“Sink your teeth into this,” said Mr. Daley, sliding a bacon and egg sandwich along the coffee table. Drew picked up the muffin bun with both hands and paused.
“So, like I was saying last night, some of us are gonna go to the field to catch baseball later,” he lied. He kept his eyes on the sandwich and took a massive bite. Nothing creates an appetite quite like a lie before breakfast.
Mr. Daley nodded but didn’t say anything. He was more interested in Drew’s sandwich verdict than his tall tale.
With a mouth full of eggs, Drew mumbled what was intended to be, “It’s so good,” and proceeded to devour his breakfast.
Mr. Daley smiled and stepped back into the kitchen to make a sandwich for himself. Then he sat down on the living room couch next to Drew, and the two of them enjoyed a quiet breakfast together. For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the old wooden clock on the wall.
“Since we can’t work on the park for a while, I was gonna go to the field today with my friends. That’s cool, right?” said Drew, finally breaking the silence. “I talked to Mom about it already.”
After the storm from a few weeks ago, the broken swing set was removed from the park. Mayor Garcia announced that the park would be open for use, but the celebration was postponed yet again.
“Oh, good, yeah, that’s fine, bud. You can go hang out with your friends. Can’t wait to get back to the park, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until summertime. But, hey, since you liked building the swing set so much, how about I help you with some homework, like your mom wants, and then you can help me with some sketches for a new building?”
“For real?”
“Yeah, you’re the one with the artistic eye in the family. We can get some good work in before you leave.”
They finished breakfast, reviewed the math worksheet Mrs. Machado had given for homework, and began to lay out some sketches for a building Mr. Daley’s company was designing. The morning passed swiftly, and the old wooden clock was about to hit noon. When all three hands joined each other in pointing straight up, a soft bell chimed. Realizing the time, Drew rushed up the narrow staircase to get ready. It was almost time for the secret journey to begin.
“I didn’t realize it was already noon!” he shouted on his way up the steps. “Tommy and Caleb will be here soon.”
“Caleb?” said Mr. Daley, walking over to the bottom of the staircase.
“Caleb Monroe. You know him. He was on my baseball team last year.”
“Lanky kid whose hair is always in his eyes?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” Drew answered from his room.
“What about Jeff?”
“He’s doing something with his Pap today.”
“So it’s just the three of you?”
Drew wasn’t sure if he was just being paranoid, but his dad seemed to be asking a lot of questions – more than he normally asked, anyway.
“Well, Zobby’s coming, too.”
“Oh, okay, good,” said Mr. Daley. “You’re just going to the field, right?”
“Yeah.”
There was a brief pause, and Drew suddenly became nervous.
“And Mrs. Anscombe is gonna come down with us too,” he blurted out. He hadn’t planned on telling this additional lie, but he figured it would put an end to his dad’s questions.
“Oh, that’s good,” said Mr. Daley. “Hey, if you wanna stay longer, I can come down and sub in for her if she wants.”
“Um …” Drew was glad he was up in his room, because he could sense his own dishonesty written all over his face. “Well, she usually reads while we play, so she doesn’t mind staying. I’ll tell her you offered, though.”
“Okay, good. And make sure to dress warm. It’s get-sick weather out there now, you know?”
“Got it,” said Drew.
He searched his dresser drawers for a pair of thick socks. After all, his dad was right. The temperature was supposed to drop throughout the day and hit the freezing point by night.
“Do you think it’s gonna snow?” Drew asked. “Mom said it might.”
“Well,” said Mr. Daley, “they said there’s a thirty percent chance this afternoon, and some areas could see up to three inches.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s not gonna snow. But it will get cold.”
Drew slid into his coat and instinctively put on his Pirates hat. Rolling his eyes at his own mistake, he replaced his favorite hat with a red beanie. Before leaving his room, he paused and grabbed his science book from his book bag. He had brought the book to his dad’s even though he didn’t have any science homework. He quickly leafed through it and stopped on page 139, viewing the drawing with mixed feelings. He still loved looking at it, but he was becoming frustrated that he hadn’t made much progress in his search for the Mystery Artist. After recommitting himself to his search following the storm, he had decided a few days later to show the picture to Jeff.
“Look at the detail. It’s like every single pencil stroke is perfect – like everything was supposed to be that way. Isn’t it awesome?” Drew had gushed.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Jeff had said, but Drew could sense his lack of enthusiasm.
Despite Jeff’s lukewarm reaction, Drew still wanted to see if his friend could help him find the Mystery Artist.
“All you have to do is look up everyone online,” said Jeff.
Before Drew could object, Jeff called Tommy to help with the search. In a matter of minutes, the boys were in front of a laptop at Tommy’s house. As Jeff explained the situation to Tommy, Drew felt embarrassed, like everyone was talking about him and he had to sit and listen.
“Well, who’s on the list?” Tommy asked with his fingers on the keyboard.
“Oh, uh, I left the book at my house.”
“Then what are we gonna do? Why do you need to find this out anyways?”
“I remember one of the names – Stacey Janofsky. You can look her up.”
Drew spelled out the name for Tommy, but he withheld the other four names. He didn’t want his friends to know he had a list of the potential Mystery Artists hidden in his wallet. He didn’t want them to know the picture was the reason he had talked to Skylar. And he didn’t want Tommy to know his brother was on the list. Checking online might be helpful, but it felt like cheating, like it was somehow taking away from the search.
“I’m not seein’ nothin’,” said Tommy. “There’s a Stacey Janofsky here, but she’s old. So that can’t be her. Look, she’s from Virginia anyways.”
“Oh well,” said Drew. “It’s no big deal.” He regretted saying anything in the first place, and now he just wanted his friends to drop it.
“Sorry, man,” Tommy said with a shrug.
“Wait,” said Jeff, “what grade is this girl in?”
“Um, I think ninth, but it’s not –”
“Then let’s look her up in a yearbook!” said Jeff. Even though he had little interest in the drawing, he seemed to be excited about the search. “She should be in one of Jason’s old yearbooks, since they’re only a grade apart. At least you can find out what she looks like.”
When Tommy went to find the yearbook, Drew became excited again. After all, until now Stacey Janofsky was just a name on his list. It would be nice to finally put a face to that name.
Tommy returned with Jason’s eighth-grade yearbook and handed it to Drew. Drew flipped to the page with the seventh-graders whose last names began with ‘J’, and there she was: Stacey Janofsky. She had very red hair, she wore purple-rimmed glasses, and she looked quite uncomfortable having her picture taken.
“Hey,” Jeff said to Tommy, “maybe Jason knows her. She’s only a year younger than him. You should ask him.”
Drew wished the words from Jeff’s mouth could be picked up and shoved right back in. He didn’t want Tommy to ask Jason about this! What if Jason is the artist himself? Or what if he’s not and he just laughs at me? Drew knew he might have to approach the intimidating tenth-grader at some point, but he wasn’t ready to do so yet.
“I dunno, man,” said Tommy. “This girl looks like a huge dork, and my brother’s cool. He wouldn’t be friends with her.”
Since that afternoon, neither Jeff nor Tommy had brought up the picture. Maybe they thought Drew forgot about it, because he hadn’t brought it up either. But it was that day that Drew decided he wanted to find the Mystery Artist on his own.
As Drew stood in his room admiring the picture, he heard chatter outside. He went to his window and saw that Tommy and Caleb had arrived. He knew if Jeff had been with them they would have knocked on the door and come inside, but instead they waited outside by the curb.
“Daaay-leee! Daaay-leee!” Caleb chanted.
Tommy chuckled but didn’t join in the chanting.
“They’re here, Dad, I’ll see ya,” said Drew, speeding down the stairs.
He normally would have given his dad a hug before leaving, but he knew the more time he spent in the house, the more likely it was that Mr. Daley would sniff out the kids’ secret plan. So without giving his dad a chance to respond, Drew was already out the front door.
