emerged. Olivia held her breath. One by one, they lowered their heads into the opening of the new church and slid their long bodies inside. She heard Uncle speaking gently to them. His voice was a faint comfort on the breeze. “Yes, I knew you would like it. There, there. Yes, there is plenty of room for everyone. You will be safe, safe in here.” A warm breeze blew. The bits of colored glass on the fence clinked like bells. Olivia closed her eyes, listening, oh listening!
Moments later she opened her eyes. Uncle was gone. Olivia stood up from behind the bush, walked over to the walkingstick church and peeked into the darkness. All she could see was a tangled mess of black legs and antennae. A strange spicy perfume wafted out of the opening. It made her sneeze.
Somewhere in the trees, a beautiful musical note whistled. It wasn’t a loud note, but in the quiet air it rang clear and sweet. What could it be? It whistled again. What a charming sound! It slid up like a question. Olivia took a step into the woods. She peered through the dwarf trees and palmettos, trying to find who, or what, it was. She started walking. The white sand slid softly under her feet. Another whistle. It was coming from beyond that pine. She walked faster. The whistler seemed to be moving away just as fast as she walked. Olivia’s feet moved faster and faster underneath her. She just had to find out what was making that beautiful noise. She ran faster and faster. A sudden wave of fear swept over her. She couldn’t stop. Something inside pushed against her muscles. Her legs were a blur. She had never run this fast in her life. It felt like the air was carrying her. Sweat soaked her clothes. She plunged through palmettos and cactus, their spines searing her skin. The oak branches scratched across her face. And then . . .
She stopped.
Exhausted, Olivia collapsed onto the sand, staring up at the blue sky. The only thing she could hear was her own heavy breathing. The whistling stopped.
“What was that all about?” she said to no one in particular. She looked to her side. There, on the edge of the brush, stood a brown bird the size of a chicken. Olivia tried to sit up, but she was so exhausted she couldn’t move. Her arms and legs felt heavy as concrete. She could see twenty more birds standing behind it. Maybe more. The bird looked right into her eyes and tilted its head. It was contemplating her. A cold chill poured through her skin. She struggled to her feet. Wobbling, she yelled, “Go! Go!” and swung her arms wildly. A strange humming noise grew in her ears. It sounded like chanting from far away. It sounded like a screeching train, louder, louder until she thought her eardrums would burst.
“Hello? Are you OK? Wake up! Hello? If you don’t get up the ants are going to get ya.”
Olivia felt dizzy. She had passed out. She tried to open her eyes but the sun came rushing in. Someone was poking her side with a stick.
“Sit up. There are ants all over.”
She swatted at the stick with her arm and sat up. Sand shook out of her messed up hair. The rude person poked her with the stick again.
“Knock it off,” she snipped.
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine,” she said reaching down to her ankles. “Ouch!” There were cactus spines and blood all over her shins.
“Here. Let me help you up.”
Olivia squinted up to see a skinny boy holding his hand out to her. He had light blond hair, a buzz cut, and tiny ears. In fact, he had the tiniest ears she had ever seen.
“Come on. Get up before you get bit,” he said, grinning.
“What’s so funny?” she snapped. Olivia could see that he had a bundle of wire flags and a notebook with him.
He reached down and pulled her up.
“Thanks. Did you see any birds standing around out here?” Olivia asked.
“Huh?”
“Birds. Brown birds. Size of a chicken. Did you see any?”
“Not really. I saw a cardinal just over there. Listen, my name is Doug.”
“Oh. I’m Olivia. Thanks.”
“Are you sure you are OK?”
“Not really. The weirdest thing just happened. There was this whistle and I couldn’t find it and I ran farther and farther. . . .” Olivia saw the worried look on Doug’s face. “Uh, forget it.”
“What are you doing out here anyway?” Doug asked. “Here, have some water. Nobody comes out here without water.” He handed Olivia an old tin canteen. The water tasted so sweet on her dried lips.
“I’m visiting my aunt and uncle. The Milligans. What are you doing out here?”
“I’m marking tortoise burrows for a school project.”
“It’s summertime. Isn’t school out?”
“Yeah, well, it’s extra credit. I’m monitoring all of the burrows that I can find out here. Where are you from anyway? You have a funny accent.”
“I have an accent? Ha!”
“And you are wearing flip-flops. That ain’t too bright.”
“Listen, I wasn’t planning on coming out here. Just point me the way to get back.”
“How bout I walk with you. I have to find more burrows.”
“Fine. You know, you are the one with an accent. Ouch! Those cactus spines hurt!”
“Yeah. Well you aren’t supposed to mess with them. Just pick off the ones you can see. You are gonna have to get the little ones when you get home. Don’t touch your eyes whatever you do. They’ll have to pluck out your eyes if you get the spines in there.”
Olivia leaned over and started pulling out the spines from her shins. Blood dripped down her legs. “What kind of forest is this anyway? It sure is weird. OUCH!”
“It’s called scrub, and there’s no other place in the world like it. It’s what I’m doing my project on.”
“I thought you were doing it on turtles.”
“First of all, they are tortoises, not turtles. And second of all, I’m trying to find as many endangered species as I can out here.”
“Well, Nature Boy, you can have it. There aren’t even any pretty trees. And, the birds . . .” she stopped herself. “Let’s just go.”
They started walking back to her house. Olivia felt safer with Doug there, even if he was a little scrawny.
“So tell me, what are we looking for? Burrows?” she asked.
“Yeah, tortoise burrows. I’m putting a flag on each one and marking it on my map so I can find it later. Look. Here’s one.” He pointed to a large hole slanting down into the sand. It looked like something had been digging at it just a few moments ago. Olivia knelt down and peered inside. She could see a gray, scaly foot just on the edge of the darkness. Then, as if it could feel her eyes looking, it disappeared altogether into the depths.
“I think I saw one!” she said.
