By Rich Wallace Art by Ron ZalmeÙTheTimbertoes®Sounds of SpringIt was a rainy night.Tommy heard peeping.No birds had hatched.It was too cold for crickets.This was a mystery.“Come and see.”The tiny frogs were loud.“When the peepers sing, we know it’s spring!”“The peepers are out.”“What’s that sound?”“They’ll lay eggs soon.”
“ CanIinputthewaypointfor this geocache?” Justin asked.“Sure,” Dad said. He readthe latitude and longitude fromhis smartphone.“OK,” Justin called out.“Five hundred seventy-five feettoward 9 o’clock.” The electronicarrow of the GPS unit pointeddirectly to his left. He handedthe GPS to Dad.“It looks as if this geocachewill take us down some prettysteep terrain,” Dad said. “I hopewe can find the path throughall the trees.”TheBestFindBy Pat HansenArt by Mike DeSantis“Bet I’ll find it first,” teasedJustin’s older sister, Molly.“First one to it gets the firstpick of the treasure.”“You’re on.” Justin started downthe narrow path. “Watch out,” hecalled over his shoulder as henearly fell. “The pine needlesmake the groundreally slippery.”Justin tried not to slide ashe walked ahead. Dad and Mollylagged behind, watching theirfooting carefully. After a littlewhile, Justin stopped to let themcatch up. He piled pine needles onthe ground while he waited.“Uh-oh,” Dad said when theyreached him. “That’s poison ivygrowing up that tree. Don’t touchany foliage.”Justin walked gingerly afterthat, careful not to touch anythinggreen. Sweat trickled downhis back. His legs weregetting tired, but he didn’twant to whine.“Hey, I hear water running,”he exclaimed after they’d hikedfor what seemed like hours.“What’s the clue for thisgeocache?” Molly asked.Dad looked at thesmartphone. “This one willreally ‘rock’ you,” he read.“First one to the geocacherocks, Justin,” Molly said.“You should just give upnow,” Justin said, smiling.“Dad, how far are we fromthe geocache?”Dad looked at the GPS.“Twenty-five feet toward4 o’clock,” he said.Justin hurried down thepath to the small creek he’dheard. He knew 25 feet wasabout as accurately as theirGPS could pinpoint a geocache.They were now on their ownto find it. He walked up thebank of the creek, looking“Bet I ll find the’geocache first,”teased Molly.Justin piled pine needles on the ground while he waited.Geocachingis a kind of high-tech treasure hunt. Participants use a GPS and clues to find their way to a specific location, where a container of trinkets has been hidden. Each person chooses a trinket and replaces it with another one.
under every pile of rocks.Nothing. He headed toward Dad and Molly.“I found it!” Molly yelled.“It’s inside this rock shaped like a bowl.”Justin groaned. Mollyalways found geocaches first.“Remember—finderspickers,” Molly said happily.“I know, I know,” Justin muttered.Molly twisted the cap offthe plastic jug and turnedit upside down. Treasuresfell out. After Molly chose aforeign coin, Justin picked outa yo-yo. Dad wrote a commentin the notebook stored in thejug. They added a mini carand a super-bounce ball forthe next geocachers, thencarefully re-hid the jug in the same place.“Uh-oh,” Dad said, pressingbuttons on the GPS. “I forgotto mark the van’s location inthe GPS before we left, so wehave nothing to guide us back.We need to find our way to the van before it gets too dark.”Dad led the way back upthe trail, followed by Mollyand Justin. They climbed insilence, panting as the trail grew steeper.“Keep going, kids. We’regetting there,” Dad said. Justin thought he heard a crack of worry in Dad’s voice.They trudged on. Justin’slegs were starting to ache.“Hey, Dad,” Justin said, “this doesn’t seem right. I don’tsee any poison ivy like we saw onthe way down.” He didn’t mentionthat he was having a harder timeseeing the path as it got darker.“I thought I saw another trail a little ways back,” said Molly.Justin backtracked down about50 feet, then squinted to look up theother path. “I see pine-needle pilesup ahead!” he called to Dad and Molly. “I made those piles earlier, while I was waiting for you!”They scrambled up the otherpath, stopping several timesto catch their breath. Finally,they dragged themselves upthe last slope and saw the van pop into view.“That van is the best findof the day,” Molly said. “You rock, Justin!”“We need to findour way backbefore it getsdark Dad said,”.“Remember finders pickers said Molly—,”.“I see pine needle piles up ahead-!”
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