"Oh, there's the first fork in the path. Which way do we go?"

Glancing back and forth both paths looked the same to me. I turned to Nathaniel and almost burst out laughing. He was frantically checking the pockets in his jacket and sweatpants; he even unzipped his jacket and checked if there was an inner pocket. I watched him with amusement and he finally looked up at me sheepishly.

"Ummm, I may have misplaced the map..." he admitted and I couldn't hold back my laughter. "What?" he asked while rubbing his neck.

"I'm sorry; you just looked so funny when you were looking for it. Don't worry about it; the principal said that only one of the paths will continue so even if we choose the wrong path, we'll eventually find it. Now it's more of an adventure! We could pretend we're explorers like Lewis and Clark!"

"Yah... but Lewis and Clark had Sacajawea to guide them," Nathaniel muttered.

"Not for the whole trip. Come on, which way do you think we should go?" I asked and he shook his head, smiling indulgently.

"I'm the one who lost the map so why don't you lead us, Clark."

"Let's go.... right," I decided, heading down the path. "And why am I Clark? Clark was second in command and he was horrible to his slave."

As we walked we debated about Lewis and Clark and the controversy about Sacajawea and her role in the expedition. Before I knew it we came to another fork in the path.

"Hey! We picked the right path; it wasn't a dead-end!" I said in excitement and Nathaniel laughed.

"That was all you, partner. Which way now?"

"Well, going right worked last time, should we try it again?" 

Nathaniel shrugged and we turned down the right path. As we walked I looked at all the trees surrounding me and smiled while listening to the tweets of birds and the whisper of the breeze through the leaves.

"This is really, really neat. I love it out here," I said with a sigh, twirling around.

"Yah, being cooped up with paperwork and homework all the time, sometimes I forget how much I enjoy being out in nature," Nathaniel said. "How far behind do you think we are from everyone?"

"I don't know, probably pretty far. Are you disappointed that we're probably going to lose because of me?" I asked, worried that he had changed his mind about not caring about winning.

"Not at all; this has been really fun. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." I sighed in relief then stopped in my tracks.

"Awe no," I pouted, looking at the three path heads in front of me. "Why'd they have to make the choice harder?"

"Should we go right again? It's been working so far," Nathaniel suggested. 

I turned to reply when out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something. Slowly I turned back to face the middle path in wonder.

"Opal?"

I quickly held a finger to my lips with my eyes wide. He blinked in confusion but I turned back to the path, slowly taking a few silent steps forward and then crouching down on the balls of my feet while wrapping my arms around my legs and staring at the furry little creature in front of me.

The squirrel was nibbling on a seed of some kind with its bushy brown tail erect, stretching nearly the full length of the animal. It had a white tummy and white patches on its hands with the most adorable button nose I had ever seen. I watched in fascination as it nibbled on the nut while twirling it around and around in its paws. Nathaniel moved to come closer and the squirrel straightened, turning to look at us. I got a glimpse of its huge black eyes before it shoved the nut in its mouth and dashed back into the forest.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Opal. I didn't mean to scare it."

"It was so CUTE!" I squealed in delight as I jumped up and strained my neck to try and see where it had gone. "Let's go down this path!" I said while spinning around with happiness. Nathaniel jogged after me laughing.

"Did you see its bushy tail? And its little nose! It was so fuzzy! Oh, it was so cute! I wish squirrels were domesticated, I would totally have a pet squirrel!" I babbled excitedly, picturing having a little squirrel perched on my shoulder or head.

"I think I'd prefer a kitten," Nathaniel chuckled.

"You like cats?" I asked, practically skipping down the path.

"Yes, I love them, but my mom and sister are allergic so I can't have one."

"Oh, that's too bad. If Auntie didn't live in an apartment then we would definitely have a pet! I love all animals: dogs, cats, bunnies, hamsters, birds..."

"Spiders?" Nathaniel asked teasingly and I shuddered.

"Blech, no way. I'm fine if they're outside doing their thing, eating insects, but they just give me the creeps when they come inside," I shuddered and Nathaniel laughed at me.

I shrugged sheepishly and slowly relaxed back to a normal walk. We were discussing the pros and cons of different animals as we walked when suddenly the path opened up onto a huge meadow with a small stream.

