Free Ghost Cave by Barbara Steiner

and meet you,” Marc called to Eddie. Marc’s stomach felt as if it were full of bats, wings whirring against his insides. He was certain they were going to find something neat. The cave itself was thrilling, but he wanted more.
    â€œHere’s a tunnel,” Hermie said with excitement in his voice. Marc hoped he was starting to forget his fear and see how much fun exploring a cave could be.
    â€œWe won’t go in until we see what Eddie found.” Marc led the way around the big room.
    â€œHey, look up here,” Hermie said pointing. “There’s a crack along the middle of the ceiling. All those rocks up there look like dinosaur bones.”
    They did. The spine of a brontosaurus. It was probably just a coincidence, but stranger burial grounds for dinosaurs had been found. Marc didn’t think there had been any dinosaurs found in Arkansas.
    â€œThere are two tunnels over here, and one of them branches off.” Eddie reported when they caught up to him. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s split up—each of us take a tunnel. We walk for five minutes or until it pinches down, then come back here, ten minutes in all. That’ll save time and give us an idea of the length of each tunnel.”
    â€œI don’t want to go off by myself.” Hermie’s voice wavered.
    â€œLook, it’s just upright walking. If you have to crawl, you turn around and come back.” Eddie had no patience with Hermie’s fear.
    â€œWalk straight, Hermie. Don’t make any turn-offs to other tunnels. Map it in your mind, though. Walk straight in, straight out.” Marc thought Eddie had a good idea. And it was safe enough. “Okay, look at your watches.” Marc shined his light on his wrist.
    â€œYou take the first one I passed, Hermie,” Eddie suggested. “It was big and wide. Not even you could get stuck. It’s probably the main tunnel. Go around those big rocks.”
    â€œOkay, Hermie?” Marc asked, giving his friend a chance to back out.
    â€œOkay,” Hermie agreed reluctantly. “Five minutes.”
    â€œI’ll go back over to the other end,” Marc said to Eddie. “You take this one. Don’t do anything crazy, Eddie.”
    â€œI won’t.” Eddie sounded disgusted. But Marc knew Eddie. He could get carried away, and if one of them got into trouble, they’d all be in trouble.
    Marc patted Bluedog and snapped his fingers, telling her to follow him. Bluedog had relaxed a little and trotted right beside Marc as he hurried back to his tunnel.
    To his disappointment, the pathway didn’t last long. It ended in a mound of flowstone—at least it was pretty. Marc shined his light so he could see the formation better. It looked like the hind end of an elephant, complete with narrow tail. It was orangy and slick where iron water had run over it for centuries. As he turned around, starting back, Bluedog began to whine.
    â€œWhat’s wrong, Blue? What’s the matter, girl?” Marc leaned down and patted her. Then he shined his light in the direction she was looking.
    The tunnel didn’t stop after all, but turned an abrupt corner beside the elephant. Marc looked at his watch. He’d been gone five minutes. He shined his light around. This was the only opening. He’d follow it a few steps.
    Bluedog didn’t want to go with him. After they squeezed by the flowstone, she sat down and continued to stare into the darkness. A chill crept up the back of Marc’s neck. He could feel those little hairs there standing up as stiff as a scrub brush. What could Bluedog see that he couldn’t? What could be in there—an animal?
    Marc didn’t think there’d be any animal in the cave unless it was a bat. Would Bluedog be afraid of a bat?
    â€œCome on, Blue. You’re being silly. I’ll go first.”
    Slowly Marc made his way into the smaller tunnel. His helmet scraped the top of the