****
“I’m tellin’ you, it’s only like twenty minutes away,” Caleb was saying. “I talked to three different seventh-graders –”
“Whoa, my dad’s right inside,” said Drew. “Don’t be so loud.”
“Come on, he can’t hear us.”
“He’s right, dude,” said Tommy.
“Whatever,” said Caleb. “We ready to go or what?”
Drew looked back to his front door to make sure his dad hadn’t heard anything. “Yeah, we just have to get Zobby first.”
Caleb tossed his head back and threw his hands in the air. “You got to be kidding me. Why is she coming?” Caleb never made it a secret that he didn’t care much for Zobby’s company.
“C’mon, she’s our friend,” Drew bit back.
“She’s your friend,” Caleb muttered under his breath.
Drew considered firing back with a similar comment, but he decided it was better not to respond. He was well aware of Caleb’s disdain for Zobby, but he invited her to come along anyway. The idea of being with just Tommy and Caleb made Drew a bit uneasy. He wasn’t sure why, but Tommy sometimes didn’t seem like himself around Caleb. So because Jeff was busy spending the day with his Pap, Drew invited Zobby. He knew she’d want to come anyway – Zobby was always up for an adventure.
“And it’s not like I hate her,” Caleb continued, “but it’s like she’s always trying to be one of the guys. I mean, it’s stupid that our league lets her play baseball with the boys. She’s a girl. What do you think they invented softball for? And she acts like she can do anything.”
“Are you sure you just don’t hate her because she’s better than you at baseball?” said Drew.
Caleb spun toward him. “Are you serious? I’m way better than her.”
“Well, she did strike you out last year,” said Tommy.
“She – she did not. She got lucky anyways. That umpire was blind.”
“You struck out swinging,” said Drew.
“I guarantee I would crush a homer off her if I ever faced her again!” Caleb cried.
“Okay, just stop,” said Drew as they began walking along the driveway of Zobby’s house.
Although it was right across the street from Mr. Daley’s duplex, the Anscombe house was much larger. Zobby had the luxury of having a big front yard and a big backyard. And best of all, she had a huge bedroom, probably bigger than both of Drew’s rooms combined.
Mrs. Anscombe opened the door and greeted the boys. As Drew was answering Mrs. Anscombe’s questions about how his mom was doing, Zobby came storming through the doorway, fidgeting into a puffy, navy blue coat.
“Sorry, Mom, we’re already late. We have to go, I’ll be back later.”
“Elizabeth Margaret, get back here right now!” Mrs. Anscombe shouted.
Fearing that their secret plan had somehow been uncovered, Drew, Tommy, and Caleb exchanged nervous glances.
“Fine, Mom,” she said reluctantly. She marched back up to the doorway, hugged her mom, and accepted a kiss on the cheek.
“Now that’s better,” said Mrs. Anscombe. “You’re still not too old for that. Your sister thinks she is, too, and let me tell you, she’s not. And remember, the reason you have that cell phone is so I can get ahold of you. So if I call, I don’t care what you’re doing, you better answer. Understood?”
“I understand, Mom.”
As the kids made their way down the street, Drew began to question what he had told his dad. He wondered why he even lied about Mrs. Anscombe going to the park in the first place. He and his friends had gone to the park by themselves over the summer, so why would it be different now? Meanwhile, the others were captivated by Zobby’s new cell phone.
“When did you get a phone?” asked Caleb, with an obvious hint of jealousy.
“Just last night,” said Zobby, pulling the phone from the left pocket of her jeans. “My family was due for an upgrade, so I finally got my own phone. My mom wanted me to use my sister’s old one, but I didn’t want that. It has scratches all over it, and I can fit like ten times more music on this one! So I had to get an A in math and at least a B in science on my report card. I got an A in both, so I got to pick out any phone I wanted.”
“Wow,” said Tommy, leaning over and looking at the phone as Zobby swiped across the screen, showcasing all the phone’s capabilities. “It’s loaded. Aw man, you got movies on this thing, too? That’s so sick. I wish I had that on mine,” he said as he whipped out his phone.
“At least you two have cell phones,” said Caleb. “I told my parents they better get me one for Christmas. Let me see yours,” he said as he grabbed the phone from Tommy’s hand.
“Yeah, just be careful,” said Tommy.
Caleb’s eyes were glued to Tommy’s phone for the next several minutes. As the kids made their way down the winding hill that led to the baseball fields, Drew continued to turn around to make sure no one had followed them.
Tommy finally noticed Drew’s apprehension. “What’s goin’ on, man? You think the zombie revolution’s gonna start and we’re gonna have to make a run for it?”
“Huh?” said Drew. “Oh, no, it’s just that we’re gonna get in so much trouble if anyone finds out where we’re going. I don’t wanna get grounded, that’s all.”
Caleb lifted his eyes from Tommy’s phone and said, “If you’re scared about something, it should be getting beat up, not grounded. If the older kids see us there, they’ll kill us. Well, not me, since I’m on the hockey team.”
Drew’s eyes grew wide. Caleb looked at him with a cocky smirk. He had plugged a new and horrifying thought into Drew’s head, and he didn’t seem to mind.
Drew began to reconsider the whole plan. On top of having to lie to his dad about it, there was also a chance of getting pounded by older kids? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. His feet must have been in agreement with his mind, because his steps had come to a halt, and he was now several paces behind the others. Zobby was the first one to notice.
“Wait, Drew, what’s wrong? Do you not wanna go?” she asked. Her tone was concerned, not judgmental.
“No way!” Caleb exclaimed before Drew had a chance to answer. “You’re scared to go? Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” said Tommy.
“Well, what’s the big deal about this place anyway?” Zobby asked.
“I’ll tell you what’s the big deal about this place,” said Caleb. “Every kid at Emerson has heard about it, but none of us ever knew where it was or how to get there. Now we finally do, and we know nobody’s gonna be there today, so we have to check it out.”
“Wait,” said Drew, “what do you mean you know nobody will be there? You just said we might get beat up by older kids!”
“No, look, man,” said Caleb. “All the middle school hockey players had practice at seven this morning. I didn’t have to go ‘cause I only play with them part-time. But the coach was real mad ‘cause he thought we slacked in our last game. Which I don’t get, ‘cause we won, so who cares?”
“Yeah, that’s dumb,” said Tommy.
“Yeah. Anyways, practice is always long when he’s mad. And no one’s gonna wanna walk this far after a long practice.”
“But what about the people who don’t play hockey?” asked Zobby.
Although it was a legitimate question, Caleb rolled his eyes simply because Zobby was the one who asked it. “No one goes there without Huddy. He’s like, the leader. And most of the stuff there is his.”
“Who’s Huddy?” Zobby asked.
“Come on,” said Caleb. “You really don’t know who Huddy is?”
Zobby shrugged and waited for an answer. She was never embarrassed about asking questions.
“Everyone knows Huddy,” Caleb explained. “He set a school record for goals when he was in sixth grade! He’s like, gonna go to the NHL someday. His name’s Mike, but everyone calls him Huddy since his last name is Hudock.”
Drew’s eyes lit up. “Did you say Mike Hudock?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Uh, no reason,” said Drew, trying to act casual. “You know what, I think Caleb’s right.”
“You do?” asked a puzzled Zobby.
“Yeah, we’ve wanted to check this place out for a long time. Let’s go for it.”
The fear and regret had evaporated when he heard the name. Mike Hudock, one of the kids on Drew’s list, frequented the very place Drew was on his way to. That meant there could be clues about him there, and that alone was enough for Drew to venture forward, regardless of the consequences.
The four kids continued on. Soon the baseball fields were in sight, but the kids would not be stopping there. They strode through the infield and across the grass of the big field, toward the deep, thick woods, each step that much closer to the forbidden hideout known as The Shack.
