28

Luca

Quicksand. Really? After everything else they’d been through, now they had to worry about this as well.

But it wasn’t really the new threat that had Luca worried. It was more the question of why. They hadn’t seen any quicksand in any other part of the jungle. So why there?

Luca sat alone on a log, facing the desert and running dry sand through his fingers. Something—the quicksand—was keeping them out of that part of the jungle, and it was doing it on purpose. No wonder Mr. Miles was bent on getting inside the secret lair. Something lay behind the sand. Something big.

The sun moved closer to the trees. It made a long shadow. Normally he’d be thankful for the shade, but he was still shaken up after falling into the quicksand. His hands shook, sending the tiny granules of sand through the air. He sighed and tossed it away.

Yeah, sun definitely sounded better than shade, hands down. Standing up, he glanced around.

Avery stood at the edge of the trees, obviously upset. She glanced inside the jungle every few minutes.

Mr. Miles had disappeared again.

They’d known it was what he planned, so Luca wasn’t sure why it upset Avery so much. Maybe just because she cared, even if her dad didn’t deserve it. Erin sat with the others, looking much better.

June sat on a log and stared into the measly fire. She frowned like she’d just been given the worst news ever—maybe she’d been turned down for college or told she was going to have to spend the rest of her life working at a fast food restaurant. Or maybe it was her eyes. Had to be.

Would he be upset if he found out his eyes were changing colors? Probably not, but he was a guy. Girls were jittery. June probably thought it meant something. Maybe it did, but Luca didn’t know what. He watched her another moment then turned back to Avery.

Avery had seemed weird around June all day, and now that he thought about it, June had been acting different—braver—since her snake bite. Maybe whatever had gotten into her was turning her into something Avery was picking up on. Something not good.

Luca didn’t like the thought of that. He moved toward the desert, toward the sunshine. The hot air chased his chills away, chills he didn’t want to admit to anyone. For a minute after he’d fallen into the sand, all he’d been able to think about was Mom. What would she do if he never came home? How would she survive? The whole family needed the money he would bring home.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, shaking off the bad feelings. He hadn’t died. Somehow, the others had managed to pull him out. No idea how that had happened, but he didn’t really care. He was alive, and he was going to find a way home.

Still. The protected part of the jungle pulled at him. Would he leave right now if he had the chance? Would he leave without finding out what the secret was?

His gaze roamed back to the jungle. He could almost see beyond the tree line, straight to the heart of the jungle. Right to the quicksand. But he didn’t care about the sand. He wanted to focus on what was beyond the sand. If he was going to almost die somewhere, he wanted to know why.

Would he leave right now if he could? Probably. But would he ever give up on what was in that jungle? Maybe not.

The farther he walked into the desert, the bigger the jungle looked. It stretched across the open space like an ocean of green. How many days had it been since they were stranded here? He wasn’t even sure. Had it been a week? Ten days? Everything was so confusing. He stopped and rubbed his eyes. It was like cobwebs had invaded his brain.

Sighing, he turned back toward the jungle.

Chad’s group had headed around the left side of the jungle. They really hadn’t been sure if that was the way they’d come. Especially since when they’d left the first time, they’d followed the tree line but ended up coming straight from the desert.

What if Luca went the other direction? What would he find? He stared that way as he considered it. Avery would go with him, and probably Benny and June, too. They could be back in a day or two. They might be able to get into the protected part of the jungle from a different direction.

A movement at the tree line caught his eye.

The other kids were laughing and goofing off.

He couldn’t leave them for a day or two. Especially not with Chad and Mr. Miles gone, not that Avery’s dad was doing much to take care of anyone.

It was probably better this way. He didn’t need to learn something about this place that made him want to stay. He forced himself to walk back toward camp. Should he tell Avery what he’d realized about the quicksand in the inner jungle?

He laughed at the thought. She probably already knew it, anyway. She hadn’t fooled him earlier when she’d said she wasn’t sure where they were. She knew as much about maps of Iraq as Mr. Miles did.

Maybe she already knew what was inside the jungle. And maybe she did realize how well she’d been doing since they got stranded. If she didn’t have such a big heart to help people, she’d be a great archeologist. It was in her blood.

He reached camp and slid to a seat beside June. “Hey, you OK?”

