s so funny?” Jake demanded, trying not to smile himself. Niki didn’t even bother… she started giggling like crazy, and the others were soon doing the same. After a while of laughing at our situation, we sobered up and decided we should probably finish this. Blaine led once again, walking cautiously through the gate. I followed, with Jake and Niki right behind. My brother came through last, following the other two boys.

Facing the other side of the gate, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The Shandery was nothing like we’d imagined from Blaine’s stories. Four beautiful white buildings stood evenly spaced along a grey cobblestone path. A well was in the center of a small plaza right in the middle of these large homes. Each house was like something I’d seen in the richer neighborhoods of California. I could just imagine my mom standing there telling us how much she would love to own one of these. Thinking about my mom just reminded me how serious our predicament was. Even though we were now in the Shandery, it didn’t seem to have helped us any in finding Liz or a way back home. Despite my eternal optimism, I was starting to really worry.

I backed up, stepping into Jake. He was still smiling, and happily started talking to me.

“I guess you were right, Kris! This place doesn’t even look so bad. Maybe I should’ve given Blaine a chance. Sorry for being so short with you earlier… I was just worried, you know? But I don’t have to be now.” He put his hand on my should and smiled. I thought he was crazy.

“But Jake! We should still be worried! We need to find Liz!” My friend shook his head, and the smile slightly faded.

“Yeah… What was I thinking? Alright, Blaine, we need to find our friend. Can you help us?”

Blaine stared at Jake like he’d grown a third head. “No way! I mean, I’m sure your friend’s really important, but I need to find someone here, to check in or something. This is my life now. I can’t put it off any more, even to help you guys. Sorry, but you’re on your own.”

Now it was our turn to stare.

“Well if that’s how you feel about it…” If looks could kill Jake would’ve been a murderer right then. One thing you need to know about Jake: if you mess with his friends, he’ll never forgive you. He’s wildly protective of our entire group, and Blaine’s statement just now was definitely going to set him off if we didn’t do anything.

I linked my arm in his and pulled him back, putting myself between the two boys. Giving Jake a warning look, I turned back to Blaine.

“Ok. If you don’t want to help, you can go do your own thing. But we’re done following you. Thanks for helping us this far, but this is it.”

Behind us, Niki shrugged and gave Blaine a somewhat sympathetic look, then walked past him without looking back. Everyone else slowly followed, leaving me alone with Blaine. I didn’t have anything else to say though, so I sighed and pushed my way past as well.

We strode along the path, even beyond the well and the farthest houses. For some reason I was suddenly really tired and near tears once again. Trying to muster what strength I had left, I slipped my arm away from Jake and walked up to the wall of the last house on our left, leaning against it.

Jake stopped and watched me, obviously concerned.

“I’m fine. Just tired. You know, we’ve been walking most of today. Can’t we spend the night here?”

He smiled and nodded. “Great idea. Hey, Nik! Hold up! We’re gonna rest up here. Guys, lets take that house over there, girls you can sleep here.”

He grabbed my hand and faked throwing me over his shoulder.

“Oh, no way pal! I can walk on my own, thank you very much.” I stuck my tongue out as I took a few steps toward the door. Before I could even put my hand on the handle, though, my legs gave out and I crumbled to the ground. Now nearly delirious, I began laughing and laid down completely, just giving up. My friends couldn’t help but laugh too; I must have looked incredibly pathetic. Jake shook his head at me as Zach walked over and lifted me up on the right while Jake took the left.

“How humiliating,” I mumbled as I buried my face in Zach’s shoulder.

“Yeah, well thank goodness for your super-strong cousin, right?”

“And what am I over here? Chopped liver? I could just let go, and see how well you do yourself.” Jake retorted jokingly. I tried to shake my head.

“Whoa, boys. This is me you’re arguing over.”

“And you may want to be very careful with her sweet little head,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind us.

Then I blacked out.

[Chapter 6] Ghost Town? No Thanks.

I followed the chipmunk – Susie – for about ten minutes until I dared ask the question that I had been dying to raise.

“So… um… Susie… where, exactly are you taking me?”

“Well, to the authorities, of course.”

“Okay, of course. But who are the authorities?”

“Hmm… honestly I don’t know how to explain, hon. Never had to. I think you’ll just have to wait until we get there.”

“I’m guessing you can’t tell me where ‘there’ is either, right?”

“Nope. But we’ll be ‘there’ soon. Mind if I ask you a few questions in the mean time?”

“Sure, why not?”

For the remainder of the walk, I answered all of little Susie’s questions to the best of my ability. I couldn’t explain everything of course, since even I didn’t know how I’d gotten here. Mostly we talked about my family and friends, and the cabin. The more I thought about it all, the less sense it made, but I didn’t have much of a chance to ponder my predicament. After what felt like no time at all, we were finally “there.”

When I saw the building, I didn’t at first believe my eyes. It rose at least fifty stories into the air, with its roof partially obscured by low clouds. It looked like Victorian meets something out of a classic Disney fairytale. The walls were made of smooth-looking white bricks, with perfectly round windows appearing in intervals. Long, spiraling turrets poked up from the roof in each corner of the structure. I had only ever imagined this kind of an edifice, and now I was standing in front of its two larger-than-life mahogany doors. Susie tapped me lightly on my ankle before disappearing through a hole in the wall. 

“Susie!” I yelped, coming suddenly out of my daze. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now that I was here, and standing in front of this building only made me feel even more small and helpless. Trying to keep my mind from panicking, I began mentally taking account of my predicament. 

One: Somehow sitting on that dusty pile of blankets in the secret room had transported me to what was apparently called “the Sacred Forest of the Shandery.” 

