The Mapmaker and the Ghost(18)

“Swear on your family’s lives?”

Birch nodded again, afraid to speak lest he betray his fear.

“Okay, so if you didn’t hear anything in the forest, what did you hear here?”

“Nothing,” Birch replied.

“You didn’t hear a single word of conversation your entire time here?”

“Not since they brought me downstairs.” Birch’s hand was now purple and white from how hard he was pressing it against the plastic.

“Huh. Well, that’s interesting.” Spitbubble stopped leaning against the wall and stood up in the doorway, cutting the opening perfectly in half with his straight-line of a body.

“Funny thing. I’ve never really tested the acoustics in this little room. You think these walls are soundproof?”

Spitbubble rapped his knuckles on the wall beside him.

Birch gave a tiny shrug.

“Only one way to find out. Yo, Toe Jam!” Spitbubble yelled up the staircase.

There was the sound of scurrying feet and Toe Jam yelled back, “Yes, Spitbubble?”

“Why don’t you stop hanging on to every word I say and tell the rest to do the same.”

“Yes, Spitbubble.”

“All of you—go in the main room. And have a conversation.”

“A conversation?” came Toe Jam’s voice.

“Yes. It’s where you talk, and then listen when someone else talks. And then maybe you talk again,” Spitbubble’s deadpan voice retorted.

“Right. But, um, what should we talk about?”

“I don’t care. About your collective dead or deadbeat parents. Whatever. Just talk!”

“Right.” There was a larger scurry of footsteps, and Birch could hear the kids assemble again in the front room.

“So, um, what did you do today, Snotshot?” Toe Jam’s voice came booming right through to Birch’s room.

“What kind of a question is that?” Snotshot asked.

“I don’t know, he said to talk!” Toe Jam hissed, even that coming across loud and clear.

Spitbubble had now uncrossed his arms and was running one hand over the stubble on his chin.

“Well, Tiny. Here is lesson number one for you. You can lie to your parents all you want. I couldn’t care less. In fact, I recommend it.” Spitbubble clasped his hands together and pierced Birch’s gaze with his own, this time making his eyes into catlike slits. “But never, ever … lie … to … me.” His voice was soft and deadly now.

“Brains!” he suddenly boomed, causing Birch to jump.

There was the sound of footsteps again, and Brains appeared at the edge of the doorway. “Yes?” he said.

“Lint will keep guarding him. And if he screws up, you’re responsible. Got it?”

“Yes,” Brains said.

Spitbubble walked away from the door and out of Birch’s sight.

“How long will we be holding him?” Brains asked.

“Until I figure out what I’m going to do,” came Spitbubble’s smooth reply.

“But what about his parents?”

“You think I’m afraid of some stupid adult? I’m sixteen. You know what that means? It means I’m almost an adult too. And smarter, no doubt, than whatever spawned that.” It was the only time Birch heard Spitbubble’s voice betray a hint of agitation.

Birch could no longer help it; his tears had a mind of their own and a destination planned—and it was decidedly the cavern floor.



After successfully ducking Toulouse, Goldenrod had taken Meriwether’s advice and followed Randy. Randy did not make as much noise walking as Charlie and Jonas had, so Goldenrod had to be extra careful to stay quiet while keeping up.

Randy didn’t walk very far, but he was definitely headed to a section of the woods Goldenrod had never seen before. She almost gasped when she first laid eyes on his final destination. It was a gigantic red stone entrance that stood within a circle of forest trees. For a second, Goldenrod thought about how excited she would have been had she discovered this structure on her own. Surely, this was completely unmapped territory! But as soon as she saw Randy go in, her thoughts snapped back to Birch at once.

She wasn’t positive he was in there; how could she be? But she knew the chances were pretty high that if one jerk from her school was going somewhere, he would most likely be attracting other jerks right along with him. It was like that old saying about attracting flies with honey—except with jerks. Besides, how likely was it that the great Meriwether Lewis was wrong about where something was, especially if he had been haunting this forest for a couple hundred years? That was a whole lot of prime exploration time.

Almost as if to confirm her suspicions, within moments Drew Henderson and his incredible spine came walking out of the cavern. He did a couple of cartwheels and then disappeared into the forest.

Grateful for all the training she and Charla had done together, Goldenrod decided this would be a good time to apply some of the green and brown makeup from her backpack. She did so in record time, using the tiny mirror attached to the compact’s lid. Then, camouflaging herself behind the trees that surrounded the structure, Goldenrod walked the perimeter of the giant slab of stone. It was massive, taking her almost a full two minutes to get around, especially as she was trying to do it so carefully and quietly. The other side of the entrance was tall, smooth rock without a single crevice on its surface.