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scampering on an intercept course. “Hey! Y’all follow me!” she shouted, cocking her head toward the wall.
    â€œWhere?” Beamer gasped between gulps of breath as they veered after her.
    â€œJust trust me,” she fired back at him.
    That was easier said than done. Jared’s attack force was bearing down on them. And where was Scilla leading them? Straight into a ten-foot-high wall!
    Winding through a maze of trees and bushes, Scilla suddenly dived between two humongous flowering bushes. Brushing leaves and flower petals from their eyes, her three followers found themselves staring at the wall. This was not a good moment.
    â€œGreat!” Beamer exclaimed. “Do you supply the firing squad too?”
    â€œKeep your pants on,” she shot back at him. She slid aside a slab of plywood so covered with glued-down rocks and dirt and weeds that it looked like part of the ground.
    â€œA hole!” Ghoulie exclaimed.
    â€œA dark hole!” Michael added with a gulp.
    â€œGet in there, quick,” she ordered, shoving him into the hole.
    â€œHey!” he protested. “What about spiders? And Mom’ll kill me if I get my school clothes dirty.”
    â€œJared will kill you if you don’t!”
    He dropped in and was gone.
    â€œYo! Geek patrol!” Jared shouted from nearby, as he thrashed through the bushes looking for them. “Come out now and maybe I won’t turn you into chopped beef.”
    Scilla and Beamer scurried into the hole behind Ghoulie like frightened groundhogs. Not half a breath after Scilla dragged the plywood back over the hole, Jared’s head poked through the bushes to see . . . nothing.
    Meanwhile the fugitives found themselves climbing down a long ladder.
    â€œA detour through the center of the earth wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” grumbled Beamer. Suddenly a tiny light flashed in front of his eyes; then another; then a hundred. His feet stumbled onto the floor and he whirled around in bewilderment. There were lights . . . everywhere!

8

The Haunting of Murphy Street

    Beamer had been in caves before, but never in one that was lit up like Christmas.
    â€œWhat is this, firefly city?” exclaimed Ghoulie, his eyes reflecting a thousand tiny lights flickering on and off.
    â€œWow!” chirped Michael as he jumped about trying to catch one.
    â€œYou haven’t seen nothin’ yet,” Scilla said as she removed an old-fashioned lamp hung on the wall. She turned a knob. There was no flame, but a large bulb suddenly glowed with a kind of liquid.
    Michael touched the bulb. “Hey, it’s not even warm!”
    â€œYeah, and the light’s the same color as the light from the fireflies,” added Ghoulie.
    â€œWe can figure out this stuff later; let’s just get out of here,” said Beamer, looking around nervously. “You’re sure there’s a way out, aren’t you?”
    â€œOf course, you ninny,” said Scilla, rolling her eyes. “It’s this way.” She led them trudging through a winding passage. They could hear the distant sound of trickling water.
    â€œThis has got to be the longest shortcut in human history,” grumbled Beamer.
    â€œYeah, but you don’t see Jared anywhere, do you?” Scilla shot back.
    The passage opened up into a room the size of a large classroom, only twice as tall. Here the fireflies were even denser and portions of the walls glowed as well.
    â€œWhoa!” gasped Ghoulie at the light show. He ran his fingers across the velvety-textured glowing stuff on the wall. “Seems to be some kind of moss.”
    â€œWhere do those go?” asked Beamer, eyeing several dark passages that led off from the room in different directions.
    â€œDon’t know, but Grandma says the whole area around the park is honeycombed with caves. This way out,” she said, leading them to a staircase carved into the rock.
    â€œHey!”