Lost by S. A. Bodeen Page B

sounded like he got it there.” She frowned. “But how can it be the same?” asked Sarah. “The same people who did all this”—she spread out her arms—“made the trunk too?”
    â€œI don’t know.” Marco shook his head as he stood back up. He wasn’t sure they were even talking about people anymore. None of it seemed natural. None of it seemed like it belonged on this planet. It all seemed way more like it was not of this Earth.
    He shivered as he stepped to the next module. There, he held his palms on the frost glass as long as he could, then blew on them to warm up before setting them there again. A small, misshapen circle cleared and he looked through it. A white goat stood there, motionless like the first. “Another goat.” He took a longer look. There was no beard or horns. “This one’s female, I think.”
    â€œLet me see.” Sarah bent to see in, and then straightened back up. “But they’re normal, right? Like no extra horns or wings or weird feet or anything?”
    Marco looked into the first module again. “No, they seem like normal goats.” He took a step back and shook his head. Why was there an island full of weird animals, and then a cave with normal ones? He couldn’t make any sense of it.
    Sarah strode down the row of modules, like she was looking for something. Finally, she stopped at one that was taller than their house back in California. The glass front stretched up about ten feet, but she set a hand on the frost at eye level. Marco caught up with her and set a hand on it too. A few moments later, they had a patch about the size of an envelope. Sarah leaned forward.
    â€œWhat do you see?” asked Marco.
    â€œWeird.” She didn’t say anything for a moment, and then she stepped back. Sarah scrunched up her nose and shrugged. “They’re like … gray tree trunks or something. I can’t tell.”
    Marco stepped close to the glass, so near that his breath fogged it up. Inside the module he saw two thick, gray trees. At least, that’s what they looked like. He was taller than Sarah, and stood up on his tiptoes and looked down. Four semicircles of a slightly different color were embedded on the front of the bottom of the gray things.
    Marco sucked in. Not just semicircles. They were … toenails. “Whoa.” He stepped back. “Not trees.”
    â€œWhat?” asked Sarah.
    Marco said, “I’m pretty sure those aren’t trees.” He reached up as high as he could and placed his hands there until he couldn’t stand the cold, then did it again until he had a clear spot. He knelt down. “Here, get up on my shoulders.”
    â€œWhy?” Sarah made a face.
    He pointed up. “To get a better look.”
    She set the bag down. “Fine.” Sarah pushed on his shoulders. “Lower.”
    Marco sunk down more, even though it hurt his injured knee.
    Sarah swung a leg over each shoulder. “I’m gonna fall!” She put her hands on the module to steady herself.
    â€œGoing up.” Marco stood. “Can you see?”
    â€œTo the left a little!”
    Marco tried to move, but lost his balance and tipped to the left.
    Sarah squealed. “Watch it!”
    Marco righted himself, then leaned forward so he could put his hands on the cold module to keep his balance.
    â€œOkay, that’s good.” Sarah leaned closer to the glass. “Oh, whoa.”
    â€œWhat?” asked Marco. The strain on his legs wasn’t bad because his stepsister wasn’t very heavy, but his hands burned from the cold glass.
    â€œIt’s an elephant. With tusks. Frozen, like the goats.” She rapped her knuckles on the top of his head. “Let me down.”
    â€œGladly.” Marco squatted and held up his hands.
    She grasped them. “On three. One, two, three!”
    He pushed up and she vaulted over his head to the floor.