Willie
wiped his dirt-stained hands across the sides of his jeans and cocked his head
to the side, eyeballing his younger brother, who lagged behind. “Come on,
Leonard! Why ya gotta be such a drag all the time? We’ll never get where we’re
goin’ if we don’t hustle.”
“You’re walkin’
too fast,” Leonard sniffed. “Wait up!”
Willie didn’t
turn around. He didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow down. He lengthened his stride
and kept on going. “Quit whining, ya big baby, or next time I’ll leave ya home.”
Leonard kicked a
pebble with his shoe. It sailed across the open field, narrowly missing Willie’s
head when it whizzed by. “Don’t call me that!”
“What—a baby?”
“Yeah. Don’t.
I’m seven. Babies are…well…babies.”
“Well, that’s
what ya are, aren’t ya?” When Leonard failed to respond, Willie glanced back,
knowing exactly what he’d see when he did. Leonard’s face had turned as red as
their dad’s BMW 507—not because he was embarrassed and not because of the heat.
He was about to get angry. When that happened, Leonard’s forehead broke out in
an overabundance of dots that made him look like he had the chicken pox. “Hey,
I was just kiddin’ around, Leonard. Ya know that, right?”
“Mom said we
weren’t allowed to go past the fence, and I can’t see it anymore. We’re gonna
get in trouble, Willie. I just know it.”
“Nothing is
goin’ to happen, all right? Mom and Dad won’t find out unless one of us tells ’em.
This is our little secret. Okay?”
Willie shoved a hand inside his pocket, removed
a plastic comb, and slicked it through his sandy-brown hair. At thirteen years
old, he was practically a man. At least he liked to think so. He’d matured a
good deal faster than all of his friends. While their voices remained high-pitched
and squeaky, his was deep, like his dad’s. He didn’t look much like him though;
he looked like his idol, James Dean. A year before when James was killed in a fatal
car accident, Willie paid tribute by ditching his Chinos and collared shirts
for jeans and plain white tees. He’d even talked his mother into buying him a
leather jacket at Christmas to complete the look. At school he was ridiculed by
his male classmates. He didn’t care. None of them had a fifteen-year-old girlfriend. He did.
“How much
longer?” Leonard mumbled. “I wanna go home.”
“We will, just
as soon as I find what I’m lookin’ for.”
“Not this home,” Leonard said, “our real one. I hate it here.”
Willie hated it too.
Park City was the most boring place he’d ever visited in his life. Day after day
they sat around with nothing to do, waiting for their dad to sign the paperwork
over to a developer who had big plans for his grandfather’s land. They were
only supposed to be here for a week. It had been more than two. He didn’t know
why his dad kept going back and forth, negotiating every last detail with the
realtor, and he didn’t care either. All he wanted was to get back to Chicago,
to his own room, his friends, and most of all, blue-eyed, blond-haired Betty.
“It’s hot.”
Leonard wiped the sweat from his brow and flicked it into the air.
“We’re almost
there. Ya see it?”
“See what?”
“The hole.”
“What hole?”
Willie stopped. When
Leonard caught up, Willie placed his hands on his brother’s head, directing him
to a large, black, squarish spot on the ground several feet below.
“What is it?”
Leonard asked.
“A mine shaft.”
“A what?”
“Men used to go
down that hole, get stuff out of the ground, and sell it. Made lots of money
too, from what Dad said.” Willie tested the soft dirt in front of him and then
stepped forward, making his way to the bottom of the hill. “Ya best step where
I step, okay? I don’t need ya breakin’ a leg out here. You dig?”
Leonard nodded.
“This place
wasn’t always a ghost town,” Willie said.
Leonard
swallowed—hard. “There are…ghosts here?”
Willie reached back,
patting Leonard’s arm. “Not real ones, dipstick. A ghost town is a place people
leave behind—the buildings are still here, but not the people. Not many of
them, anyway.”
