Kuba and Lena find a strange map in the school library and follow it into the forest after dark, where a hidden tower and a silent stranger seem to be waiting for them.
Kuba had lived at the end of Maple Street for as long as he could remember, but he had never guessed that the strangest thing in his life would be hidden inside a dusty book in the school library. It happened on an ordinary afternoon, when he and Lena were flipping through old atlases at the back of the room and a yellowed sheet slipped from between the pages.
The paper was brittle at the edges and marked with odd, twisting lines. It showed the forest behind their block of flats, and in the middle of it stood a tower drawn in dark green ink. Underneath, in cramped writing, were the words: For the brave only.
Kuba stared at it. Lena leaned closer, her eyes bright.
"That's not a library map," she whispered. "That's a treasure map."
Kuba grinned. "Or a trap."
"Same difference," said Lena, and she tucked the map into her pocket before anyone could notice.
By dusk, they were at the broken gate at the edge of the forest, each with a torch, a backpack, and a sandwich wrapped in paper that was already going soft. The trees closed around them quickly. The last light from the street lamps faded behind the trunks, and the forest turned quiet in the way that made every snap of a twig sound important.
Kuba held the map out in front of him while Lena kept watch for marks on the trees. The ground was soft with moss, and the air smelled wet and sharp, like pine needles and rain waiting somewhere overhead. Then Lena stopped so suddenly that Kuba almost bumped into her.
"There," she breathed.
On the bark of a thick oak was a sign painted in fading green: a circle with three dots inside it.
Kuba checked the map. His finger found the same mark, and an arrow pointing to the right.
"We found it," he said, but his voice came out smaller than he meant it to.
They went deeper into the trees until even the glow of the city was only a pale smudge behind them. Then the tower appeared.
It rose out of the darkness all at once, tall and narrow, wrapped in ivy so thick it seemed to be growing over the stones like a living thing. A weak flicker shone from the top window, as if someone had just passed with a candle.
Lena swallowed. "Do you see that?"
"Someone's up there," Kuba said.
Before either of them could move, the heavy door creaked open by itself. A figure stepped into the doorway, wearing a strange pointed hat that cast its face in shadow. It didn't speak. It only lifted one hand and beckoned them closer.
Then, from inside the tower, a voice whispered, very softly:
"Only the brave may enter..."