Alexis

by Erica Rodgers

  McKenzie grabbed Alex’s bag and led her around the side of the shop. The building was longer than Alexis had expected it to be. They went around the back corner, and McKenzie led her through a door and into a bright kitchen. The stove and refrigerator looked like they were fifty years old, but they were still shiny white and chrome. In fact, the whole kitchen looked like it had been pulled out of the 1950s or ‘60s.

  One statue on an old shelf caught her eye. It was shaped like a human, but something about it looked shaggy. It looked like it had long hair all over, and it was slouching forward, like some kind of big monkey or werewolf.

  Alexis turned around. A young woman was standing at a wooden kitchen table. She was piling sandwiches onto a huge platter.

  “You must be Alexis!” she said, flinging the leftover turkey and cheese slices onto the table. “I’m Kellie Sanderson. This is my house.”

  Alexis shook the woman’s hand.

  “Your house? But I thought it was a shop,” said Alexis. Ms. Sanderson motioned for the girls to sit at the table. She poured them both tall glasses of water and then sat down too, reaching for the tower of sandwiches.

  “It’s a shop too,” said Ms. Sanderson. She pointed toward the front of the building. “The shop is in the front room. This back here and the upstairs are my living quarters. I love it. It definitely makes for a short commute between home and work!”

  The girls laughed, and soon they were eating and chatting away.

  “So Alexis,” said Kellie, “you do documentaries? Is it a hobby?”

  “I guess you could call it that,” said Alexis. “I did one in Lake Tahoe for a contest. It was about an animal refuge. One of our local TV stations saw it and really liked it. They have a show called A Kid’s Eye View. They asked me to be their nature correspondent. That means I do special stories that have to do with nature. A story on St. Helens will be perfect! Thanks for letting me come, Ms. Sanderson.”

  “Please! Call me Kellie,” Ms. Sanderson insisted. “I feel like I’m only old enough to be your big sister; not old enough to be called Ms.”

  “Are you sure?” Alex asked.

  “Yes!” said Kellie. “And I’m glad to have you here. It’s nice to have visitors.”

  While the girls ate, Kellie told them all about the mountain. The last time it had erupted was in 1980. The eruption had been so huge that the ash it had blown into the sky had drifted over five states.

  “My mom remembers it,” said McKenzie. “She said the ash fell in Montana like gray snow for days. They had inches of it.”

  Alexis’s glass of water began vibrating on the table. She stared at it for a moment before Kellie spoke.

  “Oh no, not again,” she said. She stood up and grabbed a few of the closest breakables just as the rumbling got worse. Alexis could feel her feet vibrating on the floor.

  “An earthquake?” asked Alexis.

  “Yep,” said Kellie. “They’ve been happening more often. It always happens when a mountain is thinking about erupting. I think it’s how God lets us know to get out of the way.”

  “Aren’t we supposed to get under the door jamb or the table or something?” asked Alexis. She had been in earthquakes before, but they always made her nervous.

  “Usually,” said Kellie. “But these have been happening four or five times a day, and they are really small—just rumbling, really.”

  “The earthquakes are what first started worrying the scientists,” said McKenzie. Alexis was going to ask why they were so worried, when someone else walked into the kitchen through the back door. It was a young man about Kellie’s age. He had long, shaggy blond hair and dark brown eyes.

  The man stopped in the doorway for a minute until the small earthquake passed. Then he plopped down at the table with them and grabbed three sandwiches off the platter.

  “Another new friend?” he asked, pointing to Alexis.

  “This is McKenzie’s friend, Alexis,” said Kellie. “Alexis, this is Chad Smith. He is my right-hand man around here and helps me run the shop. In fact, he’s usually the one who really knows what’s going on and the man with a plan who makes this whole enterprise work.”

  “Okay, what are you buttering me up for?” Chad said with a grin, looking at Kellie. “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”

  Then Chad turned back to the girls and saluted Alexis like a lazy soldier. He grinned again.

  “Good to meet you,” he said. Alexis noticed he was a little out of breath. Sweat was beading on his forehead too.

