Daisy the rat waddled down the stairs with an inhaler clenched between her sharp teeth. She dropped the inhaler at Lorelei’s feet. Dog barked and wagged his tail as Hercules appeared on the top step.

“Someone needs to vacuum that tunnel,” Hercules said. “I nearly choked on a spider. And there should be a mattress at the end of the slide. I think I bruised my tailbone. I’m going to need some anti-inflammatory medicine.” He walked down the stairs and set his first-aid kit on the floor as if he’d been invited. Rummaging through it, he pulled out some nasal spray and spritzed both nostrils. “This dank air will aggravate my mucus membranes for sure.”

Lorelei grabbed Homer’s arm and pulled him aside. “What is he doing here?” The question shot out of her mouth with a fair amount of spit.

“I don’t know,” Homer replied with a shrug. Dog wagged his tail and poked Hercules with his nose until he was rewarded with a pat on the head.

“Hi, Dog,” Hercules said. Then he recapped the nasal spray and looked around. “Hi, Lorelei. What is this place? Is this some kind of fort?”

“It’s not a fort. Little kids make forts. This is my lair.” Then Lorelei jabbed a finger into Homer’s chest. “Did you tell him how to find me? We have a gentleman’s agreement, remember? I keep your secret and you keep mine. Did you break our gentleman’s agreement?”

“I didn’t break it,” Homer insisted. “I don’t know how he found this place.”

“I followed you,” Hercules said. He closed his first-aid kit, then stuck his inhaler in his pocket.

“I don’t believe you,” Lorelei said. “I think Homer broke our gentleman’s agreement. And if that’s the case, then what’s keeping me from breaking it?” It was a threat that shot right to Homer’s heart. Dog would be in terrible danger if the world knew his secret. Every thief, from the lowly pickpocket to the glamorous international spy, would want Dog.

“You’ve got to believe me,” Homer said. “I had no idea Hercules was following me.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Hercules said. “Hey, do you have proper ventilation in this lair? All this dampness could lead to mold growth. My lungs are very sensitive to mold spores.”

Lorelei folded her arms and stared suspiciously at Hercules. “Why did you follow Homer? Did you come here because you want to leave L.O.S.T.?”

“Of course not.” Hercules picked a bit of spiderweb from his wiry hair. “I’m not a traitor like Gertrude and Torch.”

“So why are you here?”

“Because I knew Homer wouldn’t let you go on this quest without him. This is his dream. Just like it’s my dream to win the World’s Spelling Bee twice in a row. I wouldn’t let anyone take that chance away from me.” He smiled at Homer. “Also, I’m here to protect him.”

Lorelei snorted. “Protect him? How can you protect Homer? You’re afraid of everything. You fainted on Mushroom Island when we faced that bear.”

“For your information, Lorelei, I’m not afraid of everything. I have certain phobias, I admit that. But I can help Homer because…” He glanced at Homer.

Homer grabbed Hercules by the arm. “Don’t,” he warned under his breath. “Don’t tell her. You can’t trust her.”

“It’s okay,” Hercules whispered. “I want to help you. This is the only way I’ll be able to persuade her to let me join you on the quest.”

“But I’m not going on the quest.”

“Of course you are. You can’t let her get away with this.” He turned and faced Lorelei. “I can protect Homer because I’m superstrong.”

She laughed. “You? No way.” Her doubt was understandable. Hercules possessed arms and legs so skinny they might have belonged to a stork. And his ever-present first-aid kit might as well have had the word wimp painted on it. “Superstrong?” She laughed again.

Hercules shrugged, then walked over to one of the vending machines. Without a grunt or a groan, he picked it up as if it were the family cat.

“Whoa!” Lorelei cried. “That’s impressive.” She looked around and pointed to the purple golf cart. “Can you lift that?” He did. Then he lifted the trampoline. Even though Homer already knew his friend’s secret, he still smiled with amazement. “Holy smoke, you are superstrong,” Lorelei said. “So that explains your name.”

“Not exactly,” Hercules said. “My father, Senator Simplisticus Simple, is a Romanophile—that’s someone who loves all things Roman. He chose Roman names for everyone in the family—Tiberius, Caesar, Diana, Romulus, and Brutus the dog. It’s just a weird coincidence that I’m strong like the original Hercules. But my parents don’t know. Neither do my brothers and sister.”

“So you’ve kept your strength a secret this whole time?” Lorelei said.