She gasped. “Oh. You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’m OK. I’ve been feeling weird, but then other times I feel OK. Maybe my eyes change with my mood.”

Luca sighed. “There are a lot of maybes floating around today.”

She frowned but didn’t question him.

“Hey, do you know how long we’ve been here?”

Her eyebrows shot up and she turned toward the fire, thinking. Finally, she shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I lost count.”

“Yeah, me too.”

They sat quietly for a few minutes when she turned back to him. “Do you think our families even know we’re missing? Is anyone even looking for us?”

“I’m sure the mission called when we didn’t arrive.” But did he really believe that?

“I’m worried about my grandparents. I live with them, and they’re pretty old,” she said. Then she added softly, “My parents died when I was a little girl.”

“My dad died a few months ago,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged, and he tensed, sure she was going to ask what had happened. But she didn’t. “I don’t remember them. It’s no big deal, but I worry about my grandparents. I’ve been sick for a long time, and they were always there for me. If I never come home, though, I’m not sure they could handle it.” Her gaze moved to Erin who sat at the edge of her shelter. “Now I’m thinking I should have just stayed home.”

Luca studied her for a minute. She looked healthy enough to him. “Are you better now?”

She shrugged. “I had cancer, but it’s over now. I was tired of being coddled. My grandparents didn’t want me to come, but I insisted.”

“Wow. I’m glad you came. Right now I’m thinking we all wish we had stayed home.”

She studied him, her eyes full of questions. “You wish you hadn’t come?”

Her question bugged him. Annoyed him down to the bottom of his gut. Did he wish he’d stayed home? He told himself he’d come because Mom made him. But truthfully, it probably had more to do with Avery, and now their friendship was on the mend. Something he wasn’t going to talk about with June. “I don’t know.”

She smiled and nudged him. “Don’t worry. You’ll figure it out.”

He forced a smile. “Yeah, I know.” But he didn’t know, not for sure. He’d been taking care of Mom so steadily since Dad died that his only goal had been putting food on the table and making sure the boys obeyed her. But Avery was always in the back of his mind. He wanted a life with her. That hadn’t changed, no matter how much Mr. Miles hated him.

Of course, Mr. Miles wasn’t totally off his rocker when it came to his opinion about Luca.

But his rage had been a one-time thing. Was he still angry? Definitely. Was he taking that anger out on people, places, and things anymore? No.

Suddenly it hit him how close he sat to June. Their arms almost brushed, and their shoes touched sole to sole. What was he doing here with her? He practically bolted out of his seat.

She frowned up at him, concerned. “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah. I’m thirsty. Want a drink?”

“No, I’m OK. Good talk.”

He forced another smile. “Yeah. Good talk.”

Spending time with June might not be the best thing he could be doing, but spending time with Avery right now wasn’t too appealing, either. He needed to figure things out.

Instead, he made his way to the guys. They gathered around the van, and their loud voices carried in the dry air. Everyone smiled and laughed—they were excited. Thought they’d be getting out of here soon. Hopefully they were right.

“What are we going to do when we leave?” Benny asked.

Bradley scoffed. “What are you talking about, dork? We’re going home.”

Benny looked down and drew back.

Luca frowned. Yeah, Benny was really annoying, but he’d been a big help on this trip. “Kind of harsh, don’t you think?” Luca asked. “And it’s not that cut and dry. Benny’s got a point. The mission is expecting us, and our tickets home aren’t good for at least a few more days.”

“Dude, I don’t care what the tickets say. When we leave this jungle, I’m going home. My parents will shell out the money.”

But Bradley didn’t know what Avery had told them; they weren’t near the village, and who knew where the closest airport was located.

“Whatever,” Luca said. “I just hope we get out of here.”

Someone else started in and Luca turned away.

Benny had melted away to sit alone, which wasn’t so abnormal for the kid.

Luca wanted to say it was just that they were all so tired of being together. They were hungry and dirty, and bored out of their minds.

But none of it was true. They were mean to Benny, plain and simple—including him. Things had been worse since the other group joined them. All the guys treated him badly. Maybe that needed to stop.

Luca took a seat next to Benny.

Neither of them spoke, but the silence was comfortable. If something was going to change, it might as well start now.