I quickly inhaled the rest of the protein bar and drank some more water before putting the bottle away. I stretched, and my ribs still ached. It was bearable, but if I thought about it too much—about Matt—the anger would overwhelm me.

Gobble had shifted back in his tiny form and he sat in the tree above the tent, watching us move around. It made me nervous when he stayed quiet like that.

The sound of Lucas zipping up the backpack caught my attention. “All right. Let’s go,” he said as he slipped the first one on his back. “The mine is this way.” He slipped the other one across his chest and started walking.

Gobble flitted down from the tree and settled on my shoulder. The image of tiny little teeth tearing into my ear raced across my mind, and I stiffened.

Lucas spun toward me. “Why are you—” He didn’t have to finish his question. “Get off of her. She doesn’t like you sitting there.”

“Sure the tasty does.” His tiny voice screeched in my ear.

Lucas’ eyes flashed bright. “And she doesn’t like you calling her the tasty,” he said, with a low rumble in his voice.

They started arguing back and forth as we walked.

The day had just begun and I was already getting a headache.

***

Lucas had been dead on when he said it would take two hours to get to the mine. We stopped for a rest when we arrived. Weeds and branches covered up most of the entrance, blocking it from view. Without the map to tell us where to stop, we might’ve walked by it a million times and never seen it. It was too dark to see all the way inside, but a set of rusted and broken cart tracks ended at what looked like the mouth of a very long cave.

Lucas reached into his bag, grabbing out two flashlights. I took one, thankful for it. I hadn’t thought to bring one. It was rare that I found someone more prepared than I was. I kind of admired that quality in Lucas. It was nice.

As we stepped inside, the air grew thick and heavy. It smelled stale and earthy, like no one had entered in a good long while. Spider webs ran down from the corners of the braced walls, and I moved to walk behind Lucas.

He glanced back to me. “Don’t like spiders, huh?”

“Does anyone like them?”

Gobble flew in front of my face. “I like them just fine. Tasty,” he squeaked.

“Right.” That didn’t surprise me in the least.