Page 4 of The Hunt

“Yes, we will.” Jake’s father smiled at me. “For now… goodnight and sweet dreams, Everly.”

“Goodnight,” I said timidly. As much as I liked Jake, his father had always frightened me. He was just so tall and intimidating.

Once I’d gulped down my water, I fled back to Merritt’s room and burst in, heart racing. “Sorry I took so long,” I said as the others stared at me with wide eyes. “I got caught.”

“So we can’t go?” Jake asked. He looked slightly relieved.

“We can. We just have to wait a few minutes,” I said. “My dad and your dad were downstairs, but they’ve finished talking now, because your dad has to go somewhere else. I didn’t see any of the other adults, so they must be asleep already.”

“What about your dad?” Merritt asked.

“He said he’s going to bed soon, so we just have to wait a few minutes. Then we can go outside without anyone seeing us.”

“He wasn’t suspicious at all?”

I shook my head. “I did what you said and told him I just wanted a drink. I even faked a yawn so it looked like I just woke up.”

“Awesome!” She smiled at me. “I can’t wait! This is going to be so much fun.”

“Thanks for taking one for the team, Everly,” Ari said, snatching up a cookie. “My dad totally would’ve known I was lying.”

The other kids looked and sounded giddy with excitement. Even the always-grumpy Rhett had cracked a tiny smile.

I was excited too. Not just for sneaking out, but for gaining everyone else’s approval by being the spy, even if I technically got caught.

Once we’d successfully sneaked downstairs and outside, we followed Jake to the farthest part of the estate grounds. The moonlight bathed everything in an eerie silver glow, and the cool night air made goosebumps rise on my skin.

I glanced nervously at Jake as we made our way across the shadowed lawn. “Who built the tunnels?” I asked. “And why?”

“Good point,” Merritt said. “It’s kinda weird, right?”

“Dad said it was something to do with bootleggers,” Jake replied.

“What’s a bootlegger?” Samantha asked. “Something to do with pirates?”

Another shrug from Jake. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Rhett snorted but didn’t add anything to the conversation.

When we reached the hedge-lined fence near the forest, Jake slowed his pace, eyes scanning the dark. “This is the closest tunnel,” he said. “There’s actually three of them.”

At first, I couldn’t see anything. But when I squinted and lowered my gaze, I spotted a dark hole in the bottom of the hedge. I crept closer and saw a stone archway lying just behind the opening, nearly swallowed by the creeping plants and moss that clung to its surface. Beyond the archway, I could see nothing but yawning blackness stretching downward.

“It looks so small,” Merritt said, wrinkling her nose.

“My dad said it’s big once you’re inside. These are just the steps leading down to it,” Jake replied. “But… I don’t think we should go in this one. There might be people in it.”

“Huh?” Ari said, frowning. “Why would there be anyone inside it? Especially in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t know,” Jake said. “Dad just told me that people still use it sometimes. So I think we should go to one of the others.”

“Fine. Whatever.” Samantha rolled her eyes. “Just hurry up. I’m getting kind of cold.”

Jake led us to another overgrown archway about a hundred yards away. Then he crouched, pushing aside the surrounding branches and thorns with his hands. “This is it.”

Rhett went first, followed by Merritt. I dropped to my knees and went after her, and the others followed suit.

Brambles and sharp branches scraped against my skin as we all crawled through the entryway and slowly made our way down the stone steps beyond. The tunnel finally loomed ahead, dark and foreboding.

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