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them, huh? The mutants? Do they really glow in the dark?”
    A bunch of kids started to laugh.
    â€œBobby,” Mr. Tanaka said with a warning in his voice.
    â€œThere are no mutants here,” Mrs. Hallett snapped. “I think you’ve been reading too many comic books, young man.”
    A dark cloud crossed Bobby’s face. “Well, all those kids who disappeared weren’t in any comic books,” he muttered—just loudly enough to be overheard.
    â€œThat’s it, Bobby,” Mr. Tanaka said. “Enough. One more interruption out of you, and I’ll be on the phone with your mother, and you’ll miss out on the tour. Do you understand me?”
    Bobby clamped his mouth shut as he nodded his head. Out of the corner of her eye, Kristi could see his ears turning bright red. He always does this, she thought, shifting on her feet so that she was standing a little farther away from him. He totally brings it on himself. I don’t know why, but he does.
    â€œIs it just me, or is Bobby even more annoying than usual?” Olivia whispered to Kristi. “What is going on with him?”
    Kristi shrugged. “I don’t know,” she whispered back. “Maybe he’s just excited about going into the caves.”
    Mrs. Hallett smiled again—smug and satisfied. “If there won’t be any further interruptions ,” she said, staring directly at Bobby, “let’s go over the safety rules. As you can see, we’ve installed modern electrical lighting along the tour path. Not only will this help you see all the wonders of the caverns, it will help you stay safe: Any area without lights is strictly off-limits. No running or reckless behavior. You must stay behind the guardrails at all times. Some of the chasms we’ll encounter are hundreds of feet deep, and a fall into one would be fatal. We might see some of the caverns’ full-time occupants—the animals I mentioned before. If we do, you must notstartle them. Please try not to make too much noise; we haven’t had a rockslide in here for nearly thirty years and I’d rather not have one today.”
    Mrs. Hallett paused as she glanced around the group to make sure everyone was listening. The students were hanging on to her every word, completely mesmerized by her warnings about the dangers of the cavern.
    â€œFinally, touch nothing and take nothing. There is a lovely gift shop in the Ravensburg Motel where you can buy beautiful geodes and real fossils if you’d like a souvenir from your visit today.” Mrs. Hallett paused. “And now, if everyone is ready, let’s begin the tour.”

CHAPTER 5
    Mrs. Hallett led the seventh graders down a sloping ramp that was bordered on both sides by metal guardrails. Kristi peeked over one: the drop was about ten feet, a steep fall but not enough to kill anybody . . . she hoped. As if they were influenced by the subterranean stillness of the cave, the kids started speaking in hushed whispers that were hardly louder than their footsteps.
    â€œRavensburg Caverns is a series of underground chambers constructed out of ancient rock formations,” Mrs. Hallett said as she walked. “Some of these chambers are enormous, with fifty-foot-high ceilings. Others are smaller than a broom closet. There are dozens of twisting tunnels that link these chambers; afew serve as exits out of the caverns.”
    â€œMrs. Hallett,” Mr. Tanaka said. “Sorry to interrupt, but can you tell us how many chambers there are?”
    â€œI’m afraid not,” Mrs. Hallett said, “because we simply don’t know. There are at least sixty that have been explored, but some of the caverns we’ve found are made of unstable rock formations. They are simply too dangerous to enter, and there’s no way to know what lies on the other side of them.”
    Suddenly Mrs. Hallett held up both hands to stop the group from walking further.