Ben shivered as he gazed into the forest. It was dark. The trees seemed to grow in a tangled mess over each other. Now and then a ray of sunshine slipped between the leaves.

“Come on,” Jed yelled, motioning to him. He stood on a fallen tree, ten feet into the forest. “What are you waiting for?”

Ben hesitated a moment. “It doesn’t seem safe,” he replied. “You have heard the stories about how the woods destroy people. Why, Grandfather was telling me yesterday that three boys went through these woods last week. Two of them got helplessly lost and were never seen again and the third one was badly mauled by a bear.”

“Yeah,” Josh put in. “It’s not safe to mess with those woods.”

“Wimps,” Tim mocked them. He plunged through the undergrowth to climb up next to Jed. “I’ve been in these woods many times. They won’t hurt you.”

“It will get dark soon,” Josh added. “Are you prepared to go through them in the dark?”

Jed shoved his hand into his pocket, he touched the book his grandfather had given him that morning. “I’m prepared.” Jed said. “My grandfather told me how to get through these woods without any harm. Now, we must get going if we are going to complete this mission. You two can stay here if you want, but I’m going.”

With this, he turned and plunged into the woods. Ben and Josh looked at each other and shrugged. They followed him, mainly because they were scared of what people would say if they did not. They plunged through the undergrowth, until they came to a well-marked trail.

“Here is the path,” Tim said, “now we just follow this and we’ll be good.”

The path wound along for a few miles, slowly getting smaller and less marked. Jed noticed this and made mental notes on where they had gone. At last, they came to a fork in the path. Neither trail was marked.

“Which way now?” Ben asked.

Tim stuck his hands in his pocket and looked both ways. “This way,” he announced, pointing to the right.

Jed pulled out his book and carefully turned the pages. “The left is the path we want.”

“Nonsense,” Tim said, “The village is to the right of us so we should take that path.”

Jed shook his head. “It won’t make it there.”

Tim stood up tall. “I’m going to take the right path,” he said. “I know it is the correct path. You can follow if you want or stay here.”

“Suit yourself,” Jed replied, “We can part ways. I’m going to the left.”

Ben and Josh exchanged glances. Ben mention that maybe they should all stay together. Tim laughed and said it was impossible since he and Jed had already decided to go different ways. Neither one could be persuaded to change their mind.

“What’s that you have,” Josh asked Jed, looking over at his book while Ben attempted to reason with Tim.

“A map,” Jed replied, “It tells me how to make it safely through the woods.”

“I think I’ll stick with you,” Josh declared.

Ben thought that there was safety in numbers and so they parted ways. They continued on down the trail. The sun started setting and the light became fainter. Even before it disappeared across the horizon it was dark in the forest. The crickets chirped and in the distances the growls of larger animals could have been heard.

Josh tripped over a tree root. Jed steadied him. “I can barely see,” he said. “How are we ever going to find our way out of here.”

“We are lost,” Ben declared sitting down on a stump. “We never should have come.”

A growl sounded closer. “And we will never make it out alive,” Ben muttered.

“Not with that attitude,” Jed said, “It’s just gotten dark. But a flashlight will keep us safe.”

“And do you have a flashlight?” Ben inquired.

Jed pulled the book out of his pocket. He opened it up. The pages shown with a light. It grew brighter and filled the clearing around them. The growls died down.

“I thought that was a map,” Josh exclaimed.

“It is,” Jed said, “It’s a map that makes sure you get where you are going and if it is dark it will show you the way so you can clearly see it.”

Ben and Josh came over to examine it. They were amazed. As he was turning it over, Ben closed it. The light instantly went out. The animal resumed its growling.

“Give me that,” Josh snapped.

He almost yanked it out of Ben’s hands and reopened it. Again the light shone around them. They could see a wildcat slinking away.

Jed took it back from Josh and led the way through the woods. The map, took them off the main path. Ben grumbled about this quite a bit, but Jed was firm he was following the map. He made it clear the Ben was free to follow the path, but no way was Ben going on it by himself.

It was late in the night when they finally came out of the woods and made it into the clearing of the village. Jed softly closed the book and slipped it back into his pocket. The street lights could illuminate their way. They made their way to the one small hotel in the town and checked in for the night. All three were tired and quite ready for the hearty meal that was soon served.

“Where did you guys come from,” a local man asked them.

“From Adeh,” Josh replied.

“Through the woods?” several people asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Jed said, “Is there something surprising about that?”

“Well,” the first man said, “The bridge over the river is out between here and there. On a night like this, you would never see it until it was too late.”

The boys exchanged surprised glances. “It’s a good thing we listened to your book,” Josh whispered. “Or we would have been dead.”

Jed nodded in agreement. He now understood why his grandfather had such confidence when exploring those woods, because he knew the book would always show him the way.