I had a backpack full of snacks, and the canteen I’d gotten for my birthday was strapped around my shoulder. Ever the Boy Scout, Brandon’s pack had a compass and whistle hanging from it. Lee was last to arrive at the rendezvous point, and of course he didn’t carry any supplies. He never did.
We entered the forest and followed the trail past the usual places. Eventually Marcus wandered off the path, heading deeper into the woods. “It’s this way, over by that hill.” He pointed through a patch of trees and boulders, but I couldn’t see the hill from where I stood.
Sarah stopped, looking down at her clothes. “I’m not going any further.”
Lee tugged her arm. “Come on, Sarah. If Frog-Face says it’s over here, then that’s where we’re going.”
She shook her head, jerking her arm away and refusing to move. “You go ahead, but I’m staying here. I’m not going to get my clothes all dirty in those weeds.”
Lee glared at her. “Suit yourself. Anyone else want to chicken out? Now’s your big chance. Anyone? Just Sarah? Good.” Lee sneered at her. “Have fun by yourself, chickenshit.”
We followed Marcus deeper into the forest, dead leaves crunching under our feet as we marched on. Vines snaked up large oaks, and the undergrowth was dense and tangled. We all grew silent, in anticipation of something we couldn’t name. Brandon produced a thick piece of yellow chalk from one of his many pockets, and marked the largest oaks as we passed. “So we can find our back here again if we need to,” he explained.
“Good idea,” Jennifer said.
I felt my face burn. “Yeah, Brandon. Good idea.”
The forest grew thicker around us. I’d never been this far off the path before. Briars snagged at the leg of my pants, and no birds or insects chirped. The only noise was the crunching of leaves as we trekked on. Uneasy, I decided to break the silence. “How did you find this place, anyway?”
Marcus shrugged. “Franklin found it. He showed it to me. We were here for a week after you guys left, so we had a lot of time to explore.” He stopped short at the base of a hill. Lichen-covered boulders of various sizes surrounded the hill and climbed the side, and he pointed between the largest of the two.
I stayed behind him and Lee, keeping close to Jennifer. She’d been unusually quiet since Sarah’s departure, and I could tell it was bothering her.
I looked up at the mouth of the cave. It was a little taller than head height, ringed with ferns that hung down like teeth. It looked ready to devour us.
Lee laughed. “I’ll be damned! I thought you were screwing with us. Maybe I can swipe some of my old man’s smokes and bring them down here.”
Jennifer tugged at my arm, reaching for my hand. I intertwined my fingers with hers, trying to keep the shit-eating grin off my face. “Should we go inside?” I asked.
“Heck yeah!” Lee shoved Marcus out of his way and walked to the mouth of the cave. “Damn. Did anybody bring a flashlight?”
We all looked at Brandon, but he shook his head.
“We could come back later with lights.” Jennifer suggested.
I looked down at her hand in mine. I wasn’t about to pass up this chance. “Hey Lee, still got your lighter? It could help us get a look inside.”
Lee grinned and reached in his pocket, flicking the flame to life. “Follow me.”
Jennifer’s grip on my hand tightened. “I don’t think we should.”
I tugged her forward gently. “We might as well look since we’re here. You know Lee will just make us come back if we don’t.”
“Okay.” I could sense the uncertainty in her voice.
“Holy shit guys!” Lee had already gone in, holding the flame on his lighter a few seconds at a time before letting it die and sparking it back to life. Marcus and Brandon were standing behind him, looking over his shoulder at something just out of my line of sight.
“W-what is it?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know. A tree?” Marcus guessed as the flame flickered out again.
“Shut up, dipshit. Trees don’t grow in caves. They need to photo…photo...” Lee flicked the lighter again.
“Photosynthesize,” Brandon interrupted.
“It looks more like a statue,” Jennifer said, straining to get a look from behind the others.
I stepped forward with false bravado. “Jennifer’s right. Look, it has a face…” In the exact center of the cave stood the stump of some long-dead, petrified tree. Carved into it was a man’s face.
“What’s this?” Lee asked, and reached for a bit of string dangling from one of the branches.
Brandon had backed away and stood just outside the cave. “This is messed up, dude. That looks like a person. Those look like arms!”
Lee stood frozen, his hand on the arm of the statue. A few seconds passed before he laughed, a nervous laugh I’d never heard from him before, and he lifted the string.
He must be afraid, I thought. I’d never seen Lee afraid.
Marcus looked at the strings and went pale. “It’s Franklin’s friendship bracelet.”
“No…” Jennifer’s voice was so low I was sure I’d been the only one to hear. She was trembling. I needed to get her out of here.
I looked at the others. “Why don’t we come back when we have flashlights? So we can get a better look at it?”
Lee was staring at the statue, tree-stump, whatever it was. He turned on Marcus. “You put it here to try and scare us. Where did you find the carving, freak? Did you do it yourself? Been watching too much TV, and got bored? Decided to mess with