Two: That “Sacred Forest of the Shandery” was way more symmetrical and perfect than anywhere I’d seen or even heard of before. 

Three: Chipmunks talk here. I still found that fact a little unsettling, but I really doubted anyone was going to care about my opinion in the matter. 

Four: I was now standing in front of the largest building I’d ever physically been to, had been abandoned by the only two people (well, if chipmunks counted as “people”) that I’d talked to, or even seen, and now had no idea what to do.

That last realization just brought back the panic. Susie had told me that she was going to bring me to the authorities and report that Chester and I had been in the “sacred forest.” From what I could tell, all she’d done was brought me outside the walls of this monstrosity and crawled away, leaving me completely alone. 

“Hey, you! What are you doing here?”

… Or maybe not completely alone…

I turned slowly, finding myself in front of two people. Real people. Not just more talking animals. I almost jumped for joy. This, at least, was somewhat more normal. 

When I was able to focus again, I began to scrutinize these newcomers. They both looked a little younger than 20, and both had very dark hair and bright blue eyes. The boy’s hair hung to just above his ears, while the girl’s went past her shoulders. They wore long shirts that almost looked like they were made of burlap over pants of the same material. These uniforms were a light brown, but I could see spots of what I assumed was dirt or mud. 

Again the boy asked, “Please, are you here as a worker or a guest?”

“Uh… I – I’m not sure,” I began, trying to decide what would be okay to tell him. I really didn’t want to start off with a reputation for being crazy, just because I told someone I came from another world and had been brought out of a “sacred” forest by a talking chipmunk. 

“How can you not know? Either you are a worker or you aren’t. If you aren’t, you’re a guest.” This time it was the girl who spoke. 

I paused a moment, thinking. Well I was pretty sure I wasn’t a worker…

“I’m a guest,” I responded, in a much more steady voice than before.

That statement caused the pair to smile. They began whispering back and forth behind their hands, then turned back to me. Once again, the girl addressed me. 

“In that case, we can be your escorts. Do you have your rooming assignment yet?”

“Umm… no. Not yet anyway. I’m still, uh… waiting for… someone.”

“Who?”

At this point I figured a name couldn’t cause any damage, so I replied, “Susie.”

The grin faded from the boys face, and the girl’s eyes widened. Maybe I had been wrong about saying Susie’s name… On the verge of panicking again, I heard a loud noise behind me. I turned to check it out, and saw that the huge wooden doors had swung open. No one else had come in to view though, so I turned back to the other two. When my eyes fell upon where they had been standing moments before, I was met with another shock; they had vanished, leaving me alone yet again. 

“Great,” I muttered under my breath. The snippets of vague information I was getting  about this place weren’t helping me much. I needed to know where I was, and, more importantly, how to get back home! Everyone I’d talked to so far had been cryptic in their answers, so I was still completely clueless. And alone.

I closed my eyes tightly, hoping in the back of my mind that this was all a dream, and when I opened them again, I’d wake up at home; safe and surrounded by people who loved me. Instead, it was just a dark doorway that met my eyes. 

“Fine! It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose. Everyone here keeps abandoning me. Why should I wait around for them?” I thought for a moment, then shouted to no one in particular: “Hey! I’m going in now! Anyone want to stop me, help me, something… You better do it now!”

After a moment of silence, I began slowly walking forward, still wary of passing the open doors. Before I could totally lose my nerve, I bolted the last few yards, stopping only once I was firmly within the boundaries of the huge walls. 

After facing so many strange things already in this place, I though nothing could surprise me anymore. I was wrong. I hadn’t been expecting a five-star hotel or anything, but I thought there would at least be some decent floors. Instead, I found myself standing on dirt. A few candles were lit along a wooden wall that looked like it was rotting even as I stood there. By this dim light, I could see that the room I was in was empty except for a few old crates stacked in the corner and a broken table near the middle of the dirt floor. Beyond that, I could barely make out another doorway, but it looked just as dark as the room I was in now. 

Immediately, I began to back up. This was all too spooky for me. I’d rather take my chances retracing my steps, hoping I’d find someone who could help me. Pretty much, I just wanted to get out of this awful place. 

Clearly, someone had other ideas. The doors suddenly swung shut again, leaving me in a billow of dust, frozen in desperation. I didn’t have a clue what I should do now. Those doors were obviously too heavy for me to move, so I didn’t even bother trying. The only other route was through this long creepy room and into the next mysterious area.  

The only thing I knew was that if I couldn’t go back, I could either stay here or try to find somewhere better to gather my thoughts. Since staying put was definitely not an option, I started off across the room as quickly as I could, not wanting to remain here any longer than I absolutely had to.  

[Chapter 5] Welcome To Your Doom

I stepped through the door and walked right into someone. He turned and looked at me, but I couldn’t decide whether it was a look of amusement or annoyance on his face. Then he smiled. I returned it, and was about to ask him where this was when Jake hit my back. The other boy just raised his eyebrows. Remembering my job, I grabbed Jake and moved both of us out of the way so that Niki could make her way through without running into us. I kept this up until Levi came through, then looked around. We were standing in a small alleyway, and in both directions I could see where it turned, but I didn’t see and end. Finally, I turned back to the boy I had run into. Now his mouth was hanging open, and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He spoke first.

“Uh, hi. I’m Blaine. Who are you guys?”

“I’m Kris. And I know this is a silly question, but where are we?”

“You’re… well you’re almost in the Shandery. How could you be here but not know where here is? Did you hit your head?”

“No, no.” I laughed again. “You see, we’re not from here.”

