Chapter Four

Gabriel followed Piper’s gaze as her head moved slowly to the right. Huge mountains covered in sparkling gold dust towered in the distance, but before he could notice any more, his eyes fell on the humanoid-looking creature just feet away. It stood on two feet like a person, and had massive ears that were almost half as big as its body. A dozen glowing eyes floated around its head in a perfect circle. Gabriel blinked and shook his head. Brent rubbed his eyes, looking pale.

The odd creature strolled up to a short bush with multi-colored branches. The branches held a mix of orange, yellow, and green berries. Even though the stumpy creature stretched to its tip-toes, it still couldn’t reach the yellow berries at the top of the bush. It stomped its foot and grumbled.

Brent gasped.

Gabriel reached over to cover his friend’s mouth, but it was too late. The creature wiggled its massive ears, then widened all of its eyes at once and peered directly at them. It released a shrill scream, an inhuman sound. Zigzag took off after it, barking.

“Ziggy, no!” Gabriel yelled, but his voice was swallowed by the sharp screams.

Just as Zigzag reached the creature, it yanked an oval-shaped device from its pocket, fumbling its fingers over a dial, before jabbing its pointer finger into a button on the device. The creature vanished into thin air. Zigzag ran around the bush, sniffing the ground where it had just been.

Gabriel jumped to his feet. “What the heck was that?”

“I d-don’t know,” Piper stammered. “Look around. I … I don’t even know where we are!”

Gabriel’s eyes darted over the vast, lush landscape. His insides tumbled with fear. What will I see next? More multi-colored trees and shimmering gold mountains spread across the landscape, and Gabriel wondered what else could be lurking behind every tree. Strange—the mountains look placed exactly like in Willow Creek, but reversed. And it’s summer instead of winter.

“Everything’s like backwards here or something,” he mumbled, squinting his eyes and looking around.

“We need to move … hide somewhere,” Piper whispered. “That creature spotted us. Who knows when it’ll be back. And what if it brings friends?”

“Yeah, but where’s Cedric?” Gabriel asked.

Piper shrugged. “I haven’t seen him.”

“I don’t want to get back into that tsunami,” Brent insisted.

“Guys,” Gabriel said, “I have to find him. I don’t know what that thing with the eyeballs was, but we don’t want to be here if it comes back.” He waved his hands through the air. “Look around. Everything’s freaky here. I mean, I’m not gonna lie; I don’t wanna get back in that water either, but all I know is that there … ” He pointed at the river. “ … Is where we came from. We’ve gotta figure out a way to get back home.”

Piper shielded her eyes, looking over the water. “You have a point.”

“I’ll go first,” he said.

Brent stepped forward. “You want me to come with you?”

“No, you stay here with her, in case that thing comes back.” And with that, he jumped into the water.

“I’m not sure what I can do if it does,” called Brent.

Shivers prickled Gabriel’s skin, more from fear than the water, but he knew he had to try to find Cedric and a way to get home. This is my fault. I promised Piper I wouldn’t do anything stupid. He had ruined everything when he pushed Cedric. He swam to the spot where he thought they’d emerged, close to the base of the falls in the calm water. He dove under the waterfall and swam as far down as he could, searching for Cedric and a tunnel that could have pulled them through to … wherever this was. Nothing.

Finally, he climbed back out and trudged back over to his friends. He shrugged. “I couldn’t find anything! Nothing weird, anyway. No Cedric or a way out. This just doesn’t make sense.”

Piper gestured at a hill. “Come on. Let’s use that hill for cover till we sort this out. Cedric is probably just playing games again. I mean, really. We’re all here—even Zigzag.”

They dashed across the grass, Zigzag following behind. Behind the hill was a field covered in multi-colored berry bushes, mixed in with grass taller than they were. They ducked into a grass patch.

Brent shook his blond hair. “Dude, Cedric’s taking us for a ride. He’s on the swim team. He’s probably watching us and laughing his butt off.”

Gabriel raised his face to the sun, still shivering. “Well I just hope he’s okay. And, hey, how is it summer all of a sudden? This is freaking weird, right? And what was with that sci-fi creature?”

Piper ran her hands up and down her arms. “Whatever it was, it didn’t look too friendly, that’s for sure.”

