by Donna Cain
“Hey, Bro. What’s happening?” He said as he opened the door to see Eli standing there.
“I’m giving Brody a bath. Come out here, I wanna tell you about something.” Eli replied soberly.
“Sure. Give me a sec to finish and I’ll be right out,” Hunter replied.
By the time he was lathering Brody’s fur, Hunter came bounding down the side steps and crossed the two driveways to where the Red Tomato was parked. Hunter glanced across the street to see Clara Stagg waving. Feeling awkward, he nodded his head then leaned against the car. Chomping on an apple, he said, “Okay, KemoSabe, the wise one is here. Lay it on me.”
Eli didn’t know exactly how to start telling Hunter about what had happened. He really didn’t know himself. He was about to say forget about it and talk about something else when he noticed he was holding a huge ball of wet hair in his lathered hand. He looked down and saw more clumps of fur on the wet driveway beneath Brody. Hunter followed his gaze and his eyes narrowed. He looked at his friends face and, for the first time, noticed that Eli looked really worried. And something else – afraid? Yeah, that’s it. Eli looked scared.
“I think you better let me in on what’s happening with you,” he said as he moved closer to where his friend was rinsing the dog. More and more fur was coming off of Brody as Eli washed the soap out of the dog’s coat.
Eli started at the beginning. He told Hunter about coming home after school and the door being open. He told him about running through the woods to find the dog and about feeling hot, sweaty and headachy. He told him about the clearing and the bulldozer. Then he told him about the dog’s reaction and its foaming jaws as Brody came charging back past Eli. He told Hunter about frantically running through the woods until he was home again. He even told him that he felt afraid in the woods – afraid of something behind him, but not knowing what it was. He ended his story recounting how he had found Brody under his bed and how long it had taken him to coax the dog out.
Hunter listened quietly. At first he thought his friend was overreacting, but then he looked down at the fur blowing away in the wind and realized that something had happened.
“Something happened,” he thought. “But what? Eli didn’t actually see anything. He didn’t hear anything. He didn’t even smell anything like a fire. What could have gotten him so bugged out?”
When Eli was finished, they both were quiet for a moment. Eli had finished rinsing Brody and had used the towel to dry him while he told Hunter his tale. The dog, clean but with somewhat less fur, sat quietly between the boys. He seemed a little better, so they led him into the house and settled him into his dog bed.
“Well, I think there’s only one thing for us to do,” Hunter said.
“What’s that?” Eli asked.
“We’ve got to go back to where you and Brody were. Well, more like where Brody was, by that bulldozer. The fact that you didn’t see, hear or smell anything is really weird to me. There must have been something that spooked Brody. We need to find out what that was. We have to go back and really look around.”
“I don’t know, Hunter. I mean, I doubt I could even get Brody to go into the woods anymore. And honestly, I don’t know if I want to go back either.” Eli felt a little ashamed, but the fear was still there, and if he couldn’t tell Hunter, who else could he talk to?
“Listen,” Hunter replied, “we don’t even need Brody. He might even be a distraction. We’ll just go in real quiet and listen for signs of anything weird. When we get to the dozer, if everything is still cool, I’ll just go closer till I can see what’s what. I promise if there’s anything that looks off, we’re out of there. Deal?”
Eli was reluctant, but still a little curious to know what had happened. “Okay. But really, Hunter, if any little thing is fishy, we’re out, okay?”
“No worries, Bro. I got you covered,” Hunter replied and clapped his best friend on the back. “Let’s go out the back and leave Brody home.”
They decided to be prepared for anything, so Hunter grabbed a Swiss Army knife and a flashlight. He threw them into a light backpack along with a couple bottles of water. At the last minute, Eli grabbed a garden spade to add to the pack. The boys headed out the side door.
Crossing the street to the Miller’s house, Eli got a butterfly in his stomach. He had never in his life been afraid of the woods. He had played in them his whole life, ever since his mother had deemed him old enough to go in with Hunter. It felt strange for him to feel such trepidation about entering them.