“Nobody is from the Shandery. We all come from the outer lands. Which land are you all from, and how did you get here? It looked like… well pardon me, but it looked like magic, although I don’t believe in such nonsense.”

“We aren’t from any outer land,” Zach told him, moving to stand beside me. “We’re from another world. We came through a magical door, and now I don’t know how we plan on getting home!” He focused that last comment on me, and I cringed. I hadn’t even thought about getting home yet. We’d be no help to Liz if we were all stuck here.

“Well, we’ll figure it out. Don’t worry Zach.”

Blaine watched us for a moment, then said, “I don’t believe in magic. Whatever your tricks, though, it doesn’t matter. You are going to the Shandery now, and there will be no turning back for any of us.”

“Okay, man. You don’t have to get so dramatic on us. What is this Shandery place?” Levi asked. I gave him a look, but he ignored me and drilled Blaine with his stare.

“How can you have not heard of the Shandery?” He truly seemed amazed. I just sighed and sat down on a nearby rock.

“We told you, Blaine, we’re from another world. If you don’t believe us, at least humor us. Please.”

“I will, but you should know about the Shandery already. Everyone does. It’s a fairytale told to us when we are children. But it is not happy, as most stories are. The Queen, Adriana, rules with no mercy, as did her mother before her. They make everyone in the Shandery work constantly. It’s said that they never get to see the sunlight again. When you are sent to the Shandery, you are sent to your doom.”

“How do you get ‘sent’ to the Shandery?” I asked, now interested.

“It is chance. Some say that her spies in the cities choose people. Others believe they draw names. No matter the reason, five people form each outer land are sent here each year. In our town, our leader would announce the names on the first day of the new year.”

“So he would tell those five, and they would just come here? What if they refused?”

“No one refuses. If you do, someone from the Shandery will come, and you will be hunted down. It is a worse fate than complying with the laws.”

“What do you have to do when you get there?”

“I can’t say for sure, because I’ve only heard stories, but it is said that you are assigned a job based on your age and abilities. Then you do what they tell you to do.”

“What kinds of jobs are there?”

“Oh, all kinds. But the main job groups are waiters, workers, and watchers. Those are by age group, but some people supposedly get special jobs if they have particular talents.”

“Okay, Kris, this is all really fascinating and everything, but we need to get going!” Zach was obviously getting impatient. Beside me, Blaine only shook his head.

“I told you already – you can’t leave. There’s no turning back once you get this far!”

“Oh yeah? Watch me! C’mon guys.” Zach started walking down the alley, away from us. No one followed, but we watched him vanish around the corner. Then we heard him slowly turn around and come back. “How did you get in if that way is all blocked off?”

“I just walked, and it closed behind me. You can only go one way here. And that would be this way.” With that, Blaine walked in the opposite direction. I began to follow, but turned to face Zach and the others.

“What choice do we have? Zach proved there’s no other way out. Blaine obviously has more of an idea about where we’re going than any of us. Guys, I’m going… it may be our only chance to help Liz! It’s up to you whether or not you come too.” I went off just like that. I didn’t look back, but I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew they had all followed. Knowing my friends, they weren’t willing to risk letting me go off on my own, especially with Liz already gone. Smiling to myself, I sped up to walk beside Blaine. He glanced down at me, but continued walking.

“If you don’t mind me asking, who else from your city was chosen?”

“It’s no problem… it was Kris, right?” I nodded. “The way the Shandery works, however they really do choose us, it’s always by families. And all of the families that are large enough have everyone taken. That’s the case with my family. I’m the middle child; my youngest sister, Emma, is only 5. Rachel’s next; she’s 10. Then me, of course. My oldest siblings are twins, Justin and Kelly. They’re 18. We all got picked for the Shandery this year.”

“So… where are they?”

“We got separated earlier on.”

“Separated?”

“This pathway leads to the Shandery eventually, but there are other more direct paths throughout it. Sometimes people are given the option to take those paths. My siblings were among those. I am the only one left on this path now.”

“You just let them leave you?” I was shocked.

“Yes. They were allowed through and I was not. It’s just that simple, Kris. I could not go with them, and I couldn’t expect them to stay with me.”

“But why not? Family – and friends – should stick together!” We both turned to look at the group behind us. They had been listening; we must have been talking more loudly than I had thought. Yet, there they were; all of them had come after all. Even Zach. I couldn’t help but smile. We would stick with each other no matter what. I didn’t understand why Blaine seemed to have different feelings.

“I agree. But I don’t think you understand. The Shandery doesn’t work that way. When someone is called one way, they go. If you’re not called, you stay. That’s just the way things work. If it were ever questioned, things would go to madness. So we simply never question. Is that not the way things work in your world?”

“Not exactly,” I admitted, seeing reason in what he said, but still standing firm. “In my world, we stand up for what we believe in. We question rules if we think they’re made for the wrong reasons.”

“Wouldn’t that cause problems?”

“Sure, sometimes. But it’s worth it! We progress, and people and ways change for the better! I bet if enough people stood up to whoever ran the Shandery, you could even change that, so no one would have to fear it anymore!”

“I don’t think so, Kris. You really don’t understand how things work around here. I hope that doesn’t cause you and your friends too many problems.” Blaine suddenly became solemn, and walked farther ahead. I was slightly stunned at his change in attitude, and stopped for a moment. Soon everyone else caught up to me.

“Something wrong?” Jake asked, standing beside me. Shaking myself, I turned to him and smiled.

