I have see chapter 2 below. The book can be purchased online ebook or print. (from our website , www.demachepublishing.com, Amazon or Barnes & Noble )
Chapter 2
“What do you mean the stream is gone?” Hamid impatiently tried to push forward. “Derrick! Move will you!”
The pressure of the others finally moved Derrick. Soon the six were standing on the ground, just below the cave, looking around.
Derrick was right. There was no longer a stream. Not even a streambed. Nothing! Just woods, and the dense woods came right up to the rocky hill!
Hamid ran his hands along the outside walls of the cave, where less than half an hour ago water flowed. The walls were dry; the soil was flaky.
Lenny gave a shaky laugh. “Shirts! So the water really couldn’t make it up from that cavern.”
None of the others appreciated his attempt at humor. They ignored him.
“Could we have taken a wrong turn or something?” Angela whispered.
“We couldn’t have. It was a straight passage.” Even so, Hamid looked up.
“I’m not going back in there,” Lente said instantly, reading his mind.
“I don’t believe this,” Hamid muttered as he looked around.
“Let’s just go back in and check,” Ginny suggested.
“Check for what?” Derrick was scowling. “Like he said, it was a straight passage.”
“Well, we can’t just stand here and do nothing.” Angela was looking around as if expecting the stream to reappear.
Hamid ran his hand along the cave wall again. “I remember reading a science fiction where some people stepped in a secret passage and stepped back in time.”
Lente began crying.
“Shut up, Lente,” Hamid said roughly.
“Don’t shout at her,” Angela frowned at him. “She’s just scared.”
“I want to go home,” Lente wailed.
“We are all scared, and we all want to go home,” Hamid said. “But you don’t see us crying.”
“Do you realize that if we went back in time we’re all in deep trouble?” Derrick said.
Now they all stared.
“What do you mean?” Lenny asked.
“Hamid and Lente are black.”
“So?” Hamid still didn’t get it.
“I’m black too—and Angela is Chinese....”
“I’m not full Chinese,” Angela inserted. “Only my father is Chinese. My mother is Puerto Rican.”
Hamid looked to the sky for inspiration. “What are you getting at?”
Derrick continued. “Ginny is Puerto Rican. So Lenny is the only one safe. He’s white.”
“He isn’t pure Italian,” Ginny said. “He told me his grandfather was from Morocco.”
“So he isn’t safe either. Besides, they didn’t like Italians back then.”
“Shirts! You’re talking about slavery, right?” Lenny was scowling.
“Oh my God!” Ginny cried.
Derrick nodded grimly. “If we’ve gone back in time, we’ll all be slaves.”
Lente began crying harder.
YOU ARE READING
The Intruders
Teen FictionSix teenagers from the Bronx set out to explore a cave in their neighborhood. The cave exploration is a washout but after falling down a ledge the six find that they have time-travelled three centuries into the future. Fortunately, they are accepted...
