River Rocks: A West Virginia Adventure Novel

by Steve Kittner

  “OK.” She exhaled hard, realizing that for the most part, what he was saying was true. “Well, get ready and come on down and we’ll see what this is all about,” she finished in a calmer voice.

  Josh washed his face, quickly brushed his teeth and pulled a comb through his hair a couple of times, getting ready to go greet the Sheriff. He recalled Sheriff Collins and the Mayor at the Town Offices watching over what the three of them were doing, but they were looking up information that was public record. True, they didn’t want anyone knowing what they had stumbled across, but it was hardly illegal.

  Josh pulled on fresh jeans, a T-shirt and clean socks and headed downstairs. Sheriff Collins was standing at the front door with his official hat in his hands speaking with his dad.

  Mrs. Baker was standing to the side of them and all three smiled at Josh as he came to the bottom of the stairs. Sheriff Collins had already reassured the Bakers that their son was not into anything illegal, thus the smiles.

  “Mornin’ Josh,” the Sheriff said with a Chamber of Commerce smile. Josh sensed a different personality from the day before. He was acting a little friendlier and had a very different face on. The Sheriff spoke with a strong mountain accent.

  Good morning sir,” Josh replied respectfully.

  “I’m sorry to get you up so early this morning, Josh. I gotta head up to Clay County in a little bit and I just wanted to make sure I caught you before we both got busy today.”

  “It’s not a problem at all Sheriff,” Mr. Baker assured him.

  Josh looked at his dad as he said it.

  The Sheriff reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and began to unfold it. “You guys left the original in the copier at the office. I got your name off the sign-in sheet.”

  Josh’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the tax records for Burl Otis.

  “I’ll get right to the point, Josh. I’m not sure what your business is with Mr. Otis, you and your friends that is, but I just wanted to warn you that if you don’t know him he can be a uhh, let’s say, hard man to get along with. Now, it’s your business and all; I just wanted to tell you that.”

  Josh’s mind raced for something to say. The right thing to say.

  “It’s just a little history thing on the town, Sir. Nothing more. My friends and I are already a little bored this summer and are just looking stuff up, that’s all.”

  Emily Baker smiled.

  The Sheriff continued with his mildly disguised interrogation.

  “Oh, that’s fine Josh. Umm. But his tax records?” The Sheriff paused a bit and gave Josh one raised eyebrow. “I mean, it is public record and there is nothing illegal about the information you were looking up, but we at the office were just a little curious why you would be collecting personal information on a man like Burl Otis, you understand.” He gave Josh the eyebrow again. “Mr. Otis might have something to say to you if he knew you were checking up on him, ya know.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “And I am just looking out for your safety, you realize.”

  “Yes sir.” He paused. “Really, it’s just a project we’re doing. That’s all. Just looking up some town history and early settlement information.” Josh said.

  “Oh, that’s fine.” The Sheriff smiled and looked at the Bakers. “I wish more young folks would take an interest in our town and its history. I would have a lot fewer youthful indiscretion calls to check out. Less trouble when kids are kept busy, ya know.” He smiled again.

  The Bakers smiled back proudly and Mr. Baker put his arm around his son who stood beside him.

  “OK, I won’t take up any more of your time here, folks. I gotta get up to Clay and take care of some business, but I appreciate your time this morning.”

  “It’s no problem at all, Sheriff. We appreciate your looking after the safety of the kids,” Mrs. Baker said.

  “Well, that’s what I’m here for, “He said, putting his hat back on. He looked back at Josh and winked. “If there is anything I can help you with, come and talk to me, OK?”

  “I sure will,” Josh replied.

  The Sheriff bade the Bakers a good day as he stepped out the door into the garage and proceeded to his cruiser. Josh thought it a little strange that he had made a special stop on a busy morning to show concern for Josh’s safety.

