Chapters 1 - 3 Summary

Early morning. Dylan rides his bike to Casey's house. Casey Bellows is Dylan's best pal and today is the day of their Boy Scout troop's hike to Mauna Loa, Hawaii's iconic mountain volcano.­ Casey's Dad, Mr. Bellows, as the boys are careful to call him, is their scoutmaster. Mr. Bellows is a very macho guy, a Hilo Police detective and an ex-marine who is clean, lean and fit as a boot-camp drill sergeant. "Once a marine, always a marine," he is fond of saying. Dylan's Dad, we learn, is also very manly. He's a big-ship skipper who takes freighters all over the world, and consequently he's not home all that much.

Casey is a tough little guy, a freckle-faced, shaggy-haired redhead who plays eighth grade football. Dylan is taller than Casey, and plenty strong, but he wears thick glasses and can't...