The Secret Cave by SAM Gordon

The Secret Cave By: SAM Gordon

CHAPTER 1

Unbelievable

Hi, my name is Kit. Well actually it is Katherine. But when I was just a baby my Mom started calling me Kat for short, but my Dad said I was too small to be a Kat so he called me Kitten. As I got taller my name got shorter and now everyone just calls me Kit. I have always like my nickname, but my twin brother never really liked his. Mom and Dad call him Pup since they called me Kit. But he prefers to be called by his real name Ben. Ben and I have probably had the most ridiculously amazing, magical, and unbelievable year that any twins have ever had, ever. It all started when we discovered a hidden cave under our school, and in that cave was giant pool of water, and in that pool of water lived a family of dolphins, and working with that family of dolphins was a marine biologist Mr. Geary who was also the custodian at our school, and Mr. Geary was also the fiancé of Dr. Finkletop who ran the Finkletop Marine Mammal Camp where Ben and I spent the summer, and at that camp we helped a little sea lion named Summer recover from losing a fin to swimming out in the ocean again with a prosthetic fin built into a sea lion jacket. All of that doesn’t even include all the ship wreck, the earthquake, the standing up to bullies, the communicating with dolphins, our parents announcing they were having another baby... Like I said, pretty unbelievable. The unbelievable was starting to become pretty normal to Ben and I. I guess that is why what happened next was still amazing but not entirely out of the norm. Summer vacation was ending and the beginning of school was just around the corner. For the first time ever

I was super excited for school to start again. Ben, Mr. Geary, and I were able to work with the dolphins in the hidden cave everyday after school. Over the summer we pretty much only got to see them on Thursday nights, but now we were going to see them almost every day. The dolphin family that lived in the cave was pretty much like many of the families that you know, except that they were sea mammals, and really really really liked to eat fish. There was the mom Della. She was super crazy smart. Mr. Geary was working with teaching the dolphins a kind of sign language so they could communicate with each other. Della was a very quick learner. She knew thousands of words, she even taught pods of wild dolphins how to use the gestures to communicate with each other. Della was also a proud mom of Secret the little baby. Summer wasn’t even a year old yet, but dolphins mature way faster than humans do. As far as dolphin maturity goes, Secret was the equivalent to an 8 year old human. Like I said they develop quick. Secret was a silly little boy. He was great at finding trouble, and quick to make friends. Over the summer Secret made friends with a sea lion named Summer. They had lots of adventures and Secret even saved Summer’s life when he got his fin stuck in a fishing net. Secret swam as fast as he could to get help from his mom Della and his dad Reymond. Reymond was a good dad to Secret. He spent a lot of time showing Secret how to find food out in the wild ocean. He taught his life

lessons about how to always help out your friends and family. Reymond also like to teach Secret flips, jumps, and tricks that I had taught Reymond at our afterschool trainings. Reymond was one of my best friends and understood me in ways that no one else did. He was a pretty cool guy. While all of these events were very unusual and unbelievable they were also completely unknown by anyone except our parents, Mr. Geary, and Dr. Finkletop. We worked hard to keep the hidden cave a secret so Mr. Geary could keep doing his research with the dolphin family in peace without the news and other media exposing the story. It wasn’t that hard to keep the secret because no one would have believed it anyway. But we were still careful to sneak down to the cave unnoticed after school. So now maybe you understand more why I was excited to get back to the routine of the school year. It was a week before school was going to start when Ben and I got letters in the mail from the school. We were excited because we knew it was going to tell us who our teacher was going to be for the year. Ben and I had always been in the same classroom, but this year my mom didn’t request that we stay in the same room, she said the school could place us into classes just like any other kids. Ben was hoping to get Mrs. Clinton. She was known for having the best reading area in her classroom. It was full of squishy cushions and soft carpet and even secret little coves where you could hide away and drift of into the adventure of your book. I was hoping for Mr. Dillinger. He was known for doing a lot of teaching out doors. He thought kids

learned better when they were actively experiencing the learning. I have to say I totally agree with Mr. Dillinger’s philosophy. Ben opened his first. I could tell by the look on his face he didn’t get Mrs. Clinton like he wanted. I said, “Who did you get, who did you get?” Ben replied, “Mrs. Thornbuckle???” We both looked at each other a little confused. Neither of us knew a teacher named Mrs. Thornbuckle. I quickly opened mine and soon was wearing the same confusing face that Ben had just worn. I too had Mrs. Thornbuckle. I was happy Ben and I were in the same class, not because I liked the kid, but it would be easier for us to sneak down to the caves together if we were on the same schedule. My mom walked up and saw that we had opened our letters and asked us who our teachers were. We both replied in unison, “Mrs. Thornbuckle?” Not even my mom know who that was so she said we could go look it up on the school website. My mom explained that maybe she transferred over from one of the other schools in the district, or maybe she was a new teacher. Mrs. Thornbuckle hadn’t been added to the school website yet so we googled her name. We didn’t even know her first name so lots of weird possibilities came up on the search. There was a Mrs. Thornbuckle who was a retired British Parliament member. But we doubted that her next career move was going to be an elementary school teacher. But Ben and I had fun imagining what a teacher with a British accent would sound like. “Children put away your books it is time to go to the loo.” We giggled but it didn’t help us figure out who

our teacher was going to be. Another search result was a Mrs. Thornbuckle who was and ex-professional wrestler. She won the title belt three different times and was banned from the sport for life for using an unauthorized folding chair in her last fight. Ben and I hoped that wasn’t the Mrs. Thornbuckle that would be teaching our class. Although we both agreed that at least we probably would be a very well behaved class, especially if she kept a folding chair by her desk. Another Mrs. Thornbuckle in the results was a billionaire who owned several Caribbean islands. We were pretty sure that wasn’t going to be our teacher either, but if it was we could have some really cool fieldtrips. Ben and I realized that we would just have wait. I didn’t think I could be more excited about the first day of school being that I would see Della, Reymond, and Secret but now I was excited to see this Mrs. Thornbuckle lady too.

