Mal turned to Evie with a wan smile. “By the way, thanks for coming after me.”

“You’re welcome. It’s what friends do,” said Evie.

Mal nodded. “Then thanks for being my friend. My real friend.”

Later, when the boys arrived, Carlos was dressed in a purple-and-yellow sweater and shorts that were too big for him. Evie was wearing one of Mal’s old T-shirts, holey jeans, and a pair of Mal’s old boots. The four friends sprawled on the carpet and chairs in Mal’s room. Carlos was even able to get a fire going in the fireplace. They hadn’t slept all night and it was already close to sunrise.

“Mal, what did you want to tell us earlier?” said Carlos, poking the fire with a stick. He placed his sneakers by the grate, hoping they would dry soon.

“The crocs in the bay,” said Mal. “Aren’t they usually by Hook’s Inlet? Why were they all around Doom Cove all of a sudden?”

“Change of scenery?” snorted Jay.

“No, it was like they were guarding something. Something important,” she said, warming her hands by the fire. “I think I know what it is.”

“The entrance to the Catacombs,” said Carlos promptly.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Mal asked, looking a bit miffed that a little bit of her thunder had been stolen.

“Lucky guess,” said Carlos with a smile. “Seriously, what else could it be?”

“Anyway, when I was underwater, I thought I saw a cave down there. The crocodiles were swimming out of it. It looked like it was their nest.”

“Hmm,” said Jay. “If the crocodiles were coming out, there must be another entrance from the topside. Crocodiles prefer to make their homes on land, not underwater. Also, if Jafar, Evil Queen, and Cruella did go down there, I doubt they swam. For one, none of them can.”

“Perfect,” said Carlos. “Because I sure wasn’t looking forward to getting wet again. My sneakers just dried.”

“We should tell the Anti-Heroes group so they can help us find it,” said Evie. “Yen Sid told everyone to be back at the basement by sunrise, so we’ll go and tell them then.”

“Good idea,” said Jay.

“It’s funny,” said Mal. “If we’re right about this, and that crocodile cave down there is the entrance to the Catacombs, Maddy thought she was getting rid of me, but instead she did us a favor.”

“She helped us instead of harming us,” said Carlos, putting his dry socks back on.

“It’s like Fairy Godmother always says,” said Evie, hugging a purple pillow to her chest.

“Don’t let the stepsisters get you down?” said Mal.

“Goodness works in mysterious ways. Even in the deepest dark, you’ll find a light to shine your way through.”

“All this has

happened before,

and it will all

happen again.”

—Peter Pan

The anti-heroes were a hardworking bunch, and by noon had combed the entire beachhead, but hadn’t been able to find anything. Mal was nearly ready to give up on the search for the tunnel’s entrance. After all, she had basically been drowning when she saw the underwater entrance—maybe she’d hallucinated it.

But then, at the very edge of Doom Cove, in a rocky outcropping by the water’s edge, Carlos, along with Big Murph, had found a small hole in the ground, about the size of a rabbit burrow.

“That can’t be it. How would we fit in there?” Evie asked doubtfully. “And if it’s not big enough for us, it’s definitely not big enough for a crocodile.”

“We dig?” said Jay, who began to shovel away dirt with his hands. “This is the only thing we’ve seen in hours. We’ve got to try it.” Carlos knelt down to help, and together they were able to make the hole big enough to squeeze through.

Mal knew they didn’t need to worry about more crocodiles bothering them now—earlier, she’d sent Hadie to throw a bucket of rotten meat in the water on the other side of the island to draw them away. But as she looked down at the small, dark tunnel ahead, Mal wondered if they had just traded one problem for another. Still, Jay was right. They had to give it a shot.

“Thanks, you guys,” Mal called to the assembled team. “I think we’ve found the entrance. We’re going in!”

The sweaty group of anti-heroes cheered.

“Ladies first?” said Jay.

Mal nodded and crawled through the hole. She heard Evie struggling behind, and then the boys. After a few feet, the tunnel widened and they were able to walk upright.

“This better be it,” Mal said. “I really don’t want to be wandering around down here for no reason.”

But as they continued down the tunnel, Mal realized she actually felt perfectly at home. The cave was dark and wet and filled with furry things that skittered at the edge of her vision. Why do caves get such a bad rap anyway? What’s wrong with a few spiderwebs? she wondered just as she stepped into a giant floor-to-ceiling cobweb. She struggled to push through, only to get more caught up in its lacy white stickiness.

“Don’t spiders have anything else to do?” she asked aloud.

Carlos shook his head and helped pull the cobwebs away. They continued on, but stopped again when Evie shrieked at a tiny rodent that had made the mistake of crawling halfway up her pant leg.

“Just tell it to get out of the way,” Mal suggested. “Didn’t Evil Queen ever teach you how to deal with mice?”

“No, Mom only cared about whether I knew how to line my eyelids properly,” said Evie, catching her breath as the small creature scampered off into the crevices.

“Oh, I forgot, I brought something from the Junk Shop,” said Jay as he removed a flashlight from his pocket and jiggled the batteries until they came to life. The sudden flood of light illuminated the cavern’s interior—a collection of giant cool-looking spiderwebs, slimy wet puddles, and an unexpected item—a gold poison-heart bracelet glittering on the ground.

Evie picked it up. “It’s my mom’s!” she said excitedly. “They must have been down here! We’re going the right way!”

Walking farther on, they discovered other clues. A long cigarette holder that could only be Cruella’s, and a few coins that could only have fallen from Jafar’s pouch. They kept going, energized by their discoveries, until the flashlight showed a succession of large animal footprints.