Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,59
ripe and red and luscious. The four of them stared at it, not quite believing what they were looking at. It was impossible to think that anything grew underground, and that, after all that walking, they had actually found one of the most dangerous objects in the world.
“Okay, let’s figure out how to get me over there,” said Evie, rolling up her sleeves. The fruit was her mother’s talisman.
“We need to find a way to make a raft,” said Carlos. “Maybe with some of the branches we saw back there, and anything else we can find.”
They walked back into the dark tunnel, searching for anything they could use to build a boat, when a strange sound echoed all around, distant but growing louder by the second.
Snuffle, grunt.
Mal ignored Jay. She hated it when he goofed off like that.
Grunt, snuffle.
Much louder now.
Snuffle, grunt.
The snuffling and grunting noise was so loud it was hard to concentrate. Mal had had enough. “JAY! I SAID STOP DOING THAT!”
“Yeah, man,” said Carlos as he rolled the map back up and shoved it in his pocket. “Lay off on the sound effects.”
“Seriously,” said Evie, with a toss of her hair. “You’re getting on my nerves.”
As they turned around to confront their friend, they realized he wasn’t standing behind them anymore. His flashlight was on the floor. “Jay?” Mal called uncertainly.
Jay appeared from the darkness, carrying a bunch of dead branches in his arms. “What?” he asked as the sound grew louder and louder. “I left the light here for you guys.”
“Jay’s not making that sound!” Evie screamed. “RUN!”
Carlos grabbed the flashlight, and they sprinted back toward the lake. But something was blocking the passage. Something large and hairy with huge fanged teeth.
Snuffle, grunt.
Grunt, snuffle.
The four of them ran from the creature and hid, huddling together in a nearby recess, trying not to make any noise as whatever that thing was that was snuffling and grunting moved away. It sounded awful, like some kind of hideous monster. Evie shivered, hoping it would move away without discovering them. She knew she was first up against her talisman, and wanted to get it over with as soon as she could.
“What is it?” Carlos whispered, shaking.
Mal stuck her head out of the hollow to see if she could see it. “It’s big and…pink. Like a huge cat, or a tiger, I can’t tell.”
“A huge pink tiger, great; we’re scared we’re going to get eaten by a creature that looks like a puff of cotton candy,” said Jay.
The snuffling and grunting sound faded.
Evie exhaled. “Okay, let’s figure out a way to get across the lake.”
Carlos and Jay tried to tie the branches together to make some kind of raft, but it was clear that wasn’t going to work as they didn’t have anything they could use for twine. Jay kicked at the sad pile of branches dejectedly.
“Let’s see how far it is, maybe there’s some other way,” said Evie.
They entered the larger cavern, which was as big as a professional tourney stadium. Stalactites arched on the ceiling above them, like stars in a black sky. They stared once more at the toxic tree that stood in the middle of a tiny island surrounded by water.
“An island within the island and under water too. Yen Sid is right, the magic down here is wild,” said Jay.
Evie stood at the edge of the water, and a smooth rock just large and flat enough to step on appeared. She looked at her friends, who shrugged. She held her breath and jumped on it. Another rock appeared in front of her.
Stepping-stones.
Evie looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Come on, it’s like it knows I’m here.”
The talismans desire to be found, Yen Sid had told them.
Evie led the way, and the rest followed, careful to make sure they didn’t fall into the poisoned water.
“Almost there,” said Evie as they stepped closer to the tiny islet holding a single toxic tree. From afar, the tree’s knotted bark resembled a pattern of scowling faces.
“Creepy,” said Carlos.
“I know,” said Mal. “We get to hang out in the coolest places.”
“Make sure your feet don’t touch the water,” warned Evie, who knew a lot about poison, at least when it came to apples. She knew what they looked like, how they smelled, which ones would put you to sleep, and which ones would kill you on the spot. “We’d melt like sugar cubes in a hot cup of tea if you tried to swim in here.”