The Toler Kid - Book 1

Adventures of the Toler Kid

  By Rusty Trimble

  Nicholas Fortuna, also known as Nick Fortune, the world-famous treasure hunter sat behind the wheel of his jeep, moving across the plains of the Tsavo West National Park located in the country of Kenya.  Kenya is a country on the African continent. The sun overhead shone brightly on the sand and on the hundreds of acacia trees (pronounced “Uh-Kay-Sha”) that dotted the landscape. In the front passenger seat was his eight year old son John, affectionately nicknamed Johnny or "Johnny Fortune". Nick was in Nairobi searching for a rare mask believed to have been worn by one of the ancient Roman Generals who had ventured into Africa over 1,600 years ago. Johnny was eager for an adventure before returning back to school for the third grade and asked to accompany his dad on his journey.

  Next to Johnny was his dog Houdini (Pronounced “Hoo Dee Nee”), a small black dog with a face resembling a fox. The actual dog breed is known as “Schipperke” (pronounced “Skipper Key”) and was known for its loyalty, excellence with kids, and general good health and long lifespan. The small little dog perched on the seat next to his lap, mouth open in what looked like a mischievous smile as he breathed in the warm air. In the back seat was Marie Christine, a school mate of Johnny who was invited to come along on the journey before the beginning of the school year at Toler Elementary in San Diego, California.

  The jeep went up a small rocky dune and skirted between a few more acacia trees, the branches overhead looking not unlike the tops of umbrellas. The shade was welcome in the heat and Nick slowed the jeep in order to stay in the shaded area a tad longer. Upon reaching the top of the hill, he stopped the jeep entirely and they looked out over the vast landscape below and ahead of them. The view was a mix of sand, brush, trees, and hundreds of wild animals. There were dozens of giraffes, yaks, and zebra in sight, several of them not more than 200 yards away.

  Nick pressed the gas pedal and the jeep gently rolled forward down the incline. In the distance was a grove of more trees which stood in front of a series of caves. Far off to the east, a pride of lions sat, resting in the shade. Johnny was happy to note that they were not eating one of the zebras or other animals that roamed the plains, but seemed instead to be basking under the sunlight.

  The scene was absolutely breathtaking, Johnny could not think of a more remarkable way to spend his last few days of summer vacation. Marie Christine was equally excited pointing out one animal after another to Johnny and Nick. Houdini for his part continued to pant, enjoying the ride, though he barked at a few zebras when the jeep came within 50-60 feet of them.

  After about 20 minutes they came to a stop, Nick bringing the jeep under the cover of the copse of young and growing trees. He walked to the back and reached next to Marie Christine and pulled a duffle bag from the floor. He then opened it and pulled out three backpacks. Nick’s had the drawing of a large green dragon, he had picked it up during a prior visit to China where he had searched unsuccessfully for a jeweled helmet belonging to Liu Bei, a general who lived in that country from the mid-2nd century to the early 3rd century. Johnny and Marie Christine each had a blue backpack that had Toler Elementary written on it along with the school’s dolphin emblem emblazoned upon it. Johnny had written “The Toler Kid” with a sharpie on it as a nod to his love of adventure and exploration.

  Reaching further into the duffle bag, Nick pulled out several flashlights, magnifying glasses, dehydrated foot, jackknifes, several bottles of water, compasses, maps, plastic silverware, walkie-talkies and sunblock which he placed in his own backpack, then gave the kids their own, which they then placed in their backpacks as well.

  “Dad, are you sure these caves are safe?” Johnny asked. He was not scared, but had a strong grasp of common sense. He did however have a fear of spiders and did not want to traipse through a cave infested with creepy-crawlies, bats, or any other animal that could be dangerous.

  “Yes Johnny, I have been in these caves before years ago. I did not know what I was looking for then, but I have acquired new information. I just need to go deeper.

  They heard a distant rumble and the trio (and their dog) looked northward and saw a helicopter approaching. It was headed directly towards them. They stood there waiting for several minutes until it landed 30 feet away and out stepped a man wearing a beige-colored safari outfit looking like he had stepped out of a television show’s costume room. The man appeared to be 35-40 years old, had a thin wisp of beard and a friendly, broad smile. The man came over and Nick smiled.

  “Kids, this is my old friend Bret Horne. He came here to help us.” Johnny looked at the helicopter and realized that Bret had flown the bird himself, he was impressed.

  He walked over and shook the man’s hand. Marie Christine was shy and hid behind Johnny, but did give Bret a smile.

  “It is good to see you again Nick. Are we all ready to adventure on into these caves?”

  “Yes, but I want to make sure we are all clear on one thing; everyone stays together.”

  The four people nodded amongst themselves and then with Nick taking the lead stepped into the cave. It became almost instantly dark and Johnny quickly turned on his flashlight. The interior was about 100 feet around and about fifteen feet high. There were several jagged points sticking from the top and he could make out a trickle of water dripping from the roof, though he did not see the original source. Instinctively he looked around hoping not to see bats, spiders, or worse, lions. Fortunately this part of the cave at least was empty. He pointed his flashlight in a circle and could make out a set of steps spiraling downward. To his surprise, they appeared to have been carved into the ground itself. The question Johnny thought of course was “By whom?”