CHAPTER 2

First Impressions

A couple days later and it was the first day of school. My Mom had taken us back-to-school shopping and I was excited to wear my new baggy sweatpants and U.S. Soccer jersey. And surprising absolutely no body, Ben wore some new khaki shorts and a button up colored shirt. We were both excited to meet our new teacher Mrs. Thornbuckle. Every year started with an assembly in the gym. We would all go and listen to the principal talk about the school code of conduct. Then they would announce each teacher’s names one by one and their class would get up and follow them out of the gym to their classroom. They finally announced, “Mrs. Thornbuckle’s Class.” That was the first time I saw her. She was wearing a simple mint green dress, she had short brown hairs, and wore a giant friendly smile. I sighed with relief, at least she didn’t look mean. We followed Mrs. Thornbuckle to the class. At first glance the classroom looked very typical, but then I noticed a corner stacked high with giant beanbag chairs and pillows and other comfy looking furniture. Mrs. Thornbuckle asked everyone to take a seat at a desk. It was the first time I had been in a class that didn’t have assigned desks. It was the first time for all of my classmates too. We collectively lost our minds as we rushed around trying to make sure we got a seat next to our best friends. Mrs. Thornbuckle didn’t seem phased by the flurry of motion and noise, she just stood quietly with a calm smile on her face. Once we all settled down into our seats Mrs. Thornbuckle asked us all to open the desk and take out a pencil and a sheet of paper. I opened my desk and saw that it was pre-stocked with everything a student would need, paper, pencils, text books,

even a little tote full of art supplies. I took out a pencil and a sheet of paper and looked up at the board. I looked up at the board where Mrs. Thornbuckle was preparing to write. She said, “I have very high expectations for good behavior in this class. We are all mature humans and I fully expect you all to treat each other with respect and kindness.” We all nodded our heads yes in agreement. She then went on, “I have three simple rules to live by for this class. Number one: Make an effort. Number two: Use your imagination every day. Number three: Everyone is different and that is a good thing.” She had us write down the rules on the sheet of paper to help us remember them. Then she explained to the class that in college she wrote her dissertation on creating a creative space. Then she asked the class, “Can anyone spell dissertation for me?” I didn’t know for sure but I raised my hand and she smiled and pointed at me. And I said, “Dissertation, d-i-s-e-r-t-a-s-i-o-n, dissertation.” Mrs. Turnbuckle’s smile turned kind of sideways as if to say, “kind of, but not really”. She then wrote dissertation up on the board and I saw where my mistake was. Mrs. Thornbuckle smiled at me and said, “That was a good try.” I said, “I was just trying to follow rule number one.” Mrs. Thornbuckle laughed and said, “That is right. You made a valiant effort.” Then she asked me my name and I told her, “My name is Katherine but you can call me Kit.” Mrs. Thornbuckle gave me a quick wink and went on with first day of school business.

I was proud of the first impression I made. Mrs. Thornbuckle wasn’t anything like the Mrs. Thornbuckles we had found on the internet. She was super nice, and super friendly, and super serious about creativity. It felt silly to already make up my mind about someone I had just met, but I had a really good feeling that I was going to like being in Mrs. Thornbuckle's class. She went over some more classroom rules about the bathroom pass, sharpening pencils, and the homework policy. Then she asked all of us to stand up and move our desk to the side of the room making a giant open space in the middle. As we got up to move our desk Mrs. Thornbuckle went to the corner where all the squishy furniture was and started to unpack it into the center of the room. I was busy watching her lift a giant beanbag chair when my baggy sweatpants got caught on the leg of Ben’s desk. I was knocked off balance and started to fall in what seemed like slow motion. I tried grabbing my desk to catch my balance. It didn’t help, all it did was send my desk tipping over right along with me. I could feel my face turning bright red with embarrassment as the entire contents of my desk were launched across the room. I saw pencils, paper, and books flying through the air. I watched in horror as one of my text books headed towards Mrs. Thornbuckle’s desk. It his some flowers that she had brought in and broke the vase spilling water all over her computer causing it to shoot sparks out in a tiny fireworks show. Then I felt the ground catch my head. My head hurt a little but it was nothing compared to the

embarrassment of creating such a humongous explosion of ridiculousness all over Mrs. Thornbuckle’s nice clean classroom. Mrs. Thornbuckle rushed over to see if I was ok. I told her I was fine and she helped me up off the ground. Then she had the class gather in the center of the room on the squishy chairs. She didn’t mention the falling incident at all the rest of the day, she acted like it never happened at all. We spent the rest of the morning taking turns talking about what we did over the summer. Ben and I were both happy to talk about our time at Dr. Finkletop’s school. For once we got to share our adventures with the class (although we had to leave out the details about the hidden cave under the school and our best friends who happened to be dolphins). When we lined up for lunch my books, pencils, and papers were still spread across the room, and the vase of flowers was still lying on its side in a puddle on Mrs. Thornbuckle’s desk. When I got back from lunch I found the contents of my desk were picked up from across the room and the flowers had been placed in a new vase. I looked in my desk to see that it all made it back when I saw a note from Mrs. Thornbuckle stuck inside. I was scared to read it. Was it going to be a bill for destroying her computer? Was it going to be a description of my punishment for disrupting her class? I realized the only way to know was to go ahead and read the note.

Dearest Kit. I am so sorry about your fall today. I am really happy that you didn’t get hurt too bad. I just wanted to write you to let you know that you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Our lives are just a series of stories. Unfortunately most of our stories are pretty boring, but today you had a ridiculously interesting story. Someday you will look back on what happened today with a smile. You had a very exciting and memorable first day of school and you made it very memorable for me too. I am looking forward to see what happens on day two. Get a good nights rest and I will see you tomorrow. All the best, Mrs. Thornbuckle I smiled because I knew she was right. It was really funny actually. I am sure it must have been hilarious to see my desk flying through the air, the fireworks shooting out of the computer, and me going from right side up to up side down in just a matter of seconds. I guess I made quite a memorable first impression.

CHAPTER 3

I’m totally obsessed with dolphins.

That afternoon Ben and I snuck down to the cave. When we got there Reymond and Secret were already there with Mr. Geary. Mr. Geary came up to me very concerned because he had heard about my fall in class. I told him I was feeling fine and it really was just a little bump on the back of my head. He smiled and gave me a pat on the back and said, “I should of known a little fall wouldn’t slow down the amazing Kit Schmickle.” I asked were Della was and Mr. Geary explained that she was out with Dr. Finkletop doing some research by the islands. I told Reymond and Secret all about my first day troubles and we all had a good laugh. Then we got right to work. Summer vacation was over for Della, Reymond, and Secret too. They never stopped working on Mr. Geary’s research but we kind of got out of the routine of having vocabulary lessons every day. Mr. Geary had a list of new words and gestures to work with Reymond on. I was a little surprised that Reymond was so excited to start his vocabulary lesson. He was super focused. I finally asked Reymond why he was so motivated and he explained that Della knew a lot more gestures than he did and Mr. Geary and her would have conversations and Reymond didn’t know what they were talking about. He didn’t like that, it made him feel left out so he wanted to catch up and know all the words that Della knew. I understood completely, nobody likes to feel left out. Reymond and I blasted through his lesson in just fifteen minutes, then Mr. Geary gave us the next day’s lesson and we flew through those words too. Reymond wanted to do even more but I was exhausted so

I talked him into taking a break. I threw on my wetsuit and jumped in and played around with Reymond and Secret. Secret had learned how to push me around the pool with his nose. He was so fast it was like being pushed buy a tiny, cute, adorable speedboat. It was a great way to shake off the tiring and embarrassing first day of school. That night at dinner Ben had so much fun telling my parents about my fall in very, very, very great detail. I’m not sure why it took him like fifteen minutes to describe what happened when it only took me a couple seconds to hit the ground. My Mom got up out of her chair and came over and gave me a big hug and said, “Poor baby.” I always hated it when she did that. I reminded my Mom that I wouldn’t be her baby much longer now that she was pregnant. I probably shouldn’t have reminded her because she just gave me an even bigger hug. Then next day of school was much better than the first, I didn’t fall down at all. When I walked into the classroom I saw that Mrs. Thornbuckle’s computer had been replaced and she had a new vase of flowers on the desk. The lesson started off with a video about famous inventors. I LOVED watching videos at school. Sometimes Ben would try to get me to watch a documentary at home and I would always tell him he was crazy, but watching videos at school was amazing. After the video Mrs. Thornbuckle explained that learning and knowledge is super important but we can’t forget to use our imaginations and think of new ideas that don’t exist yet.

