be back soon with Henry.”

  Chapter 4:

  Wild Surprises

  Olivia confidently led the way through the

  jungle, consulting her map at every twist and turn.

  Finally, she declared, “Here we are, you guys!

  Demon Falls should be right . . . here.”

  The girls stepped forward into a clearing and

  frowned. This didn’t look like Demon Falls at all.

  In fact . . .

  “Demon Falls sure looks a lot like base camp,”

  Mia said sarcastically.

  “Oh, no!” Olivia’s shoulders slumped. “We

  went in a circle!”

  “Maybe I should navigate.” Stephanie reached

  for the map.

  But Olivia pulled it away. “No, I’ve got this,”

  she said. “Really. I think I know where we went

  wrong.”

  They set out again. This time Olivia led them

  to the bank of a river.

  “This river is on the map,”she said. “So I know

  we’re heading in the right direction.”

  She took a few more steps. Suddenly she heard

  a twig snap loudly in the underbrush up ahead.

  Olivia froze.

  “Shh!” she warned her friends. “I think it’s a

  wild animal. On three, we jump out, scream, and

  wave our arms to scare it away. One, two, three!”

  Olivia, Stephanie, and Mia leaped forward.

  They all screamed at the tops of their lungs while

  waving their arms wildly!

  There was a frightened scream in return. It

  sounded familiar . . .

  Olivia gasped as she realized there was no

  wild animal. Instead, Andrea, Emma, and Sophie

  popped out from the underbrush!

  “It’s you guys!” Mia exclaimed.

  “What a relief!” Olivia cried, hugging Emma.

  “What are you guys doing here?”

  Emma looked sheepish. “We had to tell Sophie

  the truth.”

  “The whole truth?” Olivia asked nervously.

  “Yes, Olivia,”Sophie said.“I know you didn’t

  want to worry me. But you should have said

  something.”

  “I’m sorry,”Olivia apologized. “I just thought

  that we’d tell you after we found Henry. We heard

  a message from him last night. He’s at Demon

  Falls.”

  “Wait a minute,”Stephanie said. “If we’re all

  here, then who’s at home doing wedding prep?”

  Emma eyed a flowering bush nearby. “We can

  do it here!” she said excitedly. “These flowers

  will make the perfect bridal bouquet —especially

  because Sophie and Henry work together at the

  Animal Rescue Station.”

  “A tropical-themed wedding. . .” Stephanie

  said thoughtfully.

  Sophie smiled.

  “I love that idea!

  Now, let’s find the

  groom, shall we?”

  “We’ll find him,”

  Olivia assured her

  aunt. “I wonder if

  I can see Demon Falls from here.”

  She used her binoculars to look up the river.

  Through the lenses, she couldn’t quite see the

  falls. But she did see something else—a log

  bobbing wildly down the rushing river. And a

  baby panda was clinging to it! He was in danger!

  “Bamboo!” Olivia cried with a gasp.

  Emma was still thinking about the wedding.

  “Bamboo, yeah,”she said, picking up a tall stalk of

  bamboo from the ground. “We could use this—”

  “Great idea, Emma.”Olivia snatched the

  bamboo stalk out of her friend’s hand.

  “For decoration,”Emma finished, blinking

  in confusion as Olivia raced to the water’s edge.

  The friends rushed alongside the river as

  Bamboo continued to bob in and out of the water.

  He looked terrified!

  “This river leads to a waterfall!” Sophie

  exclaimed. “We’ve got to save him!”

  Olivia spotted a large log overhanging the

  water a little way downstream. That gave her a

  clever idea.

  Quickly, the girls and Sophie jumped onto

  the log. Bamboo was coming at them fast! Olivia

  held the bamboo stalk down over the water so

  the panda could see it. She knew that pandas ate

  mostly bamboo. They only had one chance to save

  the poor cub. Hopefully, his instincts would kick

  in and he would reach for the tasty-looking stalk.

  Just in the nick of time, Bamboo spotted the

  stalk. His eyes lit up, and he licked his lips. When

  he was close enough, he chomped on the bamboo

  with his teeth! With help from her friends, Olivia

  pulled the little cub to safety.

  “We did it!” she cried.

  Bamboo looked grateful to be back on dry

  land. But the little cub held his stomach and

  grimaced.

  “Come here, Bamboo,”Sophie said gently.

  She examined the little panda. “His abdomen is

  very tender. I need to take him back to the rescue

  station.”

  “I’ll call Matthew,”Stephanie offered.

  Sophie nodded. “I’ll stay with the cub until

  Matthew gets here.You girls go ahead and find

  Henry.”

  “Okay,”Olivia said. “We’ll call you when we

  get there.”

  Andrea patted the panda cub.“Feel better,

  Bamboo.”

  The friends looked at one another worriedly.

