by Donna Cain
The cruiser was struggling on the rough road. Sheriff Buchanon could feel his tires searching for purchase in the wet rubble. He decided not to risk getting stuck and stopped the car about a hundred yards into the woods.
“That road’s pretty rough,” said Darren. “Do you think Eli’s car can make it?”
“Probably better than mine, but it gets even rougher further down. I was thinking that maybe they could borrow Shasta’s truck. I was going to mention it to Bill.”
“That’s actually a great idea,” Darren replied. “The Ranger’s a good little truck; it would take this road with no trouble. I’m sure Shasta won’t mind.”
“I think I’ll try Bill’s phone and see where they are,” said Sheriff Buchanon as he reached for his cell on the dashboard. He punched in Bill’s number and waited.
The rain was easing up; the only drops now coming from the trees above. It looked like that would be the end of the wet weather.
“Huh. It went straight to voicemail,” said the sheriff. “I guess I’ll back us out of here, and we can try him again in a bit.”
The road was too narrow to turn the cruiser around, so they navigated in reverse until they were out of the woods. Sheriff Buchanon swung the cruiser into the field next to the road and cut the engine off.
They sat there for the next hour discussing the plan. The sun had started to peek out from the clouds, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Darren was thinking about telling the sheriff about his dream. He was in the bulldozer, and it had started to fall into the hole that he had dug to bury the Rock of Varuupi. Darren had thought of the dream a lot. It made him a little uneasy. He was about to tell the sheriff about it when they heard the sound of a vehicle coming down the rocky road.
“It’s them,” Sheriff Buchanon said excitedly as he opened the door to the cruiser.
Darren followed suit and was standing beside the sheriff as they watched Bill Port’s black Blazer emerge from the tangled brushy entrance to the woods. Bill pulled the SUV over and parked by the cruiser. Both men got out. Sheriff Buchanon could tell that they were excited. That was a good sign.
“Hey!” Bill Port greeted them both with a big smile of excitement. “Sorry we’ve been out of touch, but cell reception gets a little hairy in there.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty much a dead zone past a certain point,” Mark Hamilton agreed. “But we’ve found a perfect spot for the burial.”
Sheriff Buchanon looked from one man back to the other and finally had to say, “Well, one of you start talking. What did you find?”
Bill and Mark looked at each other, and Mark said, “Go ahead, Bill. You can tell them.”
Bill said, “Okay, so we followed the dirt path past the gravel one and got in around eighteen miles or so. Then, it starts to get really narrow. It was a little tough on the Blazer, but the bulldozer and the dump truck should have no trouble. The sides are mostly saplings and feeders which can be mowed over as you go.”
The man was so excited he kept shifting his weight from one leg to another. Darren thought he looked like a little kid who needed to pee.
“After about two miles of the really narrow part of the path, it opens up quite a bit. It’s not a path anymore, though. It’s just woods, but they aren’t dense, so you can just wind your way through them. The ground evens out a lot there, too. It’s not as rough.”
Mark interjected, “We found the outbuilding. It wasn’t where it shows on the map. It’s way closer to the cliffs.” They were like two kids talking about their first day at camp.
Bill picked the story up again. “Right, and here’s the best part. Out of the four walls, only two are still standing! They’ll be easy to knock down.”
Sheriff Buchanon was confused. “And why do we want to knock them down?”
“Oh,” It was Mark again, “because the floor of the outbuilding is a slab of concrete! It’s at least four inches thick, guys!”
“Yep,” Bill said, “all we have to do is knock down the walls, lift up the concrete slab, dig the hole underneath and place the slab back on top. It’s perfect!”
Sheriff Buchanon thought about what he was hearing. “So how far into the woods are we with this outbuilding?”
Mark spoke up immediately, “Almost thirty five. That’s the best part. We’ll only be around three miles from the cliffs! No one would ever think about building anything substantial that close to the drop off. That thing’ll be buried forever.”
