Escape to Canamith

by Richard Friedman

  Buck followed Braham’s lead, but held them out directly in front of him instead of placing them on the rock.

  “On the rock, Buck, don’t be alarmed. It won’t hurt you,” said Braham. He showed Buck again, this time the young man placed his strong hands directly on the spot.

  Buck’s fingers rested comfortably on the cool rock. He viewed the Elders and noticed their eyes were closed in prayer. One by one the Elders lined up behind Buck. Without electricity or the sound of hydraulic lifts, the massive boulders began to shake. Buck started to remove his hands.

  “Be still, Buck, don’t move,” said Braham.

  The largest of the stones to the left of the group began to retreat into the side of the hill. Inch by inch, foot by foot, the heavy slab of rock moved until the gap reached fifteen feet wide.

  Rex found his place at the entrance of the two rocks and reached out to the group.

  “This is the moment that our ancestors prophesied and the reason that our people have spent an eternity toiling. The Great Tunnels of the Saviors are ready for final preparations. We have chosen the one to lead us into the new world that awaits us. Now, Buck, enter the tunnels.”

  Buck felt trepidation at entering the tunnel, but he kept his gait purposeful as he strode down the illuminated path. Small bulbs lit the passageway. The ground was soft under his shoes. Not crunchy or gravel-filled as he expected. As the last of the Elders passed by a light, it would blink twice, and then go dark. Buck and the Elders followed the path for several minutes.

  Then, they turned one long corner and had reached the center of the tunnels.

  The cavernous central section was illuminated beyond what Buck could have ever believed possible. The ceiling rose some 150 feet and eight corridors radiated from it. Writing filled the walls. The writing appeared fresher where the letters soared skyward to the spiral-shaped ceiling. A golden hue glistened from the letters. The inscriptions closer to the floor showed more age. The original gleam was worn over a dozen times by moisture and oxygen. As Buck peered closer, he could see the letters formed names.

  Braham nudged Buck and whispered. “Impressive, huh?”

  “Impressive? This is unbelievable! I’ve heard about this place my entire life. I wish Mathis could see this. The names on the wall are a sight to see. Is it a list of all the people who have lived in the village?” asked Buck.

  “No, those people who spent their lives working in the tunnels so the rest of us could benefit from their meticulous labor. Each name was hand carved and polished with gold. As you can see, many of the names have been partially eroded. We can repair those when we arrive.”

  “Arrive?” said Buck.

  “I said arrive, and we will be living here soon enough.”

  “Are you saying that my grandparents and their parents are listed on these walls?”

  “Some of them are here. If all goes well for you, there will be ample time to read their stories.”

  “What do you mean if all goes well for me?”

  “You have a big job ahead of you, and I’m sure you’ll do fine. Let’s not speculate on any negatives. Remember, Rex Templeton doesn’t make mistakes, and he chose you. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Let’s keep moving.”

  The group passed the main chamber of the tunnel. It led to a hallway that had many paths, or branches, to choose from. Each path was large enough for four men to walk abreast. These branches led to the different sections of the tunnels. Buck gazed up at the walls of the tunnels. Each coarse rock was smoothed over by loving hands.

  Buck’s head remained on a swivel as he tried to gather in the splendor and rich history that the tunnels represented.

  They turned right at the first opportunity and that hallway was sprinkled with more writings. These walls were filled with stories written hundreds of years ago. They were imprinted into the granite and stone walls so future generations would have the chance to revel in their achievements.

  Each story encompassed a spot on the wall nine feet high by two feet wide. Buck imagined the person sitting quietly, marking their moment in Canamith history, knowing that someday the person reading these tales might be a future offspring. Fancy etchings with beautiful penmanship filled the walls. Buck glanced at one section and saw stories about famine, floods, earthquakes, fires, meteorites and war bore a tearful footnote to yesteryear.

  “Don’t be alarmed, Buck, the corridors have stories of love and beauty too,” said Braham.

