Chapter One

Cattails, Calamity, & Caves

Red-faced from my escape of the overgrown cattails, I think about last year when I was fourteen and wondering if I'd ever be as tall as the cattails. Well, I'm as tall as those darn exploding fuzz-bombs now. I used to think they looked like big cigars when I was a little boy. Now I'm certain they're the plant's first line of defense. No matter how gently I try to move them out of my way, they explode into an army of little fuzzy seeds that take flight, all of them heading for me like heat-seeking missiles. The fact that I need a haircut isn't to my benefit. I'm going to look like a porcupine with cotton balls all over my head. I hate it when my hair grows out a little and stands straight out in all directions, like a reddish-yellow halo. None of my brothers has coarse, straight hair. Mom calls the color strawberry blond, but I can't honestly think of a single guy who would describe his hair as strawberry blond.

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" Sneezes always come in threes for me.

"Why do you always fish over there in the cattails?" Braden complains from across the pond. "You'll be sneezing all day and scaring off the fish!"

"I'll not be the one to chase the fish away. And for your information, I fish over here because this is where the spring is, bro," I call back, exaggerating the word bro to put him in his place. "The big fish like to cool down in that cool, fresh, natural spring water that constantly feeds into the pond. I've already caught five nice ones for supper. You should try it sometime, instead of