Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas by Jonathan W. Stokes

simmered in Addison’s mind and slowly came to a boil. “They don’t know the bones are booby-trapped, but we do. We split up and lure them onto the bone piles.”
    The four members of Addison’s team scattered. Ragar’s men chased them onto the stacks of bones, struggling to find their footing.
    One guard, webbed with Mafia tattoos, made the considerable mistake of chasing Molly. In her cleats, her fast feet found purchase on the skittering bones. The burly guard tried to race up a mound of mandibles, but the harder he ran, the farther he slid.
    Molly crested the pile, her eyes darting back and forth for a hidden trip wire. The man climbed closer, reaching out a calloused hand to grab Molly’s ankle. She spotted a trip wire, yanked it hard, and dove aside as a steel scythe rocketed toward the surprised guard. Terrified, he leapt from the path of the shrieking blade and tumbled down the bone mountain, striking his head on the rocky ground. The man lay crumpled in a heap of clattering foot bones.
    Raj, clinging to the cave wall, visualized a plan. He would get a running start, leap off the nearest bone pile, grab the closest guy-rope, shimmy up, swing to the oppositepillar, and jump down on the tallest guard. The plan was flawless.
    He took a running start, slipped on a femur, and crashed down the mountain of bones. The avalanche of shattering bones triggered several booby traps. Boulders tumbled from the ceiling, pelting a guard on the head. The man sank to his knees, stunned senseless.
    â€œGreat work, Raj,” said Addison, impressed.
    â€œDon’t mention it,” said Raj from underneath a pile of patellas.
    Addison’s team, faster and lighter than Ragar’s men, formed up at the far end of the chamber. Zubov shouted at his guards to stop chasing the kids and to block the only exit. With a sinking feeling, Addison realized his predicament. His group was hemmed in, with no hope of escape.
    Zubov fixed Addison with the cold stare of a hunting shark and circled in.
    â€œWe’re boned!” said Eddie. “There’s no other way out of here!”
    â€œOf course there is,” said Addison, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “We’re 86ers.” Simply saying the words inspired him, and to his immense relief, Addison discovered that he had an idea. He rapped his knuckles against the rock wall at his back. “This is a limestone cave—formed by water.”
    â€œThat’s great, Addison.” Molly pointed an impatientfinger at the guards rapidly picking their way through the bone piles, edging ever closer. “Can we focus on the issue at hand?”
    â€œWater flows through the limestone for millions of years—it forms a cave.” Addison could see his team was still not following. “The water needs both an entrance and an exit. There must be another way out!”
    Raj was readying himself in a fighting stance, preparing for the onslaught of guards.
    â€œIf we all run in different directions, they can’t catch all of us!” shouted Molly.
    â€œThat’s not fair—they’ll catch whoever’s slowest,” cried Eddie. “Me!”
    â€œEverybody be quiet and listen.” Addison lifted a hand in the air and cocked his ears. And then he heard what he wanted—a faint trickle of water. “This way!”
    Addison shimmied along the cave wall until the sound of water grew louder. He knelt down and scooped away bones as fast as he could. A thin channel of water gurgled beneath the heaps of bones, escaping through a hole in the rocks. Addison helped Raj squeeze into the narrow chute.
    Eddie backed up a step. “Are we really going in there?”
    â€œYou can stay here, Eddie. It’s your choice!”
    Ragar’s men tightened their cordon, closing in on Addison’s team. They moved carefully to avoid trip wires, until they were almost within arm’s reach.
    â€œHurry!”