Scorched

by Theresa Shaver

  “Throw it.”

  I look at the rock in his hand and then back to the smooth angled rock mound ahead of us and swallow down the hope that’s starting to build in my chest. I shake my head.

  “You do it. You throw it.” I say in the quietest voice.

  He studies my face for a few seconds and then nods. He whips his arm back and lets the rock fly. We all stand there until Glo starts giggling because instead of the hard thwack of rock meeting rock that should have happened when it connected, it made no sound at all. It just bounced right off. She’s laughing as she launches herself at the rock and runs right into it. I can see the rock that’s not a rock give when her weight hits it but then I can’t see anything else as decades of sand and dust come billowing off of it into a giant cloud.

  The three of us quickly retreat to halfway down the valley and wait for the dust cloud to settle.

  “The house is under there, isn’t it?” Glo asks while we wait. I nod my head that yes, I think it’s there. “Does that mean the waterfall is hiding too?”

  I open my mouth to tell her no, that the water has dried up here like everywhere else but stop and turn to Beck with a raised eyebrow. I’ve been wrong about everything else so...

  He looks down at the wall where the water trickles and cocks his head before answering.

  “You know, being a miner means that you need to know a lot about rock. You have to know how to drill into it and shore it up with supports or how to safely blow it up. He found a way to hide the house so no one would find it but the biggest draw to this valley would have been the water so I’m going to bet that he figured out a way to plug it up. I’m going to bet that it’s there waiting and we’re going to find a way to get it flowing again.” He throws an arm around each of our shoulders. “Come on, the dust is settling. Let’s go uncover our new home!”

  Epilogue

  I finish tidying up our dinner dishes and grab the broom to sweep the floor under the kitchen table. There’s a pretty rug underneath it but it makes it hard to clean up the crumbs that get on it so I end up just moving the table and pulling up the rug to take it outside and shake out. My hands still as I see the trap door that was hidden by the rug and I gently drop it to the side and get down on my knees. I smile when I think about all the tricks my grandfather has played on us and wonder what this one will be.

  I pull the ring and the door comes up easily. There’s still enough light for me to clearly see the stacked bars that fill the opening. I stare at it for a few minutes before shaking my head and closing the door. I replace the rug without bothering to shake it off and move the table back into its place.

  I’m still shaking my head with a small smile as I go out to the front porch and settle into the double rocker beside Beck. I lean my head on his shoulder and think about everything it took for us to get here. Once again, I have the same thought as before. I don’t care about gold bars, I care about life. I sigh with contentment as we sit there watching Glo dance and laugh in the mist that our gushing waterfall kicks up, happy.

  Excerpt from a private letter.

  April 3, 2031

  To my loving wife,

  I want to start this letter by apologizing to you. I should never have left for this trip until we had resolved our argument. I hate knowing that we parted with anger in our hearts. I’ve had plenty of time to think about your reasons for not wanting to relocate to the valley and I want to tell you that I understand. I understand all the reasons you’ve listed for not wanting to be so isolated with our small daughter. I want only the best for both of you but most of all I only want happiness for you.

  This will be my second to last trip into these hills and then my time as a prospector will be over. I have brought in all the materials that I will need to close up and camouflage the valley so that it will be here as a fallback option should the very worst happen. I’ve spent days hanging in a harness on the side of the valley wall while I drill into the stone to install the sluice gate that will close off the water and hopefully keep it from drying up like so many other sources have. At night, I sew the tarps together by lantern light so that I can cover the house. Hopefully, these measures will be enough to stop anyone who stumbles on the valley from entering it and discovering the preparations I’ve made for us.

  I concede to you that we will not move to the valley but the writing is on the wall as far as us losing the war and that means we will not be able to stay in California. I refuse to return north and live under the government that took over my home country and annex it to be a new nation with the northern states. Instead, we will go south! Yes, I said south. Far south down to the tip of South America. With the temperatures rising everywhere and the U.S gone from most trade pacts, the countries down there are flourishing in both economics and environments. The government of Argentina was most eager to grant us citizenship with passports when I moved the majority of our fortune to their main bank. I have stockpiled a large sum of gold bars as well as the passports we will need here in the valley and will come to retrieve them when it’s time for us to go. I do not trust the local government not to search and confiscate goods and property once they finally concede that they have lost the war.

  My sweet wife, as much as you wish to stay in our home, it just won’t be possible if we want our daughter to be safe. I must insist that you concede to my wishes just as I have conceded to yours in regards to the valley. Please, sweetheart, give it some deep thought until I’m back and we will discuss it in more detail once I’m home.

  All my love to you and our daughter,

  Lucas

  Read on for an excerpt from LAND – A Stranded Novel, book one in the Stranded series.

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  Excerpt: Land - Chapter 1

  Alex looked around at the bright, overly decorated buildings on Main St. Disneyland and gave a sigh as she pushed a golden red curl out of her green eyes.

  “This would have been a lot more fun if we could have been here when we were ten.” she said, turning to her best friend Emily.

