CHAPTER ONE THE TREE SHAPED KEY Luis stood at the top of the stairs and imagined he was Indiana Jones at the edge of a cliff being chased by men with spears The doorbell rang It must be his rescuers Luis ran down the stairs two steps at a time His mom would've yelled at him for it But she was away all week in Puerto Rico taking care of her sick mother I'll get it he shouted when the doorbell rang again Luis skidded across the floor He yanked the front door open to see his two best friends Tyler and Casey Jenson Luis gasped I'm being chased by the bad guys Thank goodness you're here
Tyler laughed It's about time you answered the door We have something incredible to tell you He pushed Luis aside nearly knocking him over with his crutches Watch it or I'll turn those into skates Luis said He was about to shut the door when something ran into his foot MEORR BOING Luis bent down and picked up Tyler's robotic cat Tyler had spent six months building the sleek silver creature at the college science lab where his father worked He was filled with sensors and computerized parts The cat still had some problems but Tyler kept improving his project Hey what's wrong with Steel Luis asked Tyler shrugged Something in his voice box got corrupted when Mr Davidson's bulldog knocked him over Luis closed the door behind them It was the first day of spring vacation and he planned to
spend the whole week with his two best friends They would argue about what to do but each of them would take turns choosing And whatever it was it would definitely be adventurous So what do we do first Luis asked Go to the library for some old adventure videos Go to the museum so Tyler can see that new robot exhibit Or head to the junk shop for some weird gadgets for Casey to put together Tyler bent down and whispered something into Steel's pointed ears Luis had known right away when Tyler showed up at school last year that they would be friends Luis loved astronomy and Tyler had stars and planets painted on his crutches Tyler stood Pick him up He has a new command Steel pushed his head forward and stuck out a silver tongue and flicked it against Luis's cheek It's cold Luis said And stiff
Casey shoved her brother away Who cares about your old cat We have something more interesting to show you Luis She unzipped a pocket on her jacket Her gray jacket was covered with buttoned and zippered pockets that held tools she could use to take apart and build things It reminded Luis of a magician's suit full of surprises She reached into the pocket and said Hold out your hand Luis was never sure what to expect from Casey A key fell into his hand It was long and shone like real gold The top of the key looked like a tree with branches twisting around it Wow what is it Luis asked Tyler grabbed it from his Luis's hand We found it in Dad's office We think it's the key for your father's shed You swiped it Luis asked Casey put her hand over Luis's mouth Quiet We don't want your father to hear We