  “Run a race to get here?” Alexis teased. Chad Smith wiped his forehead with a napkin and laughed.

  “Nope,” he said. “I’m just hot-natured. I’ve been hiking this morning.”

  “Ooh, be careful out there, Mr. Smith!” squealed McKenzie. “Didn’t you see the paper this morning?”

  “I hate to tell you this, girls, but I suspect Chad would rather be called by his first name too. We don’t have much formality up here on the mountain—not even between adults and kids.”

  “Except for teachers,” Chad said. “I was twenty-three before I knew teachers even had first names.”

  “No way!” Alexis said.

  “Seriously!” Chad responded. “But Ms. Sanderson’s right. Please call me Chad.”

  He turned to McKenzie. “Okay, what were you saying?” he asked. “What should I be careful about?”

  McKenzie pointed to a folded paper that was half-hidden beneath the plate of sandwiches. Alexis saw that the main headline was a story about a missing hiker.

  “We have way too many hikers get lost up here. You know that, Chad….”

  McKenzie heard Kellie begin to lecture Chad about taking a hiking buddy when he went into the forest, but then a different article in the paper caught her eye. Well, really it was the picture. The black-and-white photo was of what looked to be a furry animal. The headline read ANOTHER SIGHTING NEAR ST. HELENS.

  “Have you guys had a problem with bears lately?” Alexis asked when the others had gone back to their lunches. “My taxi almost hit one coming up the mountain.”

  “Bears?” asked Chad.

  “Yeah,” said Alexis. She pointed to the paper. “It says here there was another sighting.”

  “Oh that?” said Kellie. “Look real close, Alexis, honey. That’s no bear. That’s Bigfoot.”

  Slipping Up

  “Bigfoot?” said Alexis. “Right. Are you going to tell me to watch out for Care Bears and My Little Ponies too?”

  Alexis started to chuckle, but then she looked around the table. No one else was laughing.

  “What? You can’t be serious,” she said.

  Chad grinned.

  “Kellie’s dead serious,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of different people reporting Bigfoot sightings this spring. Everyone from family campers to forest rangers have seen something big and human-like walking through the forest.”

  “But couldn’t it be a bear?” asked Alexis.

  “Bears don’t walk around on their hind legs very often, Alexis,” said Kellie. A smile spread across her face. “This is the most we’ve ever seen of a Sasquatch. That’s Bigfoot’s native name. It means ‘wild men.’ For a long time he’s been a legend for scary stories around the campfire, but I really think he’s a species of animal. And I think we’re close to pinpointing and discovering exactly what he is. He must be getting used to people.”

  The smile on Kellie’s face was contagious. Alex’s mind began racing. Could this be true? Could there really be a Bigfoot walking around St. Helens? If so, maybe the mountain wasn’t the only story for her to cover while she was here.

  The first statue caught Alexis’s eye again. Now she understood. It wasn’t a shaggy human or a werewolf—it was Bigfoot. Alexis turned to look over her shoulder. A short walkway led to the front of the cabin and the shop. Now Alexis could see that the shop’s shelves were full of similar statues.

  “You want to take a look?” asked Kate, noticing Alex’s interest in the shop.
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  “Sure!” said Alexis. She and McKenzie helped clear the table. Then the group went into the shop. Chad walked to the front door and flipped over a sign so people would know the shop was open.

  Alexis was amazed. She had never seen such amazing artwork before. Everywhere she turned, she saw beautiful figures that Kellie had molded from the gray clay. So many of them resembled the Bigfoot in the kitchen. Even though none of them had detailed faces, Alexis could see emotion in every statue.

  “Each one is handmade,” Kellie explained. “Even though a lot of them may look similar, they’re all unique. None are from molds.”

  “You know what?” Alexis said, turning to Kellie. “They all seem a little sad.”

  Alexis thought her words might offend Kellie. Instead, Kellie smiled and nodded her head.

  “You’re very observant, Alexis,” she said. “I don’t know why, but every time I sculpt Bigfoot, I seem to create him that way. I think it’s because that’s how I think of him.”

  “Why do you think he’s sad?” asked McKenzie.

