Pen, Fin, and the Bigfoot Bargain:

Episode 1: Flash, Boom, Fang

The monster stands on the path just ahead—huge, hairy, and hulking.

"Uhhh," I croak as I gape at it.

Not exactly the most thing to utter to the most famous cryptid ever to walk the planet, but then again, what do you say when you find yourself face to face with Bigfoot?

Yes—the Bigfoot. That ape-like being with huge human-like feet, possible ties to s, and reputed travel capabilities—also known as Sasquatch, the Yeren, the Yowie, and the Skunk Ape.

The creature doesn't make a sound. It just at me through the silvery rain streaming down its matted fur, its soaked condition intensifying the wet-dog-meets-dumpster stench surrounding it like a stink cloud.

Then, as lightning flashes behind the bipedal hominid of legend, illuminating it in all its towering glory, I suddenly remember who I am and why I'm out here again—alone in the midnight-dark forest of Running River National Park, far away from my cozy cabin in the heart of Camp Creekrock.

My name is Penelope Paz, and I'm an eleven-year-old cryptozoologist—a person who studies and searches for legendary creatures to decide whether or not they might exist.

I'm also one final slipup away from losing my best friend in the whole world.

But just one picture can solve all my problems. All I've gotta do is lift the Sharpshot T7 camera hanging from the strap around my neck, aim it at Bigfoot, push the button, and presto, in one quick second, I can prove the existence of this mysterious (and reek-tastic) being with the first clear, photographic evidence ever captured.

Next on the list? Well, I'll become rich and famous, of course, but more importantly, I'll win back my bestie, Finneas James Montes II—a.k.a. Fin—from the clutches of the kayaking queen of conflict.

I need this photo.

Thunder booms overhead as my heart thumps an S.O.S. in my chest. The trees sway, their waxy leaves catching the gleam from the flashlight I'm shining on the cryptid's enormous, fuzzy face.

Bigfoot tilts its head at me as, slowly, I lift my camera. I don't dare break my stare from that of the colossal creature whose dark gaze, partially shielded by scraggly brown bangs, tracks my every move.

Click.

Flash!

ROAR.

Okay. So, Bigfoot isn't a fan of having its picture taken. Probably should have asked. (Can't now. Too busy running.)

I scream, long and loudly, as though that might help me not get eaten or something, which is probably exactly what's about to happen.

And that's a shame, because finally—finally—I have the proof that Fin demanded.

Too bad Fin isn't here to see it.

Too bad I'm about to be cryptid crème brûlée.

Too bad I didn't listen to Knox. I guess the surly park ranger was right about staying out of the woods at night.

Too bad I can't go back ten days.

Ten days ago, everything was different.

Ten days ago, everything was great.

Ten days ago, even though Bigfoot was still a big fat question mark, my friendship with Fin wasn't.

Ten days ago, I still—wait a second.

There. Up ahead. Something's moving through the dark. Something with an engine—and lights.

An ATV veers onto the path, but it's not Ranger Knox's hulked-out form in the driver's seat, like I expect.

Instead, my bouncing flashlight beam reveals something impossible—something that makes my legs pump faster.

"FIN!"

"Get on!" Fin shouts over the thunder and the pelting rain. I waste zero time doing exactly as he says, clambering onto the seat behind him.

"Look out!" I cry, pointing to the trail that now lies ahead of us—the one I'd been running down.

The one with Bigfoot on it.

Except now, there's nothing on the muddy path. There's nothing around us either, except the trees, the rain, and the dark.

Bigfoot is gone, and the air around the spot it disappeared from is doing the funny rippling thing I've seen once before—the first night I entered these woods alone.

"Did you see it?" I shout, shaking Fin's shoulders. "Fin, tell me you saw it!"

"Ranger Knox?"

"No," I growl, "the ginormous seven-foot-tall, hairy, sharp-fanged, gorilla-looking nightmare that almost ate me!"

"We don't have time for this," Fin snaps as he shifts the ATV into gear. "I was right about something being up with Knox. I snuck into his office, and it turns out he's a super-secret government agent. He's been keeping a file on you since our very first day at camp, and the last entry has orders for his special-operations team to wipe your memory!"

Fin's words aren't making much sense. At least not in this moment, while my heart is revved up like a race car and my brain is still soaked in .

As we tear down the forest path, though, I aim my camera toward the ground and snap pictures of the huge footprints stamped into the mud. Bigfoot might have vanished, but I still have my camera, which is all I need to prove my case, first to Fin and then the world.

But then, over the rumble of thunder and the roar of our ATV's engine, a distant snarl—this one the mechanical sort—cuts through the forest. The buzz of a second engine comes from our left—and then there's a third, which comes from the right.

Lights switch on, their beams slicing the night on either side of us, dancing through the trees and piercing my eyes.

Three ATVs are closing in on us fast, and Ranger Knox is on one of them, no doubt—I wonder how many of those special-ops memory-obliterator guys are with him?

I clutch my camera as Fin bumps us over jutting roots, my mind going back to how this whole hairy predicament started—back to ten days ago when Fin and I first arrived at Camp Creekrock.

That was the day we met Ranger Knox. Actually...hold on. I should probably back this story up and start with our first day at camp so I can fill you in from the beginning. Buckle up, you're in for a wild ride.