  Emily was busy scrolling through her iPhone and didn’t even hear her. Alex was glad that they were going to have a chance to spend some time together. It seemed to her that they had hardly spoken in the last three months since Emily had started dating Mason. Growing up together on neighbouring farms in Alberta, they had been inseparable since they got on the same school bus for their first day of kindergarten. They had grown up with all the same interests and hobbies until age thirteen when Alex started to get serious about gymnastics and Emily decided swimming was her favourite. Even different sporting schedules had not deterred them from BFF status. But now at sixteen, it seemed there was finally a huge obstacle in the way of their friendship.

  Alex looked over at Mason and his group of friends standing apart from the rest of the class. As always, Mason was holding court and Lisa, the ‘‘prom queen’’ wannabe along with Mark, the ‘‘bully sidekick’’ were hanging on to the football quarterback’s every word. Alex could understand Emily’s attraction to the guy. He was tall and broad with sun-streaked brown hair that fell over his forehead in a dreamy kind of way. His eyes matched his hair, a golden brown hazel surrounded by eyelashes any girl would kill for. So yeah, standing here looking at Mason, any girl would get a flutter as long as you just looked. Within minutes of talking to the guy though, that flutter should turn to stone. Mason was one of those jocks that was all about himself and needed constant adoration. Once again, it baffled Alex as to why her best friend was dating the jerk. Both girls were on the honour roll and volunteered for extra credit. Emily having way more patience had started tutoring and that’s how the Mason thing started. After a week of tutoring Mason, Emily had started walking the halls, holding hands with him and sitting with his group at lunch. When Alex had tried talking to her about it, she had brushed Alex off, saying that she was too judgmental and
if she really knew Mason she would like him too.

  After that Emily drifted further away and rarely did anything with Alex. “I really miss her but she has changed so much.” thought Alex.

  Looking around at the rest of her class she saw some of her other friends in a group and realized that the class was divided mainly into two groups – farm and town. With another sigh, Alex thought about how Emily wasn’t really in the farm group anymore.

  Mr. Carter was trying to get the class to move closer together so he could give out the schedule for the day and wasn’t having much luck. The kids were excited and distracted by being in Disneyland. It still amazed Alex that somehow her class won this trip by having the highest test scores in the whole province. Bringing more than twenty teenagers to California seemed a little crazy to Alex even with three teachers and two parent chaperones. When she first found out about the trip, Alex didn’t really want to go. She figured it would be a bit of a gong show with some of the town kids getting out of control and she felt Disneyland was made for a much younger crowd. Surprisingly it was Emily who convinced her to come, saying it would give them a chance to reconnect and spend time together.

  Emily had said that she would really like to room together in the hotel. Alex was really happy to hear this because she had heard Lisa telling another girl that she and Em were going to room together and Alex had been jealous not to be rooming with her friend.

  Last night in the hotel, Alex and Emily stayed up late and talked about a lot of things that had happened in the last few months. They felt reconnected after not spending time together. Alex talked about her gymnastics and other things in her life and Emily confessed her confusion over Mason.

  “I don’t think I’m ready for what he wants. He suggested that this trip would be a good time for us to “take the next step” but we’ve only been dating for a few months and I’m not sure I want to go there yet.” Emily said with a frown.

  Alex was used to her friend being more assertive and sure of herself so she tried to help.

  “Just tell him how you feel and make it clear so there’s no confusion.” she advised.

  Emily grimaced, “You don’t know Mason. He doesn’t like to be told no. I’m just so glad you decided to room with me. I overheard him telling Lisa that he’d let her know what night he wanted her out of the room. I didn’t want to let that happen so thanks again for staying with me.” she smiled gratefully at Alex.

  Alex was shocked. That’s why Emily wanted her here, to run interference? After the disappointment and loneliness of the past few months without her friend, Alex was mad and blasted her friend.

  “Really Em?! That’s why you convinced me to come, so I could protect you from your bully of a boyfriend? Really? How stupid am I that I thought you missed me and wanted to spend time with me? Unbelievable! Well if that’s all you need me for, then forget it! You’re my best friend but three months ago you dumped me for a guy. A guy who you can’t even say no to, you can’t treat me like that and then expect me to just snap to it when you need help!” she turned away with frustrated tears in her eyes.

  Alex stared at the hotel’s bland wallpaper waiting for a response from Emily. When none came she whirled around ready to yell and saw her friend staring down into her lap with tears flowing down her face. All the anger left Alex and she slumped down beside her and put her arm around her shoulder. They sat like that for a while until Emily composed herself and started to quietly talk.

  “You’re right Alex. I owe you an apology. I have put Mason ahead of you and I’m so sorry. He really isn’t a bully. He’s just strong willed. I really like him. He’s so different when it’s just the two of us together. I know if you got to know him you’d see a different side of him. Please, Alex, forgive me? I didn’t just ask you to room with me to put him off. I really miss you and wanted time with you too. Please understand.”

  Alex sighed in frustration, “I can’t get to know him if we never hang out Em. I miss you, we all miss you. I promise to make the effort to get to know him better if we start spending time together again. I love you and just want my BFF back, Ok?”

  Emily brushed her tears away and threw her arms around her best friend. They spent the rest of the night gossiping and giggling.

