Through the Portal: The Sentinel Archives, #1

By Jackie Castle

Fans of fantastical tales such as the Fablehaven series and The Spiderwick Chronicles will enjoy exploring the Sentinel Archives. Start off... if you dare... by entering Through the Portal and into the Realm: A land of enchantment and adventure. 


At thirteen, one passes from childhood into teen-hood. For Malakai Ian LeCrue, turning thirteen also means coming into an inheritance he wants no part of. 

But someone has to take up the mantel of Sentinel, passed down from generation to generation through Kai's family. He hopes this tell-tale mark will simply pass him on by. He has none of the qualifications needed to become part of the secret Sentinel Society. Not like his little ten-year-old sister, Wyndee, who is a regular scholar of Weirdology. 

Even Pops, their grandfather, seems sure the Sentinel Mark will go to the younger female sibling in this generation. Until Pops is brutally attacked and Kai is thrust into a world kept hidden from him by his father who disappeared over a year ago somewhere in the wilderness. 

Now the only way to help save Pops and Kai's family is to enter this mysterious world through a portal only he can open. But he's neither been trained, nor is he under the Sentinel protection when he enters the Realm. If he survives, he may not only save Pops, but reveal the staggering truth behind why he'd been kept in the dark about his heritage, and the Realm, in the first place. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie Castle
• Release date: Apr 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781517626983

Book preview

Dedication

To my Grandpa who, while on earth, taught me to fish, to work for the Lord and not for men, to laugh, and to enjoy life.

And always to my best friend and husband... Thank you for helping me follow my dream.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

Psalm 32:8

Castle’s Other Works:

From The White Road Chronicles:

Illuminated

Luminosity

Emanate

Radiance

From The White Road Tales Novellas

Captured

Stolen

Ransom

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Anthologies:

Jingle Bells

Teapot Tales

Chapter One

Bunnies

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Malakai LeCrue pedaled his battered BMX Mongoose faster, flying along the road’s shoulder like a hawk after a mouse.

Rrrrrrooouuuuuugggghhhhh...

A faded blue van whizzed past. The rush of air wobbled Kai’s handlebars. The wind, filled with the scent of pines and damp earth, cooled his sweat-drenched face. He slowed his speed. Nervous tingles crept up his chest to his armpits. That was too close.  Kai stopped to reposition his helmet. Why couldn’t they make decent roads here in Hicksville? 

He glanced at his watch and gasped. Somehow he had to beat Mom home before the phone call came and completely ruined his birthday weekend. Maybe he should go back to the bridge and take the trail through the woods. Checking the narrow two-lane road for any more cars, he placed his foot on the pedal, when he saw it.

Hey, what’s that? He stood on his tippy toes to get a better look at the patch of red-brown earth across the road. Formerly occupied by a Christmas tree farm, the land was now covered in yellow bulldozers, diggers, and dump trucks clearing a patch next to a pile of massacred trees.

Kai squinted at the blue sign planted in the raw earth. Harksdale City Builders shown in white across the top. He leaned forward, looking at the sketch.

Hmmm....

A couple of the tractors off to the side were at a stand-still. It would be so cool to sit in one of those bulldozers, just for a few minutes.

Mom’s voice bellowed inside his head, Malakai Ian LeCrue, why can’t you simply do what you’re told? That would not include checking out the awesome big trucks.

Besides, if Mr. Griggs went through on his threat to call Mom about that unfinished science report, Kai might face being grounded at least until Christmas, if not until next summer. For sure, he could kiss goodbye the new Mongoose bike Mom promised to buy him for his thirteenth birthday. All he wanted was the bike. With his friends left back in Colorado, it wouldn’t be much of a celebration anyway.

He sighed. Maybe they’d build a strip mall across the street. That’d be awesome. Kai looked around at the surrounding ranches and woods. Hope dissolved like melted ice-cream. As if a real shopping center would fit here in the piney woods of Texas, where the biggest-selling items were lumber, livestock feed, and tractors.

A horn blared. Kai’s head snapped up. In the oncoming lane, a small, yellow sports car swerved back and forth, brakes squealing, before blowing past. 

Brrrrrrrrrrooooooouuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhh.

He pulled his bike closer to the road’s edge. That’s when Kai saw why the car had nearly lost control. A group of about six rabbits sat in the road, looking down one side. Then they turned and looked up his side, as if checking to see if it was safe to cross.

Kai squeezed his eyes shut. No, rabbits don’t check before crossing the road!

Slowly, he peered through his lashes. They were still there, as if waiting for a chance to cross.

Not my problem. Kai started to turn his bike in the opposite direction. If he hurried home and found the missing project, maybe he’d have time to get it done before Mom blew her top.