Sheriff Buchanon had to admit that it did sound ideal. “Nice work, guys. It doesn’t sound like we’ll find anything better.”
Darren had a thought. “So how are we going to find it tomorrow? Neither of you can be around the artifact.”
Bill motioned to his Blazer. “I plugged it into the GPS. You can take my truck.”
“Well that solves the problem of Hunter and Eli borrowing a truck. I was going to ask for Shasta’s Ranger, though,” Sheriff Buchanon said.
“That would have been fine,” replied Bill. “But this way, you have the coordinates and we already know that the Blazer can make it through.”
“Thanks, Bill,” the sheriff said. “You too, Mark. You’ve set my mind at ease. I think we might just pull this off after all.”
Don Buchanon always had a little trepidation before confronting a perpetrator or busting up a crime in progress. A little fear was healthy, it kept you on your toes. Something about this job felt different, though. The unpredictable nature of the curse had him spooked. He reminded himself that they were armed with all the facts. They had done everything possible to ensure that the plan was carried out successfully.
He looked at Darren. “First light?”
Darren nodded his head and said, “Let’s get to work.”
CHAPTER 35
Down the Gravel Path
Bug was waiting for Clara to pick her up. She was already fifteen minutes late. Bug was a little anxious because this was new to her. Shasta was never late. Shasta was always right on time or a little early.
Bug hadn’t minded having Clara fill in for Shasta at first. She had been friendly and fun. It was almost like she was trying to make up for something. Bug didn’t know what that could be, but it didn’t matter. She was glad to have someone to hang out with while Shasta was in the hospital.
Bug had gone to see Shasta the day before, too. Monday night when the fire happened, Bug was seriously freaked out, but after the meeting on Tuesday when Clara came to sit with her, she had felt much better. That was only last night, but to Bug it felt like a long time.
Her dad had made her go to school. He said it would do her good. The middle school was still in session, but the high school kids were out for the rest of the week because of the fire. The school officials had to figure out what to do without one science teacher and three large classrooms. It was a mess.
Bug had talked to herself a lot the last couple of days. She did a lot of research online, too. She looked up Smoke Inhalation Treatments, Smoke Inhalation Side Affects and Basic Driving Skills. She had decided that she needed to know how to drive, just in case of emergency. Knowledge is Power.
She looked at her watch again. Clara was now twenty-two minutes late. She decided to wait on the front stoop so she let herself out the door and locked it behind her. Never can be too careful.
Bug remembered the last time she had sat on the front stoop. A shiver went through her little body as she thought of Hansen convulsing on the ground. She wished for the hundredth time that Clara would get there. Where is she?
A car turned into the entrance of Meadowview Acres. Bug recognized it at once. Her dad had gone just that morning to scout out a site in the woods to bury the rock. Bug hopped up from the stoop and ran to the driveway.
Mark honked a greeting when he saw his daughter. She waved fiercely. She was excited to hear what had happened that morning. All of the sudden, she was glad that Clara was late.
“Hi Dad,” she greeted as she ran to hug his middle.
Hugging her back warm
ly he said, “How’s my Ladybug?”
“I’m fine, just waiting for Clara to take me to see Shasta. What happened this morning?” She could barely contain herself.
Mark knew the feeling. He and Bill had been so thrilled to have found the perfect spot that they had tripped over themselves trying to tell the sheriff and Darren. He decided not to make his daughter wait.
“Well, we found the perfect spot,” He said as she followed him through the side door to the kitchen. Loosening his tie, he put his briefcase down on the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs. Bug’s eyes were wide as she sat across from him. She was eager for news.
“It’s almost to the cliffs, so there’s no chance anyone will want to build there in the future. It’s halfway in between here and Chester and the best part is there’s already a big slab of concrete that we can use to top it off with.” He was still so proud of their discovery.
“That sounds great. So we can dig the hole and put the safe at the bottom, cover it with the gravel and sand and then put the concrete on top?” Bug was hopeful about the process.