****
The Shack was a giant treehouse located somewhere deep in the woods. According to legend, it had been built over 20 years ago, it sat 30 feet in the air, and only those who were invited could hang out there. Over time, kids would leave valuable items there, especially ones their parents wouldn’t approve of. In fact, if anyone made the mistake of mentioning The Shack around any adults, that kid would promptly be taught a lesson.
As Caleb and Tommy began discussing the goods that could be found at The Shack, as well as the rumored methods of punishment for anyone who revealed the location to an adult, Drew found himself focusing on the baseball field. Walking through the infield dirt and the stiff, crunchy outfield grass, he was reminded how much he missed it. He could almost smell baseball – but it seemed dulled. The colder weather had a way of masking the scent of the game.
He thought about how the seasons seemed to change so quickly. The sun was hiding its head earlier each day, and the winter winds were approaching. Summertime always brought out the freckles on Drew’s face, but now there wasn’t a single one to be found. It was as though he physically changed each time baseball ended, but always returned to form the following spring.
When he rejoined the conversation, Caleb and Tommy were still discussing the treasure at The Shack.
“Everyone says they got paintball guns, fireworks, and a whole treasure chest full of cool stuff,” said Caleb.
“Yeah, and most important, no parents know about it,” said Tommy.
“How’d you guys find out where it is?” Zobby asked.
“Well, like I was saying before, I’ve been playing on the middle school hockey team,” said Caleb. Now, because it allowed him to brag, he didn’t mind Zobby’s question.
“And a bunch of them were talking about it. Since I’m younger, they never woulda told me, but this one kid, Franky, he was talking about it all loud in the locker room. He said all you gotta do is go to the baseball fields and stand behind the right field fence, by the sign for Bo’s Auto Garage. Then you put Drake’s Car Wash into your phone’s GPS. It tells you to go on a road, but if you just walk straight for Drake’s Car Wash, it takes you right to The Shack.”
“How does that work?” asked Drew.
“How does what work?”
“The GPS. How does it know where to go?”
Caleb looked at him strangely. “I dunno. Who cares? It just works. You sound like Mrs. Machado. She’s always asking how you get the answer. As long as you get the right answer, who cares how you got there?”
“Yeah, who cares?” echoed Tommy.
“What if it’s wrong?” said Drew.
“It can’t be wrong,” said Caleb. “It’s a machine.”
Drew shrugged. “Okay, just wondering.” He was skeptical that the GPS would work, but he decided not to say anything else about it.
“Well, there better not be anyone else there, or we’re gonna be in for it,” said Zobby.
“You have no idea,” said Caleb. “If the older kids catch you, they tie you to a tree and shoot you with paintballs. And then if you tell anybody where The Shack is, they hunt you down in school and give you swirlies every day.”
“That’s nothing,” said Tommy. “My brother said some kid named Colin who went to our school a couple years ago, he found the place and tried to steal all the stuff there – you know, the fireworks, slingshots, gold coins, all that stuff. And the older kids caught him and … they made him walk the plank.”
“What’s the plank?” asked Drew.
“Well, they say The Shack’s up in a super tall tree. You gotta climb a huge ladder to get up to it and everything. And at the top there’s a plank, like on a pirate ship, and it sticks out above a creek. There used to be a rope up there so you could swing out into the deep part of the creek, but it fell off or something. Anyways, the older kids made Colin walk the plank. He had to jump off it into the creek, and it’s like thirty feet in the air. ‘Cept here’s the thing …”
Tommy stopped walking and scanned everyone’s face. Caleb tossed some hair from his eyes so he could watch as Tommy finished the story. “From up in The Shack, you can’t tell where the water in the creek is shallow. With the rope you could swing across to the deeper end, but without the rope, you got nothin’. So when you jump off, you could land on rocks and break your legs. That’s what happened to that Colin kid. He had to leave Emerson ‘cause he was in a wheelchair after that, and everybody knew why.”
“Wow,” said Caleb, who seemed to hang on to every word of Tommy’s story.
Drew and Zobby looked at each other, trying to read each other’s reaction to the tale, but neither allowed their expression to reveal any fear.
The kids continued along the outfield fence of the big field. They passed the advertisement sign for Melia’s Market, then the sign for Rizzo’s Pizza, and a moment later they reached the sign for Bo’s Auto Garage. They climbed over the fence, and the four of them stood gazing into the woods.
“Well,” said Tommy, “here we are. I guess me and Zobby should put Drake’s Car Wash into our phones, right?”
“Ye-yeah, that’ll get us to The Shack,” said Caleb, his voice shakier than before.
Tommy and Zobby set Drake’s Car Wash as their destination, and the four kids entered the woods, a bit surprised at, but quite impressed with, their own audacity.
****
Moments later they were wading through brush, ducking under low-hanging branches, and maneuvering around giant trees, and Drew had forgotten about Tommy’s horror story. Dragging his feet through the crumbling leaves, he soon found himself several paces behind the others, but they didn’t seem to notice. They approached a huge tree that had fallen across their path. Drew wondered if this tree had gone down last month, another fallen soldier in the war waged by the storm. The other three kids climbed over the tree, not lifting their eyes from the phones, seemingly unaware that the tree was even there, and then veered to the right. I guess the GPS is saying to go that way, Drew thought, though he still doubted it would actually get them to The Shack.
After he climbed over the tree, he heard Zobby say something about a low battery, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He realized the weather had turned out to be rather agreeable. The crisp, early-December air was cut swiftly by the bright sun. He removed his beanie from his head and put it in his coat pocket. The woods were becoming thicker, but the tree branches were bare enough to allow the sun to shine through, warming Drew’s head and speckling the ground with patches of light. He felt the sun on the right side of his forehead and wished for summer again.
“Come on, Drew, we’re almost there!” yelled Tommy from the front of the line.
“Yeah,” said Caleb, who had also been staring at Tommy’s phone, “we gotta be close.”
Zobby shook her head and looked up from her phone. “No we aren’t! My map says we’re still eight minutes away. That’s eight minutes if you’re driving. That’s at least like an hour walking.”
“Are you serious? No way,” said Caleb. “Let me see that.” He grabbed Zobby’s phone from her hand.
“Hey, give it back,” Zobby snapped.
“Just a sec, I just wanna see it. You don’t have to freak out about it. What … are you a girl or something?” He laughed and looked to Tommy and Drew for support, but neither of them joined him. He rolled his eyes and handed Zobby her phone.
“Thank you,” said Zobby. “And yes, Caleb, I am a girl. I’m surprised you were smart enough to figure it out. But I’m also a girl who can do this …”
She thrust her arms out and pushed her hands into the fronts of his shoulders. Caleb tripped over a branch and fell to the ground. Drew came running up after Caleb hit the dirt. Caleb got to his feet, brushed his dark hair from his red face, and tried to lunge at Zobby, but Tommy stepped in the way.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Tommy as he restrained Caleb.
“Are you kidding me?” Caleb screamed. “Why are we even hanging out with this … this …”
“Girl? Is that the word you’re looking for?” Zobby taunted. “The same girl who struck you out in baseball and now the same one who threw your butt to the ground?”
“C’mon, Zob, not helping,” said Drew.
“Well, as long as he doesn’t touch my stuff, we’ll be fine, okay?” she said, still glaring at Caleb.
“Whatever. Let’s just keep going,” Caleb said, stomping off.
“Guys, what if we really aren’t close yet?” Drew asked once Caleb was out of earshot. “We left my house at like 12:15, and we’ve already been gone awhile. I told my dad we were at the field with Zobby’s mom, but, still, I can’t come home too late.”
“Come on, man, we gotta be almost there,” said Tommy. “And it’s gonna be so cool. I even brought my mom’s candle lighter so we can light fireworks.”
Drew looked to Zobby for backup but didn’t get the response he hoped for.
“Well, we have already come this far, right?” she said. “And the fireworks idea does sound cool. Hey, I have an idea.”
She tapped and swiped on her phone and put it to her ear. A few seconds later she was talking to Drew’s dad.
