Seven Wonders Journals Read Online Free

three!” We pulled together, and a square meter of the bottom of the wall came loose in a shower of dirt. There was an opening just high enough for us to crawl through—and a large, dark tunnel beyond.
    Osman got on hands and knees, gathered Safi up into his jacket, and crawled through the tunnel opening. A blast of cold air hit me as I stood, shining my flashlight around. We followed this tunnel in a curved path until we reached a grand, ornate chamber, much bigger than the one we’d just left. The walls were adorned with statues of warriors on horseback, Greek gods with spears flying from their hands, and fantastic monsters. “How many rooms are there?” I asked.
    â€œThis one seems familiar,” Osman said.
    That was when I smelled coffee.
    I switched off my flashlight. A line of bright light, like a yellow gash, shone into the room from our left. “Is that moonlight?” I asked.
    â€œIs that coffee?” Osman said.
    We ran across the chamber toward the sliver of light. It was coming through the crack of a doorway. Osman pushed it open, and the first thing I could see was a breathtaking view of Fethiye harbor. And not twenty meters away sat our father with Gencer. My heart nearly stopped when I saw who was with them—Feyyaz the Cyclops.
    The men were warming their hands over a small fire, brewing coffee in an old tin pot. Father saw me first. “My chilrrren!” he said, staggering to his feet, smiling too broadly, walking too unsteadily.
    I gave Osman a look. Drunk, I realized. They all were. Feyyaz must have brought a bottle. “You’ve found a way through!” Father continued, his eyes darting back toward the other men with fear and anticipation. “And of course you’ve brought me . . .”
    His voice trailed off as Feyyaz approached. The man was easily twice my father’s size. He was dressed in a cream-colored silk shirt and had several rings on his fat fingers. He wore no patch over his missing eye, which was permanently closed by an angry white scar.
    â€œThe jewel?” Feyyaz’s voice was surprisingly high-pitched and hollow for a man his size, but his one good eye was trained on me like a gun. “The ring?”
    â€œMy children were guided by Safi!” Father blurted. “Whatever they accomplished or didn’t was determined by the limits of Safi—”
    â€œDear Safi has no limits, isn’t that right, my beautiful kouklaki ?” Feyyaz’s face suddenly twisted into a frightening, sour expression that may have been his version of fondness. He held out his arms toward the ferret.
    Safi poked her head out of Osman’s jacket and leaped to the floor. She began twitching and made a horrid hacking noise.
    Feyyaz’s eyes widened. He grabbed Father by his shirt front. “If those brats of yours have harmed my Safi, Khalid, you’re a dead man!”
    Safi gave an especially violent heave. Then she puked up the body of a mangled spider onto the floor of the tomb.
    I picked up the spider, shaking with anger. I don’t know what possessed me to do this, and looking back on it, it could have been suicide, but Most Girls don’t usually witness their father being bullied and threatened by dangerous gangsters. Without a second thought I placed the spider in Feyyaz’s outstretched hand. My voice was calm. “This is all we found, sir.”
    He squealed like one of my schoolmates and dropped it.I grabbed Osman’s hand and walked off, leaving my father and Feyyaz gawking.
    Thursday, 8:03 A.M. , in a Jeep (forgive the shaky handwriting, Diary)
    â€œG ET UP , A LIYAH. ”
    Father.
    â€œOsman! Up, up, up!”
    Why was he whispering? I blinked my eyes open. It was still dark, my nose was cold. But at least I was alive. So was everyone. I guess Feyyaz wasn’t in a murderous mood last night. He was preoccupied with Safi’s health, nursing the little critter with mysterious,