  The jungle was a dangerous place. Hopefully,

  wherever Henry was, he wasn’t in the same sort of

  situation!

  Chapter 5:

  Demon Falls

  Hours later, the girls were still trekking in

  search of Demon Falls. Mia glanced at the sky. It

  would be dark soon, and they were still no closer

  to finding Henry.

  “Demon Falls should be right here according

  to the map,” Olivia said, looking around.

  Mia sighed. “But it’s not.”

  “Does anyone else get the feeling we’re being

  watched?” Andrea asked, sounding nervous.

  Suddenly, something leaped out of the trees

  and landed on her arm! Andrea cried out.

  “Get it off me!” she yelled.

  Mia recognized what the creature was and

  giggled. “Andrea, it’s just a chameleon.”

  “Huh?” Andrea blinked at the small lizard. It

  looked up at her and promptly changed color to

  match her shirtsleeve.“Oh, hey there,”Andrea

  said. “Do you have a name?” The chameleon

  cocked his head at her. “I think you look like a

  Tony. That’s what I’ll call you,”Andrea said.

  Meanwhile, Olivia studied her map.

  “Come on, you guys,”she said. “I think Demon

  Falls is this way.”

  Mia raised an eyebrow doubtfully. Olivia had

  been saying that all day! But each time they had

  followed her, the girls ended up more lost than

  before.

  “Why don’t we ask Tony?” Andrea suggested.

  “He’s a local.Tony, do you know where Demon

  Falls is?”

  The chameleon seemed to understand. He

  began leaping from branch to branch —in the

  opposite direction from the way Olivia had been

  pointing.

  “You guys, that’s not right!” Olivia exclaimed

  as the others followed the lizard. “Demon Falls

  should be this way!”

  But Olivia turned out to be wrong. Following

  the little chameleon’s lead, the girls soon heard the

  roar of water and then emerged into a clearing at

  the base of a large waterfall. They’d finally reached

  Demon Falls!

  Olivia glanced at her map, embarrassed. “Well,

  at least we’re here.”Then she called out in a loud

  voice, “Henry! Are you here? Henry!”

  But nobody answered.

  “I don’t see any footprints,” Stephanie said. “Or

  a leftover campfire.”

  “It doesn’t look like anyone has been here in a

  while,”Mia agreed. She shivered as a wild animal’s

  shriek echoed in the distance. “Or maybe whoever

  comes here never comes back.”

  “Don’t joke, Mia.”Emma’s face was pale.“This

  place is already giving me a creepy vibe!”

  Suddenly, the girls’ walkie-talkie crackled to

  life. Olivia pressed a button. “Henry?” she asked

  hopefully.

  “It’s Sophie, Olivia,”a voice replied through

  heavy static from the speaker. “You haven’t found

  Henry yet?”

  “Not yet,” Olivia told her. “But we will, I

  promise! We’re losing light, so we’ll have to set up

  camp for the night.”

  “We will?” Emma sounded worried. “Here?”

  “Shh,” Olivia shushed her. Then she spoke into

  the walkie-talkie again. “We’ll call you back when

  we find him. How’s Bamboo?”

  “He’s going to be just fine,”Sophie said.

  Mia and the other girls sighed in relief. “Okay,”

  Olivia said. “We’ll call you later. Over.”

  As soon as Olivia had signed off, Emma piped

  up. “We can’t stay here all night!”

  “There’s no time to argue, Emma,”Olivia

  insisted. “We need to collect wood for a

  campfire.”

  “But—” Emma protested.

  “A fire will keep wild animals away, Emma,”

  Mia told her.

  “Oh!” Emma’s eyes widened. She looked

  around and began grabbing twigs off the ground.

  “Then here’s a branch. And here. And here’s

  another one!”

  The girls giggled. “Oh, Emma.”

  A short while later, the sun sank low beneath

  the treetops. Dusk fell over the jungle, draping

  everything in thick shadow. But the girls’ campfire

  crackled merrily, lighting up the clearing with a

  comforting glow.Together, they unpacked the

  camping food they’d brought in their backpacks

  and warmed it up. All around them, the jungle

  seemed very dark and scary. But as long as they

  were together, none of them felt too frightened.

  “Nice fire,”Stephanie said, holding out her

  hands.

  “Yeah,” Olivia agreed.“And look at the stars.”

  Mia sighed. “Beautiful.”

  Andrea dropped her fork into her bowl with

  a loud clang.“Okay, but this camping food tastes

  terrible!”

  “Can’t argue with that,”Emma said.

  Stephanie groaned, pushing her food away.

  “Speaking of food, tonight was supposed to be the

  cake tasting for the wedding.”

  Olivia shook her head.“Let’s just make the

  best of it. All that matters is that we find Henry.”

  Suddenly, another animal cry erupted

  somewhere in the jungle. Emma jumped.

  “I really don’t like it here,”she said.

