18 OPERATION BREAK IN 198 19 STUMPED 212 20 GOOD NEWS 21 THE REDWOOD CLIMBER 22 INTO THE TREETOPS 23 INTRUDERS 258 24 THE STORM 25 THE CONFRONTATION 283 26 REMEMBERING 27 UNDER ATTACK 306
28 THE INTERROGATION 317 29 THE CHILDREN S EVERLASTING REDWOOD GROVE 30 TO BIG TREE GROVE AUTHOR S NOTE 347 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1 WAKING UP Julian Carter Li opened his eyes and immediately knew he was somewhere he'd never woken up before But his dream wouldn't let him go His eyes closed and he was running again along an abandoned beach beside a black ocean searching for someone he couldn't name He stumbled and as he fell a voice inside his head reminded Julian that he was dreaming and he wrenched himself free from his dark dream world sat up and looked around A glass wall faced downtown San Francisco The bright lights of the Bay Bridge shone against the night sky and a computer screen glowed from a massive desk against the far wall The only sound was the computer's low hum He must have been sleeping for hours Julian thought and he wondered when his uncle would be coming back He had never been in Uncle Sibley's office before today He
OPERATION REDWOOD looked around at the desk the clean uncluttered surfaces the black leather sofa the eagle's eye view Even in shadow everything about the office said I'm rich I'm powerful Don't mess with me The echo of the wind in his ears and the sense of dread left over from his nightmare had begun to subside Julian stood up and walked across the room Except for a few fluorescent lights shining in the hallway the floor was dark and desolate Now that he was fully awake Julian remembered why he was here It was of course because there had been nowhere else for him to go The assistant principal had been unable to reach Aunt Daphne When he'd finally gotten through to Uncle Sibley after being placed on hold for a full five minutes his already foul mood had grown worse Of course somebody's got to get him the assistant principal had barked into the telephone The kid can't just sit here all day with a fever of a hundred and three He's infectious Excuse me No we don't call taxis Our students generally don't travel around by taxi If you want a taxi you'll have to send one yourself Julian had waited in the office for what felt like hours until at last a bright yellow taxi pulled up in front of the school Julian had never ridden in a taxi At first he had enjoyed the smoothness of the red leather seats It was almost like having a chauffeur And after years of taking buses everywhere it was a treat to have the wide backseat to himself But as he'd sat staring at the python tattoo that snaked its way up the fat pink neck of the taxi driver it had occurred to Julian
