Tunnels Read Online Free

to check things out. Evan was yelling for me and he sounded super scared. Even though I was a little scared too, half of me didn't believe him. Half of me felt it was his way of getting out of helping me. But even if he was right, it didn't change much for me. He just needed to get his mind off the mystery gunman so we could get busy.
    But guess what? I found absolutely nothing. Empty hallway, no sign of anybody. All I saw was a heart carved into the pillar with G.P. + E.V. inside it, which didn't exactly prove we were being watched.
    Sprinting across the grass, I found Evan sitting on the stairs and hiding his face. "Hey," I said, out of breath, "coast is clear."
    He peaked out from between his fingers because, yes, he'd covered his eyes again. My hero. "You sure?"
    "Don't worry," I nodded as I reassured him, "if there was somebody, he's gone now. Maybe just some lonely guy playing a trick on us. So can we get started?"
    "Alright, but you are totally going first." He nudged me the way fourth-grade boys do when they're behind you in line and want you to hurry. Seriously annoying.
    "Knock it off, E," I warned, using the wall for support as I climbed down the stairs. Uneven as most old stone stairs are, I could see me taking a header and trying to explain it to my mom.
    My heart began beating fast, not only from being excited, but also a little worried. I knew I was going into a place that was too close for comfort. So I kept repeating to myself everything was okay, and prayed I wouldn't hyperventilate. Just in case, I'd brought a paper lunch bag so I could breathe into it if I started to feel like passing out. Mom taught me the trick a long time ago when I got lost in the stupid plastic tubes at Pizza Playground. Wish they'd outlaw them. Trust. The peer pressure's unbearable when everyone wants to crawl through them but you.
    When we reached the bottom I wanted to kick myself. "Crud, E, I didn't bring anything to break the lock. Did you?" Why hadn't I brought my mini tool set Dad gave me at Christmas?
    "Uh, let's see." He dug in both his pockets. "Nope, clean out of hammers. Decided it didn't match my outfit this morning. But here's a piece of gum. Maybe that'll work." He started laughing like he was so hilarious. "And here's a news flash for you—don't you know what you're about to do is breaking and entering?"
    I didn't answer. Of course he's right—but was I going to let a little lock stop me? You wouldn't if you saw the door. Straight up out of a medieval dungeon—big and wooden with a black steel grate across the keyhole window. Yeah, it was spooky…but I still wanted to see what was behind it.
    "Doesn't look like it's been opened in a while." The metal was rusty and lots of cobwebs stretched across the lock. "Got any ideas?"
    "Don't ask me, Buttercup. I'm not touching it." He uses this name for me when he's irritated. Evan says if someone's acting stupid, call them by a nice name instead of going off on them. Then there's no permanent damage. Only I knew the truth of why he'd called me Buttercup, so technically this theory doesn't work with me. Just swap out idiot for Buttercup and you've broken Evan's code.
    I sighed and wished I hadn't brought him. Sam would've been more helpful. He doesn't care what he touches and he even ate worms when I dared him once, so he'll do anything. Finally I just reached over and jiggled the lock. First softly, then harder. It rattled against the door and sounded all dungeony when it echoed. Way cool if it wasn't so creepy. For some reason I thought of Mary Queen of Scots who was locked in a dungeon. She was probably plenty freaked out—until her head was cut off, that is.
    A weird shiver ran down my spine. Headless people, even ones five hundred years old, don't exactly make you feel good about trespassing in a creepy, dark tunnel. So instead, I thought about how much I wanted to find the tunnels and rattled the lock again. I forced my hand to stay there, even though