Seven Wonders Book 2: Lost in Babylon Read Online Free Page A

said.
    She darted toward Torquin, pulled the tracking-signal detector from his gadget belt, and bolted toward the river. “Come on, let’s start!”
    â€œHey!” Torquin cried out in surprise.
    â€œLet them go, we have our hands full here!” Nirvana said.
    Our footsteps made clouds of yellowish dust as we ran. Closer to the river, the ground was choked with scrubby grass and knots of small bushes. We stopped at the thicket of pine trees that stretched in both directions.
    The ground sloped sharply downward. Below us, the Euphrates slashed a thick silver-blue S like a curved mirror through the countryside. To the north it wound around a distant settlement, then headed off toward mountains blurred by fog. To the south it passed by the Babylonian ruins before disappearing into the flatness. I scanned the riverbank, looking for signs of Marco.
    â€œI don’t see him,” Aly said.
    I held up the tracker. Our blue dot locator and Marco’s green one had merged. “He’s here somewhere.”
    â€œYo, Ocram!” Cass shouted. “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
    Rolling her eyes, Aly began walking down the slope toward the river. “He might be hiding. If he’s playing a prank, I will personally dunk him in the water.”
    â€œUnless he throws you in first,” I said.
    I glanced quickly back over my shoulder to check on the others. Nirvana was struggling to push Professor Bhegad’s wheelchair across the rocky soil. He bounced a lot, complaining all the way. Torquin had taken off his studded leather belt and was trying to wrap it around Bhegad like a seat belt, causing his own pants to droop slowly downward.
    They were going to take a while.
    I started through the brush. It was dense and maybe three to five feet high, making it hard to see. As we moved forward, we kept calling Marco’s name.
    We stopped at the edge of a rocky ridge. None of us had seen this from the distance. It plunged straight downward, maybe twenty feet, to the river below. “Oh, great,” Aly said.
    I looked north and south. In both directions, the ridge angled downward until it eventually met the riverbed. “We’ll be okay if we go sideways,” I said.
    I went to the edge and looked over. I eyed the tangle of trees, roots, and bushes along the steep drop. Since Marco had taught us to rock climb, steep embankments didn’t scare me as much as they used to. This looked way easier than climbing Mount Onyx.
    â€œMaybe there’s a shortcut,” I said. Quickly I stepped over the edge, digging my toes into a sturdy root. I turned so my chest would be facing the cliff. Holding on to a branch, I descended another step.
    â€œWhoa, Jack, don’t,” Cass said.
    I laughed. “This is ea—”
    My foot slipped. My chin hit the dirt. I slid downward, grasping frantically. My fingers closed around branches and vines. I pulled out about a dozen, and a dozen more slipped through my hand. I felt my foot hit a root and I caromed outward, landing at the bottom, hard on my back. “—sy,” I continued.
    â€œI think I’ll look for a path,” Cass called down.
    Aly’s face was going in and out of focus. I could have sworn she was trying to hold back a smile. “Are you hurt?”
    â€œJust resting.” I closed my eyes and lay still, my breath buzzsawing in my chest. I heard a dull moan, and I figured it must have been my own voice.
    But when I heard it again, my eyes blinked open.
    I sat up. Aly and Cass were just below the crest of the ridge, trying to make their way down. They were both shouting. But my eyes were focused on a thick, brownish-green bush, maybe ten yards away.
    A pair of shoes jutted from underneath.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE
    HarperCollins Publishers
    ..................................................................
CHAPTER FIVE
T OGETHER W E F ELL INTO D ARKNESS
    N EW B ALANCE BASKETBALL shoes.