They could barely hear what the men were saying. “Gotta dump at least six a day… plow the lake under by next week… no trace… same pay as last time…” The kids looked at each other, and then Isaiah’s throat constricted. Breathing was difficult. No matter how much air he tried to suck in, very little flowed to his lungs.
Magda heard his ragged breath and signaled to Rose and George. Isaiah slumped over, gasping.
“Where’s your inhaler?” George asked going through Isaiah’s pockets.
Isaiah soon felt the plastic in his mouth and as he pulled in the air, he swore he heard a very soft growl in his ear. Was Grizzly nearby? He sat up.
Keeping down low, the three of them worked together to pull him back to the gate and outside the compound. They hurried but were careful to be quiet.
“That was close! Too close!” Rose said. “Are you okay, Isaiah?”
Isaiah nodded. “Thanks, guys!”
“Did you hear what the men said?” Rose asked.
“They’re dumping those barrels into the stream. That must be what is flowing down to the pond!” Magda said.
“I wonder what kind of chemicals are in them?” George asked, looking at his shoe which was still wet from his earlier slip.
“What can we do?” asked Rose.
“They’re going to plow under the pond,” Magda said. “What about the cottonwoods and all the animals that depend on that water?”
“Right now we need to get back to school. Lunch should be almost over,” Isaiah said. George slipped under Isaiah’s arm to help support him. Magda got under his other arm.
Rose kicked rocks. “That’s a bunch of crap!” A rock flew up. “It makes me so mad,” she said, launching another rock right after it. “Dumping poison. Killing fish. Killing birds. Taking away the pond.” She stopped kicking and said, “We have to stop them!”
“I agree,” Magda said. “There has to be something we can do. Maybe we can tell the mayor or the police.”
“May I point out again that we’ll get in trouble (effect) for being off the school grounds during lunch (cause)?” Rose asked. “I know, since breaking school rules is kind of my specialty. I don’t want to get busted when, this time, I was doing something good. We can’t tell our parents for the same reason.”
“We could call the owner and tell him what those men are doing,” Isaiah said.
George said, “It’s very expensive to get rid of waste like that. The owner might be in on it to save money. We really don’t know who’s involved. This could be a very dangerous situation. Maybe we should report it to the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“They won’t believe us because we’re children,” Rose said making air quotes around ‘children’ and kicking another rock.
“Maybe we need to get some more information. Maybe wait and see what happens tonight in our dreams,” said Isaiah, remembering what Grizzly had told him about an important job. “Eagle led us here. Maybe our animals have information we need.”
“Maybe we can somehow tie all of this into our language arts project,” Magda added.
“You can’t make it too obvious!” Rose shouted. “Besides she said we’d be choosing off of a list. I doubt this is on the list.”
Isaiah turned to Rose, “You have to be in our group.”
“Don’t worry. Getting kicked out of places is another specialty,” Rose said.
Over tuna casserole that night, Isaiah said, “Mom, do you know anything about that big warehouse near my school?”
His mother had lived in this small mountain town of five thousand souls all of her life. He loved her stories about the town’s history and how she always joked that Main Street was wide enough to turn your mule and wagon around. She knew lots of history, and he’d grown up hearing stories about the outlaw Wyatt Earp. He’d escaped the law in Arizona and set up camp on the outskirts of town. After the Colorado governor refused to turn him over, Wyatt had settled in town, running Faro, a gambling card game. Once when Isaiah had been in the hospital, his mother had taught him to play Faro. They’d used his Pokemon cards for chips, and he went broke real quick.
But for all of her love of town lore, his mother was also suspicious. That’s probably what made her such a good research librarian at the college. “Why do you want to know about that building?” She lowered her fork and stared at Isaiah.
“I’m just curious what they do there.” He’d already practiced what to say so she wouldn’t get alarmed. It made him feel like Wyatt Earp. “I wonder every time the bus goes by it. I just remembered to ask tonight, that’s all.” He gave her what he thought the neutral outlaw look would be when caught with the bank’s gold in his hands.