  Buck and the entourage pressed on another hundred yards down the hallway to another chamber, this one half the size of the main chamber. This vast opening was divided into twenty, perhaps thirty, individual “family” units that would give a semblance of privacy to the people who would eventually occupy this dwelling.

  Buck approached one the units and saw the family nameplate located on the frame of the door. A glass frame had been placed into the wall of the unit, and a slip of paper was placed inside the frame. Braham escorted Buck into one of the units. The name on this residence read “BRAHAM.”

  The Elder extended his left hand and pointed to the 400-square- foot quarters that Braham would be soon be calling home.

  “Please, Buck, enter my new home,” said Braham half-joking.

  “It’s humble, as you are, Elder Braham,” said Buck with the perfect amount of respect, not sarcasm.

  “Dear boy, it’s not the dream house I envisioned for my retirement.”

  Braham plopped down on the larger of the two beds that were in the room, and sighed, “Buck, I’d like you to imagine the effort that led to this day. There is nowhere else in the world that had the commitment to complete a project of this magnitude. These beds, these walls; can you imagine carving these rooms out of the rock? This is my new… house, or residence, or whatever you want to call it. A more fitting description would be ‘my accommodations.’”

  “I think it’ll be fine,” said Buck. His words sounded optimistic, but internally he envisioned the stress of the entire village living within these walls and that didn’t sound appealing.

  Buck scanned the room next door saw the name “Orrick” on the door.

  “Who’s Orrick? I don’t recall seeing him around the village. I know everyone,” asked Buck.

  “Don’t be so sure of that. You’ll find out.”

  The group left the family area and followed a second path to the eating quarters.

  Tables, each about forty feet long and built out of stone, rose three feet from the ground. Space on either side of the tables had been carved away and another long narrow swath of the ground slightly hollowed out. This made a perfect place to sit at the tables without the cumbersome requirement of chairs. The entire village could sit together at once. This spot doubled as the main meeting room when the Elders spoke to the village or when the entire community gathered for special occasions.

  The rear of the room led to another pathway. Buck followed the Elders into what was clearly the kitchen. Dozens of bowls, pots, serving pieces, containers, spoons, forks, knives, and a host of various kitchen utensils filled the vast wall of shelves that ran the entire length of the kitchen. Three sliding ladders were affixed to the top and bottom of the shelves to help facilitate the easy transportation of items stored on the top shelf. There were several other hallways to visit. Braham ignored those and took Buck to the Room of Elders.

  Buck froze in his tracks. He barely heard Braham speak. “Buck. We’re going to give you time alone in here to see the pictures and look at the names of the people that helped make this day possible. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Braham and the others left Buck to stare at the history of the place and let the emotions seep into his soul. Faces were etched into the stone, and under each one, a hand-written paragraph. It was the Village’s lasting tribute to previous generations.

  Buck snugged close to the wall on the left, careful not to miss a single person. When Braham returned, he was astonished to see what little progress Buck had made.

  “Come on, Ju
nior Elder Buck, you must pick up the pace. You’ll have years to sit in here and read everyone’s life story.”

  Buck pointed to a picture of a man on the wall, his face fading with each passing year.

  “See that man? He’s my great-grandfather. I was named after him. They said he was smartest man in the village…not a bad guy to be named after, huh?”

  “Not bad company. They’ll be plenty of time to tell me all about him. Let’s go, there’s more to the tour.”

  CHAPTER 13

  While Buck learned the past, Mathis planned for the future. He was crushed by his father’s choice. Whether that decision was right or wrong, he didn’t care. Mathis was overcome with disappointment. Even his oldest and closest friend couldn’t lighten Mathis’s spirits on this day.

  “Mathis, are you crying?” asked Jeremy White.

  “Jeremy, hi. I was… ah… getting dirt out of my eye.”

  “What? Is that some Buck in your eye?”

  “Very funny. Is there a reason you came by? Or was it to make me feel worse?” Mathis asked.