They passed through the rough undergrowth at the edge and plunged into the shadowed world beyond. Nothing looked unusual or out of the ordinary. The leaves blanketed the ground, and a rough path was stretched out before them. All of the kids in the neighborhood played in the woods, especially the part closest to the houses. It was empty now, though. The trails were vacant, just as they had been earlier that afternoon.
Continuing down the rough path, they saw squirrels, chipmunks and birds galore. The smaller wildlife in the woods was abundant as evidenced by the fat cats in the neighborhood. They usually didn’t see any of the bigger animals, maybe a deer once in a while, but nothing more than that.
The path ended causing the boys to make their way past tree stumps and clumps of rocks and branches while heading in the general direction of the clearing. Eli was feeling a little better since they were well into the woods, and they hadn’t encountered anything out of the ordinary.
A few more yards in, Hunter stopped and turned slowly around to face Eli. “Do you hear that?” He whispered.
Eli stopped abruptly. “No. What?” The only thing he could hear was his heart beating.
“Nothing,” replied Hunter, “nothing at all. Why aren’t the birds chirping? When’s the last time you heard something running around in the leaves or the trees? I haven’t heard anything at all for the last few minutes.”
Eli had noticed that it was quiet, but the strangeness of it hadn’t occurred to him until Hunter pointed it out. A cold sweat broke out on Eli’s brow. That in itself was weird because he felt extremely hot again, and another headache was coming on.
“Let’s just keep going and get a little closer. My stomach’s starting to act up a little. Probably nerves,” Hunter whispered and started moving again.
A few minutes and yards later, they were close to the clearing. They could see where the shadowy woods ended in a bright sky. Both boys were sweating now, but neither wanted to turn back. They had come that far, and they wanted to keep going. Hunter got the bottles of water out of the pack and handed one to Eli.
“What do you think about skirting the edge of the woods over to where the dozer is?” Hunter asked. “I kinda think we should stay as hidden as possible until we see what’s what. Plus, if it’s this hot in here, it must be really hot out there.” He poked his finger in the direction of the clearing.
“That’s a good idea,” said Eli. “I like the idea of having some cover.”
Still sweating, the boys started to make their way along the edge of the woods. They had both sucked down their water bottles and put the empties back in the pack. They were halfway around the curve where the bulldozer sat when Eli saw a glimmer.
“What’s that? Can you see it in front of the Cat?” Eli said, not realizing he was whispering.
“Yeah, that shiny thing? Can’t tell what it is. The glare is too big. Let’s get closer.” Hunter had seen it earlier but didn’t want Eli to become anxious, so he had kept it to himself.
“You know,” said Hunter, “Mr. Jackson works out here on one of those big Cats. I’ve heard Mrs. Jackson tease him about driving to work when he could just clear a path to their back yard. You don’t suppose that’s his rig, do you?”
“I don’t know,” replied Eli. “I’m sure there are other people who work out here, too. He can’t be the only one.” An uncomfortable feeling had come over Eli when he realized that it could be Mr. Jackson’s bulldozer. Eli had always liked Claymont Jackson. He was one of the g
rownups that actually played with the kids at the neighborhood parties. They would all be playing ball, and Mr. Jackson would leave a crowd of adults talking and run over to snatch the football then start running for the imaginary goal. He had always come to the Shazaam Brothers shows, too. He was one of the only parents beside his own and Hunter’s to ever show up. Eli remembered him trying to buy a ticket and telling them to think of the money as an “investment”. Eli really liked Mr. Jackson; he knew Hunter did too.
They were almost at the front of the cab. Still relatively far away inside the woods, they couldn’t see inside, but it was turned off, and it looked to be empty. They were getting used to the quiet now and weren’t as jumpy, so they continued to where the glare was coming from. As they got closer, Hunter could see that it was coming from a box – a steel box, half buried in the ground. It looked like the bulldozer had been digging it up along with the trees surrounding it. He got a few feet from it, with Eli close behind. Then, without warning, Hunter bent at the waist and vomited. Out came the bottle of water along with the apple chunks and half-digested cereal he had eaten earlier. Violent spasms racked his body until there was nothing left to empty.