She seemed to buy his explanation. “It was originally built as a tanning plant for hunters who wanted to keep their deer and elk hides. Then it was a small machines’ repair business. Some college students did a spot on the radio recently about the property having been purchased by a new business that gets rid of hazardous waste. That place has been an eyesore for years. I hope they clean it up.
“Hazardous waste?” Isaiah asked. His heart raced.
“Yes, I’ve heard that businesses pay a lot of money to get rid of toxic substances. I am glad there is a business here in town that can do that properly without hurting the environment.”
Isaiah had stopped listening. Those men had been talking about dumping six barrels of toxic chemicals a day into the stream! Even more fish would die. He realized his mother was studying him. Back to Wyatt Earp pretend innocence.
“How was your asthma today?” she asked.
“I had a little flare up at lunch,” he said, feeling a bit guilty for not telling her the whole truth.
“Were you running?” she asked.
“No, I was being careful.”
“Maybe it’s getting too cold outside, and you should stay in.”
“Mom, it’s only the beginning of October! It’s not like it’s winter time yet.” Their town was at an elevation of 7,700 feet and was in a valley so it was known for the cold that settled into it. Sometimes it was the coldest place in the nation.
“I just worry,” she sighed as she brushed her hand across his bangs.
Chapter 6
Meeting Jeremiah
“Hey!” Isaiah heard a tiny voice call out from a small opening in the rocks. A little salamander stood at the opening of a cave. He had on a backwards baseball cap.
“Jeremiah! Come back in here!” The salamander’s mother came running out yelling. Her over-protectiveness reminded Isaiah of his own mother.
“It’s okay, Mama. Eagle brought them.” Jeremiah jumped up on a rock. “Would you all like to come in and see my house?” He pointed to the tiny cave below him.
Isaiah became aware that the others were in his dream again.
“How can we get into such a tiny house? We’re too big,” said Magda.
Isaiah said, “I remember from my first dream that my body wasn’t solid. Maybe we can shrink our bodies to fit.”
“Now that’s an idea I’d like to try,” George laughed, smacking his thick thigh.
Isaiah thought himself smaller and smaller. Soon he was standing beside Jeremiah, and they were the same size.
The others watched in complete amazement. They were inspired to try it.
“Wow! Look how little I am!” George shouted. He began dancing with Octopus who also had shrunk.
Soon everyone followed Jeremiah into his home. It was a simple home, filled with rocks and grasses. Isaiah felt a sense of peace here.
Jeremiah scooted across the cool, dirt floor. “I’d take you to my bedroom, but, well, it’s a mess.” His mother cleared her throat, and he shrugged at her. “Maybe next time you come I can show you my Super Sally Salamander comic book collection. Let’s sit here.”
As they settled onto rock furniture, Jeremiah said, “We’re not so different you know. I mean, we definitely look different, but we all live on this great earth together.” He looked around at
each of them. “Oh! I’m just so happy Eagle has brought you here. You’re my first human friends.”
Jeremiah’s mother passed around a tiny tray of nut-berry bars. As the others thanked her, Isaiah asked, “Has Eagle brought us to you so you can help with our problem?”
“Yes, you’ve discovered something that’s hurting fish, birds, trees, the Earth, air, water—all of us. There’s something you can do while you figure out the big solution,” Jeremiah said. “Super Sally says we have to protect the water because it supports life for everything. Actually, she’s the inspiration for my idea. She travels where most salamanders dare not go.”
“What’s your idea?” Isaiah asked.
“Follow me, and I’ll show you.” He turned to George. “You and Octopus will be super important in making this idea work because you already thought of this.”
In very little time, they were gathered inside the fence at the factory next to the stream. They were still salamander-sized.
