Thorn Fall by Lindsay Buroker Page A

plan before going out and looking for trouble again. We should get Autumn’s analysis of the thorns first too. If some poison coated the tip, there might be an antidote.
    “The only question is whether there might be more clues there that we’d miss out on if we don’t go,” I said.
    “We would probably get more clues from the bodies,” Simon said, “assuming these guys don’t make it, either. I’ll try to get the hospital report later.”
    “Munds Wagon Trail. Let’s see how long that one is and if it’s on the way back.” I pulled up the web browser on my phone, hoping there would be enough reception for it. We were a ways out of town and not on top of that cliff anymore.
    Alek’s head jerked up, and he peered into the woods. Uh oh. Now what? I didn’t hear any buzzing, but we never had figured out who was responsible for the missing ropes. The jibtab or some green-eyed elf who wished us ill? He held up a hand, then walked into the trees.
    “Again?” Simon asked, then told Temi and me, “He does this a lot. Next time I go hiking with him, I’m going to bring the cooler.”
    “Huh,” I voiced, musing over the web search.
    “Huh, you found something interesting about that trail or huh, you found a good restaurant for us to visit for lunch?” Simon patted his stomach.
    “Only you could read a police report about dead people, then ask about lunch,” I muttered.
    “They’re not dead yet. They might survive. Either way, we have to eat.”
    “The Cow Pies?” Temi asked, reading over my shoulder.
    “That’s what caught my eye too.”
    “Because of the silly name?” Simon asked.
    “No, because they’re supposed to be a vortex spot,” I said.
    Simon snorted. “You’re not hoping Naomi’s grammy is out on the trail and gets pronged, too, are you?”
    “No. I’m just wondering if there’s a connection. That first guy was found over by Cathedral Rock, isn’t that what your newspaper article said, Simon?”
    “Yup.”
    “That’s a vortex spot too.”
    “A supposed vortex spot, right?” Simon asked. “We’re not believing in the new age nonsense now, are we?”
    “I don’t know,” I said slowly, thinking of the circle in the cave painting, the one my mind wanted to label as a portal. “We’re believing in magical swords and interdimensional travel.”
    Simon raised a finger. “Technically we haven’t established what kind of portal Temi went through. It could simply be a wormhole to another planet in our galaxy. In our dimension.”
    “ Simply , as if that wouldn’t be kind of a special thing.”
    Temi wore a bemused expression as we discussed this back and forth. Yeah, it was a weird conversation. What would Alek make of us when he learned to understand our words? Speaking of Alek, where had he gone?
    “You said Alek ran off to look in the woods a couple of times on your way to find us?” I asked.
    “Yeah, sometimes he was hunting for tracks, since you two neglected to take an established trail.”
    As if established trails were where the archeological goodies waited.
    “But a couple of times…” Simon shrugged. “He seemed agitated. Like last night in camp.”
    “Looks like you might be right,” I told Temi. “An unfriendly elf might be keeping an eye on us.”
    “And stealing our ropes?”
    “Maybe so.”
    Alek returned, looking like he wanted to say something, but he grunted in irritation and simply pointed back toward the main trail and the parking lot. Not being able to communicate had to be getting old. I would work more with him tonight while Simon was building his weapons.
    By the time we returned to the parking lot, I had refined my thought of language tutoring, wondering if I could find some app to download that would further help him. I was sure there wasn’t an Ancient Greek to English program out there, but maybe something with pictures that was designed to teach children who had no base from which to translate could work.
    Simon groaned. “What