“Yep, that’s what we’re thinking. I’m feeling pretty confident about the success of this plan.” He sat back and sighed. It had been a long day. He and Bill had started out bright and early to do the scouting, then he had come home to shower and change before going in to work for the rest of the day.
“You know, it sounds like another part of Curses of Ancient Tribes,” said Bug. “That book had the two suggestions we discussed at the meeting, but I remember reading part of another chapter that talked about entombing an object. This way, we’re kind of doing both. First we bury it then we entomb it, Super!”
A car horn honked outside. “Oops, I bet that’s Clara. I better go, Dad.” She hopped up and kissed her dad on the cheek.
“Tell Shasta hi for me. I’ll see you tonight,” Mark said. “And Bug?”
She turned at the door to see her father’s face full of concern. “What is it, Dad?” She asked.
“Nothing, just be careful, Honey.” He winked at her and then she was gone.
Clara’s Volkswagon Bug was parked behind Mr. Hamilton’s car. Bug hopped in the passenger side, as Clara turned the blaring music down.
“Okay, how late am I this time?” Clara asked good-naturedly. She didn’t mind being reprimanded by her little friend; she actually found it amusing. One thing Clara loved about Bug was that she always spoke her mind and was never concerned about what anyone thought of her. How freeing that would be. Clara was learning to let go of her “popular girl” alter ego, but it still crept up on her.
“Twenty-seven minutes,” Bug said. “That’s a new record for you and you’ve only been taking me places since yesterday.”
Clara laughed and turned the tunes up again. That was another difference between Shasta and Clara. Shasta didn’t like the radio up too loud. Bug was on Clara’s side, though. She liked car music playing loud. The girls sang to the radio all the way to the hospital.
Darren was in the room with Shasta when the girls arrived. It looked like they were having a serious discussion. Clara felt like she and Bug were interrupting, so she tried to back out of the room. The movement caught Shasta’s eye, though.
“Hey, Buggie,” She said happily. “I was hoping you could come see me today.”
“Oh, I had to go to school first, and then I had to wait for Clara to pick me up. She was twenty-seven minutes late. Hi Darren,” Bug said.
She went to the side of Shasta’s bed and stopped. Bug didn’t know if she was supposed to hug Shasta or shake her hand, so she just stood still.
Clara came further into the room and said, “Hi Shasta, Hi Darren. Is it okay if I come in?” Clara hadn’t talked to either of them since Hansen died. To them, she was still the old, popular girl Clara.
“Um, sure,” Shasta said. “Thanks for driving Bug over.” Shasta was a little confused at how her adopted sister could have ended up with Clara as a chaperone.
“Oh, it was no problem at all. I love hanging out with Buggie. But don’t worry, Shasta, I’m a poor substitute for you. You have to hurry up and get out of here so all of us can go for ice cream or something.” Clara could feel herself trying too hard. She hadn’t realized how desperate she was for a good friend. It was within her reach again, and she didn’t want to lose it.
Shasta looked at Darren for confirmation that something was weird and got it when his eyebrows rose in surprise. Luckily, Bug was oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation and diffused it without even knowing.
“Dad said that they found a perfect place for the burial this morning. It has a slab of concrete already and it’s really close to some cliffs.” Bug was still anxious about the plan being executed, but she was also excited about her dad’s success.
“That’s what Darren was just telling me. He was there with Sheriff Buchanon this morning when our Dads made it out of the woods.” She looked at Darren with a mixture of pride and worry.
“How long do you think it will take to do everything tomorrow, Darren?” Asked Clara who had moved to Bug’s side.
Darren and Sheriff Buchanon had tried to come up with that answer on the way back to the hospital that afternoon. “Sheriff Buchanon thinks if we start first thing in the morning, we’ll be finished by late afternoon.”
“It’s going to be a long day,” said Bug. “But I’m glad you’ll be finished when it’s still daylight.” Bug involuntarily shivered. Where did that come from? Super weird.
