Fifth graders Lizzie and Zach love playing hockey, being outside, and climbing the rocks at Raven Park. When it's decided that they'll spend a whole day at the park, the two friends can barely subdue their excitement. This sunny day will be different from all the others, though, as Lizzie and Zach come face-to-face with the mysterious park guardians-the stone people. The kids can't be sure about the stone people. Are they friends or foes? Do they mean to do harm, or are they there to protect the park and all those who enter? Lizzie and Zach decide to answer these questions by using their imagination, and soon they travel to far-off places and take on big adventures, all in a world of their own creation. When Lizzie begins to feel sick, though, it's hard to trust the stone people. Lizzie's parents come to realize she has juvenile diabetes. Her condition worsens, and even best friend Zach can't imagine this illness away. As Lizzie gets sicker, the stone people grow bigger and bigger and possibly, more sinister-or maybe not. Maybe the stone people aren't sinister at all. Maybe they're preparing for battle as Lizzie's personal guardians to help her confront this new illness.

The Stone Guardian

By Tracey McLeod-Stecy

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Tracey McLeod-Stecy
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-3954-8

Chapter One

Getting Ready

Lizzie woke up from a deep slumber with a start. The sun was peeking through the curtains and she could hear her family making arrangements for a day trip to go hiking at Raven Park. They had been there twice before but Lizzie and her older brother were still excited about climbing around the rocks one more time. Lizzie lay there and collected her thoughts for a moment. Then she rolled out of bed, her two, long brown braids swinging over her shoulders. On the way out the door, she grabbed her baseball cap and planted it on her head. The hat had been signed by two ladies on the women's national baseball team and she wore it everywhere.

Michael was four years older than his little sister. Standing at almost six feet, he was a whole foot taller and many pounds heavier. Since Lizzie had a hard time keeping up with Mike, they had each invited a friend their own age. Lizzie's friend and hockeymate, Zach was coming.

Zach and Lizzie didn't attend the same school but they were both in the fifth grade. They were fast friends after playing two seasons of hockey together. They had gotten into the habit of seeing each other often, even during the summer when they weren't playing hockey.

Lizzie walked into the kitchen still wearing her jammies. The blue flannel pajamas had hockey skates and sticks all over them. Mom had originally sewn the pajamas for Michael. Now, four years later, they were perfect for Lizzie although they were a little warm for this time of the year.

Sasha the dog was lying on her back with all four paws in the air while chewing on her squeaky toy. Being a dog was really hard work! At nine months of age she was still very much a puppy. She jumped up when Lizzie came into the kitchen. In her haste to get across the room to see Lizzie, the dog bonked the top of her head on the underside of the kitchen table. It made a hollow sounding "Clunk!" Sasha recovered clumsily, and continued her dash across the kitchen. Lizzie plopped onto the floor and gave her furry friend a quick hug. Then she went to see her mom.

Mom was busy packing a cooler with sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookies which were well known to all the friends of both kids. Mom was known to almost all of Lizzie's friends as "Mom" but her name was actually Ann. Several sports bottles filled with water were on the counter, waiting to be placed into the cooler. Mom stopped what she was doing long enough to hug Lizzie, say, "Morning sweetie," and tug playfully at the dirty baseball cap.

"Where's Dad?" inquired Lizzie.

Mom replied, "He's at work already."

Lizzie had forgotten that summer holidays were almost over and that Dad was back to working his regular hours.

Lizzie had started to fix herself some cereal when Zach and his mom drove up. Lizzie interrupted her breakfast to run past the dog and open the front door. Sasha barked repeatedly, her ears flopping from side to side as she jumped up and down behind her dog gate in the kitchen.

Zach's mom entered the front doorway carrying a backpack and a water bottle. Zach followed, lifted his arms in the air, and shouted "Attack!" Lizzie and Zach tackled each other and fell to the carpet giggling.

Zach's mom yelled above the racket to anyone who was listening, "Zach has a sandwich, water, two juice boxes, and granola bars for everyone!" Zach's backpack was slouched at her feet.

Ann leaned over the dog gate and shouted back so that she could be heard above the barking, "Okay! We'll phone you when we get back to the city!"

Michael rolled his eyes as he walked by the smaller kids. He was headed to the kitchen to eat his breakfast and give the two guinea pigs theirs. He had to step carefully to avoid tripping over the two friends who were still rolling around on the floor laughing.

Once Zach's mom had departed, Lizzie retrieved her hat from the floor and returned to the kitchen to finish her breakfast. While Lizzie was eating, Zach sat nearby and observed the two guinea pigs nibbling on lettuce in the corner of the room. The two tiny animals made huge chomping sounds. Zach reached over and petted the back of the smaller black pig. Startled, it made sort of a chirping noise and ran underneath a little house made of wooden sticks. He was a really well fed guinea pig and his bum stuck out the back end of his house. Zach turned back around to face Lizzie at the table.

Between mouthfuls of cereal, she stated, "That's Hershey, he's always hungry. He squeaks when anyone opens the fridge." Lizzie swung her legs from side to side under the table, trying to shake off Sasha, who was biting her toes.

Zach looked at the two guinea pigs again and commented, "They're really fat."

Lizzie held her hand to her chest, and replied with mock indignation, "No, they're just big boned!"

Lizzie's mom finished packing up and set the cooler on the floor near the front door. She called for Michael to carry it to the van. As Mike was putting on his shoes, Sam walked up the driveway. He was carrying a backpack, a sweatshirt, and a bottle of water. Sam lived down the street and they had started kindergarten together. Now, they were in the ninth grade in a much larger school, but were still classmates and good friends.

Sam opened the back door of the van when he saw Mike come out the door with the cooler, and greeted his friend with, "Hi, are you guys ready to leave yet?" Mike put the cooler in the van. Sam threw his belongings into the van and Mike heaved the door closed.

"Pretty much, except that Lizzie just got up and you know how fast she moves in the morning. One of her hockey friends is here too."

Sam nodded. He had visited often enough to be familiar with Lizzie's dawdling.

The two boys went back into the house to see if the rest of the gang was ready to go. Lizzie was still wearing her jammies but ran down the hall to change when Mom hollered, "Get your buns moving!"

Zach amused himself by playing tug with Sasha in the kitchen. An old baseball sock was stretched between Zach's hands and Sasha's teeth. Sasha's nose was level with the floor but her bum was up in the air and her tail was wagging. The dog's paws slid across the floor as Zach pulled her forwards until his back was against a chair and he couldn't back up any further. The sock was full of holes and didn't look like it would be used for any more baseball games.

Lizzie came back out of her bedroom remarkably quickly and Mom pronounced the group ready to go. Lizzie's hair had not been brushed but it was still tucked into braids from the day before, and she was the last one to care what her hair looked like. Her baseball cap was back in its customary position.

Mike grabbed Sasha's leash and water bowl and the six of them climbed into the van. Within moments they were headed down the street in the direction of the highway which led out of the north part of the city.

Chapter Two

Driving To Raven Park

The drive to Raven Park was about forty-five minutes long, not including any stops along the way. Mom sat at the wheel and everybody settled in for the ride quickly except for Sasha. She sat awkwardly in the passenger seat next to Mom. She didn't want to sit on the floor because then she couldn't see out the window, but she never seemed to get very comfy sitting on the seat. So she often stood up on the seat and Mom then had...