Then she had us move our desks into a big circle. I was very careful to watch my step. Once we were in a circle she said that we were going to go around the room and we each would share what we would like to invent. She gave us a couple moments to think about it and then she started on the opposite side of the circle from me with Ben. Ben said, “I would like to invent a machine that could turn pollution into energy.” Mrs. Thornbuckle said, “Ben that is a great idea and that would be an amazing machine, I hope you make that one for real some day.” I rolled my eyes. How were we supposed to follow Ben and his super, nerdy, science brain’s idea? Luckily the next couple students lowered the bar a little. They suggested a machine that turns water into gold, another one that could keep you the same age forever, and a pizza that was delicious but super healthy for you. I was too busy thinking about pizza to notice that it was almost my turn. I started to panic. I didn’t know what I was going to do when Mrs. Thornbuckle asked, “Kit, what would you like to invent?” My mind went blank but then my mouth opened all on its own and said, “I would like to invent a way to be able to talk to dolphins.” Ben gave me the most intense death stare he could muster. I guess it did hit a little too close to our secret but still no one knew but him so it sounded as fantastical as everyone else’s inventions. Mrs. Thornbuckle said, “Oh my, I would LOVE that one I am totally obsessed with dolphins, they are my favorite animal.” If only she knew. That afternoon we took our first class trip to the library. It was always Ben’s favorite time of the week. He would scour the shelves pulling out a stack of seven to ten books and then struggle to narrow it down

to just four, which was the limit. I didn’t mind library time because it got us up and moving around a little. But I wasn’t much of a reader. I didn’t hate reading but I would rather watch TV or explore the woods behind my house. I would use my library time looking through the books to find ones with lots of pictures. I don’t mean little kid picture books, I mean chapter books with illustrations on a bunch of pages. I also didn’t like books that had more than ten chapters. That seemed like too much of a commitment for me. And the book had to have a picture on the cover. I was never interested in those books that were just brown with the title on the front. They just looked so boring and dull to me. As I was looking through the books for a cool cover, with ten chapters or less, and illustrations inside I came across a book I had never noticed before. I know that I hadn’t seen it before because if I had I would have freaked out, because I started to freak out when I saw it. It was an old brown book with just the title on the cover. I opened it up and it was eighteen chapters long, and I couldn’t find one illustration in the entire book. But I knew I had to check this book out. I knew that I had to read this book. I had never wanted to read a book more than I wanted to read this book. This old brown book was titled, “The Secret Cave.”

CHAPTER 4

Read Another Chapter

How was there a book called, “The Secret Cave” in our library and I had never seen it before? What was this book about? Was it about my secret cave, if not how many secret caves are out there in the world? I quickly went up and checked the book out, then I found a seat to sit down and find the answers to my questions. As soon as I got comfortable in my seat Mrs. Thornbuckle announced it was time to go back to the classroom. I was so frustrated. I wanted to read. I didn’t want to go back to class, I didn’t want to do anything but sit down and read all eighteen chapters of this book. The rest of the day we were busy in Mrs. Thornbuckle’s class continuing work on our inventors course. After school we went down to the cave. I decided maybe it was best that I start reading “The Secret Cave” while sitting in a secret cave. But Reymond was excited to get his vocabulary lesson started. So I had to wait even longer. We started our lesson by reviewing the words that Reymond had learned the day before. He quickly got frustrated because he had forgotten about half of them. He got really down on himself. I explained that he probably forgot so much because we tried to do too much the day before. It was ok if we had to go at a slower place. I told him about Mrs. Thornbuckle’s third rule that everyone is different and that is a good thing. Reymond didn’t understand so I explained that Reymond had so many talents, he was an amazing father and husband, he was an incredible athlete with his jumps and flips, and he was brave and loyal. I’m not sure dolphins can blush but it kind of looked like Reymond’s cheeks turned a little red. Then I said Della is talented at learning new words and

gestures. It doesn’t mean that Reymond is bad at it, Della is just really good. Reymond felt a little better about himself and instead of starting new words we just reviewed the previous list. After we were done with the lesson Reymond wanted to work on tricks, but I wanted to read my new book. I told Reymond what the title of the book was and he decided that maybe tricks could wait, we needed to find out what this book was about. I started to read the book out loud and it didn’t take long to realize that the secret cave in the book wasn’t the same as our secret cave. I felt better, but kind of disappointed. It would have been cool if there had been a book about our cave. The cave in the book was in the middle of the woods and it didn’t have any water in it at all. The book was about two brothers who accidentally find the cave. Then they find eight tunnels in the cave and they decide that they should explore the tunnels but not that day, it was getting dark and they had to go home. It was such a tease. Just when the story was getting good they decided to go home and the chapter ended. Reymond, Secret, Della, and Ben all said, “Read another chapter!” I hadn’t thought about doing that. Like I said before I didn’t like reading that much so I only ever read one chapter at a time. But since everyone was getting into the story I decided to read another chapter for them. In the story the brothers came back to the cave with flashlights and explored one of the eight tunnels. They eventually came to a wooden door with seven locks on it. They were about to give up and turn around when they say a sign that explained that they

could find a key at the end of each of the other seven tunnels. If they unlocked all seven locks they could see what was behind the door. So the brothers went back out to main cave and went down one of the other tunnels. My mouth was getting dry from reading out loud so I took a break to get a glass of water. Secret was too excited about the story and started to splash around and got water all over the book. Della scolded Secret and told him he had to settle down or he would have to take a nap. Secret hated naps so he settled down. After drying off the book a little and getting my water I continued reading. In the next tunnel that the brothers explored they came to a really bright light. The light was so bright that it blinded them and they couldn’t even see what was further down the tunnel. But they decided to keep walking anyways. All of a sudden they started to hear the sound of crashing waves. But the light was still too bright for them to see. But they kept moving forward. Eventually the light dimmed and they realized they had been transported to a tropical island. A tiny tropical island. From where they were standing they could see the entire island. They were so confused. How could they go down a tunnel in a cave and then end up on a tropical island with no other land in site? One of the brothers remembered that they were supposed to be looking for a key. The brothers looked all over the tiny island. They looked in the sand, under all the seashells on the shore, in the bushes. Then one of the brothers noticed a key hanging up high in a palm tree next to some coconuts. Finding the key was just the first part of the challenge. The brothers had to figure out how to get up to the keys at the top of the tall coconut tree. Eventually they

found some rope and were able to climb the tree and retrieve the key. Then they walked back into the bright light at the center of the island and suddenly found themselves back in the tunnel in the cave. The brothers were curious if there was an island at the end of all of the tunnels but they would have to wait another day because the sun was going down and they had to get home again. “Read another chapter!” they all shouted again, even Mr. Geary joined their request this time around. But I had to remind them that just because we all liked the story it was still time for Ben and I to go home. Della made me promise to not read ahead without them. I reluctantly said ok, because it was fun to share the story with everyone, but that meant I couldn’t read it at home at night. I decided if I had to be patient and only read it with them we should make a rule that we only read one chapter a day. That way the adventure will last longer and it won’t take up the entire time that we have to spend together in our own secret cave. We wouldn’t have time to work on jumps or go swimming and I really missed having Secret push me around the pool. I closed the old brown book and put it in my backpack and then Ben and I went up to the playground to meet our Dad. That night at dinner Ben and I gave a very detailed recap of the story to my parents. They thought it sounded cool too and told us to keep them updated with what else the brothers find in the tunnels.