“Yeah. Fine. Sorry. We’d better catch up with Blaine. He seems to actually know what’s going on around here. Don’t want to get lost.” With that, I began marching ahead again. I could feel Jake’s eyes boring into the back of my head, even as I caught up to Blaine. I could tell Jake didn’t like it here, and he definitely didn’t approve of Blaine, for whatever reason. When I finally did reach Blaine, he barely glanced at me before looking straight ahead once more. Getting a little irritated, I tried to start a friendly conversation again.

“So, what was it like, back in your city?” I asked, giving him the most dazzling smile I could manage, to the point that it was obvious I was trying to get him in a better mood. At first, Blaine didn’t seem amused by my attempts, but ended up returning my grin, though not with as much enthusiasm.

“It was a poor city actually, but I loved it. I mean, it was my home. How could I not love it? But everyone knew each other there, because it was such a small town. I had tons of friends, and we always hung out together. When we weren’t helping out our families, of course. It took a lot of work to keep everything running. It was worth it, though, without a doubt. Plus, when we were done for the day, there were a million things to do… well almost anything. There was a ballroom, a museum, and even a theatre. All small, but still…” He got a day-dreamy look in his eyes just then. I giggled a little, turning away in an attempt to hide it. Shaking himself, Blaine, too, laughed with me.

For a while longer we walked on in silence. I was trying to regain my thoughts, not wanting to insult him, as I seemed to have done earlier. Just as I was about to speak up once more, Jake was standing beside me, and I could hear the rest of the group following close behind. Yet again, Blaine merely shoot him an amused glance, then became suddenly distracted as Niki came up on his other side. Winking at her brother, she began to talk to the boy very enthusiastically. I was shocked; Niki wasn’t usually very social, unless she knew a person really well. I didn’t have much time to think over her sudden personality change, because Jake abruptly grasped my arm and pulled me behind everyone else.

“We’ve got to find a way out of here Kris!” Jake’s voice was so insistent that my focus instantly turned to him.

“What do you mean? Blaine is showing us the way out.” My tone was now serious as well, but I smiled to show him that I thought everything was going to be just fine. He obviously didn’t agree with me.

“No, I think dear Blaine is leading us right into a workhouse. I, personally don’t want to go anyplace like that. Plus, he doesn’t really seem to care that we’ve been walking nearly half an hour, and it doesn’t seem like we’re anywhere near getting to… wherever we’re going!”

“Well I think you just don’t like Blaine, but I don’t understand why. He’s been taken away from his home and separated from his family. Give him a chance Jake! You’ve hardly even talked to him. What could you possibly have against him? And anyway, I haven’t seen any other way to go, have you?”

“Kris, you just don’t get it, do you? We have no idea where we’re going! Wandering around these paths, with just Blaine’s word to follow sure isn’t helping Liz! Did you forget that’s why we’re here? You can go around making new friends some other time!”

“No I haven’t forgotten about Liz! But what else do we have, besides Blaine’s word? I know that wandering around these paths trying to find a way on our own, and probably getting lost in the process, isn’t going to help her either!” Our voices had been gradually rising, and my last few words were loud enough to even attract Blaine and Niki’s notice.

“You guys okay back there?” he asked.

“Fine,” Jake grumbled in reply. He moved to rejoin the group, but I stayed back where I was. Niki, attempting to recover Blaine’s attention, began babbling again. The others started whispering, probably about our argument. It was weird… Jake and I had known each other since we were toddlers, but we’d never had a disagreement that led to something like this before. We’d always gotten along, only pretending to fight. This wasn’t like either of us. What was going on?

[Chapter 4] The Sacred Woods

I saw the dust explode from the quilts. When it cleared, I saw everyone staring at me, except Jake. Then he turned, and began shouting at me, along with everyone else. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then I noticed: they weren’t yelling at me, they were yelling for me.

“Maybe this is some sort of joke they came up with,” I thought. Aloud, I yelled, “Okay, you got me!” as I put my hands in the air to show my surrender. None of them stopped. They were still frantically searching the tiny room.

“But I’m here!” I exclaimed. I walked over to Kris and reached for her shoulder.

My hand never touched her. Instead, it ran into a tree trunk. Now, I knew for a fact there was no tree in my grandparents’ attic, not to mention the other plants surrounding me. I scanned all the nearby foliage, and found myself standing in the middle of a forest! Not only that, but this forest seemed to be completely symmetrical, unlike any forest I’d ever seen. About every four feet was a pine tree, and directly between those was a stump. Each tree and stump looked identical, and formed a grid that went on in every direction for as far as I could see. I was standing on grass that looked as though it had just been mowed to be one inch tall. There were tiny pink flowers with a likeliness to daisies surrounding the trees, still in an exact pattern.

None of this was normal; this much I knew. I didn’t think it was even possible! All of the forests near the cabin that I had ever seen had no order, and the trails wound aimlessly through the clumps of trees. This whole setup was just too neat and orderly.

I was just about to sit on one of the nearby stumps when I heard a very loud, very high-pitched SQUEEEEAAAK!!

I jumped at least a foot in the air. “Who’s there?” I asked, trying to sound braver than I felt.

“I don’t think it’s so much who as what,” a voice replied. It seemed to be coming from the tree behind me, so I turned and asked, “Okay then, what’s there?”

“Me!” replied the voice gleefully, from the other direction.

Now I was getting a little impatient. “But that doesn’t answer my question!” I retorted turning once again.

“Yeah it does!” the voice taunted. “And instead of trying to find me by yourself – which you’ll never be able to do, by the way – you could just ask me to come out.”

“Fine,” I told it impatiently. “Will you come out?”

“What’s the magic word?” the mystery creature sang, obviously enjoying teasing me.

“Please!” I shouted, loosing all patience. Just then, I heard the tree behind me creak, and the voice asked:

“Okay then, who are you?”