“Hey, Mr. Daley, it’s Zobby. How are you? … Nope, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you know we’ll be hanging out a little longer than we thought. Drew didn’t want you to be worried. … Yeah, I got a new cell phone. Pretty cool, right? … Uh, oh yeah, she’s here, don’t worry. … All right, thanks. … Um, yeah, we’ll definitely be back before it’s dark out. … Okay, sounds good. Bye, Mr. Daley.”
“Wow, I gotta admit, that was genius,” said Tommy.
“I do what I can,” said Zobby, smiling and taking a bow.
Drew was glad the journey could continue, but he wished he didn’t have to lie to his dad again. As he thought about it, though, he figured that this wasn’t really another lie. It was just an extension of the previous one. His dad already thought the kids were at the field with Zobby’s mom anyway. Besides, he thought, Dad isn’t too worried about me. Mom would be mad if she found out about all this, but Dad isn’t like that.
The three quickened their pace and caught up to Caleb. They continued to trudge deeper and deeper into the woods, farther than any of them ever had before.
“We sure we’ll find our way back?” asked Drew.
“Yeah, we have two phones with GPS,” said Zobby. “I just need to hit a little button that says ‘home’ and it’ll take us straight back.”
“But isn’t your phone gonna die soon?”
“No, Caleb, it’s not. It’s Tommy’s phone that’s close to dying. My phone has an extra-long battery life. This sucker won’t be dying any time soon.”
“Whatever,” Caleb grumbled and looked the other way.
The four kids traveled in silence for the next several minutes. While the other three gazes were sucked into the little cell phone screens, Drew sauntered along behind them, admiring the scenery. He noticed that although most of the fallen leaves were brown, a few still had hints of green and gold and auburn in them. He also detected a unique pattern in the trees. For a while, the kids had been trudging through an area of towering pine trees with thick trunks. But now they had reached a stretch of pale, skinny, leafless trees. Looking ahead, though, Drew saw that soon they would be weaving between more lush, towering pines, grander than any they’d passed so far.
Shortly after they passed through the skinny trees, a small gully about 50 feet to the left caught his eye. Just beyond the gully was a hillside where big, moss-covered rocks barricaded what looked like a secret cave. Drew was tempted to go investigate it, but he knew The Shack was today’s destination. He thought about asking Zobby to take a picture of the rocks with her phone but decided against it. It would be cooler to try and draw them anyway, he thought.
“Come on, man, what are you doing back there?” yelled Caleb.
“Oh, sorry,” said Drew. Without realizing, he had again come to a complete standstill, and everyone was several yards ahead of him on the other side of a row of thick bushes. He slipped through the bushes and caught up.
“Oh no!” Tommy wailed. “My phone died!”
“Now aren’t you glad I’m here, Caleb?” said Zobby. “Without my phone, we’d be lost.”
Caleb simply sneered and rolled his eyes.
“Oh, then I guess it’s not a big deal,” said Tommy. “We can just use Zobby’s phone. Besides, look!” He pointed to a ridge just above a thin stream in the distance.
“It’s …”
Zobby looked up from her phone and smiled. “It’s The Shack.”
****
Atop a small hill just beyond a clearing, three strong trees stood close together. In the grasp of their branches, as if it were being lifted to watch over the world, was the biggest treehouse the kids had ever seen. No longer were any of them staring at a cell phone. Instead all four were racing to The Shack.
Even in a full sprint, Drew tried to take in all the features of The Shack. The red paint was faded, weathered by frosty winters and baked dry by hot summers. The three trees holding the mighty structure each emerged from the earth in a slightly different direction, and their crooked but sturdy branches crawled from the trunks to form the perfect home for a treehouse.
Tommy reached the base of The Shack first, followed closely by the others, and climbed the wooden ladder. Within seconds they were all inside. Although it was immediately clear that some of the stories about The Shack were exaggerated – the treehouse was about 12 feet in the air, not 30, and there didn’t appear to be a pirate ship-style plank anywhere – the kids still were in awe as soon as they entered. Even Tommy, the tallest of the four, could stand without ducking. From the inside, it was clear that The Shack had been built using several different types of wood, and a window had been cut into one of the walls with a handsaw.
The floor was lined with scraps of blue outdoor carpet. In one corner sat two lawn chairs and a little square table. In the opposite corner there was a CD player and a stack of CDs on the floor. Zobby went to that corner, searched through the CDs until she found one she liked, and put it in the CD player.
“CDs?” Caleb scoffed. “What are they, like a hundred years old?”
“Yeah,” said Tommy, “I got all my music on my phone.”
Zobby shrugged. “Your phone can’t play it like this,” she said, cranking up the volume.
The back wall was covered with drawings. Drew gravitated toward the artwork. He ran his hand over the pictures on the wall, trying to sense the time and effort that had gone into them. The biggest drawing was of the Pittsburgh Penguins logo. It appeared to have been drawn with a black permanent marker. The picture wasn’t scaled well; the penguin’s beak was too long, and one leg was shorter than the other. But Drew knew that everyone had to start somewhere. Maybe his silhouette he painted on the swing set wasn’t perfect either, but he had still put a lot of work into it.
He turned around and saw that Tommy and Caleb were focused on something on the floor in the middle of The Shack. He had stepped right past it without noticing on his way to the decorated wall.
“We gotta get in there,” said Caleb, staring down with eager eyes at the locked treasure chest.
“I know, but how?” said Tommy, trying with all his might to pry open the lid. “It’s locked shut. Without the key, we can’t do nothin’.”
“At least we made it here,” said Drew. “This place is awesome.”
“But there’s no point in being here if we can’t see what’s in the treasure chest,” said Caleb, crossing his arms.
“I hate to say it, but maybe Caleb’s right,” said Zobby. “Besides, there’s probably a key around here somewhere. A bunch of different people come here, right? There’s probably a key hidden somewhere so everyone who comes here can get into the chest.”
All four kids searched every possible spot inside The Shack but didn’t find anything.
“This is pointless,” Caleb whined. “Zobby’s probably wrong anyways. Everybody probably has their own key. Or Huddy keeps it. We’re never gonna get it open.”
Drew wasn’t ready to give up, though. It made sense for the key to be hidden somewhere on site, the same way a key was hidden at his house.
“Wait!” Drew exclaimed. “I think I know where it is!”
He darted to the ladder and climbed down. He ran to the tree trunk in the back, dropped to his knees, and began tossing aside all the dirty leaves that were piled there. The others stuck their heads out the window and watched. Drew could hear Caleb whispering his doubts from above, but he kept digging until he felt something in his grasp. He snatched a little tin box from the earth and opened it. Smiling ear to ear, he raised his arm to reveal a brass key.
“No way!”
“How’d you know?”
“Get up here!”
Drew climbed back into the treehouse as the kids laughed and celebrated.
“Hurry up, open it,” Caleb urged.
“Wait, seriously, how’d you know where to look?” asked Zobby.
“My mom told me a story once about these burglars who went around house to house, knocking on doors. If someone answered, they’d pretend to be salesmen and then just leave. But if no one answered, they’d search the front porch for a spare key. My mom said a lot of people have a spare key right on their front porch, like under a rock or something.”
“Yeah, my family does,” laughed Tommy.
“Yeah, and my mom said everyone knows people do that. So what you should do is hide the key near the front porch, but not on it. That’s what these kids did. Instead of hiding the key in The Shack, they hid it near The Shack. I figured the tree in the back would be a good spot.”
“Not good enough,” said Caleb, rubbing his hands together. All his enthusiasm had returned as soon as Drew found the key. “Now stop wasting time and open it!”
Drew slid the key into the lock. It fit perfectly. The kids were so quiet that they could hear the inner clicking of the key going into its counterpart. As Drew turned the key, his stomach turned with it in anticipation. The treasure chest unlocked and Drew lifted the lid, revealing the contents: an assortment of fireworks, a box of matches, a stack of comic books, a pack of water balloons, a jug of water, a funnel, one container of green paintballs, one container of orange paintballs, a sling shot, two baseball mitts, a baseball signed by Cal Ripken Jr., a makeshift bow and arrow, four cans of root beer, an unopened bag of pretzel rods, a half-empty bag of Doritos, and a notepad with a list of names written on it.