  “Well, every time he’s spotted, he’s always alone. Plus, I’ve heard him calling at night a few times. He sounds like he’s looking for something.”

  “What does he sound like?” McKenzie said to Kellie.

  “I don’t know how to describe it. Not quite like a dog. Not quite like a wolf. It almost has a bit of a human sound to it. Like it has a soul that’s in a bit of anguish.”

  “You think he might be lonely?” asked Alexis.

  “I know he is,” said Chad. Alexis turned and saw him staring out the front window. He seemed to be talking under his breath and not really to them, so Alexis asked Kellie another question.

  “This clay is a strange color,” she said. “I’ve never seen this color of gray in pottery before.”

  “That’s because you’ve never been to St. Helens before,” said Kellie. McKenzie picked up a small statue and showed Alexis the bottom of it. It read MADE BY KELLIE SANDERSON FROM THE ASH OF MOUNT ST. HELENS.

  “It’s ash!” said Alexis.

  “Yep!” said McKenzie. “Isn’t that cool? Everything Kellie makes comes from the mountain.”

  McKenzie reached out to grab Alexis as another tremor rocked the shop. The statues around them wobbled dangerously.

  “I really should put everything in bubble wrap or do something to secure it better,” said Kellie. She looked at the girls and said, “If you guys want to see the mountain, you’d better go soon. If these tremors get any worse, they’ll probably shut down the visitors’ center—maybe the road too. You won’t get any video footage of the mountain if they shut you out!”

  Chad wandered back to the group.

  “She’s right,” he said. “I’ll drive you up if you want. I have a friend up there I want you to meet. He’s a scientist from the university, Alexis. I know he’d love to help with your project.”

  “That’s great!” said Alexis.

  “You might want to change your shoes first, though.”

  “What’s wrong with my shoes?” Alexis looked down at her old Converse high-tops. She had brought them because she didn’t care if they got yucky. She figured they’d be good for tromping around on the mountain.

  “They don’t look like they have much traction,” Chad explained. “Hiking boots are best around here. But if you just stay on the trails, you should be okay,” he added. “I’ll get the truck.”

  A short time later, McKenzie and Alexis were climbing out of the truck and crossing a large, circular parking lot. To the right was a building with a sign welcoming visitors. Tourists were streaming in and out, reading information about the mountain and buying souvenirs.

  Chad didn’t take them inside. Instead he led them to the left. They approached a low rock wall that overlooked a slope, a small valley, and then…the mountain.

  “Wow!” said Alexis. “It’s huge!”

  The lookout was pretty high up, so Alexis was looking almost straight across at Mount St. Helens. It was still a large mountain, a beautiful grayish color. It had snow at the very top. But Kellie had warned her that even the summer could be very chilly in the Northwest. Sometimes, Kellie had told them, the roads to the mountain weren’t even open this time of the year because of the snow. But this year had been a dry, warm year.

  The thing that made Mount St. Helens different from any mountain she’d ever seen was the crater. The 1980 eruption had blown a giant hole in the mountain’s top and side. It didn’t sit right on top, like the many cartoon volcanoes Alexis had seen. Instead, it was crooked, like someone had taken a bite out of the side of the mountain.

  “It looks like a big bowl,” said McKenzie.

  “A big, snowy bowl,” said Alexis. “I didn’t know the crater was so big. It looks like half the mountain’s gone!”

  “The 1980 eruption was huge,” said Chad from behind them. “You can see why the scientists are so worried. Speaking of scientists, come with me. I want you to meet my friend.”

  The girls followed Chad farther away from the visitors’ center. A young man with rectangle glasses and messy hair was perched on a rock. He was busy reading a small machine that beeped every few seconds in his hand.

  “Rick!” called Chad. “I have visitors!”

  The young man looked up and grinned. He jumped off the rock and was with them in two long strides. Alexis noticed a bunch of name tags and badges hanging around his neck. They all said DR. RICK PORTER, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY.

  “You’re a doctor?” Alexis exclaimed when Rick shook her hand. “But you’re so young!”

