Page 1 of The Explorer
PROLOGUE
One of the Boys
Northlands Year 2448
Aubri
Mason and Indiana sped up when I caught up to them. They were heading into the back part of our property line, behind the arena, where the massive trees were.
“Go home, Aubri,” my twin brother Mason told me.
“I want to come with you. Are you going to climb the big one?
“Yes, but you can’t come.”
“Why?”
“It’s not for girls. It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m older than you are!”
Mason turned his head and scoffed. “By six minutes.”
Running a little faster, I got in front of the boys and walked backwards. Speaking while looking at them, I said, “So what? You still don’t get to order me around. I’m just as good at climbing trees as you are.”
Mason didn’t slow down as he spoke. “Of course I get to order you around. I’m your protector; Dad told me so.”
I gave up walking backward and turned my nose in the same direction as them. “Mom said women are just as badass as men.”
“You’re ten, which means you’re a girl, Aubri, not a woman. And you can’t come.”
Shifting tactics, I turned my attention to Indiana, who was older than Mason and me by three months. “Tell Mason he’s being a jerk. I’m not a normal girl and you know it.”
Indiana had a stick in his hands that he swung through the tall grass while walking at a fast pace like Mason.
“It’s for your own good, Aubri. We don’t want you to get hurt. Mason and I shouldn’t even be climbing up the big one.”
“Then why are you?”
Indiana wrinkled his forehead as if the question were stupid. “Because it’s fun.”
“Exactly.” I had to jog to keep up with them. A year ago, I’d been taller than both Indiana and Mason, but not any longer.
When we reached the big one, we stood for a moment with our necks craned back and our eyes trying to see the top of the giant pine tree.
“We should have brought safety equipment,” Indiana mumbled, but my brother just snorted.
“Safety equipment is for pussies.”
“Dad told us not to climb this one. It’s slippery and too tall.”
Looking down his nose at me, Mason spoke in a demanding tone. “Which is why you’ll stay down here and never tell anyone that Indiana and I climbed that tree.”
“If you can do it, I can too.”
Mason pointed the way we’d come. “Go home, Aubri. It’s better that way.”
Crossing my arms, I raised my chin and gave my brother the stink-eye.
