Chapter 7

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Iris' toy, Ruby thought.

Hunter quickly dropped it and moved away as if it was poisonous. "Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness! No!"

"What's the matter?" Ruby wondered while peeking into the hole.

Concerned, Rufus asked, "You know what that is, right?"

Hunter gulped. "It's a Jesus book."

Ruby looked at them. "Shush!"

Then Rufus said, "Mate, you touched it! You touched it! God is going to kill you!"

Hunter's eyes watered, and he hastened to stand. "What has befallen me?!"

Rufus backed up. "Don't touch anyone else before you bathe in water. Quickly. Maybe you can soften the . . ." Hunter dashed away, leaping over branches, ". . . the punishment."

Ruby didn't know what that was all about; she'd never heard of anyone dying from touching a little book. But clearly, Iris didn't believe me when I said I would make her another one. Anyway, she couldn't worry about that now. She scanned the hole. It was bigger than her head, and she was smaller than Hunter, which made her a better candidate. She dragged herself into the dark den. The walls bent to the left, so Ruby turned on her shoulder to fit better.

Suddenly, she heard a rattling.

"Get out!" Rufus cried. "That's a pricker!"

She couldn't see the animal, but it sounded close. In front of her face! But Ruby inched closer until the boy grabbed her legs and pulled her out. She angrily grunted.

Rufus knelt on one knee and said, "Let's get the pricker out first, then you can try again, or else, you'll never be able to rescue your sister."

Ruby dropped her head and sighed with grief.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, "just pray and never give up."

Ruby nodded with skepticism. Although she believed in the unseen gods her parents talked about, she had a feeling they weren't all capable like everyone conceived. It was just a small thought that came and went, but she didn't feel like praying right now.

Whenever she heard anything about gods in the future, she'd probably see Dr. Andrew's face as he said, "God is the God of gods." And he had a story to prove it. An entire book!

Rufus stood, grabbed a machete from the floor, and used the blade to dig into the mound. Ruby did the same with her spear.

"Iris, where are you?" she begged.

Then the boy put one foot on the mound and said, "The chances of finding her alive are shallow. If the bigmouth dragged her into a pricker den, no doubt, she's already . . . you know."

"You don't assume a snake will drag its food into a porcupine home, do you?"

"Are you suggesting we have the wrong den?"

"Unless the porcupine is an intruder. Besides, she'd likely be in his stomach than anything else."

He thought for a moment. "Well, Hunter is the best man-tracker in the woods. He wouldn't lead us to the wrong place."

"What are the chances of making a mistake and wasting time digging rather than retracing our steps?"

He laughed. "None. That boy is . . ." Suddenly, his foot slipped off the mound, and he dropped the blade, using his hands to keep himself up. But then he froze, hung his head, grunted, and then stared with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

He panted. "I think I'm going die."

"Why?"

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