The summer breeze tickled Gabriel’s wet skin as he sat stroking Zigzag’s fur and considered what to do next. He wondered how much time had gone by and checked his watch to see if it was still working. “My watch still works, at least,” he mumbled.

Piper lifted her arm and checked the pink Timex she had gotten for Christmas. “Mine, too. Waterproof stuff rocks, right?”

Gabriel nodded. Then, remembering the compass his dad had given him, he pulled it out and wiped the water off on the grass. The needle spun around for a few seconds before it settled on a heading.

He pointed. “I know that way should be north.” He looked behind him. “But it’s showing south.” He scratched his head. It must be broken.

As he stuck it back into his pocket, something rustled in the grass behind them.

“I see youuuuuuuuu … ”

Piper screamed, jumping up. “It found us!”

Zigzag growled as the three friends looked at each other. Gabriel held Zigzag’s collar to keep her from chasing after … whatever it was.

“Me found you!”

A little black monkey jumped into the clearing. He had a long tail, playful, bright brown eyes, and wore a bright blue scarf tied around his left arm. “Me Finley, who you?”

They gaped at the crazy, impossible monkey, who stared back at them impatiently. Gabriel recovered first. He looked at his friends, realized neither of them would speak, and then looked back at the monkey. He would have to speak to a monkey. A talking monkey wearing a blue scarf. Here goes nothing.

“Uhhhh, I’m Gabriel. These are my friends, Piper and Brent.” He pointed them out, keeping a firm hand on Zigzag’s collar. “And this is Zigzag.”

“Ohhhhhhhh, it funny looking!” Finley said. “You lost? You no look like you belong here.”

“But wait—how—you’re a monkey. And you’re talking?” Piper exclaimed.

“Me talk.” Finley nodded. “You do, too. Me be watching you. Master tell me you come from human world.”

“Hold on a sec. Did you say master?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, master. Master tell many thing.”

Piper hung her head in her hands, her raven-black hair dangling around her face. “This can’t be happening.”

Finley hopped toward Piper. “Don’t worry. Peeeease. Finley try help.” Brent lifted his arm to block him, sighed, and dropped it, letting him pass. The monkey petted Piper on the head, pulled two handfuls of berries from a nearby pail, and handed them out. The berries looked similar to the ones the creature had been picking earlier.

Piper mumbled, “Thank you.”

Brent pointed to the scarf on Finley’s arm. “What’s with the scarf? And where would you even get one of those around here? Wait. Don’t tell me. You’re a talking, sewing monkey, right?” Brent burst out laughing, slapping his leg.

Piper gave him a light shove. “Shh.”

Gabriel chuckled under his breath.

“Finley tracker. Me guide tribe. It what Finley do.” He pointed to his blue scarf. “Tracker tag. Master give Finley. What you do?”

“Us? We go to school. That’s what kids do in our world.” Brent pulled at the grass between his legs and looked up at Gabriel, shrugging, as if to say, just go with it. Not knowing another option, and because Finley seemed innocent, they relaxed a little and ate some berries. Zigzag licked Finley’s hand like she’d found a long lost friend.

A few minutes later, Piper gagged, jumped up, ran to a nearby bush, and threw up.

“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked. He rushed over to her, and Brent followed, groaning as he tried to keep up. Brent looked green and grasped at his stomach. Gabriel didn’t know if Brent was grossed out by Piper throwing up or if he felt sick, too.

“My stomach hurts,” Piper moaned. She leaned over and threw up again. Then Brent followed with his own contribution.

“What’s wrong with them?” Gabriel demanded, pointing at Finley.

“Just Valta berry!” Finley held his hands up defensively. “Maybe they no try ‘fore.”

“Of course we didn’t try before.” Brent’s fisted hands were on his hips, but soon he doubled over again.

“Finley feel bad. No more Valta berry for Piper and Brent. But why Gabrul no ick? Finley wonder.”

Gabriel kneeled beside Piper. “I don’t know why I’m not sick, Finley. I actually feel okay, so it can’t be poison. Maybe you guys just have sensitive stomachs or something.” Gabriel patted her back and looked at Brent. Brent shook his head, gagging. Piper rolled into a ball, grasping her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth.

Gabriel sighed, twisting his hands. He thought about what Finley had said. Why hadn’t he gotten sick, too? An anxious feeling swirled in his stomach. He was starting to think they weren’t safe there—and poison berries would be the least of their problems.