by Brian Toal
He spotted the milk-carton right away. The wax cardboard with its bright lettering being the only dab of colour in the entire landscape. It sat in the dirt, snuggled tight under a large rock, although the sun was now beginning to eat away at the shadow. He looked around, knowing Todd could not be far, but seeing there was nowhere to go. The rock wall rose to his left, difficult if not impossible to climb, and although the torn terrain continued on to his right, it stopped at the red flagging high above, and not yet contoured, it was almost a vertical cliff. Charlie took a few steps forward noticing the rock cleft almost directly in front of the box of worms.
“Jesus Christ...” He muttered as he dropped to his knees in front of the opening. Pressing his shoulders against the rock wall he shoved his head into the opening, cool air rushing by his face. “Todd... Chris...” He called, knowing it would be difficult to hear a response if they were far inside.
“Christ Almighty!” The last thing he needed was to have his son messing around with some future archaeological dig.
“Todd, Chris...get out of there.”
He waited for a minute hoping for some response. Then with another expletive he dropped to his side, feeling ridiculous as pushed himself forward between the granite slabs.
For a while he wasn’t sure he would be able to get out. Three times he had jumped for the ledge from which they had entered. All three times his fingers had slipped back along the smooth stone as his feet scrabbled against the rock below. Finally, he had stepped back many paces and then hurled himself upwards. Crashing against the rock, bruising one elbow so badly that tears ran down his face, but getting the other hand firmly on the ledge with the weight of his upper body holding it in place. Then kicking with his feet, forcing his brain to use the hand that lacked all sensation as his elbow screamed in nerve-burning pain, he fought his way upwards, knowing if he didn’t make it this time, he never would - until finally his hips crossed onto firm stone.
It was then he heard his father’s voice. Possibly he had been calling for some time, but in his desperation to climb the wall, he might not have heard. “Dad!” He called. “Dad, wait. Chris is in trouble.”
The tunnel was as long as before, the rock walls tight against his body, but he had traveled this route once, and so without regard to his aching arm or the condition of his jeans he pulled himself along the rock burrow. Ahead of him he could see his father’s face and shoulders, half blocking the sunlight from beyond. “Dad!” He gasped as he got closer. “Chris is trapped back there, I can’t get him out.”
“What were you guys doing in there anyway? Get your ass out here now!”
Ahead of him he saw his father move away, as his shoulders began to disappear behind the rock.
“But Dad, Chris is still back there.”
“Tell him get out here.”
“I can’t he’s stuck.”
“Christ Almighty! What do you mean stuck? He’s smaller than you. If you can get through so can he.”
“He’s not stuck like that, he’s stuck in a....” Todd paused trying to organize his thoughts into as few words as possible. Then he spoke, surprising himself as tears rolled down his face. “Dad, he’s going to die.”
ONE - SIX
Beth had finished unpacking and sorting the remaining medical supplies, as well as breaking down the boxes and placing them on the porch outside for removal to the incinerator. Then she poured herself the last cup of coffee from the coffee maker and, turning the machine off, placed the glass pot in the sink. She settled into the swivel chair behind the desk, placing her coffee cup carefully on the coaster at the side of the writing pad, then looked around the clinic. She would miss this place, when she returned to Detroit. Organizing their life in the house-trailer, helping Charlie with some of the bookkeeping tasks in the camp office, ordering the materials and stocking the infirmary had kept her busy for the entire summer. But, unlike Charlie, she had also found time to go hiking and enjoy some of the perks of being in Northern Ontario. Exploring the woods with Todd, making plaster casts of deer and wolf tracks, swimming in the lake and just relaxing under the star-filled night sky, had made the summer worthwhile. But she was looking forward to seeing her sister back in Detroit, and although she had trouble believing it, she was also looking forward to her hospital committee work, which she had given up when she came North.
Amazing, the peculiar things one misses when you don't have access to your daily life and routines, she thought. Todd had mentioned the other day he wished there was a McDonald's in the camp. Although she had told him he was much better off not having the temptation of snacking on food from fast food restaurants (there was a McDonald's only three blocks from their home), when he left, she found herself wishing for the familiar taste of that 'special sauce' and two thin hamburger patties. Yes, for all its natural appeal, she was looking forward to leaving the camp and returning to the crowded city.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the radio by her desk crackled into life. It was a frequency that was specially reserved for emergencies, but since there was a radio here and in their trailer, Charlie often used this one to let her know of his plans.
“Beth, you got a copy?” Sure enough it was Charlie, but she had known him for fifteen years and knew even before she pushed the transmit button that this was no social call.
“Go ahead, Charlie.”
“Beth we got a big problem here. Todd and Chris have been exploring an old building and according to Todd, Chris is stuck inside. Apparently, he has a piece of metal stuck in his eye - real deep.”
Beth quickly drew a notepad towards her. “How deep? Is the cornea ruptured?”