“See, I told you this would be worth it,” said Caleb, rummaging through the chest.
Drew held the autographed baseball, felt the laces, and wished it was his.
“Cool, they have pop in here,” said Zobby. “My mom never lets us drink pop.” She pulled one of the chairs to the middle of the room, sat down, cracked open a can of root beer, and took a sip.
Drew carefully placed the baseball on the floor and picked up the notepad. Near the bottom of the list was the name Mike Hudock. He really does come here. The notepad was filled with drawings. None of them were quite like the one from his science book, but they were good nonetheless. They definitely seemed different from the hockey-playing penguin drawn on the wall.
“All right, guys, it’s fireworks time,” said Tommy, pulling his mom’s candle lighter from his pocket.
“Do you even know how to do it?” Zobby asked.
“Yeah, it’s easy. I’ve seen my uncle do it a hundred times. See, this is called a Blue Blaster …”
He took a small, blue firework from the treasure chest, placed it facing out on the ledge of the window, toward the clearing, and lit the fuse. Everyone took a step back as the firework began to hiss, and everyone but Tommy covered their ears. Seconds later, the firework blasted out of The Shack and exploded into what looked like millions of tiny blue specks.
“See! How sweet was that!”
“My turn, let me try,” said Caleb. “I wanna use a bigger one. What’s this one called?” He removed a larger, silver firework from the chest and presented it to Tommy.
“That’s a Silver Salvo. It’s way more stronger than a Blue Blaster.”
“Awesome,” said Caleb, grabbing the lighter from Tommy.
He set the firework on the window ledge just as Tommy had done. He lit the fuse and stepped back, but the firework began to wobble. The kids froze. It teetered on the window ledge a moment, and then, as if it had made up its mind, it fell backwards onto the floor inside The Shack.
“It’s gonna explode!”
“Bail!”
The kids scurried down the ladder and jumped to the ground. An intensified zing echoed from The Shack, followed by a loud pop pop pop. Then the firework exploded completely, and the treehouse emanated a bright red light.
The kids sat on the ground, speechless, for several moments before standing up. A pink ribbon of smoke floated from the window of The Shack and disappeared in the still air.
“We should probably get outta here,” suggested Tommy.
“Wait,” said Drew, “let’s check out the damage first.”
The kids climbed with slow, trembling steps. Hesitantly, they lifted themselves into the smoke-filled treehouse. The music Zobby had turned on earlier was still playing, though now it seemed unwelcome. Once the fog cleared and the kids were able to see, their guilt worsened. The firework must have ricocheted off each side of the treehouse before exploding, as there were now black marks on all four walls. Most of the drawings on the wall were destroyed. A sharp pain pierced Drew’s side as a physical reminder of the art the storm had destroyed just weeks ago. After the swing set, I couldn’t blame anyone. But these artists, they can blame us.
There was a hole burned through the carpet where the firework had exploded. And worst of all, that hole was right next to the opened treasure chest. Drew carefully examined each item, one by one. Some didn’t appear to have suffered any damage – the baseball gloves, paintballs, and sling shot looked fine. But some of the comic books were barely recognizable, and the autographed baseball had a burn mark that obscured Cal Ripken Jr.’s signature.
“Well,” said Tommy, “at least the Silver Salvo didn’t hit all the other fireworks and blow the whole place up.”
But that didn’t make Drew feel much better. He sifted through the remains to check for further damage. As he leafed through one of the comic books, a piece of paper fell out. It was slightly thicker than regular paper and had been folded twice. He unfolded it and found that it was a painting, perhaps completed in an art class, of a skeleton riding a big motorcycle. The only colors used were black and varying shades of gray, except for the skeleton’s jacket, which was a bright candy apple red. The painting didn’t impress Drew the way the drawing from his science book had, but he could still tell that this artist was talented. Like the drawing of the ocean scene, it was obvious that a lot of time and effort had gone into this picture. Could Huddy have painted it? And if so, did it mean that he had drawn the ocean scene, too? And why was Drew just now seeing so many works of art? Was it possible that they had always been around but he was just noticing them now?
“What are you looking at?” Tommy asked.
“Uh, nothing.” Drew folded the picture and slipped it into his pocket.
“Listen, we’ll throw everything back in the treasure chest and get outta here,” Caleb said nervously. “It’s getting late anyways.”
“But maybe we should try –” began Drew.
“Oh no, you got to be kidding me,” Tommy interrupted.
“What?”
But no explanation was needed. A murmur of voices was approaching. Drew peeked out the window and saw three older boys walking toward The Shack. Zobby turned off the music.
“I thought you said no one would be here, Caleb!” she said.
Caleb glanced at Zobby, and a sly smile formed on his face.
“Just follow my lead,” he said.
****
The four hurried down the ladder as the three older boys inched closer.
“Isn’t that Roey?” one of them said.
“Yeah, Kris, it is. Hey, Roey, I thought we made it clear The Shack ain’t for little babies like you,” taunted another.
“Uh, hey guys,” said Caleb.
“Why are they calling him Roey?” Zobby whispered.
“Caleb Monroe, so they call him Roey,” Tommy whispered back. “It’s just a dumb hockey nickname.”
Now all seven kids were standing near the base of The Shack. One of the three older boys, tall with intense blue eyes, stepped in front of his two friends.
“These kids are trespassing,” he said. “I guess we gotta teach ‘em a lesson.”
“Nah,” said Kris, “it’s not a big deal. Plus Roey’s been doin’ good work for us on defense. I’d hate to see him outta the lineup.”
Drew, Tommy, and Zobby smiled at each other and breathed a collective sigh of relief. Maybe Caleb could get them out of this mess after all.
“And look,” Kris continued, “The Shack’s still standing. It’s not like they did anything to it. They probably just wanted to see if it was real.”
The kids’ smiles instantly morphed into awkward glances, and the change did not go unnoticed by the tall, blue-eyed boy.
“What was that? Did you see that?” he said. “They all looked at each other funny when you said they didn’t do anything. They must’ve messed something up – or stole something. Empty your pockets …”
“Relax, Huddy, these kids seem harmless,” said Kris.
Drew straightened up when he heard the name. It’s Huddy. Drew studied him, as if a clue would present itself if he watched him closely enough. His dark hair was shaved on the sides and spiky on top. Beneath his icy eyes was a small, turned-up nose. He stood with his fists clenched and his elbows flared away from his body, as if he had someone in a headlock in each arm. And he was the only kid there without a jacket. In jeans and a red t-shirt, he looked unbothered by the cold.
“Well, why’s this kid looking at me like that?” Huddy said. His eyes seemed capable of burning a hole right through Drew. “You got a staring problem or something? Huh?”
“Uh, no, sorry.”
Huddy glared at Drew for another second before curiously lifting his head in the air. “What’s that smell? Smoke?” He quickly stepped toward The Shack and grabbed a rung of the ladder.
“It was Zobby!” Caleb blurted out.
Huddy spun around and charged toward him.
“What did you say?” he demanded, standing inches from Caleb. Every word he spoke stung the air like venom.
“Come on, cool it, man, we still don’t know what happened,” said Kris.
“Well, what did happen?” said Huddy, leaning down into Caleb with his arms still flared away from his body. “And who’s Zobby? What kind of name is that anyways?”
“She’s Zobby,” said Caleb, pointing.
Huddy’s head turned, and Caleb used the momentary distraction to take two quick steps backwards. Then he continued:
“It’s a dumb name, I know. And, uh, we wanted to come to The Shack ‘cause we heard about how the cool kids come here – like you guys, you guys are real cool. So, uh, one of us heard about how to get here and we just wanted to check it out. Then Zobby like, begged us to open the treasure chest, so she found the key and opened it. Then she wanted to light the fireworks. I didn’t think it was a good idea, but she did. You know how girls are always messing stuff up. So she lit a firework and it blew up in The Shack. But it was an accident. We’re sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” said Huddy.
