The Sleeper Wakes: Part 5

By DAVID HILL

Corey's turn in front. He led his father up the rocky path into Hongi's Valley. A sign beside the path asked climbers to keep off the moss slopes; up here in the freezing mountain air, tiny moss plants took five years to grow again if they were damaged.


A few little stones pattered down a rockface ahead. The sun again, or maybe another stone shifting. Corey felt his father pause to watch.

They climbed over a boulder and came to the world's weirdest staircase; 220 wooden steps, built to protect the moss slopes, leading up to the high shoulders of the mountain. Boots thumped and breath rasped as they plodded up.

At the top, they paused again. Above them, slopes glittered with snow. Wooden poles marked the route up to the spiny ridge of The Lizard, and the notch leading into the crater.

Publisher: Puffin

Age group: 6-10 yrs


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