by Poppy Green
They agreed they’d have to wait for Saturday to return to the cave.
“Can you make a map to show the way to the cave?” Hattie asked Sophie. “We don’t want to waste time walking in circles.”
Sophie nodded. “I can do that.”
“Owen, you and I can bring supplies. We need lanterns and rope,” Hattie said.
“On it!” Owen replied.
Of course! Sophie thought. Why didn’t I think of that? Then she smiled. Hattie was so practical.
They were going to be very well-prepared cave explorers!
Which Way?
The three friends stood at the cave entrance. They had found it easily this time.
Hattie and Owen had the lanterns they had brought from home. Owen handed one to Sophie.
Hattie took out a box of matches. She was a Forest Scout and had gotten her fire safety badge. So she was the one to carefully light each lantern’s candle.
Sophie looked at her friends. “Ready?” she asked. “Let’s go!” And she led the way into the cave.
The three lanterns made lots of light. Unlike last time, Sophie could clearly see the way ahead. It was a rock-walled tunnel, curving gradually to the left.
She looked up at the cave ceiling. At the entrance, it was almost low enough to touch. But farther in, it got higher and higher.
Suddenly, Sophie detected something moving at her side. She jumped—then laughed. She’d been spooked by their long shadows, cast onto the cave wall by the candlelight.
The friends covered ground quickly. Before long, Sophie was sure they had come farther than she had on her own or with Winston.
The cave was quiet. No shrieking. No mysterious noises. The only sounds were their footsteps echoing off the walls.
And where was the glowing light? Was their lantern light drowning it out?
Or did I just imagine it after all?
Sophie stopped at a fork in the path. Hattie and Owen came up and stood on either side.
“Now what?” Sophie said. “Right or left?”
Hattie held her lantern high, trying to see down each tunnel. It was no help. Both paths looked the same.
“I guess we just pick one,” Hattie suggested.
Sophie’s eyes fell on the coil of rope tied to Hattie’s backpack. She had an idea!
“Or we could split up,” Sophie said.
Hattie shook her head. “No way. I vote we stay together.”
Sophie took the rope. “Wait, listen. Maybe we can use our rope to keep us connected.”
She held one end and tied the other end around Owen’s waist.
“Two of us go one way, and one goes the other,” said Sophie. “We’ll go just until the rope pulls tight and we can’t go any farther. Then we’ll follow the rope back and talk about what we found.”
Owen nodded. “That way, we won’t lose one another.”
Hattie frowned. “But who is going to go alone?”
Owen looked down at the rope around his waist. “Well, I’m already tied on,” he said. “I’ll go by myself. See you back here in a minute.”
He slithered away down the right-hand tunnel.
A Missing Explorer
The left-hand tunnel sloped slightly downward. Sophie could feel the air growing cooler. “I think we’re headed underground,” she said to Hattie.
They hopped over a puddle formed by a slow drip-drip of water from the ceiling. They scrambled over a large boulder partially blocking the way.
Up ahead, the tunnel turned sharply to the right. They had almost reached the turn when Sophie abruptly stopped.
The rope was taut. She couldn’t go any farther without letting go.
Sophie and Hattie turned around and went back, coiling up the rope as they walked. When they got to the fork, Owen wasn’t there.
“Owen!” Sophie called down the right-hand tunnel. “Come back, okay?”
There was no answer.
“Owen?” Hattie called.
They held up their lanterns and followed the rope down the right-hand tunnel. “Owen, where are you?” Sophie called again. Why isn’t he answering? she wondered.
They followed the rope over a pile of pebbles and around another bend.
Hattie stopped and pointed up ahead.
Sophie saw it too. The other end of the rope lay there on the ground. She and Hattie cast their lantern light all around.
But Owen was nowhere to be seen.
Sophie and Hattie stared at each other in shock.
“Owen!” Sophie shouted frantically. “Owen!”
Squeak! Squeak! Screeeeeech!
In a flash of noise and flapping wings, Sophie felt something swoop past the tip of her nose.
“Ahh!” Sophie cried. She flinched and took a step backward.
A second later, the creature was flapping around Hattie’s head. Hattie ducked and cried out. “Sophie! What is it?”
Squeak! Squeak! Screeeeeech!
Sophie raised her lantern, trying to get a good look. Whatever it was, was moving fast—darting this way and that!
“I don’t know!” Sophie called. “Hattie, come toward me!”
They linked arms and backed away from the creature. Again and again, it swooped down from the cave ceiling. Each time, Sophie and Hattie took another step backward, until—
“Aaaaaaaaah!” Sophie and Hattie cried out together.
The ground fell away beneath their feet. They were tumbling backward, and then—oof!—they hit the ground and they were sliding! They slid down, down, down on a smooth, slippery ramp, almost like a slide.
Then, gradually, the slide leveled off and the girls rolled to a stop. Sophie rubbed her eyes and looked around.
Owen was standing over them, bathed in purple light.
“Owen!” Hattie cried.
Owen helped them up. “Are you guys okay?” he asked, concerned.
Sophie dusted herself off. “I think so,” she replied. “What—what happened? We were looking for you and then . . .”
Her words trailed off as her eyes moved from Owen’s face to the magical sight behind him.
Sophie gasped.