“Yeah,” Caleb nodded.
But Drew could tell that Huddy wasn’t buying Caleb’s apology. The situation was as combustible as the fireworks, and Huddy’s fuse had been lit.
“You’re sorry?” he repeated. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, what are you talking about, Caleb?” said Zobby. “I never even touched any fireworks.”
“Oh, come on, Zobby,” said Caleb. “We all know it was you. Stop lying about it.”
Zobby couldn’t contain her anger. She lunged at Caleb, but Tommy caught her before she got to him.
“You are such a snake, Caleb!” she screamed as Tommy held her back. “You dropped the firework in The Shack. You showed us this place to begin with! And you can’t handle that I struck you out in baseball last year and that I knocked you down today! You’re such a –”
“Stop!” said Kris. “Everyone needs to calm down. Let’s just check out The Shack and see what the damage is.”
“Yeah,” said the third older boy quietly. He was standing behind Huddy and Kris.
As Kris stepped toward the treehouse, all eyes followed him – except for two blue ones. Huddy’s gaze remained locked on Zobby. As Kris grabbed a rung of the ladder, Huddy charged at Zobby and tackled her to the ground. He wasn’t looking for the truth; he wanted vengeance. His treehouse was ruined, and somebody was going to pay. He tried to grab Zobby while she was on the ground, but she rolled, hopped to her feet, and took off running. Huddy chased after her, and the rest of the kids did their best to keep up.
Huddy appeared to be faster than his prey, but she continued to change directions, making sharp turns around trees and zigzagging through the woods. She had no clue where she was going, but she knew she had to get away from Huddy. He was getting closer and closer, and Zobby tripped over a branch and fell to the ground, tumbling down a small hill.
After a fall like that, Drew figured Zobby would be hurt badly. But, as always, Zobby surprised him. She somersaulted, landed on her feet, and resumed a dead sprint. Huddy looked shocked, but he wasn’t giving up. He caught up to her again. Just as Zobby’s jacket was about to be in his grasp, Kris came flying in and tackled him to the ground.
“What are you thinking, man? Are you gonna beat up some girl? And we don’t even know if she did it, remember?”
Kris had Huddy pinned to the ground so he couldn’t move. Huddy was taller than Kris, but it was clear that Kris was stronger.
“Get off me, man,” said Huddy, struggling to squirm free.
Zobby stopped running but remained several feet away from Huddy and Kris. Drew, Tommy, and the unnamed older boy were now surrounding Huddy and Kris. Caleb was gone.
“I’m not gonna do anything, I’m fine,” said Huddy, in a much calmer voice than before. Kris finally unpinned him and helped him up.
“Besides, you’re right,” said Huddy, brushing dirty leaves from his shirt. “Maybe it wasn’t her. Where’s that creep Caleb, huh? Row-eeee, come out, come out, wherever you are!”
But there was no sign of Caleb anywhere.
“I guess he ran off,” said Drew.
“You think? I don’t think he’d do that,” said Tommy.
“So, what now?” asked Kris.
“Yeah, what now?” said the third boy.
“I’ll tell you what now,” Huddy barked back, the rage in his voice rising again. “Somebody’s gonna fess up and tell us what happened to The Shack. Our Shack. I don’t care if it was Roey or not, none of you should’ve been in there, and none of you should’ve touched my stuff.”
The third older boy finally spoke up. “C’mon, Huddy, it’s not like we built The Shack, right? And most of the stuff in there is just stuff other kids left there, right? You’ve used other kids’ stuff, too. I mean, we all have, ya know?”
“But they ruined it!” Huddy snapped back. “Did we ever ruin it? No!”
The quiet boy opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, but with Huddy’s intimidating glare piercing into him, he simply nodded. Drew searched the boy’s face trying to figure out what he wanted to say, but the only thing he could detect was uncertainty.
“Well, listen,” said Zobby as she finally took a few steps forward. “It was all our faults. We all wanted to hang out in The Shack. No one meant for anything to get ruined. We really are sorry. We’ll help you clean it up, and we’ll even replace whatever we can.”
Kris nodded as if to accept the apology and the offer, but Huddy spoke up again.
“No, you can’t just say you’re sorry and act like everything is okay. I had a baseball glove in there. And …” His voice wavered, as if his anger was now joined by sadness, “and comic books. A bunch of my comic books are in there! Those can’t be replaced. They’re limited edition. They don’t make those anymore!”
“What do you want us to do?” Zobby asked.
Huddy was seething. His sharp eyes darted all around, searching for an answer. Then they stopped abruptly.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at Zobby’s left pocket.
“What? Nothing.” Zobby looked down and saw that she had been guarding her pocket with her hand without even realizing.
“It’s your phone, huh?”
“Um, yeah,” said Zobby, now pressing her hand tightly over her pocket. “So?”
An evil smile spread across Huddy’s face. “Let me see it.”
“No. My mom pays for it. You can’t just take somebody’s phone.”
“Let me see it,” Huddy repeated, motioning with his hand like a greedy child demanding a toy.
Zobby shook her head and continued to guard her phone.
“Fine, have it your way. Just wait until school. I bet you all go to Emerson, huh? I’ll track you down, and then you’ll wish you gave it to me.”
Zobby sighed and pulled the phone from her pocket.
“Wait,” said Drew. “Don’t. He’ll break it.”
“I’m not gonna break it,” Huddy said immediately, as if he had been ready for the accusation.
“Come on, man, just let it go,” said Kris.
“No. They ruined The Shack. All I’m asking is to see her phone. Now give it!”
Zobby looked at Drew and shrugged. “What choice do I have?”
After staring at her brand new phone for a few more seconds, she took a deep breath and quickly handed it over.
“Wow, this is a sweet phone,” Huddy said as he examined it. “You can do a lot with it.”
“Yeah, I know, thanks.”
“Actually,” said Huddy, “what I meant was you could do a lot with it … but not anymore.”
He took apart the phone, the battery from the base, and threw them in opposite directions, flinging the phone to the left, then launching the battery down into a valley of bushes.
“Good luck finding that. I sure hope it’s not ruined like my comic books. That would be terrible, huh?”
All the kids were silent. Huddy began to laugh but stopped when he realized his friends didn’t join him. It sickened Drew to think that this kid could be the Mystery Artist he was looking for.
There was a rustle a few yards away, and Caleb emerged from behind a tree. Zobby’s teary eyes turned toward him.
“Look what you did!” she screamed. “Why couldn’t you just tell him the truth!”
Caleb simply sneered smugly back at her.
“Look, I don’t care what the truth is anymore,” said Huddy. “Somebody messed with our treehouse, so somebody’s gotta pay. You were there, right?”
Zobby shrugged and quickly wiped a tear before it had a chance to slide down her cheek.
“So it’s your problem, not mine,” said Huddy, smirking.
Kris and the other boy looked astonished by Huddy’s cruelty, but they didn’t say anything.
“Let’s get out of here, guys,” said Huddy. “Roey, you comin’ with us, or you gonna stay here with them?”
“Uh, ye-yeah, I’m coming with you, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I mean, yeah, I’m definitely coming with you.”
He scuttled over to Huddy. Huddy then turned his attention to Drew, Zobby, and Tommy.
“And don’t even think about following us,” he said.
“But we don’t know how to get home without my phone,” said Zobby. “You can’t strand us out here like this. We’ll freeze.”
“Yes huh. I can do whatever I want,” said Huddy. “I have a phone, see?” He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and held it in front of Zobby’s face. “If you follow us, if I ever even see you again, you’ll be sorry. I’ll break a lot more than your phone.”