"Opal, you made it!" I looked up with surprise to see Mr. Faraize walking toward us. "You are quite behind the rest of the group; I bet you were taking in the wonders of nature. Are you feeling inspired?"

"Yes, Mr. Faraize. I got to see a super cute squirrel!" I reported happily and he nodded.

"Good then. Before I forget, here are your stickers for completing the first leg of the race." Mr. Faraize pulled out a sheet of white stickers, placing one on each of our wristbands. "And here is your list of items for the scavenger hunt. Once you have everything on the list, come back to me and I will give you another sticker. You can search down the path to the left and right in front of you, but don't go down the right-hand trail. And I have to warn you, the scavenger hunt is quite difficult; there are some teams from other groups still searching."

"Thank you Mr. Faraize, we'll do our best," I promised. Nathaniel reached for the list but I took it first.

"Maybe I should hold onto it," I suggested teasingly. 

He chuckled, holding his hands up in surrender. We walked into the meadow as I read the list aloud.

"We're looking for an object created by man, something shiny, a leaf as big as a hand, an inhabitant of the forest; it says that insects don't count for that one. Then something purple, and an insect. Oh! That's why, because an insect is on the list."

"Okay then, where should we look?"

"I guess we should explore the meadow first. Let's go look by the stream," I suggested. 

Nathaniel followed me over to the bubbling stream with a content expression on his face. The stream was shallow and the water was clear so we could easily see to the bottom. I couldn't resist sticking my finger into the water and I was surprised at how cold it was.

"Opal, look over here." I glanced up to see that Nathaniel had moved on farther down the stream. I walked over to where he was and he pointed into the water where something was glimmering.

"What's that?" I asked excitedly. He pulled it out and we inspected it. It was a small stone with tons of ridges that glimmered in the sunlight.

"It looks like Fool's Gold. Do you think it would count as something shiny?"

"I would think so. Way to go, Nathaniel!" 

He grinned and stood up, flicking his hand to get the water off. "What's next then?"

"Something made by man," I said, looking around. "What do you think would be man-made out here?"

"I'm not sure. Should we try going down one of the paths?" 

I nodded and we walked over to the far left path. We passed several teams crawling around on the ground but they were too focused on their task to bother greeting us. We followed the path until we came to a small clearing with a large stump off to the side.

"Oh, Nathaniel, look," I said while pointing to the stump. A small stack of ballpoint pens was laying on its surface. I quickly walked over and picked one up, "I guess the teachers left them for us to find."

"Great. Now we just need to find an insect and an inhabitant of the forest."

"And a leaf as big as our hand, and something purple," I added and Nathaniel nodded, looking around.

"Well this is where the path ends, should we go back and try the other path?"

"Hmmm, but would all of those things be down the next path? It seems like we missed something," I muttered looking around me again.

"Maybe the other path forks? Come on, but keep your eyes peeled for an insect." I wrinkled my nose in distaste but kept my eyes peeled as he had suggested.

"How are we going to keep the insect from crawling away when we do find it?" I asked worriedly, imagining creepy crawlies going up and down my legs.

"Aha!" Suddenly Nathaniel bent down, inspecting a plant with interest. 

I leaned over his shoulder and saw a little green caterpillar munching on one of the leaves. Nathaniel carefully pulled the leaf off without knocking the caterpillar off and showed it to me.

"How on earth did you see this little guy?" I asked incredulously.

"When I was younger my cousins and I would go caterpillar hunting, so it's kind of second nature for me to look for them while I'm in the forest," he explained with a smile and cupped the leaf in his hand, letting the caterpillar eat in relative peace.

"You're really good at this, Nathaniel," I said with admiration, walking with him down the path back to the meadow.

"Thanks, Opal. I think we're just getting lucky though," he admitted and I smiled.

"Probably. Have you seen anything purple, yet?" 

Nathaniel shook his head. We walked in companionable silence, concentrating on our surroundings but when we reached the meadow we still hadn't found any of the other items.

"Hey, Opal!" I turned around quickly and smiled at Kim and Violette who were walking up to us.

