CHAPTER 4
After lunch, Tim was full of hot dogs and soda, and he was moving slow. He and the other boys and Mr. Saber were standing on the edge of the wooded park, just inches from the lakefront.
“Are you guys sure you wouldn’t rather spend the day at the beach?” Tim asked his friends.
Brent laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure,” he said. “Trust me, you’ll have fun.”
“But you were at camp all summer. I thought you’d want to hang out more,” Tim said.
“I do,” Brent said. “We’re hanging out now, aren’t we? Look, this will be fun, and I bet you’ll love it.”
Whatever, Tim thought. I’m not going to love it. But I’m going to make sure my team wins! I need that computer.
“Is everyone ready?” Mr. Saber asked.
“I’m ready,” Tim said.
“I’m glad you found some better shoes to wear,” Mr. Saber said, looking at Tim’s feet.
Tim looked down. He’d grabbed an old pair of sneakers from his dad’s car before joining the others.
The sneakers weren’t perfect for hiking, but they were better than flip-flops.
“I’m ready too,” Brent said.
Paul and Tyrone looked at each other and nodded. “We’re ready,” they said.
Mr. Saber looked at Tim, then at the other boys. “Where’s your bottle of water?” Mr. Saber said.
“Um, I don’t have one,” Tim said. “No one said anything about water.” He looked at the other boys. Each of them had a bottle of water in a sling around their shoulders.
“It’s always a good idea to bring water on a hike,” Brent said. “Dehydration could ruin your day out there.”
“It’s okay,” Paul said. “I’ve got plenty. Tim can share mine.”
“Okay,” Mr. Saber said. He looked at his watch. “I’m going to head back to the blanket. Both your caches are about half a mile from this spot, so it should be a fair race.”
“Are you going to tell us when to go?” Brent asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Saber said. “Get ready.”
Tim looked into the woods. The path they were standing on went in pretty deep. But he’d been to this park dozens of times before.
Just a few yards down, the path started to be overgrown with weeds. Beyond that, there was no real path at all. They’d be running through thick forest.
Mr. Saber put up three fingers to count down. “Ready, set . . . ,” he said. “Go!”