“No, it’s worse than that, apparently it has gone right into his head.”
“Oh, my God!” Beth couldn’t help herself from exclaiming. She had certainly been part of many teams that had worked on worse trauma cases at the hospital. But this was her sister’s only child. Her nephew, whom she had known since he was an hour old. But as her heart formed a picture of him in her mind, her professionalism took over. “Charlie, I need to know more, has it actually entered the cranial cavity or has it stopped at the eye?”
“I can’t tell you. I can’t even get to him. We’re going to pull a wall down so we can get him out, but I think you better be here.”
Beth had no idea what he was talking about, but didn’t care. The patient was all she was interested in. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but you’ve got to immobilise it. Get some packing around the object, whether it is shirts, rags anything. If he’s conscious hold him down and cover over both eyes. You got it?”
“I understand. How soon do you think you can get here? We’re still working on the rail-line by the lake.”
Beth thought for a moment. She knew approximately where they were. She and the boys had used that access road as a route down to their favourite fishing spot. She keyed the microphone. “Twenty minutes. I’ll bring sedatives and the proper bandages. Make sure you don’t let him move and get some packing around the object.”
“I will as soon as I get to him, and Beth...you better hurry, according to Todd he’s in real bad shape.”
For the third time that day, Todd struggled along the narrow crawlspace, this time pulling two pieces of thin pipe behind him. He had no idea what the consequences arising from his behaviour would eventually lead to. Grounding for a year, suspension from his school clubs, even a hundred whacks from a belt across his ass - no punishment would be proper atonement for what he had allowed to happen. He and Chris should never have come in here. He knew it - and he was the one responsible because he was the oldest. This was no abandoned house in the city, where the worst that could happen was to stumble across a wino or hole in the floor. He had known there was a danger. A sixth sense, warning him away, even before he had entered the narrow opening. Something hadn’t felt right. But he couldn’t have backed out, even though he was a year older, not unless Chris had felt the same thing. And now he was going back, a bundle of shirts under on
e arm and dragging, as best as he was able, two five-foot lengths of threaded, hollow pipe. Ahead of him he could see the opening, the light slightly stronger in that direction than behind him. He grabbed the ends of the pipes, awkwardly passing both of them under his body and then with all of his strength pushing them forward and over the ledge. The clang of metal against stone was deafening in the enclosed space, but his body and soul had been bruised in many other ways this long two hours and so, without pause, Todd pulled himself over the edge and dropped into the chamber below.
Then men gathered as before, the machines silent behind them as Charlie and Frank stood off to one side. As before, quiet conversations began. But this time, the topic was the same and all of them stood facing the blank wall in front of them, knowing that behind it a young boy lay dying. A huge track-hoe stood among their midst, long metal cables already attached to a hook above the bucket. Some of the men leaned against the treads or even climbed up top to sit upon the wide belt, their feet dangling in front of the drive gears below, but all of them watched the wall.
The room was exactly like Todd had left it. The laser beams of sunlight in slightly different spots, but the illumination the same. Chris lay where he had left him, his legs apart, one shoe on the floor beside him, his hand still resting on his stomach. With a noticeable wince Todd bent down beside him and looked under the hood. The machine was still working on him, the thin tube buried deep inside his head, as the whine of small motors and pumps continued from below. Carefully, slowly, not sure he wanted the answer, Todd placed his hand flat on Chris’ chest. For a long moment there was no sensation, just the smooth material of Chris’ T-shirt warmed slightly by his body beneath. Then he felt his chest rise. Just a fraction of an inch, a slight pressure against his hand, before dropping away once again.
He was alive! Todd knew that for sure. Now it was up to him to keep him alive. He threw the bundle of shirts down at his feet. There was nothing he could do with them at the present moment. It was time to get Chris, and if necessary, the whole machine out of here. He ran back across the room, scooping the two pipes off the ground and threading the ends together. Dragging them back across the room, he hoped they would be long enough. All he needed to do was indicate to the men outside where he was, then they would drill through the corners of the stone block. There was enough heavy equipment standing at the ready on the other side of the wall, to reduce this structure to paving stones, if necessary - but all they needed to do was remove one block. It just had to be the right one. With a shove Todd rammed the rod through one of the larger holes between two of the blocks.
As Beth swung the pickup around the last bend, she could see the group of men gathered around the base of a large track-hoe. Machinery and dump trucks were parked haphazardly all around them, with Charlie’s pickup off to one side. Slowing down she carefully navigated between the equipment, not sure where Chris would be, but suspecting he would be close to where the men had gathered. As she got closer to the track-hoe, she heard someone call her name and stopped the truck, as Charlie walked out from behind the treads of the machine.
“How is he doing?” She asked as she jumped from the truck.
Charlie shrugged. “Not sure yet. Todd’s gone back inside to help us get him out.”