CHAPTER 5

Really, A Pencil Box?

Time was flying by. Between enjoying Mrs. Thornbuckle’s crazy and fun assignments, reading The Secret Cave, and spending quality time with my dolphin friends I almost forgot Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop’s wedding was coming up in December. The last couple months just flew by. Mr. Geary had asked us to make sure we kept Della, Reymond, and Secret safe while they were on their honeymoon. I reminded Mr. Geary that once when he left us in charge there was an earthquake that flooded the whole school and the cave was almost discovered. Mr. Geary said, “Now Schmickles what are the odds of that happening again?” I smooshed up my face because I knew that Ben wouldn’t let a juicy math question like that go unanswered. Mr. Geary wasn’t looking for an answer but Ben had quickly calculated one in his mind. “My best guess is the odds of another earthquake happening while they are on their honeymoon is 1 in 4,324,324,323. Give or take a couple thousand,” Ben said confidently. Everyone was impressed with Ben’s abilities, except me, we were just one chapter away from finishing the Secret Cave and I wanted to know what was locked behind the last door. We all settled down into our favorite seats while I prepared to read. I liked to sit on the edge of the dock with my feet in the water. Secret would hang out by my feet and splash me a little when things got exciting. Before reading the final chapter Mr. Geary suggested that we review how the brothers collected all seven keys. Reymond remembered that first one was the desert island, and the second tunnel lead to a pirate ship and the brothers had an exciting

sword fight with the buccaneers before finding the key in a treasure chest below deck. Ben told us all about the third tunnel which led to the moon where the brothers had to dig around in the moon dust to find the key. Then Secret excitedly explained how at the end of the fourth tunnel they found a subway station and found the key with a man who was playing his saxophone for tips. Then I reminded them of my favorite tunnel, the fifth tunnel ended at a chocolate shop and the brothers had to eat all of the candy to find the piece that had the key in it. She liked that the older brother finally found it but almost chipped his tooth on the metal key hidden in the chocolate bar. Mr. Geary told us all about the sixth tunnel which lead the brothers to the Australian outback, and how they had to chase down a mother kangaroo to get the key out of her pouch. And then Della told us about her favorite the seventh tunnel, which lead to a beautiful garden, but also shrunk the brothers down to the size of ladybugs. They had to climb all the way to the top of a rose bush to retrieve the last key. I opened up The Secret Cave to the last chapter. Everyone got super quiet. I started reading about how the brothers were standing in front of the door. One at a time they put the keys into the locks and clicked them open. Finally they opened the last lock. Both of the brothers were a little scared to pull the door open. But then the younger brother just grabbed the handle and swung it open. The end of all the other tunnels had a bright light that the brothers walked into but behind this last door was nothing but darkness. They decided to venture into the dark void to see what they would find. They held Â

27 Â

each other’s hands so they wouldn’t loose the other in the pitch-black world they were entering. Suddenly they saw a light and walked towards it. It was another door and there was a thin line of light coming from the crack at the bottom of the door. The brothers opened the door and were absolutely shocked at what they discovered. It was their bedroom. The same bedroom they had shared all of their life. They were so confused until their mother came in. She saw the bewilderment on their faces and explained that the greatest treasure of all is family. She went on to tell them that her father had hidden the keys in the cave for her, and his grandfather had hidden the key for him. Every generation was sent on an adventure down the tunnels of the cave. The brothers smiled at each other and appreciated the lesson that they’re bizarre but magical family tradition had taught them. They did indeed have the best time of their lives sharing the adventure with family. Then the brothers explained how they couldn’t wait to have children of their own so they could go back to the tunnels and hide the keys for them. It was an amazingly perfect surprise ending to an amazingly perfect book. I would never tell Ben but most of my most magical times were the ones we shared in our adventures in our own secret cave. For the next hour we all just sat around talking about our favorite parts of the book. The adventure, the mystery, the great lesson at the end, I was a little sad it was over. I really hoped that the author C.J. Klayborn had written another book, or two, or ten million.

It was probably best that the book was finished because it had been taking our focus away from our lessons with Della, Reymond, and Secret. We had make up work to do with them and we had to prepare for The Great Finkletop-Geary wedding. That weekend we went shopping at the mall for a wedding gift. Ben hated shopping and begged to be able to stay home. Our Mom said that he could stay home as long as he made them a nice homemade wedding card to go with our gift. Ben was relieved and got out some art supplies. I asked Ben before we left what should we get for them. Ben said, “I don’t know… a pencil box.” I thought to myself, “Really, a pencil box?” Then I looked over at Ben to see him holding a pencil box full of supplies for making his card. At least I know where he got the idea but I didn’t think a pencil box would make the right gift for a couple that had been so important to our lives. At the mall my first thought was to get something with dolphins on it, or sea lions, or maybe even something with dolphins and sea lions on it. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything like that at all. My Mom kept suggesting something for their kitchen, but I think she just wanted to go to the cooking stores. After a while we got hungry and headed to the food court for a snack. I was starting to get bummed that I couldn’t find the right gift for Dr. Finkletop and Mr. Geary. While we were eating our snack I heard some music start to play over in the main hallway. I walked over to see what it was. It was a dance school having a demonstration performance. The dancers were amazing of all ages and sizes and every one of them had a huge smile on their face. This is what I wanted to get them for their wedding present, we

all knew that Mr. Geary would need a lot of practice, and Dr. Finkletop wasn’t the most coordinated person in the world, but they both loved dancing. My Mom talked to one of the ladies at the table next to the dancers and got a super great deal on 10 couples dance lessons. It was the perfect gift. I couldn’t wait for them to put on a special recital for us down in the cave.