  Josh couldn’t believe that they had left the tax record in the copier but remembered well how it had happened. They had just made the last copy of what they needed when the two vehicles out in front of the Town Offices decided to try to occupy the same twenty feet of pavement. He remembered the screeching tires and the sudden crunch. In all the excitement, they had forgotten to go back in and put the tax record back into its file. Apparently the next person who needed to make a copy was the Sheriff. What luck!

  As Josh turned to head upstairs he thought he heard the clank of something metallic in the garage but gave it no thought and proceeded to reformat his mind for a day of sail design.

  About an hour later, with a belly full of breakfast, Josh rode out of his garage on his bike, headed down over the river bank, past the honeysuckle and lilacs, through the milkweed patch and arrived at the small sand bar area where he was greeted by his friends who had beaten him there by about thirty minutes. Josh walked down the bank with about one hundred feet of a flexible, but very strong rope that he had grabbed from his dad’s garage, and noticed a large, lightweight painter’s tarp and a bag of various hardware supplies lying on the bank beside three new, long poles that had just been cut.

  Josh dropped the rope off of his shoulder, beside the other supplies, and said, “Hey, guys.” Josh gave Eddie a look and mouthed silently, “I need to talk to you.”

  Brad turned around. “Hey, Baker. What kept you?” he joked.

  Brad was all smiles again this morning.

  “Had to do something for Mom and Dad,” he replied. “Did you guys get anything done or were you waiting for me?”

  “Ha Ha,” Eddie said. “We put it back in the water and figured we could finish it out there. Once we add the sail system it’s going to start to get heavier and, hey, it’s stable enough to work on anyway.”

  “Yeah. True. Why keep lifting it, right?” Josh replied.

  “Right.”

  Brad was out on the raft adding screws and construction glue to the tiller system as Eddie looked over the poles and the nine-foot by twelve-foot lightweight painter’s tarp. Josh walked over close to Eddie. “The Sheriff was at my house at 8 o’clock,” he whispered. Eddie’s eyes widened as he glanced out at Brad. Brad hadn’t heard Josh because he was using a cordless, battery-powered drill to secure the tiller system. As Brad drilled, Josh spoke to his friend.

  “We left Burl Otis’ tax records in the copier yesterday. Remember the crash outside?”

  Brad drilled some more as Eddie thought about it.

  “We didn’t go back inside,” Eddie recalled. “We walked off and left it right in the copier.” He paused as Brad stopped drilling. Brad resumed.

  “What did he want?” Eddie asked.

  Josh looked at Brad. “He said that Burl Otis is a mean old dude and that he is concerned for our safety. He said that if Otis knew we were in his business, he would have something to say to us.”

  “The Sheriff is concerned for our safety because we were looking up tax records?” Eddie said, disbelieving. He paused and thought. “Doesn’t sound right, does it?”

  “I didn’t think so either. He was a totally different person this morning, too. Real nice and friendly. Remember yesterday, the way he was?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah. Him and the Mayor.”

  “I think we’re ready to do the sail now!” Brad called out from the helm. “This is done!” Brad said it in a proud tone and without knowing it, cut off Josh and Eddie’s private conference.

  Josh and Eddie looked at each other, both knowing they could talk more about it later, and started grabbing poles, wood blocks, all the hardware and the large paint-covered tarp to go fabr
icate their sail for Brad’s raft.

  The design was basic but well thought out and the materials they had on hand would work perfectly. The main mast would stand about five feet back from the front of the raft and be centered side to side. It would be secured to the deck of the boat with blocks of wood around the bottom of it and screwed into place. Once in place, it would stand about twelve feet tall.

  Four ropes would come from the top of the mast, running to each corner of the raft to keep the mast from falling over in any direction. Once the mast was in place, the boys would attach the “yardarms,” two horizontal poles on the mast, about seven feet apart, onto which the sail would be attached. The top arm and the bottom arm would be able to be lowered and raised with a single rope or line.

  The boys jumped right in on the final phase of Brad’s raft project as Eddie sort of took charge and called out directions. Neither of the other two seemed to mind, since the sail system was Eddie’s design anyway. The three “business partners” all worked together drilling, screwing, cutting, tying, securing, rigging and finally, attaching the sail onto their sturdy, new river craft. In a couple of hours, they were done. To the three boys, it was a work of art.

