Forces of Nature Read Online Free

happened?” he croaked. His hair shot up into the air, making him look like arooster that had missed the sunrise.
    â€œDon’t wake Dad,” Zack whispered.
    â€œWhat is it, Olivia?” Dad said, stirring in the sleeping bag next to Zack. “Everything okay out there?”
    â€œWhich one of you made this fire?”
    The three tentmates exchanged puzzled glances. They all had clearly just woken up, so it wasn’t them.
    â€œI thought it was a forest fire,” Zack’s mom said from somewhere outside.
    Taylor unzipped the tent, letting in a blast of chilly air. He stepped outside in his bare feet. “It wasn’t us!” he exclaimed. “WOW!”
    Zack looked at his dad and the two crawled to the tent’s opening and poked their heads out.
    Between the tents a giant campfire roared. They stared in stunned silence, blinking from the heat.
    It looked like a campfire, but it was way larger than it needed to be. Zack could feel the heat on his face from twelve feet away.
    â€œIf we didn’t build it,” Zack’s dad said quietly, “and you didn’t build it . . . who built it?”

    Zack looked over at Olivia and they shared a troubled look.
    â€œIt must have been built by the ghost,” Taylor squealed with excitement. “Nasty Ned must have built it.”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous,” Zack said. “It was probably Ranger Davis.”
    â€œI don’t think rangers make fires for you,” Olivia said. “It’s not like a hotel. And I don’t think a ranger would make a fire this big and dangerous.”
    â€œQuick, Mom, get the marshmallows!” Taylor shrieked, his feet squishing in the mud as he stepped closer to the fire and held up his hands. “This is the best day ever!”
    â€œBe quiet, Taylor, you’ll wake up the owls,” Zack said.
    â€œNot too close, honey,” Mom said, stepping closer to Taylor nervously.
    â€œLet’s go get the ranger,” Dad suggested, clearly shaken by the sudden, strange campfire. “It’s not safe here.”
    Of course, Zack and Olivia couldn’t say anything for fear of giving away the fact that their alien friend was surely behind this fire. In a matter of minutes, Olivia and the McGee family were in the car, their hiking boots, coats, and wool caps thrown on in a hurry.
    Soon the car was slipping and sliding down the muddy road. Zack watched as the flames died down, so he didn’t see that the narrow bridgethat ran over the small creek near the campsite was gone.
    But Olivia did—and just in time.
    â€œNO BRIDGE!” she screamed. “STOP!”
    Dad stomped on the brake pedal. The tires skidded over the mud like a sled, and the car’s rear end swung out to one side, then back in the other direction. Zack’s mom screeched in fear.
    The car stopped with just feet to spare.
    They all sat in eerie silence for a few seconds, then quickly exited the car to check on the bridge’s destruction. They walked to the edge of the now-roaring stream in silence, staring down at the bubbling water. The muddy liquid was violently pushing over the splintered posts that once held up the little wooden bridge.
    â€œWe’re stuck here?” Taylor shouted. “Awesome!”
    â€œIncredible,” Dad said, staring down at the remains of the bridge and the foaming, churning water.
    â€œMaybe the ghost wrecked the bridge after he built us a fire,” Taylor said.
    â€œThis is all getting too dangerous,” Mom said,putting her hand on Taylor’s shoulder to keep him from wandering too close to the water’s edge.
    Dad pulled out his cell phone and stared at it. “No service out here,” he said.
    â€œAnd I thought last year’s trip was a disaster,” Zack said.
    â€œUh, guys, we have a visitor,” Olivia announced in an odd, pinched voice.
    Zack noticed that Olivia was looking back at the