  Alex smiled at the memory and looked around at her classmates. She found herself meeting the dark blue eyes that belonged to Cooper Morris. The amused mocking smirk on his face made Alex quickly look away. She didn’t know why Cooper always made her feel nervous but found herself often looking in his direction at school and it seemed that most times he was looking right back. Cooper had the bad boy rep at school, dressing the part with a beat up leather jacket, his black hair, dark blue eyes and a devilish grin. It seemed to Alex that it was mainly rumours, but it wasn’t like they hung out with the same people so she didn’t have a lot of firsthand knowledge about him. After Emily’s comment about Alex being judgmental, she was going to try harder to have an open mind about people.

  She kept looking around to see if they were going to be allowed to head deeper into Disney when she noticed Quinn and Josh heading in their direction. The boys were good childhood friends of Alex and Emily and had spent a lot of time while growing up together camping and hanging out at the lake, working on 4H projects. The third boy that usually completed their group was David but Alex didn’t see him nearby. She wasn’t really surprised, as David had been in love with a clueless Emily for forever and he tended to avoid her since she started dating Mason. The boys had also felt Emily’s absence in the past few months and were happy to see her and Alex had made up.

  “Hey guys! Any idea where you want to go first?” asked Quinn

  “I’m hitting Space Mountain until I feel like puking and then I plan on finding Goofy and hurling all over him!” Josh exclaimed.

  Alex groaned but had to laugh as it was so typical of Josh and his rough and crazy personality to make such a statement. Quinn punched his friend in the arm and joked, “If you change that to Mickey Mouse, then I could get on board with that plan.”

  Josh was of medium height and stocky, with a barrel chest and thick muscular arms that he had developed from the hard work he put in on his family’s farm. He had curly brown hair and brown eyes that always seemed happy. Quinn had the height and build of a football quarterback, tall and broad with his own muscles. His hair was wavy blond and he had calm blue eyes.

  Alex was watching her teacher impatiently, “Looks like Mr. Carter isn’t having much luck moving the class together and he’s going to each group and giving the schedule out.” Alex pointed out.

  “Finally! I’m ready to rock this playland.” Josh said.

  For the first time, Emily looked up from her iPhone and joined the conversation, brushing her long blond hair back impatiently.

  “Hey guys, I’ve been reading the headlines online and something weird seems to be going on.” With a worried expression, she explained, “The US government has gone to DEFCON 2 and the news is saying that that means nuclear war is the next step. CNN is saying the last time they went to that level was during the cold war.”

  “No way man! That would be just our luck. We’re like 1500 miles from home and in one of the guaranteed cities that would take a hit!” Josh joked.

  “I don’t think this is a joke,” Emily said seriously. “I think we should tell Mr. Carter about this. I’m really worried.”

  All the kids in Alex’s group turned to look for their teacher and saw him coming towards them. A few steps away and the man seemed to stagger and freeze with wide eyes. Then he swayed and finally toppled to the ground.

  To Alex, it seemed as though all sound was sucked out of the world in an instant. Then kids were screaming and yelling and racing towards their teacher. Quinn got to him first and Josh was yelling at Emily to call 911. Alex felt like her feet were glued to the ground. She was looking around Main Street Disney to see if she could spot any security or employees when the realization came to her that this situation was way bigger tha
n her fallen teacher. She could hear plenty of excited voices but nothing else. The music was gone. The sounds of rides, cars, phones ringing, all mechanical sounds were gone, even the huge water fountain in the middle of the square had stopped gushing, the water slowly draining away. At that moment, movement in the air caught her attention and she looked up unbelievingly. A huge airplane was slowly falling out of the sky. It looked like it would hit the ground a few miles away. Alex clutched Emily’s arm and pointed up at the plane, still unable to speak. Emily looked up from her dark phone and her mouth dropped open with a whimper.

  At this point, Quinn was doing CPR on Mr. Carter and looked over at Emily to see if she was calling 911. As he was about to yell at her, his gaze went up to see what the girls were looking at in terror. When the plane registered in his mind he fell back on his butt and cried out, “NO!”

  It seemed that everyone around them was now watching the falling plane. It took what felt like forever for it to finally pass below the horizon but seconds later the explosion was easy to see and hear. Emily turned away and buried her tear-streaked face against Alex’s shoulder. Alex was numb with disbelief. “We’re at Disneyland. This doesn’t happen at Disneyland!” she thought. She gently pushed Emily back and took her phone out of her hand. It was off so she tried to turn it on but nothing was working. She looked around to see if anyone else had a phone and could see lots of other students staring at cell phones that didn’t seem to be working.

  Someone close by was screaming and it felt like a drill in Alex’s ears so she tried to find the source and wasn’t that surprised to see the youngest teacher, Ms. Scott belting it out while pulling her hair on both sides of her head. Just as Alex thought she should go get her calmed down, Mrs. Moore, who was the oldest of the teachers and quite the battle axe, grabbed the younger teacher by the shoulders and gave her a quick shake with a stern “Settle down!” When that didn’t work she just gave the young teacher a slap across the face. Instant silence from the screaming was the result and Mrs. Moore shoved the shocked teacher at one of the parent chaperones and told her to get her settled down.