  “Emma,”Andrea said, “those sounds are

  just—”

  “Spooky?” Emma asked.

  “No.”Andrea shook her head.“It’s the jungle

  singing to you. Listen!”

  Mia smiled. Andrea always had a unique way

  of looking at things. The jungle noises really did

  sound like singing! That inspired the five girls to

  start singing themselves. And singing together

  made them all feel much better!

  Well, almost all of them. Mia noticed Olivia

  wandering over to pick up her map again, and she

  followed.

  “It’s not your fault, you know,”Mia told Olivia.

  “You’re doing the best you can to find Henry.”

  Olivia sighed. “Really? Leading us all in a

  circle? Thinking the others were wild animals?

  Nearly missing Demon Falls altogether?”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Mia said.

  “I won’t,”Olivia replied. This time she

  sounded determined. “Not once we find him, that

  is.”She peered at the map and blinked. “Hmm,

  what’s that place?”

  She pointed to a spot on the map. It showed

  a drawing of a large rock along with some other

  markings. The rock also had a waterfall leading

  away from it. But there was no name.

  “Let’s ask Matthew if he knows,” Mia

  suggested.

  Olivia called Matthew on the walkie-talkie.

  “There’s another waterfall on the map north of

  the gorge,”she told him.“It has little diamond

  shapes by it. Do you know what it is?”

  “It doesn’t have a name,” Matthew said. “But

  most people call it Diamond Falls. Rumor has it

  there are diamonds there, but no one’s ever found

  any.”

  “Thanks, Matthew,” Olivia said. She signed off

  and stared into space thoughtfully for a moment.

  “Diamond Falls . . .”she murmured. “Demon

  Falls . . .”She gasped. “That’s it!”

  Chapter 6:

  Jungle Rescue!

  The other girls gathered around Olivia. She

  was so excited she could hardly get the words out.

  “Henry didn’t say he was at Demon Falls,” she

  said hurriedly. “I think he said he was at Diamond

  Falls! I bet he went there looking for a diamond

  for the wedding!”

  Mia gasped. “That totally makes sense!”

  “We’ll head for Diamond Falls first thing in

  the morning,” Stephanie declared. “Good work,

  Olivia!”

  Bright and early, the girls trekked through the

  jungle again. It didn’t take them long to reach

  their new destination.

  Olivia knew as soon as she saw it that it had to

  be Diamond Falls. A wide flow of water gushed

  down over a rock surface. And jagged, diamond-

  shaped stones stuck out near the top.

  Suddenly, Olivia spotted something on the

  ground that made her gasp.

  “A walkie-talkie!” she cried. She looked

  frantically around the base of the falls. “Henry?

  Henry!”

  Tony the chameleon was riding on Andrea’s

  head. He unexpectedly leaped down to her arm

  and let out a frightened chirp.

  “What is it, Tony?” Andrea asked. She

  followed the chameleon’s gaze and gulped. “Uh,

  guys?”

  The girls looked where Andrea was staring and

  their jaws dropped. A tiger was just a few hundred

  feet from them! The huge creature paced across a

  rocky ledge near the top of the falls.

  “I see her,” Olivia said nervously.

  Just then, there was a shout from above.

  “Olivia! Up here!”

  The girls gasped. It was Henry! He was

  trapped on a rocky outcropping jutting from the

  middle of the rushing falls!

  “Henry!” Olivia exclaimed. “Thank goodness

  we found you!”

  She was overjoyed to see Henry safe and

  sound! But her happiness was short- lived. Olivia

  quickly realized that Henry was trapped. There

  was no way he could jump far enough to reach the

  closest ledge, and Olivia wasn’t sure he’d want to,

  since that was where the tiger was pacing. The

  outcropping was also far too high for him to leap

  down into the river below. That meant Henry was

  in great danger.

  Meanwhile, Henry held something up. Olivia

  squinted to see what it was. “A tiny tiger cub!” she

  cried.

  “We need to get this cub to her mother,”

  Henry called. “She’s very weak!”

  “But what about you? How do we get you

  down?” Olivia called back.

  “You’ve got to stop the waterfall,” Henry

  shouted. “The mechanism for the dam is up over

  those rocks.”

  Mia pointed. “Look, there’s a path. It must

  lead to the top of the dam.”

  The girls hurried up the path. Soon Olivia,

  Mia, and Stephanie were inspecting the dam

  mechanism. A large wooden wheel controlled the

  door that slid closed to block the waterfall. But

  the wheel was stuck, and there weren’t any spokes

  to turn it.

  “It’s broken,”Olivia said. “But I think we can

  fix it.”

  Mia nodded. “If we can find tree branches just

  the right size . . .”

  “Then we can use them to replace the broken

  spokes,”Olivia finished. “Great idea, Mia!”

  Quickly, the girls scouted the area near the

  river. There were many branches, but most were

 

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