“If my parents knew, they’d make me play hockey or soccer or worse—they’d make me play football. Such a Neanderthal sport.”

“You’re strong and you don’t play sports?” Lorelei’s eyebrows knitted. “But you could be a champion.”

“I am a champion,” he said, throwing back his shoulders. “I won the World’s Spelling Bee.”

She narrowed her eyes and gave Hercules a long look. “The real Hercules didn’t win spelling bees. The real Hercules had to complete twelve labors. He skinned a lion that was terrorizing a town. He slayed a nine-headed sea serpent. He even kidnapped a three-headed dog.”

“I don’t want to skin or slay or kidnap anything. I want to use my strength for good, not evil.”

“I thought you said you wanted to protect Homer?”

“I do.” Hercules shrugged. “I guess if we come face-to-face with a nine-headed sea serpent, I’ll do my best to keep it from eating us.”

Lorelei broke the stare with a smile. “Okay. You can come with us.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Homer said. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m not helping you find Rumpold’s treasure.”

“Yes, you are,” she said. “Because if you and Dog don’t help me, then I’ll tell the world about L.O.S.T.”

They stood nose-to-nose, arms folded, faces red with stubborn pride, breathing like a pair of bulldogs. The happy tomato-soup days were long gone. The last dregs of friendship evaporated in the heat of their glares, like beads of water on a sizzling-hot sidewalk. Homer vowed to himself that he would never ever trust her again. “I’m not joining FOUND.”

Hercules cleared his throat. “There’s a simple solution to this, and I’m not just saying that because my last name is Simple.” He pushed up his rugby sleeves. “If you two work together, then Homer can undertake the quest in the name of L.O.S.T. and Lorelei in the name of FOUND. The two of you can split the treasure fifty-fifty. In other words, you cooperate.”

“Cooperate?” Lorelei asked.

“You work together. Cooperation comes from the Latin co, meaning ‘together,’ and operatus, meaning ‘work.’ ”

“I know what cooperation means,” Lorelei said. “It’s just that I hadn’t considered…” She nodded. “Yes, I think it’s a good idea. We work together, we split the treasure. Why not? Rumpold’s treasure is sure to be huge. There will be plenty for both of us.”

Homer wasn’t sure. It sounded good. But this was Lorelei.

“Think about it this way,” she said. “I have the map, and I’m going after this treasure with or without you. But I have a better chance of success with you. You can give your half to some stupid museum so you won’t be breaking any of L.O.S.T.’s rules. And I’ll do what I want with my half. And everyone will be happy.”

“And I’ll keep a record of the event,” Hercules said. “An official record for posterity.”

“This time I need a definition,” Lorelei said.

“Posterity means ‘future generations.’ It’s from the Latin posterus, which means ‘coming after.’ Your biographers will need to know exactly what happened.”

“Biographers?” Homer said with surprise. He’d often imagined that one day a book would be written about him, but he’d never discussed this with anyone. And no one had ever brought it up in casual conversation until now. He’d imagined The Biography of Homer W. Pudding as required reading for students all over the world. He’d be a role model for those who’d been called fatso or weirdo or dork.

“Let’s make this clear,” Homer said. “I’m not joining FOUND. I’m doing this in the name of L.O.S.T. Hercules, Dog, and I are doing this for L.O.S.T.”

Lorelei held out her hand. “We must make a second gentleman’s agreement.” She waited for Homer and Hercules to plop their hands on top of hers. Her voice grew very serious. “We three agree that we will search for Rumpold Smeller’s treasure, and when we find it, we will split the booty fifty-fifty. Half going to FOUND, which is me, and half going to L.O.S.T., which is you guys.”

“And we’ll do it in a week,” Homer said, “ ’cause I have to get home for my sister’s birthday.”

“And I need to register for the spelling bee.”

A buzzer sounded. A light flashed simultaneously on the universal remote. Lorelei ran over to the big screen. “It’s Gertrude and Torch,” she said. “They’re calling.”

“Don’t give them the reptile book,” Homer warned. “We can’t trust them.”

“I have it all figured out,” Lorelei assured him. “You’d better hide over there, where they can’t see you.” She pointed to a beanbag chair that was tucked into a corner. Homer grabbed Dog. The plastic beans squeaked as the boys sat. Lorelei settled on her red throne and pushed a button. “What do you two want?” she asked.