CHAPTER 6

Not A Fan Of Sushi

Just like that half of the school year had passed. Secret was getting so big, he was only a little bit smaller than his mom Della. He was getting so strong too. He could do almost all of the jumping acrobatics that his dad could do, although not quite as high. Ben and I both loved having Mrs. Thornbuckle as our teacher. Although her fun assignments and the way she supported our creativity lead to some jealousy from our friends who got assigned to a different teacher. On the last day of school before winter break we had our own little party down in the cave. My parents, Dr. Finkletop, Mr. Geary, all of our dolphin friends, and even summer and the rest of his sea lion family came too. We listened to music, ate delicious snacks and we all filled my parents in on the adventures of the brothers in The Secret Cave book. It was an important celebration because Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop were getting married the next day. Ben and I were never much for mushy stuff but when two people like Dr. Finkletop and Mr. Geary find each other it just makes sense for them to be together. I was actually excited to go to a wedding for the first time in my life. I couldn’t wait for them to open our present. I also couldn’t wait to see Dr. Finkletop in a dress, or Mr. Geary in a suit. In my head I always imagined them dressed in white lab coats for their wedding. I usually wasn’t much for getting all dressed up myself but I did find a pretty sundress that I was excited to wear. Ben however was still trying to get out of having to wear a tie, but my Dad said it is a sign of respect and Mr. Geary had done a lot for him and he owed him some respect. My Mom was excited to wear her new maternity

dress. My Mom looked very pregnant with her big round beautiful belly. The day of the wedding came and to no one’s surprise they had decided to get married on the beach. While no dolphins or sea lions were officially invited during the ceremony I noticed several heads bobbing up and down out off shore a short distance. Dr. Finkletop looked amazing in her dress. She really was a beautiful, smart, funny, and caring woman. Mr. Geary was a lucky man. Mr. Geary looked super handsome and happy in his fancy wedding suit. He was so giving and kind, Dr. Finkletop did pretty good for herself too. At the end of the ceremony when they announced the couple “Husband and Wife” three dolphins did a giant unison flip out off the shore. A couple of the guest noticed and chalked it up to a natural miracle but Ben and I knew they had been planning it for weeks. It was fun seeing the Finkletop and Geary families that traveled in to be part of the ceremony. They were pretty much exactly what I expect. The Gearys seemed to be an extra jolly group of folks who were quick to laugh. The Finkletop crew all seemed to be very kind and super interested in getting to know all about how Ben and I knew Dr. Finkletop. At the reception after the wedding the Finkletop family called for everyone’s attention and presented the newlyweds with a gift. Grandpa Finkletop grabbed the microphone and said, “Now I know you two have already planned a nice honeymoon but the Finkletops have all pooled our money together and we have prepurchased a month long voyage to the Galapagos Islands for the

two of you and you set sail tonight!” Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop had often dreamed of taking a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. We had heard them talk about it all the time down in the cave. So we were super excited for them, although I still think my gift was better. But then Mr. Geary and I had the same thought at the same time. We looked at each other across the room. They had been planning to go on a one-week honeymoon. But this meant that Ben and I would be responsible for the dolphins and the cave for a whole month. Eventually we got a chance to talk to Mr. Geary about it. He was so happy, about the trip, about marrying his perfect fit, about how he was confident that Ben and I would do a great job with taking care of his dolphin family. My Dad realizing what we were probably talking about came over and said, “Mr. Geary I promise to help Ben and Kit with whatever they need to take care of Della, Reymond, and Secret.” It was then I realized how much easier this would be than the first time Ben and I watched the dolphins for Mr. Geary. We had to sneak around and hide it from our parents. This time our parents would be happy to drive us down to the cave every night. My Dad was actually learning all about sushi from Della and Secret, and my Mom liked to discuss politics and religion with Reymond. Sometimes my parents weren’t very good at sharing time and Ben and I would barely get to spend any time with our dolphin friends. Just two days into their honeymoon all of that “it will be easier this time” flew out the window. My Dad and Della invented a new sushi recipe and my prepared a special meal for us. I have never been a

huge fan of sushi so I did that thing where you just push the food around your plate to make it look like you ate some. Everyone else seemed to really enjoy the meal and found it very tasty. It all seemed great until later that night. First it was Ben who got really sick, and then my Mom, and then my Dad. They had all gotten a horrible case of food poisoning from the fish. The next morning I didn’t get sick at all thanks to just pushing my poison around the plate. Rather than be upset with me for not giving his recipe a shot my Dad was happy that I wasn’t sick and I could run to the store for them to get some medicine and sports drink. My Mom gave me some money and sent me on my way. They told me I could swing by the cave on my way to the store to check on the dolphins since they ate the same meal. I jumped on my bike and head down to the cave. When I got there I saw three sick little dolphins. It was unanimous that no one would ever prepare or eat that recipe again. I didn’t want to disturb Mr. Geary so I just talked with Della and Reymond about what I could do to make them feel better. They said there wasn’t much I could do, then I suggested maybe they would like some sports drink. It seemed to help humans. They decided they would give it a try. I went to the store and picked up all the supplies and headed back to the cave before I went home. I gave Reymond some sports drink and he loved it. He started feeling a little better right away. I quickly gave some to Della and Secret and told them I would be back with some more drink later in the day. When I got home the rest of my family were taking healing naps. It was the middle of winter break and without school I was happy to just sit and

watch some TV. But then I realized there was no one to make lunch for me, or dinner, or do my laundry. This “break” wasn’t going to be much of a “break” at all. The next several days I was a very busy girl and spent a lot of time and money on sports drinks. I would wake up make breakfast for my family, ride down and get the dolphins some drink, do their daily checkups, head home to make lunch for my family, ride back down to give the dolphins an early dinner and work on their lessons, then head back home to make dinner for my family. After that I would fall asleep exhausted only to start the whole thing over in the morning. At the time it was horrible, but looking back on it I am pretty proud of myself for nursing two entire families back from their poor culinary decision-making.

CHAPTER 7

Meeting C.J. Klayborn

The rest of winter break came and went. Everyone got over their food poisoning and Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop came back from their honeymoon. They went on and on about how amazing it was but how hard it was to be apart from their friends and family. Things were getting more exciting around my house as my Mom was only a month away from delivering my new baby sister, or brother. I was so excited by that point that I really didn’t care. Everything was going great at school. Mrs. Thornbuckle had us working on a play that we had written as a class and we were going to put on a performance for the entire elementary after spring break. The next couple weeks we all worked hard on practicing our lines. I was kind of nervous about the acting part but building the sets was a lot of fun. One night at dinner my Mom told me that she had looked up C.J. Klayborn, the author of The Secret Cave, online to see if they had written any other books. She didn’t find any other books but she did discover that C.J. Klayborn was going to be at a bookstore doing a book signing the same week as our spring break. I was so excited until she told me that the book signing was all the way down in San Diego. But then my disappointment turned into excitement again when she said, “I guess it is a good thing your Dad is going to San Diego for a conference and decided to bring you along.” I jumped up and down with excitement. I was going to get to meet the author of the best book I had ever read, and I was pretty sure it was the best book that had ever been written.