As he set his foot on the pedal, Dad’s voice broke into his head. We’re their caregivers, Malakai. It’s our responsibility to help those in need when we can, to take care of this earth, to... disappear and leave your family hanging? Kai shook away the voice.

A large brown rabbit with a white circle around one eye hopped toward the blacktop, stopped, then lifted its front paw and waved.

Waved?

It didn’t just wave, but rather motioned for him to come across the street. Impossible!

Kai squeezed his eyes shut again. Stop, stop, stop. I’m not seeing a waving rabbit! I’m not dreaming. I’m on my way home from school. I’m on the highway. I need to get home.

Then why was he seeing these... no. He refused to believe what he was seeing. Rabbits. Don’t. Wave.

Before he could ride away, a rumbling semi appeared around the bend, letting off two short blasts of its horn.

The brown rabbit moved farther onto the blacktop.

The truck wouldn’t swerve to miss it like the sports car had. No! Shoo! Kai flapped his arms, hoping to scare rabbit away.

It waved more excitedly, nodding its head.

The semi’s horn blared as it bore down on all of them. The noise shook Kai all the way to his churning stomach.

Kai leaped onto the pedals.

The semi blasted another warning.

The rabbit froze, ears laid back, paw hung in mid-wave, the huge truck coming right for it.

Bike tires skidded over gravel, gripped, and shot him forward. Kai tilted his bike and body, going into a slide as he reached the other side.

BBBBRRRRROOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGG. BRRRROOOONNNGGG.

The rabbit family scattered into the tall grass. Brown leapt straight into the air.

Kai kept sliding.

The rabbit landed between Kai’s arms. He gripped the bars tight to avoid flipping over. The momentum pushed them across the dirt shoulder and down an embankment.

Splash! He landed in a muddy ditch.

The brown rabbit scrambled away, its back legs pounding Kai’s chest in its escape. It joined the others who hid in the reeds.

Ahhhh! Water and mud dripped from his face, hair and back. Now look! He yanked at his bike, caked with dirt and weeds. See what I get for trying to help?

The brown peered out from between the stalks, his head tilted a bit to the side.

Despite his irritation, Kai laughed at how the circle around its left eye reminded him of one of those monocles cartoon characters wear. Its ears twitched as it watched Kai with a most curious expression. Who even knew rabbits had expressions? The bunnies in the pet store seemed no more concerned about anything other than their last carrot.

After pulling his bike free of the gully, Kai waved his hands at them. Go on, you can’t cross the road, you silly wabbits. He stomped his foot, hoping to scare them away from the asphalt, but the animals remained frozen. The other bunnies peeked from between the tall grasses. What was their deal? And why so many? His gaze returned to the towering blue sign.

Harksdale City Builders

Coming Soon:

U Store It!

Of course, Kai sighed. Another place for people to put their junk. He shook his head and faced the rabbit family. You’ve lost your home, haven’t you?

Strangely, the brown nodded. Or seemed to nod. Of course it didn’t nod. Get a grip, dude!

Kai swiped away his long, wet bangs. Rabbits don’t have expressions. Rabbits don’t wave. Rabbits most definitely do not nod!

He took a deep breath, steadying the anger boiling up inside. Before he could stop himself, he blurted, Well, it happens. To people and rabbits. Things change. People leave. You just deal with it and find a new home. He pulled grass from the wheel spokes, feeling stupid for his outburst.

Looking across the field at the construction site, Kai saw a battered pick-up with faded black letters that read: Hosspupper Pest Exterminators.

Oh, but he despised that name.

Yet not any more than Crazy Pops, though for different reasons. Pops, one of those tree-hugging types, resented anyone who harmed any kind of wildlife. Kai, on the other hand, simply hated that the exterminator’s nephew was a big, dough-headed, bully thug.

Kai glanced down at the rabbits, wondering what had happened to all the other animals who’d called that patch of forest their home. 

The rabbit family seemed to be waiting patiently to see what he’d do. What could he do? This was all too weird. Another reason he hated that they’d moved here to live with Pops. Or Crazy Pops, as Kai usually referred to the old man who smelled like damp earth and mold.

All the strange dreams and... other things... were happening again.

More rabbits came out of the reeds and gathered around the brown as they kept looking across the road, then back to Kai. Several babies huddled close to their moms. They were definitely intent on getting to the other side.

He looked both ways down the road, wondering if he could herd them across fast enough. In the direction toward town, Kai caught sight of a blue jeep about a quarter mile from the bridge.

Mom!

Kai dove into to the ditch. Water flooded his shoes and reminded him of the nearby creek that went beneath the highway. He’d considered taking that route home anyway. It was quicker.