I turned and gasped, not believing my eyes.

“You’re… you’re… you’re…” I stammered.

“I’m… I’m… I’m… a chipmunk!” the creature cried, jumping up and down on the grass. “But you’re not answering my question now. I already know what I am!”

I was at a loss for words for a few seconds. Then, I managed to say:

“But chipmunks… chipmunks don’t talk!” The creature put its hands – paws – on its hips and replied defiantly:

“”Oh yeah? Says who? I only know one chipmunk who doesn’t talk, and that’s because she’s still a baby!” Now it was just staring at me, it’s tail twitching every few seconds. When I still didn’t say anything, it added, “Okay, for the last time, who are you? After all you’re the one in my forest!” It began tapping its foot impatiently, and I stifled a giggle. This chipmunk wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen (or heard). Nothing else here was normal by my standards either, so I guessed I might as well get used to strange things in this strange place.

“I’m Liz Moore, and I didn’t mean to intrude in you forest; it was an accident, really!” I looked at the creature apologetically and held out my hand to shake. The chipmunk hesitated, glancing questionably at my hand, then hopped into it. I jumped slightly, but recovered as quickly as I could.

“Okay, Liz Moore from… Where did you say you were from?”

“I didn’t, but I’m from California. Well, just now I was actually in Colorado, but I live…”

“Never heard of those places, anyway,” the chipmunk told me, shaking its head.

“Well, they’re part of the United States of America,” I began, although I didn’t really expect this creature to know its geography.

“Hold up!” the chipmunk interrupted. “I have no idea what you’re talking about! Do you know where this is?” it asked, motioning to the forest around us.

“No…” I replied, suddenly feeling very young and lost.

“Well I do. But I don’t know where these places are that you know about. So we’re even, okay? But what are you gonna do now that you’re here?”

“I… I don’t know. Where is here?”

The chipmunk laughed, and replied, “Well, certainly not there!” It must have thought that was hilarious, because the creature began to loose its breath from laughing so hard, and was forced to sit down. I didn’t think it was funny at all; I had had it with this chipmunk.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you? Well, I don’t think so! I think you’re annoying!” Stunned, the chipmunk just stared at me, and we were both silent for a moment. Then, another voice came out of nowhere.

“You are in the Sacred Forest of the Shandery. And neither of you should be here. It wouldn’t be called “sacred” if anyone were allowed in, don’t you agree Chester?”

The chipmunk – Chester – cowered and moved my thumb to hide behind it. I didn’t know whether or not to be afraid of this new mystery creature, so I stayed where I was.

“About that…” Chester stammered. “Please don’t tell mom! I just wanted to explore! And… and look what I found! An intruder! I shouldn’t get in trouble for that!”

“But you’re not supposed to be here, Ches. I’m going to have to report you, even if you are my little brother.” My eyes widened. Little brother? Then the creature speaking was just another chipmunk?

“So, Liz, I don’t know how you got here, but that’s not my job to find out. Come on with me, and I’ll introduce you to the people who actually care. Chester, you go home. Now!” The chipmunk jumped down from a nearby tree and landed on a stump. It glared at Chester, who quickly hopped off my hand and scurried up a trunk and out of sight as fast as his little legs could carry him. Then, the new creature turned to face me.

“Listen, I have to report you. It’s my job. So if you could make this easy on us both, that would be great. I’m Susie, by the way.”

I just nodded in response, and followed her as she began walking through the trees.

[Chapter 3] Failures

The plan had seemed brilliant when we came up with it. Unfortunately, after three days of searching, its brilliance had faded. In fact, the most interesting thing we’d found was a smelly old top hat.

“Well, this stinks,” Logan said cheerfully.

“I know! It’s probably about a hundred years old, and it’s been buried in moth balls that whole time,” I replied, handing him the hat.

“I bet it belonged to Abraham Lincoln!” Levi told me, coming out from behind a stack of old cardboard boxes.

“Not the hat, Kris! This whole exploration!” Logan exclaimed, sitting on top of another box.

“Yeah, no offense Liz, but this whole ‘treasure hunt’ isn’t going so well. It’s already been three days, and we haven’t found anything!” Zach complained, appearing from between two stacks of blankets. Niki and Liz also emerged from behind stacks of miscellaneous junk.

“Well…” Liz looked hopelessly at Niki and I. I just shrugged, not knowing what to say.

“Can one more day really hurt?” Niki asked, biting her lip and looking at each of the others. She waited anxiously for their responses.

“Just one day? You promise?”

“Then we can give up this whole thing?”

“For the rest of the trip?”

Zach, Logan, and Levi seemed okay with the idea, under those circumstances. From behind Levi, Baylee popped up, grinning and nodding her head in agreement.

“Yes! One more day, then we can go back to our regular vacation.” Liz assured them.

All eyes turned to Jake. He just blinked as his face remained blank.

“If it means that much to you guys… I guess one more day won’t hurt.”

“Thanks Jake! It wouldn’t be the same without everyone helping.” Liz smiled and sat down on a stack of old quilts nearby. All of the dust from between the blankets erupted into the air and formed a cloud around her.

Jake began coughing. “Hey! Be more careful with that dust, Liz!”

All eyes turned towards Jake. He seemed confused for a minute, then realized they were actually looking behind him. He turned too, and gasped. Liz had disappeared.

Of course, we all began to panic.

“Where’d she go?”

“Liz? Liz, this is a trick, right?”

“Check behind the quilts…”

“Maybe around those boxes?”

Their searching proved fruitless after nearly ten minutes. When they finally gave up, they all carefully took seats on the floor or surrounding boxes.

