Majestica by Sarah Tolcser

Author:Sarah Tolcser [Tolcser, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

17

Mystery Meat

They walked all morning and afternoon, until finally Evelyn couldn’t help letting out a huffy sigh. “Are we there yet?”

“You promised no whining!” Hattie said. “That’s whining.” She measured something on the map with her fingers. “But look! The next supply point should be up ahead.”

“It better be,” Evelyn said crossly. She hadn’t complained all day, but everyone had their limit. She’d lost her hat in the train crash, causing her forehead to get very sunburned. “We’ve been hiking for hours and hours. My feet hurt, and I’m starving.”

Hattie raised her eyebrows. Evelyn got the point.

Not long after, they spotted a flash of red and white. It was a wooden shed, with a fire circle and picnic table nearby. The shed had the word Emergency stenciled on the door in red paint. Leaning up against the building was a handcart full of firewood.

Hattie lowered the map. “This is it!”

Evelyn held up her hand. “Wait,” she said sharply. They’d been so excited to find the camp, neither of them had noticed the shed door hanging open.

Someone else had gotten there first.

“Get down!” Hattie hissed, crouching behind a bush.

Several silent minutes went by. The palm trees stirred overhead. A dragomander flitted across the forest floor, spitting little sparks. Behind them, the river rushed and bubbled. But there was no sign of any humans. The picnic table was covered in dead leaves.

“Do you think they’re still here?” Evelyn mouthed finally. She saw nothing but darkness through the crack in the open door, but it gave her the shivers.

Hattie whispered, “There’s only one way to find out.”

The girls glanced at each other. From the look on her maid’s face, Evelyn knew they were thinking the same thing. Neither of them wanted to check that shed.

The trick to doing something scary was to get it over with all at once, like plunging into a cold swimming pool. “All right.” Evelyn rolled her eyes. “I’ll do it.”

She popped out of the bushes.

“Wait, Evelyn!” she heard Hattie gasp.

She strode across the clearing and jerked the shed door open all the way. There was no one inside. Shelves lined the walls, packed tightly with boxes. Everything had a neatly stenciled label. A dusty canvas bag in the corner read Tent, and a wooden crate said First Aid.

“That was brave,” Hattie said softly, coming up behind her.

Evelyn shrugged, pretending not to be flattered. “One of us had to. If those hunters are lurking around here, I want to know.” She tipped a box over to look inside. “Also, I’m hungry. Aren’t you?”

Lunch had been the chocolate bars Klara had given them the night before. Last week, if someone had told Evelyn she’d be eating nothing but chocolate for lunch, she would have been delighted. But it turned out not to be very satisfying.

Hattie’s voice sounded strange. “Someone was here.” She pointed at a shelf. “Look at this. We’re not the first ones to find this place.”

A creepy feeling went down Evelyn’s neck, like ghostly fingers. Hattie was right. On the far end of the shelf, there was an empty space.

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