Let’s go, bunnies. Shoes filled with sludge, he waded through the reeds toward the rocky embankment that led to a stream below. Kai hunched down in the tall grasses until the jeep passed, then continued to push his bike along the muddy rut. The rabbits, frightened of it, moved toward the creek. Yes, his plan was working!

The brown stayed at the rear of the group, and kept one eye on him and the other on its family. What a weird animal.

Yiah-yiah-yiah! Go on, Bugs! Move it. Yiah-yiah!  He lifted the front wheel and jerked it side to side.

The rabbit herd sped up.

As if finally understanding Kai’s plan, the rabbits raced along the gully, following the flow of water until it poured into the stream beneath the highway. The brown hesitated a moment, its beady black eyes and monocle patch staring intently at Kai.

What? Kai asked. Before things could get any more bizarre, he flapped his arms and stamped his foot. Go. It’s safe.

With a twitch of its ears, it offered a bowing type nod. Thank you, young Sentinel. It had spoken loud and clear, then turned and darted toward the creek.

Chapter Two

Crazy Pops

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Tires slipped on the muddy trail as Kai tore off into the woods, leaving the bizarre rabbit family in his wake. Refusing to believe that rabbit actually spoke to him.

After ducking under a low-hanging oak branch, he zigzagged along the narrow foot trail leading to Pops’ old shack of a house. Don’t think, he told himself, just hurry, hurry, hurry.

Speeding toward a deep ravine, he jerked up on the handlebars and flew into the air. Kai slightly tilted his body and bike back, aiming for the smooth lip, a bit of flat rock, on the other side. The back tire touched down, then the front, gapping the ditch with perfection.

Whoooo-hoooo! 

He tilted sideways, allowing the wheels to slide down a small hill. Autumn leaves and pine needles carried him like waves propelling a surfboard. At the bottom, he bounced, twisted, and took off again.

Please, please, please let me beat Mom.

The two-story old Victorian loomed through the pines. If not for the peeling paint, he’d swear it was made of crumbling graham crackers and dirty lemon icing from last Christmas’ gingerbread house.

The scattered pines thinned, and Kai spotted the wood-rail fence that bordered Pops’ home. He rode around toward the backyard and through the gate, where he had a better chance of sneaking in unnoticed.

Unfortunately, this meant he had to cross Pops’ massive garden, full of plants he’d never even heard of before. The thick growth provided enough shelter to give him hope of entering through the kitchen door before anyone spotted him.

He planned to make a beeline to his room, clean off the mud, and pretend none of this ever happened. Not that it had. He’d simply thought the rabbit had spoken to him. Pops’ crazy stories were playing with his mind. That’s all.

Kai parked his bike behind the tool shed. Later, he’d sneak out and spray off the mud. He followed the narrow stone trail through the center of Pops’ massive garden. Neither Kai, nor his sister Wynn, was allowed too far into Pops’ place of refuge. When there was work to be done, Pops assigned them to the vegetable patches that grew along the border.

The grumpy old man insisted the special plants growing in the center of the enclosure required a skilled hand to tend them. Which simply meant Pops didn’t want to risk them stomping on his prized herbs, flowers, and other assorted greenery.

That was fine with Kai, who hated yard work. He made a wide berth around one particular plant, covered in black, funnel-shaped flowers. Seemed every time he passed it, somehow he managed to trip over a wayward vine. Pops’ collection of special plants seemed like they came out of one of those old horror flicks.

As Kai walked around the offending plant, several of the vines slithered across the path of their own accord. One strand attempted to wind around his right sneaker. The pointed leaves reminded him of sharp claws as they scratched over the mulch. He leaped backward, falling against a thin silvery tree with purple, oval-shaped fruits hanging from each branch. One shook loose and dropped at his feet, bursting open. Orange goop oozed out onto the ground. A putrid stench, like when he’d left dirty socks too long in his gym bag, nearly made him gag.

This. Was. Not. Happening.

Holding his nose, he hopped over the trailing vines and rushed from the garden, not paying attention to where he was going. He only wanted out. This wasn’t right. Just what kind of plants was Pops growing anyway? They had to be illegal or something, didn’t they?

Kai didn’t even slow down when he finally reached the tall stalks of corn dividing the garden and small yard. No, he refused to stop until he reached the safety of his room. Once his foot hit the brick walkway, he turned his head toward the house, only to find his path blocked as he plowed right into Mom. The grocery sack in her arms burst like a piñata, dumping eggs, icing, and a box of cake mix across the grass.

Mom glared over her pink-rimmed sunglasses perched on the end of her nose. The side of her red lips protruded, where her tongue poked like it did when she was weighing her words just before the verbal onslaught.