“How could she have just disappeared? It… it just doesn’t make sense!” Niki’s face grew worried as she thought more about it.

Jake moved to sit by her. “I don’t know,” he replied solemnly.

“Well, we’d better go get her grandparents,” Baylee said. She was always the one to reason through a situation while we all freaked out.

Levi stood up. “I’ll go get them.”

We all nodded, so he walked through the small door across the room and disappeared downstairs. For a moment, everything was quiet. No one knew what to think, let alone say. Then, Levi’s stomping up the stairs began echoing through the room. We heard his voice before we saw him.

“Guys! GUYS!!!” When we heard the urgency in his voice, Zach, Logan, Baylee and I stood. Jake and Niki looked up from where they sat. Levi came charging into the room out of breath, so we had to give him a second to regain his thought process. As he did, he was able to sputter:

“The Moores…they’re gone…not in basement…or rooms…or anything!”

“Gone?” I asked. “Is the car here? Maybe they went to town or something. Figure they’d tell us if they did though…”

“No, I checked! And it’s snowing outside! Like, a blizzard! Which means the phone lines are down, of course, because I checked those too.”

Once again struck speechless, we all just stared away into space, trying to come up with a reason they wouldn’t be… well, anywhere.

“Well, if they’re not here, and we can’t get a hold of anyone outside the cabin who could help, I guess we’ll just have to deal with this on our own.” Baylee wasn’t the only person in our family who could reason through a situation.

“But, Kris, don’t you think it’s a little weird that they’re just gone? And what about Kimmie?” Niki was obviously nervous.

“Oh yeah, Kimmie’s still here. She was taking a nap when I poked my head in her room. Should I go get her?”

“No, I will Levi,” Baylee volunteered. With that, she was out the door. The rest of us stood around thoughtfully. It was a lot to have thrown at us all at once. I knew, though, that we had to do something.

“So…” Jake said, trying to start someone talking.

“So we need a plan. We’ve got to go after Liz!”

“We don’t have any idea where she is!”

“Well, if we look around we might find like a clue or something. C’mon, let’s at least try.” Niki still didn’t look too happy, but everyone else nodded slowly. Without another word, we once again spread out through the small room, searching behind every box, hoping beyond hope to find something, anything. When Baylee returned with Kimmie, she set her down by a pile of dusty pillows Zach had just tossed over, and the little girl soon was asleep again.

Nothing was found in the first hour, and everyone was starting to get discouraged again. I didn’t know what to say to convince them to look even a little bit longer, so we took a break for dinner. After examining the leftovers, we sat down to a warm meal of biscuits and gravy, from the night before. The atmosphere in the room was still hopeless, except for Kimmie’s intermittent demands for more food from her high chair. Right after we ate, everyone headed to bed without another word about Liz or her grandparents. I was upset that they all seemed to have given up, but I didn’t want to make them mad. When I was sure they were asleep, I crept back up to the attic room to look around just a little bit more. I started behind the layer of boxes closest to the wall, meticulously looking around each stack. Only a few moments later, I felt something abnormal on the wall. It wasn’t just the wood’s texture; it felt like a groove. My fingers ran over the newfound shape, and followed its pattern as far as my arm could reach.

Excited, I pulled my arm back out, then pushed the stack of boxes back so I could see the wall. Sure enough, it wasn’t just a wall: there were carvings in the shapes of animals and trees, all inside the outline of an arching door. I was ecstatic. The others wouldn’t believe this; that after all our searching, we’d missed just one thing. Of course, they were all asleep now, but I was sure this was important enough to wake them up.

I ran down the stairs, almost tripping over the rug at the bottom. Regaining my balance, I rushed into Baylee’s room and tip-toed over to wake her up without disturbing Kimmie, who had only recently stopped whining and actually fallen asleep. Baylee gave me an awful look, but got up and slipped on her hoodie and slippers anyway. I whispered to her to meet me in the secret room, which she did reluctantly. Meanwhile, I rushed across the hall into Levi and Jake’s room. They both groaned as I shook them awake, but grabbed jackets and went upstairs as well. Logan and Zach were just as complying. It was only when I came to my own room that I met trouble. Niki was still awake, and glared at me when I came in.

“What have you been up to?” she questioned.

“Niki, I found a door, up in the secret room. You’ve gotta come see this!” Not seeing her seriousness, I almost left the room without her. She just stayed on the bed, staring me down. Suddenly worried, I stopped in my tracks and asked:

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem quite like yourself, Nik.”

“Well, Liz is gone, and so are her grandparents. That sure is wrong! And, well, you decided to do some late-night sleuthing, without telling me, so I had to wait up…”

“You didn’t have to wait up!” I retorted, suddenly understanding. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t see if you wanted to come help me. I just thought that you would all be too worn out, so I was just gonna let you all sleep. And I know that you’re worried. I am too! We all are! But I think I may have a solution – please come look. Forgive me, dear friend…”

She still didn’t smile, but got up and walked out of the room. With a slightly heavier heart, I followed. Once again, my spirits rose, though, when I walked into the room upstairs. Sleepy eyes looked up when I entered, but no one said anything. Trying to hold back my excitement, I told them about how I had come up later to look more, and found this door behind a stack of boxes. Then, I walked around them to get to the stack, which I pushed even further out of the way. No one moved.

“Don’t you see it? C’mon, the door, right there. Hello… is anyone awake?” I couldn’t believe that no one seemed to be as excited about this as I was.

Logan was the first to speak.

“I don’t see a door, Kris.”

Quickly, I turned to make sure it was still there. It was. Was he trying to make a joke?