“George, you, me and Octopus are going to dive into the water so we can swim beside the hose that’s dumping the poison. We need to pull the hose off of the barrel, and switch the valve into a closed position. That will shut off the flow. We’ll replace the hose, and hopefully, no one will notice for a while that the barrel is plugged.”
“I did think about that today! How did you know?” George asked.
“We are connected, my man,” Jeremiah said, tapping fists with him.
“Cool,” George said. “Which part do you need to me do?”
“Octopus is going to pull off the hose and hold it. All of her arms will be good in keeping it steady so it doesn’t float off downstream. You will close the valve. I want you to see up close what’s involved so that you can do it outside of dream time,” Jeremiah answered.
“Outside of dream time? You mean at lunch?” George’s voice shook. “Will I have to go into the water that’s poisoned?”
“Not tomorrow,” Jeremiah said. “Tonight you’ll see how it works up close and personal—and underwater. Don’t worry—you’ll be protected from the poison. Tomorrow you’ll have to do it all by feel since you’ll be on the bank and working upside down. And you’ll be wearing a long pair of rubber gloves that you’ll need to bring. You don’t want any of the water to get on you.”
“Oh boy,” George said.
“I’ll bring rubber gloves,” Rose said. “The cleaning service my mother uses keeps lots of new packages of them in our cupboard.”
“And I’ll help you with my extra hands,” said Octopus, wrapping several of them around George, reassuring him.
Jeremiah laughed. “George, yes, we need your hands to do the work tomorrow. That’s why you need to go into the water to see what’s what. Pay close attention and get the feel of the valve and how to close it. Now, while we swim, Octopus, you need to hold these masks in front of our faces. That will keep the poison away. And George, leave your glasses on so you can see.”
“What do you need us to do up here?” asked Isaiah.
“You’re the lookouts. Usually no one’s around at night, but just in case. Stay between the barrels. Pull on the hose if someone comes.”
“Giraffe says we’re ready,” salamander-sized Rose announced from atop Giraffe, her voice tiny.
“Please be careful everyone even though we are hard to see,” Magda said. Then she added, “I just felt Panther growl. I think he agrees with me.”
“Here’s to Super Sally,” Jeremiah said as he dove into the water. George looked like he wanted to turn and run, but Octopus pulled him down into the polluted stream.
In what felt like seconds, they were back. “Thumbs up! Operation Learn to Close the Barrel accomplished. Let’s get out of here,” George whispered.
They landed outside of Jeremiah’s cave. “Thanks for showing me how to make my idea work,” George said, bumping fists with Jeremiah again.
“You have great ideas,” Rose said to George.
Isaiah noticed that George’s cheeks got a little red, but he didn’t duck his head down. Instead he smiled at Rose. “Thanks.”
“The trick will work to buy you some time while you figure out what to do. May Super Sally go with you!” Jeremiah called after them.
Chapter 7
Following Instructions
“I like choice number seven,” Magda said as they looked over the choices for their cause-effect project in language arts on Wednesday. “Popularity of Sports in the US. We could always narrow it down to soccer.”
“I would rather do number twelve on the Impact of Fashion Choices. What you wear has a lot to do with how you’re treated,” Maribel said, looking at Magda’s sweatpants.
Isaiah was stuck at three: The Causes and Effects of Divorces. And number four: Growing Up with a Single Parent. There had to be some better topics.
“Let’s skip the Effects of School Bullying since it might get one of us hurt,” George said.
Suddenly, a loud argument erupted from the back of the room. Isaiah saw Rose on her feet. “You three aren’t even trying to be serious. My grade matters to me, so we need to discuss which of these topics will work for us.”
One of the boys said, “That’s just because no one would want to date you,” and the boys in the group started laughing loudly.
Rose looked at the teacher. “Dating at a young age is not the best topic for immature seventh grade boys.”
“Maribel, they’re friends of yours. Do you think you could work with them?” Isaiah heard himself saying.
