Free SARA, BOOK 2 by Esther And Jerry Hicks Page B

place!”
    The entrance to the cave was about five feet in diameter, but once through that opening, the cave opened up. The ceiling of
     the cave looked like it was at least 20 feet tall, and all over the walls and even the ceiling of that first big room were
     painted, in truly untalented fashion, names and stick figures—and even a happy face.
    “Whoever painted this has about as much artistic talent as I do,” Sara said, laughing.
    “Yeah, and not much respect for natural beauty, either,” Seth said. Sara could tell that Seth didn’t appreciate the defacing
     of this beautiful cave.
    “Wanna go farther back in?” Sara asked, wanting to see more and at the same time really hoping that Seth would say, “Later”
     or “Next time” or “No, I really don’t want to go farther.”
    “Yeah,” Seth said. Seth sounded as if he genuinely wanted to see more. His enthusiasm boosted her courage some, but she still
     felt strong reluctance to trudge forward into this dark, unknown territory. She certainly didn’t want to be a party pooper,
     but with every step they moved forward, Sara felt stronger and stronger resistance to taking the next step.
    Seth wasn’t hurrying either. He was very proud of himself for producing a cave so quickly and easily for his new friend, but
     he was also feeling reluctance about bolting into this dark unknown. But he wasn’t about to disappoint Sara. After all, they
     had come this far.
    Seth took off his backpack and pulled out the flashlight he’d stashed. It was an old one that didn’t put out much of a beam,
     but it was much better than nothing, and he shined his dim light back into the cave. “Geez,” he said, “this cave goes on forever!” His light wasn’t strong enough to find the back wall of the cave. “Sara, I’ve never seen a cave like this. This is awesome!”
    Those words weren’t particularly reassuring to Sara. She would have preferred words more like “Yes, Sara, I’ve explored many
     caves exactly like this one, and they are always the same: safe, empty of anything scary, and really fun to explore.” But
     she could hear from Seth’s tones that he was feeling as uneasy about this cave as she was.
    Seth shined the dim light around, looking up to find the ceiling and out to find the back walls of the cave, but the light
     just couldn’t seem to find the top or the back of this huge space. Seth pointed the light back down at the floor—and then
     he stopped dead in his tracks. “Shusssh,” he said softly. “Don’t move.”
    Sara stood frozen. What did Seth see? Then, suddenly, there was a commotion of fluttering and dust, and Sara heard Seth’s
     voice saying, “What the heck . . .”
    He wheeled around looking back at the cave entrance past Sara’s startled face and yelled, “Look, Sara, it’s the owl! It’s
     the owl!”
    Sara and Seth ran back to the cave entrance in time to see this very large owl flying with a very large snake hanging from
     his beak.
    “Sara!” Seth shouted, “That owl saved us! That snake was coiled ready to strike. If the owl hadn’t been there, it woulda had
     me for sure!”
    “Let’s get out of here!” Sara exclaimed, running out of the cave, and Seth was right behind her. Sara had no trouble making
     her way through the brush and down the rocky ledge back to the pasture. She didn’t even stop to look back to see if Seth was
     still behind her until she was back in the pasture and ready to cross under the first fence.
    “I thought you said you weren’t afraid of snakes,” Seth said, grinning.
    “I changed my mind,” Sara retorted, out of breath. “And I’ve changed my mind about caves, too.”
    Seth laughed. “Yeah, me, too. At least for now. But that’s an awesome cave, Sara. Usually snakes don’t bother you. They usually
     get out of your way. I guess we just surprised it. Hey, what about that owl? Do you believe that?”
    “Well, yes, I guess I do.” (Oh, there was so much to tell