The first day of spring break just my Dad and I loaded into the car for a long journey down the coast. It was going to take at least eight hours of driving, but I knew my Dad and we would be stopping at every beach that looked like an adventure. An extra reason to keep our eyes on the coastline was Della and Reymond decided it was time for Secret to go on a migration swim with them. They decided that they would swim down to San Diego too. Mr. Geary was going to be keeping tabs on them with his computer and texting my Dad and I updates on their progress. We had only made it about thirty minutes down the coast when my Dad pulled the car into a parking lot at nice sandy beach. He said he just needed to get all the city air out of his lungs and fill them up with fresh of the crashing waves ocean air. We stood in the cool sand of the morning and took as deep of breaths as we could, then got back in the car refreshed and inspired. On the way down we stopped a couple more times. Once we went tide pooling, another time we stumbled on local surfing competition. Eventually, after lots of singing in the car and my Dad telling me all kinds of ridiculous stories about what he did when he was a kid, we finally made it to San Diego. We received a text from Mr. Geary that Della, Reymond, and Secret were about halfway down and decided to finish the next day. They found a calm little inlet where they would sleep. My Dad and I checked into the hotel where his conference was. The first thing I did was go into the bathroom to unwrap one of the cups. I don’t know why I liked doing that so much. I guess it was because I think it is kind of like opening a present for my thirst. Then I opened all the little soaps that were wrapped up in paper. Then I went

to turn on the TV to make sure I know what number all of the kids channels were. That night my Dad had to go down to the conference for a couple hours so I had the entire room to myself. This was the first time I had ever been on a trip without Ben and I was starting to kind of miss him. I wouldn’t have ever admitted it to him but my whole life I always had someone there to share stories with, someone to hang out with and now I was all alone. At least I had TV, a cup for water, and little soaps. I also had a brand new copy of The Secret Cave that my Mom bought for me to get signed. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch on TV so I decided to reread the book. It was just as good the second time around and I read the entire time my Dad was gone. When he got back he told me it was time for us to go to bed but I asked for him to read me just one more chapter. He couldn’t say no to his little Kit so he read me two chapters then we went to bed. The book signing was the next afternoon at 2pm and I was so excited. I wondered what C.J. Klayborn looked like. I never could find a picture of him, at least I though it was a him. I guess C.J. could have been a woman’s initials too. My Dad had to attend his conference in the morning but he was going to skip his afternoon sessions to take me down to the book signing. The morning went on forever sitting alone in the hotel room. The only thing that saved me was reading more of The Secret Cave again. Eventually my Dad showed up and we went to grab some lunch. We picked a place down by the shore because Mr. Geary had texted us that the dolphins

got off to an early start and should reach San Diego around noon. We ordered our food and then took it down to the coast. The place we had agreed to meet the dolphins was a rocky place that didn’t have too many tourists around. We hadn’t gotten very far into our lunches when I saw the familiar leap of Reymond coming around the cliffs at the end of the rocky beach. I handed my burger to my Dad and ran down to the water. There was a big rock that jutted out into the ocean and I went out to the very end where the water was deep enough for Reymond. I reached down and gave him a big hug and asked him about the trip. He said Secret did great, he was so proud of his young son. Just then Secret swam up with his proud mother behind. I asked Secret how he liked long migration swims. He gestured to me that it was amazing to see so many new things and hear his Mom and Dad’s stories about their first migration swims. Della then gestured that they were going to spend a couple days in San Diego before heading back and that if we had time we could check in with them again the next day at lunch at the same place. My Dad and I finished our lunches and then headed down to the bookstore. The signing wasn’t scheduled until 2pm and it was just 12:45 so we took our time getting to the bookstore. When we arrived and saw how long the line was we realized we should have been more efficient with our time. The line stretched for two blocks down the street. I was starting to get worried that C.J. Klayborn might leave the store before I got a chance to get my book signed. Once two o’clock rolled around I was encouraged by how quickly the line was moving. I was surprised that there were so many fans of C.J. Klayborn. I was even

more surprised when I found out from some other fans in line that no body knew anything about C.J. Klayborn. This was the first public appearance the author had ever made. C.J. Klayborn had written The Secret Cave and then never published again. With so many fans it seemed like writing another book would be a no brainer. This new information made me even more excited to get to see C.J. Klayborn face to face. My Dad and I waited patiently for over an hour to finally get our chance. We were so excited when our spot in line finally made it to the door of the bookstore. But even then I couldn’t see the author. The table set up for signing books was tucked around the corner behind a couple bookshelves filled with magazines. The next couple minutes were the hardest. I had my copy of The Secret Cave by C.J. Klayborn and a pen. I wasn’t sure if you had to bring your own pen or if the author would have their own. This was my first book signing and I wasn’t sure what the protocol was. I finally made it to the corner and I looked around the bookshelf to get my first glance at C.J. Klayborn and see what he looked like. My first discovery was that “he” wasn’t a “he’ at all, “he” was a “she”. My second discovery was that in a weird twist of the fates C.J. Klayborn looked just like Mrs. Thornbuckle. My third discover was that C.J. Klayborn didn’t just look like Mrs. Thornbuckle, C.J. Klayborn was Mrs. Thornbuckle.

CHAPTER 8

Mmmm, Fried Cheese Sticks

Mrs. Thornbuckle, I mean C.J. Klayborn, didn’t see me until I was standing right in front of her at the table. I held out my book for her to sign and she looked up and saw my familiar face. She looked just as shocked about the situation as I was. Her eyes were huge, her jaw almost fell to the floor. Then she threw her head back and let out a huge laugh. She had a contagious laugh and it change my face of shock to one of happiness. It actually was a very silly situation. Neither of us expected to see each other over spring break, and certainly not in this specific situation. Mrs. Thornbuckle stood up behind the table and walked around to give me a giant hug. “What are you doing here Kit? I am so happy to see you,” she said. I replied, “What are YOU doing here Mrs. Thornbuckle, or C.J. Klayborn, or whatever your name is?” Mrs. Thornbuckle laughed some more and then explained, “My name is Clara Jane Thornbuckle. But before I married my husband Wayne Thornbuckle my last name used to be Klayborn.” That solved one mystery, I guess, so I continued my questioning, “If you are the author of The Secret Cave why didn’t you ever tell us that you were an author?” Mrs. Thornbuckle explained that she had only written that one book so she never really considered herself an “author”. I had so many more questions and they started flying out of my mouth, “Why didn’t you write any more books? How did you come up with the idea of a secret cave? Why did you end every chapter of the book with an exciting cliffhanger? Are the characters in the book your real brothers? Is the secret cave a real place?” My Dad gently reached down and put his hand over my mouth. It was only then I

realized that I hadn’t given Mrs. Thornbuckle any time to answer any of my questions. Mrs. Thornbuckle looked at the long line of people still in line behind us and asked me and my Dad if we could meet her for dinner at 6pm at The Mountain Villa Cafe and she would answer all of my questions. My Dad said that would be just fine. Then Mrs. Thornbuckle signed my book: To Kit, May all of your adventures lead to another exciting chapter. C.J. Klayborn a.k.a. Clara Thornbuckle My Dad and I left the bookstore and found an ice cream shop nearby. I got some vanilla strawberry swirl and sat down at a table and tried to slow my brain down a little bit. It was moving so fast with thoughts of Mrs. Thornbuckle's true identity, how my teacher is also my favorite author, how the world works in really weird and mysterious ways. I guess I wasn’t saying anything out loud or even eating my ice cream because my Dad asked, “Kit are you ok?” I explained to him all the things I was thinking about. He agreed that life was strange and he encouraged me to enjoy it rather than try and figure it out. He was right. There is no sense looking for sense in things that don’t make sense. Six o’clock rolled around and we found Mrs. Thornbuckle at The Mountain Villa Café. As we sat down Mrs. Thornbuckle explained that her wrist was exhausted from signing all those books and shaking all