Eli watched wide-eyed as his friend emptied his stomach. Hunter had not even said he was sick. It happened so fast! Eli’s head was pounding, but he didn’t feel nauseated. He stepped over to Hunter and relieved him of the pack on his friend’s back. Hunter stumbled sideways and sat heavily down on the wooded floor.
“Whoa, Dude! Where’d that come from?” Eli asked his friend, still startled.
Hunter looked up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His head was spinning, but he felt a little better. “Man, I don’t know! It was like all of a sudden without warning, you know?”
“You okay now? We can sit down for a minute.” Eli’s head was beginning to pound; he thought they both could use a break.
“Naw, I’m good.” Hunter rose shakily to his feet. “A little hot and kinda woozy but good. Let’s see what that thing is.” He stumbled over to the clump of trees and stooped down to look at the box. It looked like a work box or some kind of tool box, except that it had a bunch of chains with padlocks around it – at least five of them from what Hunter could see. “Whoa! This looks like some kinda secret treasure! This is a job for Shazaam Brothers!” Hunter said with a flourish that he didn’t quite feel.
“I don’t know. Maybe it belongs to the construction crew or something. We should leave it here.” Eli’s head was beginning to affect his mood.
“No way, Eli, this thing is half buried. It doesn’t belong to the guys working on this site. If it did, they’d have it in the rig with them. Don’t cha want to see what’s in there?” Hunter asked. “Who knows how long it’s been buried?” He leaned over and spit out more stomach acid. “Why do people bury things, Eli? To hide them because they’re valuable and they don’t want them to be found. But we found it. Shazaam!” He turned his head to spit again.
Despite Eli’s anxious feeling, he was being sucked into everything that Hunter was saying. What if he was right? Eli’s curiosity was getting the better of him. He looked at the box and said, “It is kinda cool. Makes you wonder why it would have to be locked up like that. Maybe it’s money.” Eli quickly forgot his headache and the fear that initially brought them both out there in the first place. This was a job for Shazaam Brothers, and they both knew it.
Hunter motioned for the pack, and Eli handed it over. He pulled the spade out and started to dig around the buried part of the box. They had to switch off digging a couple of times for Hunter to puke some more, or try to puke, but the digging went quickly. Soon the box was loose enough to be pulled from its grave. Eli reached in and tugged on the box until the remaining earth released it. As he pulled the box to his chest he felt a slight rumble in the ground below his feet.
“Do we have anything to cut these chains with?” Hunter asked as they sat looking it over.
“Sure, we got those wire cutters with that tool kit for Christmas two years ago. That’ll work. If not, we can use a crowbar and our vice to pry apart one of the links. Nothing Shazaam can’t handle!” Eli was pumped now. He was glad that they had returned to the woods. Nothing out there was scary. Although neither of them felt great, Eli’s head really hurt, and Hunter couldn’t stop dry heaving.
They decided to start back with the box. As they were leaving, Hunter turned back toward the bulldozer.
“You know,” he said, “maybe we should take a look inside the cab. Just to make sure it’s empty. I mean, it looks like it from here, but we might as well check.”
“Fine by me, Pukey,” Eli said. “Think you can handle climbing up there?” He shifted the heavy box to his left hand and reached for the backpack with his right.
“Yeah, I’m feeling a little better anyway,” Hunter replied.
Hunter handed off the pack and started toward the Cat. Eli followed and stopped a little distance away. He squinted into the setting sun to see if he could make out anything inside the cab. From his vantage point, there were only shadows within the cab of the Caterpillar. It looked empty.
Hunter climbed up two steps of the rig and had just come even with the window of the cab when movement caught his eye. He looked to the left along the edge of the woods and said to Eli, “We’ve got company.”
CHAPTER 10
Hunter, Eli & Bug
Bug was standing at the edge of the clearing. She was thinking what a super dumb idea it had been to follow the boys into the woods. She knew she should have stayed at home after Shasta dropped her off, but she had been curious about the boys going into the woods with a backpack. She had wanted to follow them to see what they were up to, but she also wanted to pop out at just the right time and scare them. That would have been super funny!