The two traitors still sat on the deck of the yacht, the sails of other boats bobbing behind them. Gertrude’s little sailor hat was back on her head. She held up Rare Reptiles I Caught and Stuffed, an enormous grin plastered on her pasty face. “I just wanted you to know that your delivery arrived safe and sound.”

Homer leaped to his feet. Lorelei had delivered the map into their greedy hands? Wasn’t she smarter than that? She was going to ruin everything.

“I’m glad to see you have the book,” Lorelei said. “I paid that delivery boy a lot of money. We can’t be too careful with the only known copy of Rumpold’s map. Do you have the glue sticks and scissors so you can start putting the map together?”

“Oh, we have what we need,” Gertrude said. “Believe me, we have everything we need.”

Torch yanked the book from Gertrude’s hands and started flipping through the pages. Her hawk watched from her shoulder as the pages flew. A snicker seeped from Torch’s mouth. She leaned close to the camera. “Where are you?” she asked Lorelei.

“I’m at my… house, packing my suitcase for the quest. I’ll be joining you soon.”

Gertrude and Torch glanced at each other, then broke into a round of wicked belly laughing. Gertrude’s chins jiggled. The hawk flapped its wings trying to keep its balance on Torch’s rocking shoulder.

“You’re so stupid,” Torch said. “You think we’re gonna wait around for you to join us?” A rumble sounded, like a motor. The scenery behind the women began to move.

They were leaving! Homer ran to the screen. “Wait!” he cried. “That’s my map!”

Torch stopped laughing. “Well, well,” she said with a snort. “Look who’s gone to the dark side. And to think His Lordship had so much confidence in you. When the membership finds out you’re helping FOUND, you’ll be cast out.”

Gertrude grabbed the book from Torch and waved it at the camera. “This is my revenge, little girl. You stole all those harmonic crystals from me. Did you think I’d forgive you?”

“Give our regards to the losers at L.O.S.T.,” Torch said. Then the screen went black.

Lorelei sat back in her throne and folded her arms behind her head. She was oddly quiet for someone who’d just been double-crossed. Homer, on the other hand, wanted to shake her for making such a huge mistake.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” he cried.

Lorelei sighed. “Homer, calm down.”

But how could he calm down? His dream was sailing away. His promise to his uncle would never be fulfilled. “We’ve got to stop them.” He grabbed Dog’s leash and headed toward the stairs.

“But, Homer—”

“This is all your fault, Lorelei. That map was safe under my bed, and now Gertrude and Torch have it.” With a grunt, he pushed Dog’s rump up the first two steps. Hercules grabbed his first-aid kit and started toward the stairs.

“They don’t have it,” Lorelei called.

Dog grunted. “What do you mean, they don’t have it? I saw it. They…” Homer stopped pushing and paused for a minute. Lorelei was many things, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d proven her ability to outsmart people time and time again. He whipped around. “You gave them a fake book.”

She nodded.

“Oh, it’s a ruse,” Hercules said. “That’s quite brilliant.”

“I can’t believe you thought I’d hand over the map,” Lorelei said. “How could you think I’d do something like that? It was so easy to fool them. I figured they’ve never read a copy of Rare Reptiles I Caught and Stuffed. I mean, who has? It’s such a totally boring book. So I got a dusty copy from the library, and I took a map, cut it into bits, and pasted it inside.”

“What map?” Homer asked.

“Something I found in Madame’s things. A map to some place called the Lost Temple of the Reptile King.”

“That’s in the middle of the jungle,” Homer said.

“Uh-huh. That should keep them busy for a while.” She frowned. “I do hate ruining library books, though. I’ll be sure to replace it with a nice new book.”

Homer was so relieved he wanted to hug Lorelei, but of course he didn’t, because ex-friends don’t get hugs.

Lorelei opened the seat to her throne and took out a metal box. The box was sealed in airtight plastic. As soon as she ripped off the plastic and opened the lid, Dog went nuts. He ran in a circle, sniffing the air as if a rabbit had appeared on the scene. He pressed his nose into the box, sniffed some more, his tail wagging. Lorelei set the box on the lair’s floor. Dog flipped onto his back and rolled against the box, spreading its luscious scent all over himself. Thanks to Dog, Homer knew without a doubt that what Lorelei held was real.

“So, shall we put the map together and get started on our quest?”

“Yes!” Hercules and Homer said.