"Hey, you guys. I thought you were in the fourth group."

"We are!" Kim said petulantly, placing her fists on her hips. "Violette and I have been looking for HOURS for an 'inhabitant of the forest' and we can't find it! We asked Mr. Faraize for a hint but he just said that we needed to look 'beneath the earth'. How are we supposed to do that?" Kim asked angrily and Violette patted her arm comfortingly. "I even caught a squirrel but he said it didn't count! It took forever to catch the little runt!"

"You caught a squirrel?" I asked in shock, taking a step closer to her. "What color was it? Was its tail super bushy? It didn't bite you did it?"

"It tried to, but I held it by the throat and back legs so it didn't get a chance," Kim said with satisfaction and I gasped. The poor little squirrel!

"Have you found the 'inhabitant of the forest' yet?" Violette asked and I shook my head.

"We just started a little while ago," Nathaniel interjected. "But we haven't gone down the middle path yet. If we find it we'll let you know." 

Violette smiled and Kim huffed with frustration. "Okay. We're going to check in the stream, maybe they want us to catch a fish," Kim muttered, stomping away with Violette right on her heels. 

I looked up at Nathaniel and we both grinned before turning and walking down the second path. I noticed that the forest seemed especially lush down this path. We walked for several minutes in silence, just enjoying the forest when my eyes fell on something interesting.

"Nathaniel look at this!" I called out happily. 

There was a large dip in the ground and a tree with large roots looked like it was growing half in the ground and half in the air. I stood on the roots, which were almost as wide as my feet. Stepping lightly I walked from root to root until I was down the sudden decline and looking up at Nathaniel.

"You sure get excited over the smallest things," Nathaniel commented with a half-smile and I shrugged, looking again at the roots of the tree.

"Oh, hang on; the roots are forming kind of a cave down here," I observed, crouching down to take a closer look. "I think I see something, I'm going to try and get it."

"Wait! It might be an animal; it could bite you. Opal..." 

His warning came too late though since I had already stuck my arm into the hole. I felt something soft and fuzzy and closed my eyes, waiting for the bite. No bite came though, so I carefully pulled out the little thing.

"Awwww! Nathaniel, I think I found our woodland creature," I said, holding up a pink and purple stuffed rabbit. Nathaniel sighed in relief and I laughed.

"I think you were more scared than I was," I teased and he rubbed his neck.

"It's usually not a good idea to stick your hand into unknown spaces. Here," he extended his hand to me and I placed the rabbit in it. He blinked down at it as I climbed on the roots back up to the path.

"Shall we continue?" I asked cheerfully. He nodded mutely, still looking at the rabbit with a blank expression and I wondered why it was so fascinating to him.

"So, we have the man-made thing, an insect, an inhabitant of the forest, and something shiny. We just need a leaf as big as our hand." I held my hand up to the trees around me and frowned; they were all much smaller than my own hand.

"Hey, Opal," I looked over at Nathaniel, waiting for him to finish. He was still looking at the stuffed rabbit. Finally he looked up at me and opened his mouth, then closed it, looking back down at the rabbit. He sighed and held it out for me. "Thanks for showing me it. You can hold it if you want."

"Oh, okay," I said while taking the little rabbit and stroking its pink ears, dusting the dirt off of them. It really was cute; I wondered what they would do with them when we showed Mr. Faraize.

"Woah." 

I looked up to see Nathaniel's mouth open wide as he stared up in front of us. I turned to look and felt my mouth drop open, too. The path had ended and we were now looking at the biggest tree I had ever seen in my entire life! There were several teams milling about. Some were taking down giant leaves and comparing them to their hands, and others were trying to climb into its huge branches.

"Wow!" I exclaimed in awe and Nathaniel looked down at me with a glint in his eyes.

"I bet I can beat you to that tree," he said and I smiled.

"You're on!" 

We both took off. He had longer legs, but all my dancing and singing had given me better endurance and I managed to pull ahead of him at the end, tagging the tree seconds before he reached it.

"I did it!" I squealed happily, twirling around once in victory and then tsucking down several deep breaths.

"Yah, yah, only because I let you."

"You did?" I asked in bewilderment and he laughed, shaking his head.

