“Useless, useless, useless,” chanted Winnie as he sorted through the mess of items, surfacing first with the sodden bag of food and then with the map, bleeding ink all over his fingers. “Is that really all of it?”

“This is ridiculous,” Ahmad seethed, water dripping off his eyelashes. No, it was more than that. It was just like school. You were told what to do, but never given what you needed to do it. You were told that you needed to try harder, but the game was already rigged in someone else’s favor.

Angrily he dumped the knapsack out on the dock. Something clattered against the slick wood, and Ahmad picked it up. It was the miniature boat. He stared at it, and then at Winnie.

“This could be a red herring,” she said cautiously.

“But remember the token? And my Switch screen?” Ahmad lifted the boat over the churning water. T.T., who had been mumbling to himself and wringing out his damp paws, noticed the movement and his eyes widened.

“No! You can’t! Not so close to the dock!”

But Ahmad had already dropped it.

“Oops.”

Winnie sighed and opened her mouth, but then let out a shriek instead.

“What—what is it doing?”

The water shifted and sloshed against the dock. Ahmad and Winnie braced themselves against each other.

“Oh my gosh!” Winnie gasped.

“Ugh!” Ahmad spluttered as a huge wave splashed into his mouth, carrying the awful taste of brackish water and thick sludge.

With a final buck and a heave, the tiny boat billowed out into the river, becoming large enough to seat two kids and a very, very large mouse. It was definitely one of the dinghies from Ahmad’s childhood picture books, resembling a regular rowboat, but with elegant carvings and bright flowers blooming on its sides.

“Uh, wow,” Ahmad said, at a loss for any other words.

“I’m not going to get used to this,” Winnie said dazedly.

Ahmad tugged her onto the craft. T.T. took hold of the oars and they jetted away over the river’s surface.

The kids craned their necks to see into the water, white-capped waves surging forward against the bow of the boat. Even as a city kid, Ahmad could tell that current was strong.

“Nothing yet,” Ahmad muttered.

“We don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Winnie pointed out. “Where are these Machi Men? Who are these Machi Men? And how do we get them?”

She shrieked as their boat suddenly tilted to the side. Something had bumped into it, hard. Ahmad leaned over the side, his heart pounding. Giant fingers were curling up from beneath the boat.

“What is that?”

The fingers curled over the side of the boat. There was another moment, breaking the water’s surface: a giant, metallic face.

A Machi Man. And though it was carved and not at all human, it looked like it was pleading.