Drew looked to Kris. He had been reasonable throughout this whole ordeal. He wouldn’t leave the kids stranded in the woods, would he?
Huddy walked off. Caleb and the quiet boy followed. Kris looked right at Drew, as if he had heard his thoughts. Drew sensed that his eyes were trying to apologize, like he was trying to say he wished things had been different. But as the others quickened their pace, Kris broke eye contact with Drew and ran off to catch up with them.
Maybe Kris doesn’t know how to get back without GPS either, Drew thought. Within a few moments, the four boys had disappeared through the brush. In the distance, Huddy shouted, “Good luck finding your own way home, losers!”
****
Drew, Zobby, and Tommy stood in the middle of the woods. Shadows were beginning to drape over the forest. Every direction looked exactly the same. There were no street signs or crossing guards showing the kids which way to go. They felt trapped in a dark, inescapable maze.
Eventually, Tommy went to get the base of Zobby’s phone. Drew could tell Zobby was doing her best to fight back more tears. This was the first time he had ever seen her cry, and he blamed himself. He had invited her to come along. He had dragged her into this mess in the first place. He wanted to console her but didn’t know how.
Tommy brought back the phone and handed it to Zobby. It was scuffed and scratched, but it didn’t appear to have suffered any major damage. Without speaking, the three of them walked in the direction the battery was thrown.
“Ahhh!” Zobby screamed. “Caleb is such a jerk. First he takes my phone, then he tries to fight me, and if that isn’t bad enough, he tells those hockey jerks that I ruined The Shack. Is he serious? I could wring his neck. And then he leaves with them. He actually leaves with them. Who does he think he is?”
“Honestly,” said Drew, “I still can’t believe he went with them.”
“I can. Jerks of a feather flock together,” said Zobby.
“Actually, I think he told them it was Zobby ‘cause she’s a girl,” said Tommy. “You know, he figured they wouldn’t beat up a girl. He was trying to protect us.”
“Yeah right,” said Zobby. “You don’t have to always take his side.”
“Yeah, I think Zob’s right,” said Drew. “Caleb wasn’t looking out for us.”
“Seriously,” Zobby added, “if he was trying to protect us, why did he leave with them?”
“I dunno. ‘Cause you woulda tortured him the whole way home?”
“You know, maybe you’re right. Maybe you should’ve gone with them, too.”
“C’mon, Zobby, that’s not what he’s saying,” said Drew.
“Yeah, I didn’t go with them, did I?” said Tommy. “I didn’t even ask to! So why are you jumping down my throat? I’m here looking for your battery, right?”
Zobby huffed. It was her way of acknowledging that Tommy was right, even though she wasn’t in any mood to apologize to anyone.
Drew looked up and saw that the sun would be setting soon. “Guys, we’re never gonna find this battery. We should go. It’ll be pitch black before we know it.”
Tommy shivered and put his hands in his pockets. “Man, I’m freezing … and starving. Maybe we can find our way back to The Shack and eat the food in the treasure chest.”
Drew realized that he was hungry, too. He would’ve done anything to be eating a bacon and egg sandwich with his dad right now.
“But Zobby ran around so much that I’m not even sure where The Shack is,” he said. “We should just head home.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right, we should just go,” said Tommy.
“No, he’s not right, Tommy, he’s wrong. How are we gonna ‘just head home’? Without my battery, my phone doesn’t work, and without my phone, we have no GPS. And your phone is dead. So we have no way to get home. The only one of us who might have known ran off like a baby.”
“So you don’t know how to get home at all?” Tommy asked.
“No!” said Zobby. “I was following my phone the whole time.”
“Yeah, me too. I got no idea how to get back. But Drew wasn’t following the GPS. Drew, do you know how to get back?”
Zobby answered for him. “Come on, Tommy. Drew was like a hundred feet behind us, staring up at the sky and moseying around. He wasn’t paying any attention.”
Drew didn’t respond. He looked around and breathed in the brisk air, as if to inhale a solution and exhale uncertainty.
“Then what do we do?” asked a nervous Tommy. He shivered again and put his hood up.
“I don’t know!” said Zobby, plopping herself to the ground.
“It’ll be dark soon,” said Drew. “Once it’s dark, we might as well be trying to find our way home blindfolded.”
“I’m guessing no one has a flashlight,” said Tommy.
“My phone has a flashlight app,” Zobby said somberly. “Not that that matters now.”
“So we got no idea where we are,” said Tommy. “Let’s just start walking in a random direction. Like Drew said, it’s gonna be dark soon, plus we’ll freeze to death if we stay out here all night.” He pointed directly in front of where he was standing. “Let’s just walk that way. Maybe we’ll luck out and get to the baseball fields. Or we’ll come to a restaurant or a house or something, and we’ll call our parents from there.”
“Not mine,” said Zobby. “My mom’s gonna be mad enough about my phone.”
“I can’t call my dad,” said Drew. “Zobby and I both already lied to him. I don’t want him to know.”
“My parents aren’t even home,” said Tommy. “They were goin’ out somewhere tonight.”
“And if we walk the wrong way, we could just end up at the highway, or the edge of a cliff or something,” said Drew.
“So there goes that plan,” Zobby sighed.
Tommy shook his head and kicked at a branch on the ground. “At least I’m trying.”
Drew had never seen Tommy so nervous. He turned to Zobby and watched as she stared down at the useless cell phone in her left hand. Her knees were pulled close to her chest as she hugged her shins. Her normally bright smile had drooped into a gloomy frown. With her right hand, she snuck another quick swipe at a tear that had escaped her watery eyes.
Both of Drew’s friends were scared, confused, and abandoned. The GPS had gotten them to their destination, but it had stranded them there. Drew knew it was up to him to figure out a way home. But how?
As urgent of a situation the kids were in, something else was weighing on Drew’s mind: Huddy. Drew was pretty sure now that Huddy couldn’t be the Mystery Artist. He tried to picture Huddy, pencil in hand, putting the time and effort necessary into the beautiful picture, and it just didn’t seem possible. When he got home, if he got home, at least he would be able to cross the name off his list.
He looked up at the sky. The low sun was growing paler. He thought about the sun shining across the ocean and wished he were somehow inside a drawing now, so that the sun would stay in one spot forever instead of setting.
“Wait, that’s it. The sun is setting.”
“Yeah, we know,” said Tommy.
“Let’s go. I can do it,” said Drew.
“Do what?”
“I can get us home. Let’s go.”
“How?”
“Yeah, how?”
“Just trust me,” Drew said. “I found the key, right? I can do this.”
Tommy and Zobby exchanged unconvinced glances. But Drew grabbed Zobby’s arm to help pull her off the ground, and the kids got moving.
****
The setting sun was what gave Drew the idea. His dad had told him several times before that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Drew remembered that it was early afternoon when the kids were on their way to The Shack and the sun had been high up in the sky, almost directly overhead. At the beginning of their journey, he had felt the sun on the right side of his forehead. So that meant the sun had already begun to set. Now, as Drew stared off at the setting sun, he realized it should be on his left side the entire way home.
Unlike before, when Drew followed behind the others, he now led them with poise and purpose. Instead of Tommy and Zobby urging Drew to keep up, they were trying to keep pace with him.
“Slow down, Drew,” said Tommy, breathing heavily.
“Do you really know where you’re going?”
“Are we just gonna get more lost?”
But none of their concerns broke Drew’s gait. Within minutes he saw the moss-covered rocks he had seen hours earlier, only this time they were to the right instead of the left. Drew knew he was on the right path, and he picked up his pace to prove it. He sprinted through the area with the skinny trees, and Zobby and Tommy reluctantly did their best to keep up.
Moments later Drew saw an enormous pine tree he had noticed on the way. He remembered wondering why all the other trees lose their leaves for the winter but pine trees don’t lose their needles. Then he saw a big pile of leaves that he had noticed earlier in the day because it seemed strange that someone would rake leaves in the middle of the woods. He continued to study his surroundings as he marched on, noticing the same details he had seen earlier in the day.
