listen to me. Derek never listened to me. That’s what happens when you spend so much time arguing with a person.
However, much to my surprise, Derek sighed and nodded.
vegetation. “Why are you all this far from camp? And what in
the world was that booming sound?” My dad continued asking. I ran right up to him and hugged him, pressing my face
into his shoulder.
“Fine, let’s go,” he said. I watched him jump out of
our hiding place and charge at the Octagon steels from behind. My eyes widened when I realized that he had actually
listened to me. Huh. There’s a first time for everything, I
guess.
“Dad! You’re okay,” I exclaimed happily. He looked
down at me confused.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said. “But, what happened?”
“It’s a long story, Sir,” Derek said. Arthur grinned.
“Wait for me!” I jumped out of the hiding place,
clutching the secret weapon that Derek had given to me.
“Ren, a little help here!” Arthur shouted at me, waving frantically. One of the Octagon steels had him cornered. I
immediately changed my course, hoping that I wouldn’t trip
or do anything stupid.
“Hey! Stay away from my brother!” I crouched and
front-flipped straight over the Octagon steel, dropping the
secret weapon on its back. Wow, training had its uses. I landed my flip almost perfectly, with the exception of twisting my
ankle. Wincing, I struggled to stand on my other good foot.
“Watch out!” I heard someone shout before the air
was knocked out of me. The next thing I know, I’m pinned to
the ground, my back hurting and my vision blurred. Looking
up, I noticed Derek staring back at me. He helped me to my
feet. By then, it finally registered. He had pushed me out of
the way just in time before the remaining Octagon steel
brought one of its two-hundred pound legs down on me.
“Watch it, or else you’re going to get crushed,”
Derek warned.
“A long story, indeed,” he agreed. On our way back
to camp, we filled my dad in on everything that had happened with the Octagon steel ̸