"No, that's just what guys say so they don't feel bad about losing to a girl," he chuckled and I nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry, would you like me to let you win next time?" 

Nathaniel winced. "That's even worse than losing!" 

I laughed and shook my head. Then I looked up at the tree and the leaves that were right above me. I raised my hand and smiled.

"Does that look as big as my hand?" I asked.

Suddenly I felt Nathaniel move right up behind me and place his hand next to mine. My breath caught in my throat until Nathaniel backed away from me. What is it about being in such close proximity to boys that makes my body act so dangerously? It wouldn't surprise me if my body just decided not to remember to breathe in the future, I thought even as my heart continued to race.

"Here, hold this," Nathaniel said without looking at me as he extended the slightly rumpled leaf with our caterpillar on it. Blinking swiftly to try and get my focus back on the task at hand, I held out my unoccupied hand and Nathaniel laid the leaf with its passenger in my hand.

Before I could say anything though, Nathaniel backed up a couple of feet, focusing on the leaves above us. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing when he charged forward, leaping and snapping a large leaf clean off the branch. He landed and turned to face me, holding up the huge leaf. With the caterpillar and stuffed animal in my hands, I couldn't clap, but I rushed up to him to look at the leaf he had snatched.

"Nathaniel, that was amazing!" I gushed and his cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Come on, we've got everything so let's go." 

I nodded happily and ten minutes later we were back in the meadow. I looked over in the stream and saw Kim with her shoes and socks off and pant legs rolled up, wading in the stream while Violette was turning over every rock she could find on land.

"Let's go tell them where to find the bunnies," I suggested and Nathaniel nodded, following me to the stream.

"Hey girls, guess what?"

"You better have found the inhabitant of the forest because I think my toes are going to fall off," Kim frumbled testily and I tried to hide my smile. I produced the stuffed bunny and Kim groaned.

"Are you serious? They were talking about a STUFFED animal?"

"If you go down the middle path there is a tree that's growing on a big dip in the ground; there's a little cave in its roots and the bunnies are hidden there." Kim sprang out of the stream and lay on the ground sighing.

"Thanks for telling us, Opal. We'll go find it after her feet warm-up," Violette said while patting Kim's shoulder soothingly. "I'm glad you and Nathaniel make such a good team," she commented with a bright smile and I grinned up at Nathaniel.

"We do, huh?" I asked and he nodded cheerfully.

"Come on; let's go show Mr. Faraize our collection." We found Mr. Faraize lounging against a tree stump with a sketch pad out.

"So, did you find everything? Something created by man?" I pulled out the ballpoint pen from my pocket and he nodded.

"Something shiny?" Nathaniel brought out the fool's gold and Mr. Faraize held it up to the sun, showing off its glittery surface.

"Perfect. An insect?"

"Right here! Nathaniel found him," I said proudly as I held up my hand and showed off the little caterpillar on its leaf. Mr. Faraize took the leaf from me and then laid it gently on a bush behind him.

"Excellent. A leaf as big as your hand?" Nathaniel displayed the leaf he had jumped for proudly and I held my hand against it.

"Excellent. How about an inhabitant of the forest?"

"Right here!" I said happily, holding up the rabbit.

"Wonderful, and that's your something purple there, although it seems you found something else purple as well." I blinked my eyes in surprise. I had completely forgotten about finding something purple, but what could he be talking about?

"Excuse me?" I asked politely. Mr. Faraize pointed to his ear, which I copied, and felt the little geraniums Nathaniel had picked for me.

"Well, that's that. Even though you were the last to arrive you are the second to pass the scavenger hunt for your group! Here are your stickers," he placed an orange sticker on our wristbands, "and your last task is waiting for you down the right-hand path. Good luck!"

"Thank you, Mr. Faraize. What do we do with these things?" I asked, indicating the scavenger hunt items.

"You can leave them here, but you are welcome to keep the rabbit, Opal," Mr. Faraize said kindly.

"Really? Thank you!" I slipped the little animal into my pocket, letting its head and ears poke out slightly.

"Read to go, partner?" Nathaniel asked and I gave him two thumbs up.

"Let's do it!"