Artifacts by Pete Catalano

Author:Pete Catalano [Catalano, Pete]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: children's, fantasy, fairy tales, action and adventure, hidden treasure, magic
ISBN: 9781944816735
Publisher: Tantrum Books, Month9Books
Published: 2016-04-04T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The forest at the back of the greenway was like something out of a fairy tale. Rising up sixty or seventy feet into the air, the trees, mostly leafless with thick, gnarly branches, stood as an impenetrable wall, pushing us toward a small twenty-foot wide section of smaller trees that were spread a little farther apart.

“This looks like the easiest way to go,” I said, “but it’s got to be a trick.”

“It’s also gotta be the way they took Mouth,” Tank said.

“Hey, I just climbed a rope into a tree, ran across some bridges made by the Lost Boys from Neverland, and then zip-lined back down to safety,” Korie said. “If they went that way, then I’m going that way.”

Without hesitation, Korie took a first step into the forest … and disappeared.

“Humbuggery,” I said, stealing a Crunch-ism. It seemed to fit the situation.

“You look confused.” Korie laughed from just inside the darkness. “Come on. It’s actually a lot better than you’d think it is.”

Pushing Tank in front of me and pulling Crunch behind, I stepped into the forest right where I thought I heard Korie’s voice.

And she was right.

The forest wasn’t nearly as black as it looked from the outside. Rays of light tumbled through the tree tops, setting the forest floor aglow.

“This is so cool,” Crunch said. “I want to do this in my room.”

I laughed. “I’m going to find the artifact, rescue Mouth, and go home for dinner.”

Crunch smiled. “What are we having?”

“We’re having you go to your own house to eat,” I said.

“Spread out,” Tank said. “I’ll take Crunch with me and you take Korie with you.”

“There’s a surprise,” Crunch said, then slapped his hands over his mouth.

Korie and I walked away from Tank and Crunch and then we turned and headed in the same direction. The ground was covered with patches of moss, and I was looking for anything that could show us which way they took Mouth. About twenty feet farther in, the ground was chewed away as if someone was shuffling their feet, not taking them off the ground as they moved.

“He’s been here!” I yelled.

Tank came running over.

“I hate when he walks like that,” Tank said, seeing the marks in the ground.

“Yeah, but at least he’s letting us know that he’s alive,” I said.

“He better be,” Tank said. “This way I can kill him myself.”

Running through the forest, we followed the scuff marks Mouth had scratched into the dirt. They ended at a small clearing in the forest, a ring of large boulders in the middle, set up like they were getting ready for a campfire.

Crunch collapsed on the first rock he came to and took big gulps of air. He was out of breath—he was always out of breath—but not so much that he’d stop jabbering.

“Do you think they sat here?” Crunch asked. “Do you think they had a bombfire? A roaring fire where the flames got out of control?”

“Probably,” I said, half-listening.

“Do you think they’re holed up somewhere in their

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