“I’m going to get going. I want to check on Mom. I have to talk to her about a couple of things.” Darren bent down and kissed Shasta gently on her cheek. He could finally do that without her wincing at the tenderness of her skin. She was getting better every day.
He looked at her straight in the eyes. “Don’t worry about me tomorrow. I promise I’ll be very careful. Get yourself home and comfortable and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Shasta’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. She was so scared about what might happen to him. They had already been through so much. Blinking them away, she tried to smile. “I’ll try. I really will. See you tomorrow.”
Darren said goodbye to the other girls and left the room. Bug saw a box of tissues and held it out to Shasta. Clara looked like she was about to cry too, though. Bug didn’t know which girl needed the tissues more, so she just held onto them.
Clara stepped closer to Shasta’s bedside. Bug was right, there were tears in her eyes. “Shasta, I’m so sorry. Not about Darren. Well, I’m sorry about Darren, but I’m more sorry about… Oh, I don’t know what to say. I’m just sorry that I’ve been so horrible the last few years. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I just want you to know that I feel really bad about everything.” She grabbed one of the tissues out of the box Bug was holding and started to dab at her eyes.
Shasta had stopped crying when Darren left, but she was really touched by Clara’s apology. “Thank you, Clara, really. That means a lot.” She didn’t know what else to say. She was still a little confused by this new Clara. She thought maybe Clara had somehow been affected by Hansen’s death.
Bug and Clara left the hospital about an hour later after chatting with Shasta about the latest Hollywood gossip. It seemed to be understood that the topic of the burial was off limits. Everyone needed a break from the constant stress.
“Are you nervous?” Hunter asked Eli.
They were sitting in the lawn chairs in back of the Massey’s house. They had just finished eating dinner when Sheriff Buchanon had shown up to give them all an update about the trail into the woods. It sounded like a great spot. Hunter and Eli were going to be driving Bill Port’s Blazer. He was going to drop it off later that night and pick up Eli’s Fusion to use tomorrow. Everything in the plan had been settled. Now all they could do was wait.
“I’m not nervous,” replied Eli. “I just want it over with. All the damage it’s caused. I mean, Mr. Jackson, Hansen and Mr. Just. That’s horrible enough. But sometimes, I ju
st can’t believe Heather’s gone.”
Hunter felt awful for his friend. He knew Eli was hurting. Hunter was too. The guilt that both of them felt was almost overwhelming.
“Eli, I feel horrible, too. But you know what my Dad said? He said that anyone in the world could have come upon that box. And ninety-nine percent of them would have done the same thing we did. It’s natural human curiosity.” Hunter had felt a little better when his dad had told him that. He wondered if it made Eli feel any better. “He also said that there was no way we ever could have imagined what was in that box. If we had imagined it, we never would have taken it out of the woods. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“It does, and I know you’re right. I just can’t stop feeling responsible. I mean, it was my stupid dog that led me out there in the first place.” Eli was rubbing his temples, as usual.
“Well if you’re going back that far, then it’s Mr. Jackson’s fault for digging it up, right?” Hunter thought he made a good point.
“I know. I’ll just be glad when it’s over tomorrow.” Eli stood up and stretched. “Do you think you can take care of switching out the cars with Mr. Port? I’m beat and my head is killing me. I just want to go to bed.”
“No problem, Buddy. I’ll handle it. Go get some rest.” Hunter reached out for the keys that Eli was handing over.
“I’ll see you first thing,” Eli said.
“First thing,” echoed Hunter.
The three of them stood in the driveway next to Bill Port’s Blazer. Lara Andrews had quiet tears running down her face as Gina Massey put her arm around her friend. Hank Massey was giving the boys last minute instructions on the Blazer’s GPS and Darren was standing with his mother. They were going to drop Darren off at the Sheriff’s Department where the bulldozer was stored. From there, they would follow Darren down Route 68 West. Sheriff Buchanon and Deputy Clay were to pick up the dump truck and rendezvous with them at the gravel road.