of those hands. I had so many questions to ask but I decided I should wait until after we order some food. I looked at the menu and instantly saw one of the most perfect food items in the world, fried cheese sticks. I asked my Dad if I could order some and he said yes, and then Mrs. Thornbuckle said, “We better make that two orders, I love me some fried cheese sticks, mmmm fried cheese sticks!” We all laughed a little and I realized that the more I was learning about Mrs. Thornbuckle the more I realized she was a lot like me. I mean we both even loved fried cheese sticks. The rest of the dinner Mrs. Thornbuckle graciously answered all my questions and this is what I discovered. She wrote the Secret Cave when she was in college. It was her way of dealing with stress. When she would start feeling too stressed about her classes she would take a break and escape into her imagination and hang out with the brothers and their secret cave. She explained that the secret cave was actually her imagination and that it was a real place just not a real cave out in the woods. She told us about how when the book was published it became super popular super fast. Her publisher wanted her to drop out of college and write full time but Mrs. Thornbuckle had other goals she wanted to achieve so she stayed and finished school. Then one thing led to another and she never really had the time to write another book. She did really appreciate all the fans of her book so whenever the publisher would set up a book signing for her she was always happy to attend. She said it was her way of showing gratitude to all of her readers for sharing in her

adventure. The conversation was great and the fried cheese sticks were delicious. Then Mrs. Thornbuckle said, “Kit, I didn’t even know you had read The Secret Cave, when did you read it?” I shared with her that I had read it earlier this year. I wish I could have told her that I wasn’t her only fan. I wish I could have told her about how I sat on the dock of my own secret cave and read the story that she wrote to Ben, Mr. Geary, and a family of dolphins. But I figured today had already had been full enough of surprises. Then she asked me about my favorite parts. We had fun talking about the brothers ‘ adventures. I realized that even though Mrs. Thornbuckle had written the book herself she was still a “fan” of the story. My Dad even joined in the conversation and shared his favorite parts, Mrs. Thornbuckle was very flattered that he also was familiar with the book. As we finished our meal Mrs. Thornbuckle suggested that we order some dessert. I had no objection to that idea and neither did my Dad. I ordered some chocolate cheesecake and the waiter cleared the dinner off of our table in order to make space for our delicious treats. As soon as he walked away my Dad’s phone started to ring. He looked a little embarrassed, as it wasn’t very polite to have your phone on while in a nice café. He quickly answered it and went to the lobby to speak. From my chair I could see him in the lobby. His expression went from smiling to a very scared look very quickly. He also started talking louder and louder saying, “Ok, Ok, Ok, I will do what I can, Love you!” Then he hung up the phone.

CHAPTER 9

Thank You

My Dad came back to the table looking surprised and scared and nervous. I had never seen my Dad this way and I didn’t like it. He told us that my Mom had gone into labor. I was confused she wasn’t due for another three weeks. Mrs. Thornbuckle said, “Well you shouldn’t stay for dessert you need to get out of here!” My Dad explained that we did need to rush home but it was at least an eight-hour drive and we might miss the birth of my new sibling. He was really upset. My Dad loved telling the story of the day Ben and I were born, it would make him really sad to miss his kid being born but we didn’t have any other way home. But then, just proving that the world does work in mysterious ways, Mrs. Thornbuckle said that we could use her plane to get back home quickly. She explained, “Well it really isn’t my plane, but the publishers charter a little plane for me so I don’t have to drive to the book signings. My plane is schedule to leave tonight at 10pm but I can call and see if they could leave right away.” My Dad said she didn’t need to do that; it wasn’t her problem to solve. But Mrs. Thornbuckle insisted and called her publisher to see if they could take off right away. It didn’t take long for the charter plane service to call back and say that they could take off in just 30 minutes if we could get to the airport. Our waiter had noticed all of the commotion and drama and come over to see if he could help. My Dad said, “All we need is the check please.” My Dad paid for our dinner, and Mrs. Thornbuckle’s, as a thank you for letting us use her plane.

My Dad drove us all to the airport as quickly as possible. My Dad was a very safe driver but he may have exceeded the speed limit by a couple miles per hour on this occasion. We arrived at the airport and Mrs. Thornbuckle directed us to where her plane was. As we pulled up the pilot was inspecting the plane and getting it ready for take off. It was then my Dad had a bit of a reality check. We had left straight from the café. We hadn’t checked out of our hotel, all of our luggage was still there, how were we going to get our car back home? As my Dad’s list started getting longer and longer Mrs. Thornbuckle interrupted him and said, “Give me your hotel key and your car keys, I will go to your hotel and pack up your luggage, and then go check out of my hotel too. Then I will drive your car back up and meet you at the hospital tomorrow.” My Dad was overwhelmed by Mrs. Thornbuckle’s kindness. I wasn’t too surprised; it was the same generosity that she showed all of her students in our class. My Dad thanked her like a million times and we climbed into the tiny little plane. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. The plane only had seats for four people and the pilot was already sitting in one of them. I had been on a big jet before, but this plane was driven by just a single propeller on the front. My Dad asked the pilot how long the flight would take and he answered that it should be just over an hour. Mrs. Thornbuckle’s generosity had saved us seven important hours. My Dad called my Mom and let her know we would be there soon and then the pilot started up the propeller. It was so loud I could barely hear myself think. We began to taxi out to the runway and before I knew it we were speeding away. We lifted off the ground just a little and then