Maribel raised her hand and said, “I can keep them on task. Why don’t Rose and I trade? You guys’ll do number twelve, right?”
The teacher nodded, apparently choosing peace over her no trading rule.
Rose slid into their group, her neon yellow hair bouncing. “Told you I could get out of that asinine group. Now since I know nothing about How Happy Relationships Affect a Person, maybe we should do that one.” She pointed to eighteen. Then she crisscrossed number nineteen: The Cause and Effect of Telling Lies. “Better not do that one.”
George pulled out a piece of notebook paper. “What about number thirteen? The Cause and Effect of the Environment on Animals/Animals on the Environment? I’m sure we’d have some help from you know who.”
Magda looked up from the list. “That’s a great idea. We could each focus on our particular power animal and research all about them. That would be fun.”
“Great idea, George,” Isaiah said.
As George wrote it down, Rose said, “I’m okay if we stick to our animals. We just can’t go dragging our local birds and fish into it. At least not yet.”
At lunch, after they relived last night’s adventure with Jeremiah, Isaiah told the others what he’d learned from his mother. “During dream time, I wondered if I could have told you about the hazardous waste and if you would have remembered. I decided to wait until we were awake,” he concluded.
“We should experiment with that,” George suggested. “Anyway, now we have proof that what’s going on is really, really bad. We need to tell someone.”
“Magda said, “Hey—I heard my parents talking about the new company, but I didn’t pay that much attention. My dad’s college roommate, my Uncle Robb, is the one who bought it. He lives in Kansas City.”
“I wish my parents talked about things like that at dinner,” George said, side-tracked for a minute. “All I hear about is college sports. Basketball this. Football that. Up and coming track stars. Division Two play offs. Fifteen national championships. Eighty-nine Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships since 1911. Blah. Blah. Blah.”
“At least your parents are home to have dinner with you,”spiked Rose. “Ever since I ran off the last nanny, I’m home alone breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Isaiah wanted to say something about having two parents at dinner but didn’t. His father had moved to Denver after the divorce. Now he rarely saw him. Changing the subject, he said, “Could you believe how we were able to get so tiny last
night?”
“I wish I could do that in awake time,” George sighed. “I’d never get called fat again.”
Isaiah changed the subject again, “We’d better get going on Operation Close the Valve so we don’t run out of time.”
Rose pulled a paper from her pocket. She unfolded it. “I made this drawing from what you described last night in the dream, George. It’s upside down to help you.”
They looked at the detailed drawing done in black ink.
“This is beautiful, Rose,” Magda said.
Rose shifted from foot to foot as if unused to compliments. “My parents are architects,” she said as if that explained it. “Maybe you can follow this, George, and it’ll help. Oh—and here are the gloves.”
“Wow, this drawing will help a lot,” George said. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before.” He tucked the drawing and the gloves into his backpack.
The four of them moved quietly to the fence by the gate. Isaiah reviewed the plan they’d practiced in dream time.
“George and Jeremiah came up with a good plan,” Magda kicked at the yellow leaves covering the ground.
“Thanks again for the drawing, Rose,” George said.
They went through the gate and looked to be sure there was no one around. Then, for the second day in a row, they ran between discarded machinery and large barrels across the compound toward the stream. There were no men outside smoking this time.
Eagle swooped down to join them when they got to the barrels.
George was shaking as he bent beside the barrel draining poison into the water. He pulled on the rubber gloves. “Ro-ro-rose,” he said quietly, “can you hold the picture for me about here.” He signaled eye level from his knees. Rose knelt beside him with the drawing.
“Magda and I’ll be lookouts here,” Isaiah whispered, squatting between the two barrels, Magda beside him. “We’ll pull on the hose if we see anything.” He patted George on the arm. “You can do it,” he said.
George put his hand into the stream, and the others saw a shiver run up his arm. “Cold! Even with gloves,” he whispered.
The Hidden Worlds Page 3