Shadows of Caesar's Creek Read Online Free Page A

Ziggy bit into the grapefruit, skin and all.
    After the quick lunch cleanup, the girls wandered down to the lake. Liza took off her shoes and socks and squealed as the chilly water touched her feet. Brandy sat on the rocky beach, snacking on jelly beans and writing in her notebook. Mimi tossed stones into the water, trying to count the ripples and circles as they wobbled on the water. Tiana glanced over at the four boys to see what Rashawn was doing, but he was busy wrestling with Ziggy in thetall grass. She noticed a small canoe hidden under some bushes near the water’s edge.
    Tiana wandered over and helped Noni tidy up the campsite, and the two of them sat down and watched the rest of the kids.
    â€œYou’ve got a cool job, Noni,” Tiana said as she looked for four-leaf clovers in the grass.
    â€œI love my job,” Noni replied with enthusiasm. “Every weekend I get to take small groups of children to the woods and let them explore and discover the beauty of nature. I get to take young people like you away from the other side of the park, where it’s so crowded with motor homes and portable televisions. This is the real deal.”
    They chuckled at the four boys, who were pretending to be Indian braves on a hunt. They shot imaginary arrows from invisible bows, running through the tall grasses of the meadow, darting into the shadows of the trees to hide.
    â€œI got that moose, mon” shouted Ziggy.
    â€œMoose?” asked Jerome. “Why not a squirrel or a rabbit?”
    â€œWhen Ziggy hunts, he hunts moose, mon”
    Rico was on his knees, digging in the soft soil of the meadow. “Look at this funny rock, Rashawn. It’s pointed, and it’s such an odd color.”
    Rashawn looked up from where he had been sitting under a tall pine tree, pretending not to watch Tiana, who had joined the other girls by the water. “Let me see it.” The rock was dirty, but was very light in color. “Let’s take it down to the water and rinse it off.”
    â€œI’ll race you” yelled Rico as he sprinted across the meadow. Rashawn’s long legs soon caught and passed Rico. Jerome and Ziggy raced also, but Jerome won easily because Ziggy’s purple coat got wrapped around his legs and slowed him down.
    Rico took the rock down to the water’s edge and carefully washed it off. He rubbed the dirt with his fingers and with a soft stick he’d found. His heart began to beat faster. “I think I’ve found something really cool,” he whispered.
    No one heard him, because Rashawn had dumped a handful of cold lake water down Tiana’s back, andshe screamed and ran down the small, rocky beach. Mimi and Brandy had grabbed Jerome and were trying to pull him into the water. He was strong enough to shake them off, but when Liza headed over to join them, he broke free of the girls and ran laughing in the other direction.
    Rico called to Ziggy, who was running toward the girls. “Look, Ziggy—what do you think this is?”
    Ziggy took the small, clean stone from Rico’s hand. But it wasn’t a rock. It was clear like a crystal—he could see the palm of his hand beneath it. It was shaped like a small pine tree, sharply pointed, with sharp edges on each side.
    â€œHey, mon,” whispered Ziggy with respect. “I think you have found a real live Indian arrowhead”

“LET’S GO SEE IF WE CAN FIND SOME MORE ARROW- heads” Rico shouted. He and Ziggy ran over to the spot where Rico had been digging. They dug furiously with their fingers and hands in the soft, black dirt, but all they found were dirty old rocks and worms.
    â€œWho do you think it belonged to?” Rico asked as he wiped the dirt off his hands and looked down at the clear, shining arrowhead.
    â€œI think it’s pretty special, mon,” Ziggy replied. “Most arrowheads are made of stone or some sort of rock. This one almost looks like a