They were standing in a huge cavern filled with glittering blue, pink, and purple crystals. Together, they cast a beautiful purplish light.
Large crystal columns poked up from the ground, reaching halfway to the ceiling.
Other crystals hung down from the ceiling like fancy light fixtures.
They clung to the walls, sparkling and shiny. And they all seemed to be glowing.
“Where—where are we?” Sophie said, filled with awe.
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said.
The three friends stood in silence, taking in the beauty of the cave.
From somewhere close behind them came a tiny, squeaky voice.
“You’re in Crystal Cave!”
Don’t Mind My Manners
Sophie, Hattie, and Owen whirled around. A small, furry brown bat was hanging upside down from a nearby crystal.
“Ahhhhhh!” Sophie shouted.
“Eeeeeeeeep!” the bat squeaked, startled by Sophie’s shout.
It was a very familiar sound—high-pitched, almost a shriek!
Sophie covered her ears until the bat quieted down and the echoes faded. Then she eyed him suspiciously.
“Wait a minute,” said Sophie. She put her hands on her hips. “Were you the one attacking us up there?” She pointed up the slide.
The bat nodded. Then he shook his head. “No,” he squeaked. “I mean, yes. I mean . . . I wasn’t trying to attack you.”
Hattie and Sophie looked at each other in disbelief. “It kind of felt that way,” Hattie said gently.
The bat covered his face with a wing. He peeked sheepishly out at them. “I was trying to help you find your friend,” he said. “I saw him slip down the slide. Then I saw you come looking for him.”
Sophie was confused. “You were trying to make us fall down too? So we’d find him?”
; The bat nodded.
“Maybe you could have told us instead?” Hattie pointed out.
The bat hid behind his wing again. “Sorry,” he squeaked. “I . . . don’t get a lot of visitors in here. I guess I don’t have the best manners.”
Sophie’s heart melted. “No, we’re sorry,” she said. “This is your cave. We didn’t mean to barge in. I was just so curious about what was in here.”
She introduced herself, and Hattie and Owen too.
“Pleased to meet you,” the bat replied. “My name’s Jet.”
Sophie looked up and around at the crystals. “Your home is so beautiful, Jet.”
“How do the crystals glow like that?” Owen asked.
Jet flapped his wings and flew in a circle around one crystal. He explained that they were made of a mineral called fluorite.
“Way up at the top of the cavern,” Jet said, “there’s a skylight—an opening in the ceiling. For a short time each day, when the sun is high, light streams in. It hits the crystals, which makes them glow in the dark for hours afterward.” Jet came in for a landing next to Sophie. “My grandpa says it’s called photoluminescence.”
“Your grandpa?” Owen said. “Does he live here too?”
Jet nodded. “My whole family lives here,” he said. “See!”
He pointed to an area high up on the cavern wall. Dozens and dozens of bats hung upside down from crystal ledges.
“Wow!” said Hattie. “You have a big family!”
“Yep,” the bat replied. “Brothers, sisters, my mom and dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. They’re all here!”
A couple of the bats waved hello. But most hung there motionless. Their wings were wrapped tightly around their bodies as if they were in sleeping bags. They peeked out at the visitors with curiosity.
“They’re not used to company either,” Jet explained. “It’s kind of why we live in here. It’s peaceful. And quiet.” Then he laughed. “Well, usually it is,” he added.
Sophie nodded. Then it hit her. The bat family would probably prefer to be left alone.
“Well, we should get going,” said Sophie. “We all have homework to do, anyway.”
Owen was staring dreamily into a crystal. “We do?” he said.
But Hattie understood. “Yep, we do,” she said, nudging Owen toward the exit. “Jet, could you help us find the way out?”
The Secret Crystal Cave
On Monday morning at school, all the students were hanging up their coats. Ellie hung hers on the coat hook next to Sophie’s.
“So did you go back to that cave?” Ellie asked Sophie.
Ben looked over, interested to hear the answer.
Hattie and Owen glanced over too. What would Sophie say?
“Yes, we did!” Sophie replied. “And you know what? That spooky noise? It wasn’t just my imagination.”
“It wasn’t?” Ellie said, intrigued.
Sophie had so wanted to take a crystal home. She had almost asked Jet if she could. That way, they could show Ellie and Ben and everyone at school. Proof of the Crystal Cave!
But then Sophie had realized what would happen next. Everyone else would want to go to see the cave for themselves.
How would the bat family ever get any peace?
So in the end, Sophie hadn’t asked for a crystal. Instead, she had asked Hattie and Owen if they could keep a secret—for the bat family.
“Nope! It wasn’t my imagination,” Sophie repeated. She shrugged. “It was just a bat. A really nice bat.”
She looked at Hattie and Owen and winked.
The secret of Crystal Cave was safe with them.
About the Author
Poppy Green can talk to animals! Unfortunately, they never talk back to her. So she started writing in order to imagine what they might say and do when humans aren’t watching. Poppy lives on the edge of the woods in Connecticut, where her backyard is often a playground for all kinds of wildlife: birds, rabbits, squirrels, voles, skunks, deer, and the occasional wild turkey.
Jennifer A. Bell is an illustrator whose work can be found on greeting cards, in magazines, and in more than a dozen children’s books. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband, son, and cranky cat.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN 978-1-4814-9986-6 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-9985-9 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-9987-3 (eBook)