  “This is Alexis, and that’s McKenzie,” said Chad. “They’re researching the mountain for a documentary.”

  “It’s great to meet you two!” said Rick. He picked up one of his badges and laughed. “Yup, I’m a doctor. Not the kind that fixes broken bones, though. I’m the kind that studies rocks and mountains about to blow.” Rick gestured toward St. Helens.

  “So it really is going to blow up?” asked McKenzie.

  “Probably,” said Rick. He showed them the beeping machine in his hand. It had a series of numbers running across a small screen. “This is a seismometer. It measures seismic activity,” he explained.

  Alexis and McKenzie stared back at Rick. Their eyebrows had become high arches of confusion.

  “What kind of activity?” asked Alexis.

  “Seismic. That’s the fancy name for the rumbling and small earthquakes you’ve been feeling,” said Rick. “This measures how strong they are. The bigger they get, the more likely the mountain will erupt. What we don’t know is how bad it’s going to be. Is it going to burp up a little ash and seep a little lava out of a crack, or is it going to blow away its other half? We’re trying to figure that out.”

  Alexis got out her video camera.

  “Would you mind repeating that with my camera rolling?” she asked Rick.

  “Not a problem,” Rick said. After she had recorded Rick’s explanation and gotten a good shot of the mountain, she zoomed the lens on Rick’s little machine. The number on the screen was 3.3.

  “What does that number mean, Dr. Rick?” she asked, lifting the camera to his face again.

  “Oh, it means that the last little rumble was a 3.3 on the Richter scale—that’s the scale we use to measure movement in the ground, like earthquakes and stuff. It goes from 0 to 10.”

  “So a 3.3 is really tiny, huh?” asked McKenzie.

  “Yeah, just a rumble,” said Rick. “You can feel it, but it doesn’t do any damage.”

  “What’s a 10 look like?” asked Alexis.

  “No one knows,” said Rick. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “A 10 has never been recorded, but in 1960 there was a 9.5 in Chile. We’re talking total devastation over thousands of miles. It was awful. Let’s hope we never have to see a 10. I doubt we’ll see anything close to that here at St. Helens. The big eruption in 1980 was only a 5.1.”

  Rick lifted the machine closer to his face and play
ed with a few knobs.

  “But the higher the number gets, the closer we get to the mountain erupting.”

  Alexis turned off her camera and looked around. She wanted to get some footage of the mountain before they left.

  “It was nice meeting you, Dr. Rick,” she said. “Thanks for the interview.”

  “Anytime!” Rick said. “I’ll see you girls around if you’re staying a few days.”

  Chad stayed to chat with his friend while Alexis and McKenzie explored the lookout. It really was an amazing view. If the tourists in Bigfoot sweatshirts and crazy Hawaiian shirts and hiking boots would get out of the way, she would have some great shots for her film.

  Why were they wearing Hawaiian shirts anyway? Alexis had done pretty well in geography at school, and she didn’t remember Washington State being anywhere near Hawaii. Thinking of Hawaii reminded her of the volcano. She had always thought of volcanoes as a part of history, but she never would have thought she’d be standing on the edge of one, wondering if it would blow. The thought was creepy.

  “Alexis!” called McKenzie. “Come look at this!”

  Alexis put her camera away and jogged over to a trail that led down the hill toward the mountain. McKenzie was kneeling in the dirt.

  “Look,” said McKenzie. “It’s a footprint! What kind of animal do you think made it?”

  Alexis looked where McKenzie was pointing. The print was bigger than any that Alexis had ever seen. It looked almost like a human foot, but there was something very strange about it. “It looks like a professional basketball player ran around down here without his shoes on!” said Alexis. “Those feet have to be size fourteen, at least!”

  “What if it wasn’t a human, Alex?” said McKenzie. Alexis stood up and shielded her eyes from the sun. The prints continued down the steep hill and toward a scraggly bunch of trees. They crossed a line of orange tape that the scientists and forest rangers had set up to keep tourists away from the mountain.

  Alexis stepped out to follow them.

  “Alex, Chad said to stay on the trail,” said McKenzie. “That’s steep! It’s practically a cliff!”