  “Man, just look at it!” Brad exclaimed proudly. “It’s way better than I ever imagined it!”

  “It is very cool,” Eddie admitted.

  Josh was wide-eyed in amazement, standing back on the shore looking at it and shaking his head. “What a cool project. Ya think it will work?”

  “Only one way to find out, I guess,” Eddie said. “Let’s get it out there and head downriver.”

  Josh walked over to the pile of supplies and grabbed an old life ring with a long length of rope attached to it and tossed it up onto the raft. He had snagged it from his garage that morning figuring that it might be a good idea to have some sort of lifesaving device on board in case the maiden voyage didn’t turn out so well.

  “Are ya ready, Captain?” Josh asked, looking at Brad.

  Brad’s chest puffed up a little and at the same time a bit of a nervous look came over his face, perfectly normal for a rookie river pilot, of course. He would, for the first time, be piloting his very own river vessel and at the same time be responsible for the safety of two crewmembers. He had never had to be responsible for anything in his life. It was a real defining moment for Brad.

  “I’m ready!” He said confidently. “Untie the dock lines!”

  As Eddie stood on board the raft with one hand holding onto the newly-constructed mast, Josh untied the line that secured the raft to the riverbank and tossed it onto the deck of the boat. Eddie then grabbed it and coiled it up into a neat circle on the left or port side of the vessel. Brad took his position at the helm, disabled Eddie’s autopilot system for the time being, and took hold of the tiller with a confident hand.

  With the Captain at the helm, Josh then pushed off of the bank with one foot as he stepped on board with the other. That gave them enough momentum to get out a few feet and into the flow of the river.

  It was a perfect day for a test float-- just a slight down-river current with a warm summer breeze blowing back up the river. The boys would be able to float down a few hundred yards and then turn it around, hoist sail, and hopefully let the breeze carry them back to where they had started.

  As the raft made its way out to the middle of the river it began to pick up a little speed. Not much, maybe something a little faster than walking speed, but enough to where the water flowing under the raft and through the maze of jugs made a pleasant gurgling, sloshing sound, letting the crew know that they were making way. The boys all smiled.

  Brad pulled the tiller this way and that a couple of times and the raft responded beautifully by turning left and right. The rudder seemed perfect. Not too big and not too small. Very manageable for sure. They had done a great job engineering and constructing the steering mechanism for Brad’s milk jug raft.

  Once out in the middle of the river, Brad turned it and pointed the front or bow of the raft straight downriver. He then reached down and enabled Eddie’s autopilot system to see how it worked. Just a couple of ropes, really, that ran off of the tiller and tied off to a couple of points on the deck. It would simply hold the tiller in a straight-ahead position and give the Captain his hands to do other things on board. It, too, worked great.

  The boys couldn’t be happier with their accomplishment and their faces showed it. There were grins all around.

  As the three headed down river, Josh’s mind drifted away for a bit, to the old can and the document inside. How it had fallen into their lap and how it was beginning to change their lives. It had helped Josh and Eddie make a new friend in Giselle and had indirectly had a hand in changing the attitude of a town bully. Time would tell if the change was permanent or not, but so far the boys cautiously enjoyed each other’s company. Business partners, at least. It also occurred to Josh that they had really only scratched the surface of decoding the document they had found. They had deciphered the Southern Jewel part of it, and that had given them a lot of information, but what about the rest of it? There were more lines and a little sketch to study. Josh made a mental note to himself to revisit the document before they went camping and to take a copy with them. He also made a note to call Giselle and fill her in on what had been going on the past couple of days and to let her know of their plans of how to get downriver to Tater Holler.

  “Let’s drift down to the deep hole where the rope swing is and then turn it around and see how this thing sails,” Brad said.

  “Sounds good!” Eddie said with a smile. “Josh, I’ll need you to help me pull this sail up.”