“What do you mean? It’s right there!”

“No, it’s not. Are you kidding Kris? ‘Cause this isn’t really best time for jokes.” Zach began scrutinizing me, as though he could find some flaw in my “joke” just by looking at my face. I was speechless. No one seemed to be able to see it except for me. If that was true, though, I didn’t know what good it would be. I couldn’t do anything on my own without Niki getting more upset, but at this point I didn’t see another solution.

“Okay, guys, I can see the door. Honest, I can, clear as day, right here in front of me. I don’t know why you can’t. But I think this has something to do with Liz, and I’m going to go through the door to see what’s on the other side. Are any of you willing to help? You’ll have to trust me.”

“Oh yeah, great speech, Kris,” Levi told me, obviously still not believing me. “Very touching. But, you aren’t very convincing. And we’re all very tired. Maybe next time… Wait! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I think I see it! That door…”

“Really?” Jake was probably wondering if Levi was in on my “prank” too.

“Why would I back my sister up if I really didn’t? Guys, this is no joke. It’s there.” Then he turned to me. “I’ll help, Kris, and I hope between the two of us, something will turn up.”

“Make it three,” Zach said.

One by one, every person agreed to help, even Niki. Only Baylee was left.

“I – I can’t. We can’t take Kimmie wherever we’re going, and we can’t leave her here all by herself. I’ll stay and take care of her. It’s no problem, really. Someone should probably stay on this side anyway.”

“Okay, great Baylee. Thanks. You can stay up here and guard, kind of. Just watch for anyone coming through the door. Or, well, through that part of the wall. We’ll try to come back in an hour at most.”

Levi had already moved toward the door.

“Okay, open it.” I told him.

Through the doorway was not what I had expected. Maybe a forest or wilderness scene was what I had imagined; not the black, pulsating “goo” I saw. Levi also made a face, but I was the only one who noticed, thank goodness.

“Alright. I’ll go through first and Levi will send you through to meet me.”

Slightly nervous now, I walked forward toward the doorway. Right before I went through, I heard Jake say:

“Man, Kris, it’s kinda funny watching you walk into a wall…”

Then, I was on the other side.

[Chapter 2] Destination: Colorado

Baylee, Levi, and I gathered our things and set them by the front door. All 3 of us were really excited. Not only did we get to go to Liz’s grandparents’ house in Colorado, but we got to see Logan and Zach again! We waited in the front room for about 15 minutes, then Logan drove up in his big, blue Suburban.

"How're y'all doin'?" Zach asked, getting out of the passenger side.

"Great!" we replied in unison, grabbing our bags and running to greet them.

"Zach already called front, but the other seats are free. Go fight for 'em!" Logan told us. He took our luggage and put it in the trunk, but we kept our backpacks and grabbed seats. I ended up with the back 3 seats all to myself, while Baylee and Levi each got a captain seat in the middle.

We spent 2 days on the road. It was a very uneventful trip, but the sights were great, especially once we got to the mountains. You see, Liz's grandparents have a huge cabin in the Rocky Mountains, near Pike's Peak. It did get cooler the farther up we got, but we packed for it. Even spring weather in Colorado can be unpredictable. At least, that's what Liz told me.

We saw the cabin at 7:42 p.m. exactly (I was watching the clock). Liz, Niki, and Jake's faces were glued to the front window. As soon as they recognized our car, the faces disappeared. By the time we pulled up in the driveway, Liz, Niki, Jake, and Liz’s grandpa were all running (well, not so much for Grandpa Moore) to help us bring our bags in.

"Liz, Niki, Jake!" I yelled, running to them. We exchanged hugs and walked back to the car to help with the luggage.

Once we were all back inside with the bags, Niki and Liz showed us our rooms.

"Levi, you'll be in here with Jake. Baylee, you're sharing with Kimmie. Logan, Zach, you two get this room. And the three of us get to share this one!"

All of the rooms were great, but I think that we got the best one. It was painted a very light shade of lavender. The carpet was a butter yellow (also a very light shade) with lavender rugs by the door and closet. The bed was a huge four-poster with a bedspread and pillowcases matching the walls and sheets matching the floor. Plus, there was a vanity, chest of drawers, night stands, and a gigantic closet made of a matching-colored, very light wood. It was absolutely gorgeous.

"Like it, Kris?" Liz asked.

"Wow!" I replied. It really was beautiful. It was also very big. "I'm not so sure we'll all fit, though," I remarked sarcastically.

"Well, I'm sure Liz's grandma has a sleeping bag you could use…" Niki grinned at me and giggled.

"Nah, I'll just shove her in the closet!" teased back Liz.

The three of us all sat down on the bed and began catching up with each other. Liz had kept me pretty up-to-date in her letters, but Niki and I hadn't been writing as often, so I soaked up all she said.

She and Jake were helping their mom open an animal shelter down in North Carolina, where they had moved last summer. So far, they had 5 cats, 3 dogs, and one hamster.

"It's really sad how many people are willing to give up these sweet animals!" Niki told us. "We got all of them within a month."

We exchanged more stories until Liz's grandpa called us down for dinner. He met everyone at the foot of the stairs and welcomed us all officially to the cabin.

We all found our seats and sat down to wait for Liz's grandma to bring out the food. Soon, she came around the corner carrying a huge silver pot.

"Beef stew: the cabin specialty! Rolls are on the way," she set down the pot in front of Liz's grandpa. He took its lid off and a huge cloud of steam rose out.

The entire meal was delicious; probably the best I'd had in a long time. After the stew and rolls, Grandma Moore (with a little help from her husband) brought out a platter of cheesecake, along with toppings: strawberry, chocolate, caramel, and cherry were just a few.