  They began descending down the steps slowly and placing their hands on the wall to their left as they meandered towards the bottom. When they reached, they found themselves in a much larger cavern that was about twice the size of a living room. Nick withdrew a small notebook from his backpack and shined his flashlight on the wall ahead exposing hundreds of tiny drawings that had been etched on the wall. Johnny was able to understand some of the drawings and realized that the illustrations were either telling a story or was an ancient language of some kind.

 

  “These are a form of hieroglyphics and they tell the story of a Roman general named Lucius Gracchus. In 364, during waning days of the Roman Empire, he crossed with a legion searching for valuable minerals. Apparently they found a considerable amount of gold and silver.” He paused for a second as he continued to examine the odd drawings. “According to this, the general sent a majority of it back to Rome. However he was a bit greedy and kept some of it, having it smelted into a mask. He then boarded a ship and headed to the island of Crete, the largest of the Greek Islands. From there, the general and his mask disappeared.”

  “Well done Johnny, you did an excellent job at translating the work. It is curious though as most hieroglyphs are from Egypt and we are a ways away from there.”

  “Thanks dad, that may be an important fact, but these are slightly different in style. Also look at this glyph here. This last one indicates that the pathway ahead leads to another room with additional information.”

  “Good Johnny, great thinking! Let’s proceed ahead and investigate. I will take the lead.”

  Nick, Johnny, Marie Christine, Bret, and Houdini ventured forward down the long, thin hall. The walls held reed torches which Johnny noted seemed to be recently lit as they had not burned down at all. At their feet were hundreds of square tiles, a pale, faded golden in color, each one with small intricate designs carved upon them. Johnny could not fathom their meaning if there was one, but instead kept walking forward.


  The hallway opened into a larger room, about the size of a school’s auditorium. In the center of the room was a large glass dome, in front of which was a metal lever which appeared to be made of bronze. Inside was what Johnny presumed might’ve been the mask. Perhaps he thought, the general had not brought the artifact to Crete, though then what had happened to him?

  “Dad is that the mask?” he asked.

  “Probably, we won’t know till we get closer.” Nick answered.

  The four people and the dog moved towards the glass dome, however a few steps away, Johnny felt his foot press down on something and the tile sunk down and he heard a loud grinding noise. The dome with the mask inside began sinking into an opening in the ground which began expanding rapidly. Suddenly, the ground gave beneath them and below a large slide made of stone opened up under their feet. They slid down quickly, the surface being too smooth for them to stop their descent. Then there was nothing but air beneath them, and then they felt a hard bump as they landed on the ground a couple of meters below.

  Johnny looked around and saw that they had landed on a grass mound. Bret however was missing, perhaps he had not fallen? Overhead there was the hole they had dropped through that was perhaps twenty feet above them. The area was about forty feet around and lit by more torches. However he noticed that the torches were moving closer and seemed to be bouncing up and down. Moments later he could see why; there were approximately 20 people wearing business suits, but their faces covered with ornate lion masks, all of them staring at them. They spread about them in a circle, they were surrounded.

  “I see we have visitors to our secret grove.” One of them said. “How nice! We so needed volunteers to find the mask, a mask that I am sure you were searching for as well.” The man laughed and it sent a chill down Johnny’s spine.

  Join us next month for the continued adventures of The Toler Kid!

  Glossary of words, places, and terms:

  Toler Elementary: An elementary school in San Diego, California. A winner of numerous awards including the 2012 California Distinguished School award.

  Tsavo West National Park: A wildlife park in the province of Kenya located in East Africa on the African continent. It is known for a variety of wildlife including black rhino, cape buffalo, elephant, leopard and lions.

  Houdini: A famous stuntman and escape artist from the last 19th century and early 20th century.

  Schipperke: A small black dog originally from the country of Belgium. They are known for loyalty, love of children, intelligence, and being one of the healthiest breeds of dogs.

  Acacia: A type of tree of which there are over 1,300 species spanning several continents.

  Liu Bei: A Chinese General often considered one of the greatest leaders in the nation’s history.

  Hieroglyphics: An ancient writing system utilizing symbols or illustrations, generally associated with Egpyt, though it has been found in other nations.

  Egypt: A nation in Northeastern Africa believed to be over 10,000 years old.

  Crete: The largest and most highly populated of the Greek Islands. In 365 A.D. it was hit by one of the largest tsunamis in history as the result of a volcanic eruption.

  About the author: Rusty Trimble is the author of 13 illustrated books for children and young adult novels and is the father of a Toler Elementary student. His books are available in paperback and in eBook format at lulu.com. As the father of an Autistic child, he pledges to donate 50% of all profits from his books to the National Foundation for Autism Research (NFAR; https://nfar.org/).