  “No!” Brad snapped. Josh and Eddie both looked at him, knowing that at any time, he could break out of his good mood and return to his old habits. He paused. “I just mean…that I was wanting to do it all by myself so I could…you know…”

  “You want to be able to single hand it.” Eddie finished.

  “Yeah.” He paused again. “Can you just call out what to do to me and see if I can do it?”

  “Sure,” Eddie said.

  Brad sort of looked away. “I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I really do appreciate all you’ve done.”

  “OK, that’s cool,” Eddie returned. “I’ll call out what to do.”

  “Thanks guys.”

  Brad’s transformation, if there was going to be one, would take some time and a little patience.

  Josh pondered over Brad’s passion to be so independent. Why did he not want any help sailing his raft, only help with building it? Was Brad planning an escape like the lonely log that would make its way from river to river and finally end up at the ocean where there are no boundaries? Had he had enough of his father that he was simply going to ditch his hometown by way of water and leave everyone behind? Or did he simply enjoy fishing by himself and didn’t want any partners when hunting for the big one.

  Either way, it was Brad’s raft and he could do with it whatever he wanted. Josh just wanted a ride downriver on a flat-bottomed craft, to go talk to the guy who might hold some secrets to a 1903 train robbery.

  The boys drifted quietly for a few hundred yards and watched as a muskrat slid down the bank and into the water. Turtles sunned themselves on logs and a nice bass jumped about twenty yards in front of their raft. Josh was wishing he had a fishing pole with him. As they drifted in and out of the shade of the trees that grew tall along the riverbanks they could feel the heat of the summer sun come and go on their skin.

  As they approached the turn-around point, three boys on the riverbank were hauling in the rope swing that was tied high into a tree. It hung over a deep hole that was close to the bank and made for great fun in the summer heat.

  A young man grabbed onto the swing and walked it as far back as he could and then ran forward until he ran out of river bank and was out over the water. His momentum carried him outward and when he reached the point over the deep hole he let go and with a loud “whhooo yeah,” did a perfect bac
k flip and came down feet first. His friends laughed and applauded his efforts.

  Josh, Eddie and Brad laughed too and envied the other three boys a bit as they took advantage of the river’s cooling effects on a hot summer day.

  “Are you ready?” Eddie asked.

  “Yeah, let’s do it!” Brad said.

  “OK. Now, what we will do is, pull up the sail and tie it off before we turn. The sail will probably act like a brake until we turn, which will work out just fine. And then after we turn, the sail should fill up with wind and carry us back upstream…I hope,” Eddie said.

  “What do you want me to do?” Josh asked.

  “Just hang loose with the life ring in case all goes wrong,” Eddie replied.

  The boys all laughed.

  Eddie stood by the mast as Brad held his position at the helm and Josh moved to the side of the raft, out of the way of the sail rigging that was going to be hoisted.

  “OK, ready? Go ahead and grab that line right there…aaannd… HOIST!”

  Brad pulled firmly on the single line that the boys had rigged to lift the top yardarm and the sail that was attached to it. It pulled up smoothly just as designed.

  “OK, tie it off by doing figure eights around that cleat right there,” Eddie said.

  Brad did what Eddie called out and in seconds the sail was up and secured. Eddie showed Brad how to finish off the knot.

  “Alright, ready to do a one-eighty?” Eddie challenged.

  “Ready,” Brad replied.

  “OK…. Ready…COME ABOUT!” Eddie called out.

  Josh smirked a bit at Eddie’s new-found sailor slang.

  Brad eased over on the tiller causing the raft to begin its turn and, hopefully, start heading the other way. As the raft swung around in a tight turn, the southeast breeze made its way into the homemade and very colorful sail as it puffed to life and immediately began pulling on the mast and the rigging lines. The force transferred its way through the sail system and after a brief pause the raft began to move again. The boys were ecstatic. Their sailing raft was moving upriver! They would not even need to use the pole to help themselves along! She was sailing on her own!