Now she was hot, dirty and had a headache. Her dark hair was stuck to her head with sweat and her stomach was growling. She just wanted to go home, but she didn’t want to go by herself, that was the problem.
Getting there was kind of an adventure. She had heard the boys up ahead most of the way. They couldn’t hear her, though. Her featherweight frame barely disturbed the ground as she walked. Then, almost at once, everything had gone quiet. No animal’s scurrying, no boy’s voices, no leaves crunching underfoot up ahead, nothing. That was creepy. Then the headache had started. She had been on the lookout for those migraine headaches ever since she had read in a national health magazine that females are three times more likely to suffer from them than males. She was on the lookout for a few other maladies as well. Never can be too careful. Knowledge is power.
When she had made it to the clearing, she didn’t see Hunter or Eli, and she became nervous. She expected them to be there doing whatever it was that brought them out in the first place. It never occurred to her that she wouldn’t be able to find them. Alone and feeling sick, she had sat down on a fallen tree to rub her temples and cool down some. Wow! It’s super hot out here! While she sat, she saw the boys emerge from the other side of the clearing by a big bulldozer. Relief flooded over her with the knowledge that she had an escort home. She watched as Hunter jumped up to the side of the dozer and started to climb up to the driver’s door. Then he suddenly turned and looked right at her. He said something to Eli who turned and looked at her, too. They talked back and forth until Eli got up and started walking over to where she sat. He was carrying a big silver box. Did they have that with them when they started out? No, she remembered, just the backpack that Hunter was wearing. She was sure she would have noticed it because it was super shiny.
She looked back at Hunter who was climbing back up the side of the Caterpillar.
“We’ve got company,” Hunter said to Eli from atop the Caterpillar.
“What? Who?” Eli looked around and saw Bug sitting on the other side of the clearing. “Damn! What’s she doing here?”
“Don’t know,” replied Hunter climbing down from the rig. “But I do know she’s going to ask a lot of questions about that
thing.” He nodded toward the box.
“That’s no big deal,” said Eli. “I’ll go talk to her and if she asks, I’ll tell her it’s our tool box. That we came out here to do experiments or something.”
“Right. A tool box covered with chains and locks. She’ll catch on to that lie before it’s all the way out of your mouth. Just tell her to mind her own business.” He started to crawl up the side of the rig again. “I’ll be over as soon as I check inside this thing.” Hunter bent over once again to spit out more stomach acid.
Eli turned, taking the silver box with him, and walked toward Bug. He was feeling grumpy because his headache was worse than ever and he was getting tired of being in the woods. “Great,” he grumbled to himself, “now I get to deal with a precocious twelve year old.” He felt like this was all taking too much time. It was getting late and he still wanted to make it to the game.
Hunter went back to the task at hand and started to climb up to the cab of the Cat once again. He was sure it was empty, but he felt the need to look before they left. His stomach pain was subsiding a little now as he made it to the driver’s side and peered into the dirty window.
His heart stopped and then started racing. His breath caught in his chest as he struggled to suck in air, finally succeeding with a great, gasping gulp.
The cab wasn’t empty. It wasn’t empty at all. Mr. Jackson was in there. At least Hunter thought it was Mr. Jackson. A man who once may have looked like Claymont Jackson was in the cab. He was covered in blood. It was coming from his ears, his nose, even his eyes had drops of blood under them. His head was drooped forward with his chin resting on his chest. The blood had run from his head and face to cover the shirt and pants worn on his slumped body. His hands were resting quite naturally in his lap – a cell phone in one. If it weren’t for all of the blood and the way his face was swollen, he could have been taking a nap.
Hunter noticed a few flies stuck in the blood around Mr. Jackson’s nose and felt sick to his stomach again. He imagined smelling the metallic odor of blood through the window. Suddenly, his body reacted. He turned and jumped the long distance from the cab to the ground and immediately started to dry heave. The contents of his stomach were long since history, but the convulsing waves were incredibly painful. He doubled over and his knees buckled, making him fall.