Everyone was completely stuffed by the time we were all finished. Mr. Moore summed up accurately what we were all feeling:

"Well, Sarah, you've made us all fat and happy. I hope we remember to thank you when we wake up."

We all laughed, then said our "good-nights" to the adults. Once all of us “kids” were in our pajamas and ready for bed, we met up in the cabin’s loft (except Kimmie, who we had already put to bed).

“Soooo…” Liz began, “What d’ya think?”

We just grinned back at her. You could tell we all loved it here, even though it was only our first night.

“You know it’s great, Lizzie! But what’s this about a treasure?” Levi definitely had a way of getting to the point.

“I didn’t say ‘treasure’! I said ‘mystery’, Jo!” I grabbed a magazine and aimed a shot at his head, but he ducked just in time.

“Hang on! What’s this about a mystery?” Jake interrupted, playfully glaring at us three girls.

“Seems someone,” this time he focused on his sister, “forgot to mention something to me!”

We laughed, but Zach and Logan began a chorus of “yeahs” behind him.

“Well,” Liz began, once the guys had calmed back down. “I don’t know for sure… it’s really a legend about this house and its property. My grandma was telling me about it. It says that centuries ago, a dreaded pirate named Drake raided this house, because the people who used to live here were really rich. They were well-known for their huge gems and property from royal families passed down or given to them through the years. Anyway, Drake and his crew heard about this family and their treasure, so they took the trek all the way to the middle of Colorado.”

“No way,” Jake interrupted. “They were pirates, right? Well pirates do their dirty work on the sea, or at least near water. The middle of Colorado doesn’t exactly fit that description.”

“Well, that’s true, but even the police records said that it was pirates who stole the treasure. Whether or not that’s true isn’t important anyway,” Liz told him. When it looked like he wasn’t done arguing, Niki added:

“Maybe they were land pirates or something. Just let her be, Jake.”

He could obviously tell when he was beat, so he laid his head back into his hands and faked a bored sigh. Without giving him another look, Liz continued her story.

“The night they finally got here, they came into the house, took all of the valuables and locked every person in the basement.”

“This cabin has a basement?” Levi looked surprised, as though he didn’t believe this house could have anymore room. I almost agreed with him.

“Yes,” Liz said, brushing him off, and attempting to finish the tale. “They hadn’t wanted anyone getting the police, so they locked them away in the cellar, like I said. Then, the pirates disappeared, with all of the treasure. It continues to say that soon after, the law caught up with Drake and his crew, and they returned as many valuables as were left to this house. Years later, though, it all vanished again. No one has seen any sign of the treasures since.”

“Okaa-ay….” Zach continued, looking at Liz, as though he expected more to the story.

“Is that it? What kind of a mystery is that?” Logan was more blunt about it. As the guys were offering their criticism, Liz stood up and walked to a small door at the far end of the loft. I hadn’t seen it there at first, and I guess the others hadn’t either, because they all glanced that way curiously after her as she disappeared through it.

“Um, Liz? Where’d ya go?” Jake stood up, about to head after her, when Liz emerged again. She had both her hands cupped around something, but was being careful not to let whatever it was show.

She sat daintily back onto the couch between Niki and I, then looked across the coffee table to the other couch, where the guys sat.

“A couple of weeks ago, when Kimmie and I first got here, my grandma told me that story about the treasure. I figured it might be possible that those treasures could still be around, since the previous owners supposedly left a ton of boxes here, but my grandparents had never found them. I was looking around up here when I found that hidden room over there.” She nodded her head toward the door she had just come out of. “It’s basically an extra attic. Behind a box in there I found this…” Liz opened her hands and showed us……

“A baseball?” I asked, surprised at the proud look on her face.

"But why doesn't it have stripes?" Baylee added.

Liz just shook her head. "It's a pearl."

Everyone gasped and stared wide-eyed at the white ball in her hand. It was the right size to be a baseball, but was completely white and smooth. The longer I looked at it, the more obvious it became that it must be a pearl, but it was HUGE!

"No way. No way!" Zach exclaimed, getting up to look more closely. Logan and Levi joined him, and even Baylee moved onto the arm of our couch. "The March family, who had been living here when Drake attacked, were famous for a giant pearl , the size of a baseball." Liz told us. "And I'm pretty sure this is it. Not too many pearls this size are wandering around, you know. But that means the other treasures could still be in that room too! My grandparents almost never come up here, and they don't even know about the hidden room.”

“So you want us to help you hunt for a legendary treasure that you aren’t even sure is real in a cramped old attic?” Logan asked her.

“Well, only if you want to,” Liz replied, glancing at each one of us.

Niki spoke up first. “I’ll help,” she told Liz. “I’m here to spend time with you, so if you’re treasure hunting, so am I.” Liz grinned at her, then turned to me.

“Kris?”

“Sure, why not?” I said with a smile.

“I just don’t want to be stuck babysitting Kimmie.” This was from Baylee, who was the unofficial “babysitter” for the little darling.

“Whatever. I guess I’ll help. What else is there to do anyway?” Jake decided aloud.

“Well if Jake’s gonna help, so am I. I’m not just hanging out with Logan and Levi!”

“Hey, well I’m helping too! You’re not getting away that easily!” Logan told his brother, punching him playfully on the arm.

“Me too!” Levi yelled, not wanting to be left out. Everyone shushed him, then laughed quietly.

By eleven o’ clock, the six of us had come up with a game plan. In the mornings, we were going to just hang out and sled outside. Then, after lunch, we’d all meet up in the attic room and start searching. We planned to start the next day.