  Jeremy saw Mathis fighting back tears. He didn’t push it.

  “Do you want come over to the shop and check out the girls?”

  “No, thanks, buddy, I’ll pass. Today’s not my day.”

  Mathis was standing outside his house when two birds landed near his feet, pecked at the ground for a moment and flew away as quickly as they had arrived.

  He shouted at them.

  “Sure, you two can go anywhere you want. I must stay here and guard the tunnels. Jeremy, did you ever wonder how different our lives would have been if your dad was picked Chief Elder instead of mine?”

  “Nope. Never. Can’t change what was. Visualize the future. Don’t look back. That’s what Lucas and I always said. If Lucas kept looking back, all he’d see is your sister and that would not have been a healthy choice. You know my dad isn’t happy about our friendship. Your family drives him crazy. I can’t handle his resentment. One day we had it out and I told him I won’t let him dictate who my friends will be.”

  Mathis was surprised. “Thanks. That means a lot. I could use a true friend today.”

  Jeremy and his brother Lucas were brought up in a household filled with anger and jealousy. Their father, Ethan White, lost the battle that determined whether he or Rex Templeton would be the chief Elder years ago. Lila broke Lucas’s heart when she left while the two were dating. It had appeared that marriage was eminent. Her departure ended any chance of that. Lucas quickly moved on with his life and sought another to marry. His father did not handle her departure with equal passivity and it became another notch in the grudge belt that Ethan had for Rex Templeton.

  People familiar with Lila knew of her love of science and the thousands of books she maintained in the village library. Nobody could have predicted that one day she would leave the village. Buck and Mathis were children when the girl left and villagers didn’t speak of her much. The Templetons seldom talked about Lila. Rex might have gotten over the trauma, at least on the outside, were it not for power hungry Ethan White.

  Long before Rex was elected the Chief Elder, he was known only as the offspring of Marcus Templeton. He and Ethan White were the two logical choices to select for the new Chief Elder of the village. Rex was the odds-on favorite. His dad was the reigning chief and that gave him a huge advantage. There was years of history and future responsibility that came with the title and birthright wasn’t enough to hold the prestigious title of Chief Elder. Marcus had to insure a fair way to choose the next leader. The committee to elect the new Chief Elder consisted of five men. The winning candidate would need a majority vote. When the ballots were counted and the new Elder decided, the committee agreed privately to announce that the results of the vote were unanimous. There was vigorous debate and arguments between them. The committee was justifiably concerned to announce a split in the vote. A statement that one candidate won the position by a “three votes to two votes” split had the potential to wreak havoc with village morale. The last split vote occurred over a hundred years ago. This modern day contest had the potential to be closer than anyone would have thought possible a few years earlier.

  The competition to select the new Elder was divided into three parts. The first section consisted of physical strength. Ethan should have been an easy winner. An old mountain climbing injury thwarted his best effort.

  The half-mile obstacle course was designed to challenge the men’s muscle, and their brains. A series of short runs led the contestants into a myriad of mazes. The path was blocked at certain locations by large, heavy boulders. Ethan had trouble with this part because his leg couldn’t sustain the effort required to maneuver through the terrain fast enough and ultimately led to his defeat in this challenge. Rex knew that one victory didn’t secure his spot at the top, and this proved all too true when Ethan edged Rex in the second of the tests. That contest pitted the men in a series of tests that pertained to the history of the village. Ethan won by a single point, remembering the exact order of previous Elders dating back 500 years. Rex missed the correct sequence of leaders once, inverting Elder Meredith and Elder Burgeson. A small misstep for sure, but Ethan had placed them in the correct order. The margin of victory was slim, but still his victory. This set the match at a tie and each contestant was told to wait for the results of the Elders vote. That would determine the winner.

  Rex sat on his favorite green bench, surrounded by his friends and supporters as he awaited the news.

  “I had my chance to win on my own merits, now I must sit and wait for the Elders to choose my fate. If selected, I will not let other people put me in that position again, I’ll figure out a way to beat them to the punch. I’ll be better prepared for the challenges ahead,” said Rex to his friends.