bounced back down before taking off climbing higher and higher into the sky. The little plane was way more wobbly than the big jets I had flown in before. The sun had just set and the world below was just a giant black canvas with twinkling lights showing where the streets and home were. Eventually we came to some clouds and then flew right through them coming out on the topside. From there we could see the starry night and the almost full moon shining down on the tops of the clouds. I was amazed at the adventure I was having. Then I noticed a bag in the empty seat of the plane. I looked inside and saw that Mrs. Thornbuckle had grabbed our desserts from the café and stuck them in for a mid-flight snack. I grabbed my cheesecake and passed my dad his brownie, and then I gave the pilot the éclair that Mrs. Thornbuckle had ordered. I am sure she would have been pleased to know that éclairs were the pilot’s favorite. The flight went by super fast and pretty soon the pilot was preparing us to land. The landing was a little bouncy too. I was happy to be back on the ground but happier because my Dad called my Mom and she still hadn’t had the baby yet. My Dad was just about to call a cab to come pick us up at the airport when the pilot said I think your ride is already here and pointed at a car at the end of the runway. We got out of the plane and a strange man was standing there with a smile. He said, “Hello Mr. Schmickle and Kit, I am Mr. Thornbuckle and Clara called me and let me know you guys might need a ride to the hospital.” Mrs. Thornbuckle had gone above and beyond with helping us out on this one. We thanked our pilot and climbed into Mr. Thornbuckle’s car. Then he quickly got us to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital we saw Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop sitting with Ben in the waiting room. My Dad went and gave Ben a hug and then found a nurse to get him back to the room where my Mom was. I sat down with the waiting room crew and filled them in on the details of the adventure we just had. They were socked to hear that Mrs. Thornbuckle was the author of The Secret Cave, and shocked to hear that she just happened to have a chartered plane leaving that night, and shocked to hear how she was willing to check us out of our hotel and drive our car back up for us, and shocked that she called her husband and had a ride waiting for us when the plane landed. I asked Mr. Geary how Della, Reymond, and Secret were doing and he said they were having all kinds of fun down in San Diego. He said that he saw on their tracker that they actually swam down to Mexico for the day. I was a little worried that Secret might be upset when my Dad and I didn’t show up for lunch the next day like we arranged and Mr. Geary assured me that they would understand and they would be heading back up themselves very soon. It was good thing that Mrs. Thornbuckle had done all of those nice things for us because about thirty minutes after we got to the hospital my Dad came out to the waiting room with a giant smile on his face and said, “It’s a Girl!”

CHAPTER 10

How This All Got Started

I was so happy to have a new little sister. I jumped up from my seat in the waiting room and ran over and gave my Dad a giant hug. I know Ben wanted a little brother but he didn’t look too disappointed. Mr. Geary and Dr. Finkletop congratulated my Dad. My Dad explained that the doctors were a little nervous at first because she was born a couple weeks early but that she looked to be perfectly healthy. We all stood there for a moment with ridiculously giant smiles on our faces. My Dad said it would be about an hour before Ben and I could come back and meet our new little sister. We sat back down and my Dad went back to the room to be with my Mom. I was so excited it was one of the longest hours in my life. Dr. Finkletop explained that after a baby is born it is super important that it gets to spend time bonding with the Mom. And then the doctors have to do all kinds of test to make sure the baby is healthy and doesn’t need any extra care. Eventually my Dad showed up again and led Ben and I back to my Mom’s room. The room was glowing from the smile on my Mom’s face. From the door all we could see was a wiggly pile of blankets on her chest. As I got closer I my beautiful little sister’s face came into view. She was so tiny. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny. Her nose was the size of the tip of my pinky. Her little red lips were as thin as the line of a marker. As I came to the edge of my Mom’s bed I said, “Hi there little sister.” As I spoke my little sister opened her eyes for just a moment and looked right at me. Her eyes were so shiny, and full of life, I fell in love instantly. My Mom told me to lean in so she could give me a kiss on my forehead. Then she said, “Kit, you have had quite a day, You are going to have an amazing story to tell your

sister about the day she was born when you get older.” She was right. My Dad had filled her in on all the details about Mrs. Thornbuckle’s secret author identity and her generosity. Then Ben said, “What is her name?” My Mom smiled at my Dad and said after everything that happened today I don’t know how we can’t name her Clara. I thought to myself, what a perfect name. Clara Schmickle. It was the perfect way to show Mrs. Thornbuckle our gratitude for everything she did for us, and Clara Schmickle rolled off your tongue just right. Dr. Finkletop and Mr. Geary took Ben and I home and stayed over night with us. I got some much needed rest. My Dad stayed the night with my Mom and Baby Clara at the hospital. The next day Ben and I were in a hurry to get back to see our little sister so Dr. Finkletop drove us over right after we ate breakfast. We got to be in the room with my Mom and Baby Clara all morning. The sound of her cry was cute, and I even volunteered to change her diaper once. It wasn’t that big of a deal, I don’t know why Ben absolutely refused to do it. A little before lunch a nurse said that we had a visitor and asked if it was ok if they came in. My Mom said sure and we waited to see who it was. Then Mr. and Mrs. Thornbuckle walked in. Mrs. Thornbuckle walked over to my Dad and said congratulations as she handed him back his car keys. She said she dropped our luggage off at our house with Mr. Geary. Then Mrs. Thornbuckle went over to see my new baby sister who was on my Mom’s lap in the hospital bed. Mrs. Thornbuckle gushed over how beautiful she was. Then my Mom said, “Kit, why don’t you tell your teacher your new baby sister’s name.” Mrs.

Thornbuckle looked over at me with anticipation and said, “Well, what is it?” Then I walked over next to the bed and said, “Clara Thornbuckle meet Clara Schmickle.” Mrs. Thornbuckle instantly started to cry with joy and said to my baby sister, “Well isn’t that a pretty name.” The next day my Mom and Baby Clara were able to come home from the hospital, it was also the last day of spring break. It was by far the most memorable spring break I had ever had. Ben and I went to school a little early on Monday so we could take some pictures of Baby Clara down to the cave and show Della, Reymond, and Secret our new sister. They were so excited to see the pictures. I apologized to them for missing our scheduled lunch down in San Diego but they said that they totally understood. Della even told us a story about how when we didn’t show up he guessed it was because Mrs. Schmickle was in labor. Della didn’t believe Secret but Secret was right all along. That day in class Mrs. Thornbuckle started to read us a new chapter book in class. It was The Secret Cave. She told the whole class about how she wrote the book when she was younger and she was just recently inspired to start writing again. I was so excited. I was excited that she was going to read the book to the class, but I was super excited that was going to be writing again. After school I didn’t rush off to the cave like I usually do. I stayed behind and asked Mrs. Thornbuckle what had inspired her to write again. She said, “Well there is this amazing woman I know named Kit Schmickle who reminded me that life is full of adventures, both real and imaginary.

And it is selfish to keep to keep those adventures to yourself, you should share them with others through books.” I was so proud. I kind of giggled to myself because Mrs. Thornbuckle thought my life was full of adventure but she had no idea about the secret cave beneath her classroom and how many adventures it brought to my life. That night I was holding my baby sister in the rocking chair and she fell asleep on me. I looked down at her and imagined all of the adventures that we would have together in the future, and I wanted to tell her all about all of the adventures I had in the past. As she lay perfectly peaceful and beautiful in my arms I knew what I had to do. Baby Clara Schmickle had inspired me, just like I had inspired Clara Thornbuckle. I put my sister down in her crib and went to sit down at the computer. I opened up a new file and decided to write my own story, about my own adventures. I wanted to share my stories with Baby Clara once she was old enough to read them. So I sat down and I began to type… The Secret of Del Rey Hi, my name is Kit. Well actually it is Katherine. But when I was just a baby my Mom started calling me Kat for short, but my Dad said I was too small to be a Kat so he called me Kitten. As I got taller my name got shorter and now everyone just calls me Kit. I have always like my nickname, but my twin brother never really liked his. Mom and Dad call him Pup since they called me Kit. But he prefers to be called by his real name…