Lost Read Online Free PDF Page B

held the bottle up. “It’s almost gone.” His forehead wrinkled.
    Marco set a hand on his shoulder. “You have more.”
    â€œNo I don’t!” Nacho shook his head. “You made me leave my big bottles at home!” Tears welled up. “You said we would be able to buy more when I ran out!”
    Marco held up his hands. “How was I supposed to know we’d get marooned?”
    Cash stepped forward and put a hand on Nacho’s shoulder. “Sarge says that stuff is bad for you anyway. Your body gets so used to not having any germs that when you do finally get some, it doesn’t remember how to fight them off.”
    â€œWell, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we ?” Nacho glared at Marco, then sniffled as he shoved the nearly empty bottle in his backpack.
    Marco ignored him and led the way through the woods, Cash on his heels, Nacho and Sarah right behind. They stopped by the cave to retrieve the bedding, then set out for the beach. Marco heard Sarah ask Cash, “So, you’re twelve?”
    â€œYeah,” said Cash.
    Sarah said, “Me too. So is Marco. His brother is only ten.”
    â€œI’m an only child,” said Cash.
    â€œMe too,” said Sarah.
    Marco frowned. Even though he didn’t really think of her as his sister, that kind of felt like an insult.
    Nacho quietly said, “Not anymore. Now you have us.”
    Sarah added, “Well, I meant that I used to be, I guess. They only got married like a month ago, so this is a new thing.”
    Again, Marco didn’t appreciate the way Sarah sounded so flip, like she was dismissing him and Nacho as a temporary novelty. He wasn’t that thrilled with her either, but she was, at least on paper, his stepsister.
    As they emerged from the trees onto the beach, they saw the fire blazing. Then, over by the monkey pod trees, Marco saw his mom and John with a stack of long bamboo stalks. Marco dropped the bedding and his backpack on the ground by the fire and jogged over. “What’s going on?”
    John looked up, a smile on his face. “I found a stand of bamboo.” He rapped on one of the thick green poles with the knuckles of one hand. “Way better building material than trying to use the wood from the boat.” He wrapped a braided rope of vines around a pole and attached it to a large square of bamboo that looked almost the size of a raft.
    He pointed at a small machete. “This was in the dinghy. Luckily, it wasn’t wet long enough to rust. I’m going to go cut some more in a bit.”
    Marco asked, “You want me to come with you?”
    His mom said, “No. You are not touching that machete.”
    Marco stepped closer.
    She was braiding several vines into a thick rope.
    John said, “As soon as I get these secured together, we can lift them into the tree. We can make a fairly sturdy platform up there for the bedding. Then we’ll have a safe place at night by the beach.”
    Marco smiled. He was stoked they wouldn’t have to stay in the creepy house or the dank cave.
    John asked, “How’s the girl doing?”
    â€œFine, I think,” said Marco.
    â€œShe has quite an imagination,” John said.
    Marco asked, “What do you mean?”
    Yvonna said, “Her stories from last night. I think I believe how she came to be here, at least part of it, but that second part…” She shook her head.
    â€œBut we saw the red orb in the sky too,” he said.
    â€œYes, but the rest … A curator, keeping her prisoner?” She shook her head. “I think she likes to tell stories and we were certainly a captive audience.”
    Marco’s stomach lurched. He knew he had to tell them the truth, about everything he’d seen so far. “Mom, I have to tell you something.”
    John crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the nearest tree.
    Marco looked at him. “You remember in the house?