“He seems like he knows where he’s going,” Tommy whispered.
“I think he does,” said Zobby. “He really does.”
Drew could tell that Zobby was starting to believe in him. “We’re almost there, guys,” he said.
But soon he came to an abrupt stop.
“What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, why’d you stop?”
“I – I don’t recognize this area.”
“Oh no, you mean we’ve been going the wrong way the whole time?” cried Tommy.
Drew searched all around for something familiar but found nothing. Panic shot through him. Everything was getting darker, and any possible landmarks were becoming less distinct in the shadows. In the distance a bird squawked, as if to give the kids one final warning to leave. Drew could feel the steady, rising breath of the forest. It seemed as if the forest had become aware of the intruders and was giving them until sundown to either leave or be swallowed up in the blackness.
“I trust you, Drew. I know you can get us out of here,” said Zobby.
Drew could tell she meant it. He searched around once more. Then he realized what he was looking for. He went to the right about ten steps, then forward ten more.
“C’mon,” he said, “this way!”
Soon the kids were climbing over the same huge, fallen tree they had come across hours earlier. A few moments later, Tommy cried out, “The fields! I can see the fields!”
The three kids charged through the brush and burst out of the forest. They had escaped. Tommy high-fived everything in sight – Drew’s hand, Zobby’s hand, the sign on the outfield fence for Bo’s Auto Garage, everything. Zobby grabbed Drew and hugged him, holding him tightly for several seconds.
The three trudged up the hill as fast as their tired legs allowed. Feeling like conquering heroes, they each headed home.
****
Mr. Daley was waiting on the front porch as Drew approached the house.
“Yeah, one piece,” he was saying to someone on the phone. “I’ll have him call you when I’m finished with him.”
He lowered the phone from his ear and looked sternly at Drew.
“That was your mom,” he said. “I had to call her and let her know I found you. Anything you wanna tell me?”
“No, I mean, it’s not a big deal. We just, we just went, uh –”
“No!” Mr. Daley shouted. “Don’t lie to me again. You understand?”
He opened the front door and pointed for Drew to get in the house. Drew nodded his head quickly and kept it down as he walked inside.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was? I called Mrs. Anscombe at four o’clock to see if you all wanted to come have dinner here, and you know what she said?” He paused, but Drew knew he didn’t need to answer. “You went to the field without her. So that’s lie number one.”
There was an angry quaver in his voice that Drew had never heard before.
“She said she’d call Zobby and call me right back. So she calls back and says Zobby’s phone went straight to voicemail. So I start to walk out the door to go down to the field myself, and do you know what I saw? I saw your mitt right next to the door. Now, it wasn’t all that strange that you said you were playing baseball in this weather, because I know you’ll play baseball any chance you get, but there’s no way you would’ve gone to play without your mitt. Even if you forgot it, you would’ve come back for it!”
Drew remained silent with his head down as his father continued.
“So that’s lie number two. Then,” the volume of his voice continued to rise as he spoke, “I had to call your mother, and I’ll tell you what, she is not happy. Look at me, Andrew! I’m not happy with you either. You get that?”
Drew looked up. His father’s face was red and his hands were shaking.
“You lied to me at least twice today. Now you’re gonna tell me the truth.”
Drew broke down. The stress of the day finally got to him, and he began to cry. He buried his face in the pillow on the couch as his father waited. After a few moments, he lifted his head. The look on Mr. Daley’s face alone could have extracted every last drop of truth from his son. Drew took a deep breath, wiped his tears, and began. He told his father about everything: The GPS; Zobby and Caleb’s altercation; the treasure chest; the firework fiasco; Huddy and the older kids; Caleb placing the blame on Zobby; Huddy breaking Zobby’s phone; Caleb leaving; and barely escaping the woods before darkness fell. By the time Drew neared the end of his story, the words were dripping out on their own. When he finally finished, he felt exhausted but better.
Mr. Daley had stood and listened to the whole story, not interrupting Drew once. When he finally opened his mouth to speak again, Drew assumed he would continue yelling at him. Instead, he asked a question: “You said Tommy’s phone died and Zobby lost her battery, right? So how did you find your way home?”
“Well,” said Drew, “on the way there everyone else was looking down at the phones. But I thought some of the trees looked cool, so I was looking at them. And I remembered how you’re always saying the sun sets in the west and rises in the east. And when we started the sun was hitting this side of my face,” he said, pointing to his right, “so when we were trying to get home, I knew the sun would be on the opposite side. So I figured out what general direction to go. Then it wasn’t so bad. I ended up just looking for all the things I saw on the way there, like these big rocks, a pile of leaves, and a broken tree.”
Mr. Daley’s expression finally eased. He sat down and embraced Drew with both arms.
“You have to understand that you can’t lie to me, all right? Your mom and I were scared today,” he said, all while still holding his son. He finally broke their embrace but still clutched Drew’s shoulders tightly and stared into his eyes. “Look at me. I hated today. You hear me?”
Drew nodded and, looking up at his father, he realized something for the first time. His beard, which Drew had always seen simply as reddish-brown, was actually speckled with gray hairs.
“This was one of the worst days I’ve had as a parent,” Mr. Daley continued. “You lied right to my face. We had no idea where you were. You could’ve been hurt – or worse – and we wouldn’t have known where you were. But I know you’re a good kid. And I’m sorry I lost it on you, but I was mad. Hang on a second …”
Mr. Daley went upstairs. A minute later he returned hiding something behind his back.
“You need to call your mom and get chewed out again. And, you know what, you’ve earned it. But, first, I have something for you. You know my father’s father, your great grandfather, was in the Navy. Well, his whole adult life he wore this watch.” He held out his right hand and revealed the watch to Drew. The face of the watch was round and silver. Inside, there were three hands: one for the hour, one for the minute, and one for the second. The forest-green straps on each side were made of a strong fabric, tightly bound and durable.
“He gave it to my dad, my dad gave it to me, and now I’m giving it to you. There’s a compass built into it, see. My grandpa always used to say, ‘No matter where you are, always know how to find your way home.’ For him, that was coming home from the war. Maybe for you it was just getting home from the woods. But remember, you always have to find your way back home, okay?”
“Wow, this is awesome. Thanks, Dad!”
Drew tried to study every detail of his new present. The weight of the watch across his left wrist was heavy, but he knew he’d get used to it. As the father and son sat together for a peaceful moment, the only sound Drew heard was the faint ticking of the watch.
“You’re welcome. Now, listen, I’m glad you made your way back home today, and I’m glad you’re okay. I’m proud of you for figuring it out without the GPS. And I respect that you finally told me the truth. But, listen, you cannot lie to me like that. And not to your mom either. Did you see what happened once you lied the first time? You had to pile more lies on top of it. Even Zobby was lying to me. That’s the thing about lying – it’s a slippery slope. When you lie once, you end up having to lie again. Then things get out of control. It’s like in baseball when one kid throws the ball when he shouldn’t. Next thing you know, everyone’s whippin’ the ball all over the place, and you’ve lost control of the game. You get me?”
“Yeah, I get it. I’m really sorry, Dad.”
“I know, bud. Now go get cleaned up. I’ll make you something to eat while you call your mom.”
Drew went to his room and took off his dirty clothes. Before calling his mother, he decided to cross Mike Hudock off his list. When he pulled his wallet from his pant pocket, a piece of paper fell to the floor, the same as when it had fallen out of the comic book earlier in the day. He picked it up, unfolded it, and studied the motorcycle-riding skeleton. Feeling bad that he had accidentally stolen someone’s picture, he checked to see if there was a name on it somewhere. If there was, maybe he could return it to the person. He searched the picture for a few seconds and saw that there was indeed a signature in the bottom right corner. He hadn’t noticed it in The Shack. At first it was hard to make out. But he examined it closer, and it became clear exactly what the name was. The person who painted the picture was Mike Hudock.