  A man shouted from the back of the crowd. “This is how it should be decided. You are clearly the people’s choice and the Elders will choose wisely. You are best suited to guide us into the next and perhaps final phase of our obligations.”

  “The Elders know best and I respect their wishes,” said Rex.

  Twelve hours went by. Rex tossed and turned in his bed, failing to land in a restful sleep as the Elders discussed the merits of each man.

  Rex awoke to find his fathers hand resting on his forehead, his face ashen, lips dry, and a tear coming from his left eye.

  Rex tried to interpret his father’s stare. “I didn’t get it, did I?” “On the contrary; the Elders have chosen you,” said his father. “Then why do you look despondent? You should be proud and happy for me.”

  “Proud? Indeed. Happy? That’s difficult to say. As Chief Elder, you will be hard-pressed to find happiness. You’ll find satisfaction in knowing you have fulfilled your job. There is much to do and I’m afraid not much time to do it.”

  In another part of the village, Ethan White was learning his fate too. Outwardly, he accepted the decision of the Elders. Inside he teemed with disappointment.

  When the messenger left Ethan’s house, the frustrated Ethan turned to his wife and said, “Rex may be Chief Elder, but I vow to make his life miserable whenever I can.”

  Ethan’s wife was not interested in hearing the details of her husband’s plans.

  “Please don’t turn this into a personal vendetta. He didn’t choose against you. The Elders did that.”

  “You heard what I said,” said Ethan, and he slammed the door and rushed out into the night to reflect on what his future could have been.

  CANAMITH COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT

  Update #151

  Family Found Killed

  Forest Ranger Donald Jamison began the press conference.

  “Last night, a family of six was killed in a remote campsite located 120 miles outside of the capital. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Richardson and their four children were killed in an overnight attack. The parents were found near the fire pit, and the boys, Clinton, age 12, Clarence, age 9, Cooper, age 6, and Christopher, age 4, respectively, died in their cab
in. Evidence collected at the scene indicates a bear killed the family.

  “Myself and several members of my staff spent several hours searching in the vicinity of the campground earlier this morning, and came across a large black bear. We trapped the bear and then it was destroyed. The tourist season starts tomorrow and we want to assure visitors that the area is safe.

  “I’d like to remind everyone that this is first death in the campground in twenty years. Our deepest condolences go out to the Richardson family and their friends.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Lila and the rest of the staff at the college regrouped in the morning. None of the staff questioned why she was wearing the same clothes from the previous evening. Lila used the toothbrush she kept in the back of her bottom right drawer for the third time in the last nine months. A quick wash under her arms and a refresh of her makeup and she was ready to go. Her overnight work sessions diminished in frequency last year, but she maintained a stash that included toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and feminine hygiene products just in case. Like her father, Lila believed in backup plans.

  Dr. Massey greeted Lila with a quick smile and opened his mobile phone. Lila followed him to his office but Massey was unaware, or didn’t care. He sat down at his desk and spun the brown leather swivel the chair away from Lila while he placed his call. His voice was hushed and all Lila could hear was, “I understand. Do what you must. That doesn’t mean I like it.”

  Aldo came in seconds later and whispered into Lila’s ear. “Man, I can never get here before that guy,” pointing to Massey. “How are J.J. and Sophie?”

  “They’re fine. I talked to them when they reached Kate’s.”

  “What do you mean talked to them at Kate’s? Didn’t you see them at home?” he asked.

  “I didn’t go home. Please don’t tell Massey. He’d be angry with me. I slept here for a few hours. That cushy chair of mine isn’t comfortable at four in the morning. It felt like there was a metal pole stuck up my backside. When I woke up, I flicked on the news and saw nasty stuff going on out there. I understand Massey gave you grief about your ‘World Incident Report’, but the news coming over the ticker is downright scary. I have to run those by Morales and Goldman.”