“Is that why
most of the stores in town are closed?” Leonard asked.
“Now yer gettin’
it.”
“Why’d they all
leave?”
“Hated it,
probably. Same as us.”
“Why would they
leave all that money?” Leonard asked.
“Maybe it ran
out. Maybe they got everything they could out of the ground and there wasn’t
any more left.”
“Is that why
grandpa moved here—for money?”
Willie shrugged.
“When gramps was alive, he was in charge of a whole crew of guys. Made loads of
cash and bought land with it. That’s why we’re here.” Willie reached the
opening of the mine and knelt down. “Outta sight! Leonard, check this out.”
“Is it safe? It
doesn’t look safe.”
“’Course it is.
It’s not like we’re going in. We’re just takin’ a peek. Nothin’ wrong with
that.”
Leonard bent
down next to Willie. “How far down do you think it goes?”
“I dunno. Why
don’t ya hop on in and find out?”
Willie walked
over to a rock a few feet away and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his back
pocket. He flipped one into his mouth, lit up, and took a nice, long drag.
Leonard sat on
the rock next to him. “Dad know you have those?”
Willie twisted
the sleeve on Leonard’s shirt and yanked him close. “No, and you’re not gonna
tell him either.”
“I won’t—let go!”
The two sat in
silence for the next two minutes, Willie taking occasional puffs on the
cigarette and Leonard flipping a Slinky back and forth between his hands.
Willie finished
the cigarette, stood, and flicked the butt out of his hands, smashing it into
the scorching earth with his foot until he couldn’t see it any longer. “Come
on. We’d better get back.”
Leonard hopped
off the rock. The Slinky slipped out of his hand and tumbled into the mouth of
the shaft, catching on a patch of sagebrush just inside. “My Slinky!”
“Leave it,”
Willie said. “You can get another one.”
“I don’t want
another one. I bought it with my own money. It took a whole month to save up
for it.” Before Willie could interject a second time, Leonard had bolted
forward until he was close enough to the Slinky to reach down and grab it.
“Leonard, no!”
Willie yelled. “Don’t!”
The next few
seconds moved like a Ferris wheel in slow motion. Leonard reached for the
Slinky, but it broke free of the sagebrush, sinking into the blackness. He leaned
over, gazed into the shaft. And then he made a big mistake. He tried to stand,
but the pebbly rocks beneath his feet offered no traction. He slipped,
plummeting feet first into the mine. A blood-curdling scream followed, echoing
through the shaft.
In seconds
Willie reached the opening. He squealed his brother’s name then listened, hoping
to hear even the smallest indication that his brother was still alive, but he heard
nothing. “Leonard, can ya hear me?”
Silence.
“Please Leonard,
please! Say something! Anything! Let me know yer there.”
Silence.
Tears streamed
down Willie’s cheeks, making his face feel sticky. He stood, still, unsure of
what to do next. Should he stay—try to figure out how to get down the hole? He
had no idea how deep it was. A few feet? A few hundred feet? A thousand? Did he
leave his brother all alone and go for help? What if Leonard spoke and no one
was there to hear him? He knew if he stayed, Leonard could die, if he wasn’t
dead already. A wave of guilt rushed over him.
Oh please, let him still be alive—please!
Five minutes
ago, he’d have given anything to stop Leonard from asking any more questions,
but now he’d give his own life just to hear his brother’s tiny, angelic voice
again.
Don’t just stand here doing nothing,
Willie. Think! What would Dad do?
He bent down and
cupped his hands around both sides of his mouth. “Leonard, if ya can hear me,
I’m goin’ to get Mom and Dad. I’ll be right back. I promise. I’m so…I’m so
sorry. Ya hear me? I’m sorry…”
Willie sprinted toward
his grandfather’s house, his limbs experiencing an increasing burning sensation
with every step. His entire body could burst into flames for all he cared—he’d
risk anything to save his brother’s life.