Beth leaned back inside the pickup, pulling a large, orange First Aid Kit across the seat. Besides the standard First Aid Kit, this particular one included several medications and injectables only to be used by health professionals. “Grab a back-board.” She said as she hoisted the bag over her shoulder - referring to the long wooden boards racked in the rear of her pickup. “Based on what you told me over the radio. I’ve called in a helicopter from Cochrane. I want him strapped down on one of those when it arrives.”
Charlie stopped, his hands on the buckles securing a back-board to the truck box. “You called in a helicopter?”
“Yes, Charlie. An eye penetration falls under the Rapid Transport Criteria. I’ve got to get him to a hospital as fast as possible.”
“Christ Almighty! There’s going to be hell to pay for this. Those boys shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.”
Beth shrugged. “We’ll deal with that later. Now, where is he?”
Charlie nodded in the direction of the stone wall that rose above the men standing at its base. “Behind that.”
Beth looked along its length. “How do I get to him?”
“You can’t. Not until Todd shows us where they are.”
Suddenly the men by the wall began to shout and Charlie hurriedly worked the straps holding the back-board in place.
“Todd......drill.....corners.....stand back.” He could barely hear the words although he could feel the heavy rumble of equipment through the floor. “Todd....” It began again and he realized the words were coming from the end of the hollow pipe he had shoved through the rock face. Quickly he jumped towards it placing his ear over the end. “Todd, we’re going to drill through the mortar on each corner. You’ll have to stand back.”
Cupping his hand around the pipe he shouted back. “I hear you.”
Moments later more words resonated from the pipe’s length. “How is Chris?”
“He’s alive. He’s still breathing.”
“Good. We’re going to drill through. After we drill two holes, we’ll pass a cable through to you. Make sure it crosses behind the rock and then shove the end back to us. Got it?”
“Yes. I understand,” he shouted. Already he could hear the growl of a large engine revving up on the other side of the rock face.
“Stand back. We’re going to drill now.”
Twenty seconds later there was a shuddering roar as dust filled the room. The noise was intense. A grinding thunder, as pebbles and stone chips rained down from the ceiling above. Todd threw his hands over his head and then raced back to Chris’ side, intent on protecting him from the rain of debris.
He noticed it immediately. Chris’ position within the recessed top had changed. He now lay with one leg out straight below him, the other bent at the knee, with his sock-covered foot flat on the metal surface. Carefully he climbed up on the table beside him, trying to cover Chris’ exposed chest with his own back. Then bending his head, he looked under the cowling. The metal tube was gone and Chris’ eye was once again within its socket although blood and gore continued to ooze down the side of his face, pooling in his left ear. The claws were gone as well, retracted into the housing surrounding the metal plate at the center.
Todd moved his head closer. “Chris, can you hear me?”
With a shriek of high-speed metal against stone, the end of a two-inch diamond-bit tore through the wall, spinning stone chips and powdered rock across the room. Todd gasped as sharp splinters gashed the side of his face and arms.
There was a moment’s hesitation as the diamond-bit and a foot of metal behind it screamed in the thin air and then with a diminishing whine it was withdrawn.
“Chris, can you hear me?” Todd asked again in the sudden quiet. “Can you move?” Now that Chris was free, Todd wanted to get him away from this machine although his Dad had warned him against trying - because Chris had been impaled by the metal tube. But now the tube had been withdrawn and miraculously his eye replaced as well. Now was the time to get him out and away from this machine before it could do him any further harm.
There was another grinding roar from outside and Todd yelled above the crescendo. “Chris I’m going to pull you out of there.”
Gently he pulled on his cousin’s legs, sliding his head out from under the metal cowling. A trail of clear fluid, mixed with blood, followed Chris’ head down the table. The left side of his face was covered with it, glistening in the white light from under the hood. More blood soaked the front of his T-shirt from the deep cuts still oozing under his jawbone. He was a mess and Todd wasn’t sure if he should move him off the table until once again the room was filled with rock chips as the drill-bit spun through the wall in a different spot. Four or five new cuts ope
ned up on Chris’ face, one just under his right eye. The new blood streaking the opposite side of his face. As the sting of the rock chips ended Todd too, felt a warm trickle down his own cheeks.
“Todd....” His father’s voice was back.
Quickly he scrambled down from the table and crossed the room.
“I can hear you.” He yelled into the hole, still warm from the passage of the drill.
“We’re going to pass a cable through to you. Run it across the rock down to the lower hole we just drilled. Then pass it back to us. We need to put some pressure on the rock while we drill the next two holes.”
“Okay.”
A moment later a greasy one-inch cable slid out of the hole in front of him. When enough had been fed through to go diagonally across the rock, he began to push it back through the lower hole until suddenly it had a life of its own and Todd hurriedly pulled his hands away as the cable zipped in the top hole and out the bottom.