Kai lunged for the spilled groceries, stammering, I...I...was.... What? Running from a plant? Helping talking rabbits? He snapped his mouth shut and hurried to shove the items inside what was left of the bag.

Mom shifted her weight. Malakai. Ian. LeCrue. She actually used his middle name. His father’s name. That couldn’t be good. I don’t even know what to say, mister. Look at you!

He dared a glance at his muddied, ripped jeans and sodden shoes. I... uh... slipped in the creek.

Wyndee Lynn, his ten-year-old sister, rounded the corner of the house. Pops followed with an armful of grocery bags, his shaggy white brows rising in question. Kai didn’t miss the look of humor in his steely gray eyes. 

Mom gasped. A creek? Where? What were you doing near the creek? Her hands flapped like a distraught bird. Why is it so hard to just do what you’re told? Why do you have to be so difficult? Her tone rose with each word until even Pops winced, and he was hard of hearing.

There were... these bunnies, you see? Kai added. They almost got hit by a semi.

Pops stopped at the back door and slowly turned to face them.

Mom pointed her pink-nail-polished finger at Kai’s nose. Don’t want to hear it, Malakai. Mr. Griggs called me. She shook her head. Her voice sounded like broken rocks rubbing together.

Kai sighed and handed the busted sack of groceries to Wynn. She shot him a sympathetic look, and then hurried into the house.

Well, I want to hear this, Pops said, coming over to join them. Rabbits, you say?

Oh, Poppy, Mom sighed, rolling her eyes. Not now. I don’t want to hear about your orphan animals. For goodness’ sake, you and Ian... always more worried about some dumb beast than... Her eyes got that watery glimmer Kai hated.

Someone has to worry about them, Pops huffed, handing her the sacks. Let me talk to the boy. You go on in and cool off.

Mom looked just as surprised as Kai.

Pops never had anything to say to him. They had come to an unspoken agreement. Pops believed Kai to be totally useless, and Kai knew Pops was pure mental. He was sure his grandfather had grown completely senile in his old age and now lived in the make-believe world he’d written several books about.

He grabbed Kai’s backpack strap and pulled him toward that creepy garden.

Mom’s furious words followed after them. This isn’t over, mister. You’re grounded until all your work is caught up. Got it? I have enough on my plate as it is. I don’t need this, too.

Kai’s gut belly-flopped into a pool of guilt. His failures at school and inability to get along with Pops only made things worse for her. She not only had to deal with uprooting the family to move here all by herself, but there was also the mystery of what actually happened to Dad.

Ian LeCrue disappeared while working in Montana, doing a job for the Wildlife Preservation Organization. Despite a month-long search, it seemed he’d simply vanished off the face of the earth.

Kai hung his head, not wanting to see how much he’d disappointed her.

She called after Pops. He needs to get started on his homework when you’re done.

Yes’m, Pops said, continuing toward his shed.

Malakai, you’ll do extra chores for this fiasco. No television or video games until further notice. Understand?

Yes, ma’am, Kai agreed.

The screen door slammed with an echoing bang, sounding like a gunshot. 

Pops pulled him through the garden and down another side path. The old man’s thin, tanned fingers wrapped tightly around the strap. The books inside bumped over his sweaty back as he stumbled along after the old man. Nothing odd happened this time, thankfully.

Once they reached the shed, Pops released his hold on him. You stay right here, boy.

The weathered door closed behind Pops. From inside came the sound of banging and scraping. Then, something particularly odd: a tiny, yet high-pitched voice, Perhaps his time has come?

Pops’ gruff voice snapped, Doubtful. Then, in almost a whisper, he added, Though he is acting mighty strange. Just the fact he even saw them, let alone helped them—

Kai headed for the door, wondering who Pops could possibly be talking to. But then, as his hand reached for the handle, Pops burst out, holding a roll of yellowed papers against his chest, nearly knocking Kai over backward.

Didn’t I tell you to stay put? He let the door slam behind him and secured the lock. You got cotton in your ears or something?

No, Kai spat, regaining his balance.

Pops pushed past him and headed over to his workbench.

I heard you talking to someone. Kai demanded.

The old man gave a snorting kind of laugh. Hearing things now, are you? What else? You been seeing things, too?

No, Kai insisted, though that wasn’t entirely the truth. No way would Kai tell his loony grandfather the truth. No telling what kind of ordeal he’d make out of it, considering how his wild imagination often wandered lately.

Pops removed a pair of rectangular glasses from his shirt pocket and propped them halfway down his nose. For a moment, Kai thought his appearance had changed. It was a split-second only, but for that split-second, Pops no longer looked like an old, weathered gardener, dark skin and deep lines crusted with dirt from working with his plants. His beard seemed to have grown a few inches