Free Haven [1] A Stranger Magic by D.C. Akers Page A

had finally convinced Sam to go to the caves with him later that evening.
    It was six o’clock when Travis arrived, knocking on the door. You could tell it was him because of his annoying Twentieth Century Fox drum roll knock. It was similar to the one at the beginning of Star Wars .
    Sarah answered it before Sam could reach the door. Sam waited behind her, expecting some snide remark to come flying out of her mouth. But what she said instead left him speechless.
    “Oh, hi Trav, how are you?” She backed away, and opened the door to invite him in.
    Travis stood there, dumfounded. He didn’t say a word. His mouth hung open like he wanted to say something, but he was evidently in shock.
    In the all the years that Sam and Travis had known each other, Sarah had never once spoken to Travis that kindly. Never. It was almost like he mattered to her, almost.
    Sarah turned and casually strolled from the doorway, as if nothing extraordinary had just happened. Sam and Travis both watched her walk off around the corner into the living room.
    There was no way this was the same girl from this morning, Sam thought. Was she acting hurt? She was up to something; Sam’s spider senses were doing more than just tingling. They were screaming RED ALERT!
    Sam looked at Travis. His mouth was still open. “Um, so are you coming in?” he asked.
    “What? Oh yeah, I uh … what just happened?” Travis asked with his head tilted a little to the left, like dogs do when they’re trying to figure something out. “I mean, you saw that, right? I didn’t imagine that, did I?”
    Sam turned and looked back into the house, then back at Travis. Did she mean what she had said, or was she simply trying to prove that she could be nice if she wanted to?
    She was evil that way. Sarah always had a reason for doing something, and it was usually at Sam’s expense. Whatever, it had happened; regardless of what it was, it had happened. Sam waved Travis in, and the two made their way through the living room and into the kitchen.
    “So, what did you end up doing last night?” Travis asked, as he sifted through the refrigerator.
    “Nothing, really. I cleaned my room and went to bed early,” Sam replied, not wanting to relive the whole “I can’t find the words, wish dad was here” disaster.
    Travis grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, twisted off the cap, and took a large gulping drink. After three more gulps he put the bottle down. With water dripping from his chin he suddenly realized what Sam had said.
    “What, you cleaned your room?” he asked. Travis thought for a moment—you could see the wheels turning in his head. “Yeah right, here pull the other one,” he said, sticking out his leg.
    “I’m serious, I did,” Sam said.
    “Really, wow, well, that I didn’t see coming. Did you get in trouble or something?”
    “No, I just felt like cleaning it. What’s the big deal?” Sam said defensively.
    “Well it’s just that I’ve never seen your room clean since … well since … never.”
    “Well whatever, it’s clean now,” Sam said sharply.
    “Can I see it?”
    “Um, no, you said you wanted to go to the caves, so let’s go.”
    “Okay, okay, let’s go!”
    Travis finished the rest of his water with three giant gulps and slammed the bottle down on the counter top.
    Sam, who had already turned to walk off, quickly turned back around, annoyed.
    “What are you doing?”
    “You got spiders!” Travis said holding the bottle firmly on top of a splattered bug.
    Sam walked back to take a look at the spider and saw the same green marks on it that the previous spiders had. He made a mental note to tell his mom about it, not to mention he still owed her a huge apology for last night.
    Sam cleaned off the bug guts from the counter and headed for the front door. Before they left he called up the stairs to Sarah.
    “Sarah, we’re going to the caves. Tell Mom we’ll be back later.”
    Seconds later, Sarah’s voice answered back in a