Staring into the mouth of the trail, we saw trouble. The trees were thick with leaves. The sunlight trickled in here and there, but shadow ruled the route. I could feel Kaylee’s breath get heavier.

“Nothing to be scared about,” I said, pulling her to the signpost. The hand-carved etchings showed the bike path in green, the canoe launch in red and the walking trail in blue. I glanced back to the information center, where the creepy frizzy-haired lady waved us on. I decided then and there to eat corned beef no matter what.

The forest floor was covered with tree limbs in various states of decay. In between, ground ivy and saplings grew in abundance. Setting one foot off the cleared dirt path would swallow a boy my size in one gulp, let alone my sister.

“Do raccoons live in here?” Kaylee whined.

“Maybe.”

She started whimpering again and squeezed hard.

“Owww!” I yanked my hand away.

“Sorry.”

“Shhh.” Voices were mumbling down the red trail and getting closer to the junction where we were standing. Waiting partially in fear, we heard their conversation grow louder.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I got more,” the first voice said. It was lower and familiar, but still far off.

“It’s after that I’m worried about,” the second voice responded. His squeaky voice mixed with the wispy buzz of faint music. I took a few steps down the red trail to inspect. The one guy had on a white baseball cap with a flat brim and headphones tilted off the back of his neck. I didn’t recognize the music, but I was familiar with who he was with.

“Let me take care of things. Kevin, Kaylee!” Dad seemed shocked, as if he forgot who he brought to the lake. “What are you guys doing here? I said I’d be right back.”

“It’s been an hour,” I said.

Dad checked his watch. “Wow, yeah. You guys must be hungry, huh?”

“Yeah,” Kaylee blurted out in full sulking form. Dad’s eyes widened at what was over my shoulder, a somewhat panicked look.

“Oh, and you grabbed my backpack. Great.”

The white hat kid rocked about nervously. “I gotta go, man. We gonna do this?”

“Sorry, these are my kids.”

“Sup.”

We didn’t know what to say, so we said nothing. It was apparently enough.

“So, we gonna do this?”

“Oh, yeah. We’re doing it. I need the cash, you know? This economy is killing me. And the medical bill on my arm may be the carbon dioxide for the canary, if you know what I mean.”

“I hear ya. Sign of the times, man. Sign of the times.”

“I’ll let you know when it comes through.”

“Don’t let me down.”

And the awkward fist bump from the white hat kid to my father marked the end of my worldly knowledge. My stomach retched a small sum, and the white hat kid sauntered off, cranking up the volume on his headphones. My dad turned to us, clapping his hands and rubbing them in true mad scientist form.

“What do you want to eat?”

I held out the two free lunch passes the crazy-haired lady gave us at the information center.

“Awww, nothing for dad.”

I replied with a big grin, “Nope.”