The Hole in the Wall (25 page)

Read The Hole in the Wall Online

Authors: Lisa Rowe Fraustino

Tags: #Technology & Engineering, #Mining, #Family, #Action & Adventure, #Environmental Science, #Mines and mineral resources, #Juvenile Fiction, #Family life, #Mysteries & Detective Stories, #General, #Supernatural, #Science, #Twins, #Fiction, #Soil pollution, #Brothers and sisters

BOOK: The Hole in the Wall
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The mined gore dirt started throbbing with those same swirling patterns we’d seen on the cuckoo wall and my tattoo, spreading out and out from where the colors landed, all the way to the fence of boulders that bordered the gore. It seemed that the colors were rushing along like water in rapids, whirling and spinning down into the earth. Down and down. The loose soil was actually sinking deep and hardening into swirls. I sure wished I could tell what was happening at the Hole in the Wall, but it was impossible to see. I felt sad about losing that place.
“Cowabunga,” a deep voice said behind us. It made me jump out of my sadness.
“Dude,” said another.
I turned to stare up at two of the biggest guys I’d ever seen who weren’t on TV wrestling. Odum’s goons had arrived. They looked more like twins than me and Barbie. Both wore gray uniforms and phone earpieces, and they both had on the pearly magic glasses. Those guys looked even more amazed than the rest of us, which gave me an idea.
“Excuse me, Sir, can I borrow your glasses for a second?”
“Sebastian!” said Grum, shaking my elbow. “Say
may
I.”
“May I?”
Goon One and Goon Two shrugged at each other. “The Chief said be nice to these folks,” Goon One said, and Goon Two replied, “What can it hurt? Let the kids have some fun.” So they handed their glasses over to me and Barbie, then turned around to talk to the voices inside their ears.
The magic glasses made the colors in the gore even more intense, like in the adrium mother lode. They also showed me something I hadn’t noticed before, a swirl of colors flying up toward Kettle Ridge like a swarm of butterflies. It was pretty incredible. I watched the adrium swarm approach until suddenly Jed let out a yelp and fell onto his back. He rolled over and clawed at the weeds that dotted the roadside, yet somehow he was sliding backward, toward the gore, his fingers scraping the ground.
“Heeellllp!” he howled.
And then I realized what was happening: the adrium inside his legs was dragging him! Like Celery and the rock had flown me! I leaned down to grab Jed’s hands and pulled as hard as I could. Ma’s arms went around my waist and she pulled on me. But the adrium was too strong for us. Jed’s hands slipped free, and I tumbled to the ground with Ma.
When I hopped back to my feet and wiped the dirt out of my eyes, Jed was belly up to the guardrail, his legs beneath it poking into the gore, with Barbie holding him by his belt. I was terrified he’d get yanked in. Why weren’t those big goons trying to help, for Pete’s sake? They were still turned around talking on their ear phones, that’s why, with their fingers in their free ears to block out all the noise.
I ran at them flailing and screaming to get their attention. When they turned and saw what was happening to Jed, they immediately lunged to the rescue. They each took an arm, dug in their heels, and held him back.
Then I leaned over the edge for a closer look at Jed’s predicament. He was so terrified, his mouth was frozen open without any scream coming out. But his legs were—amazing! Sticking straight out into the air, with colors swirling all around them! The adrium in his legs was leaving to join the swarm.
Pretty soon Jed’s screaming transformed into a goofy grin. His knees flopped and he dangled his legs over the edge, kicking his feet like he was sitting on a dock splashing in the water.
“Thanks, fellas, I think you can let go now.”
“No problem,” the goons said, and stepped back. Grum applauded. “Well done, boys.” Barbie and Ma clapped, too. I wolf whistled.
Jed pulled his legs out from under the guardrail and leaned his back against it with a deep breath. Then he grinned down at his braces. Slowly he unbuckled them and set them aside. Then he crisscrossed his legs and slowly wobbled to his feet.
Ma ran to put her arm around him. “Let’s get you away from that edge, huh?”
He took a step forward and his legs folded under him. So he was back on the ground, but still goofy grinning.
Ma smiled, too. “My baby’s learning to walk.”
I reached out to give Jed a hand. “C’mon, you big baby.” Barbie took his other hand. We yanked him up again, and this time he stood firm.
He took one step, then another. We let him go.
“How do you feel?” Ma asked.
“
So
glad I didn’t let Stan give me bionic legs,” Jed said through his grin. He just couldn’t stop grinning. He walked all the way to the SUV and sat on the bumper, rubbing his thighs. The SUV was still vibrating with Pa’s snores.
Pa!
How could he have slept through all this? After all he’d been through, he must be exhausted. But I couldn’t let him snooze away this chance to be cured like Jed! I ran to the door and slid it open.
Pa fell straight out onto the ground in a backward somersault, as if he’d been leaning hard against the door. “What the . . . ” He yelled all the usual cusses. But I didn’t care what he called me. I just cared that a bunch of colors came butter-flying out along with him. It was like they’d been waiting at the door. They circled away and disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
Pa’s eyes just about filled his face, he looked so surprised. He stopped hollering and hopped to his feet with a big smile. He did a squat and then a lunge and then started lifting me by the waist to put me on his shoulders, like he used to when I was little. Except I was almost as tall as him now, and he couldn’t lift me.
My father groaned and grimaced and put me down. Then he put his hand on the small of his back and croaked, “I’m fine, fine. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Where we gonna pitch the tent?”
Finally he looked around and realized where we were. “Oh.”
By now the music of the spheres had quieted, and the color explosion had faded. The sweet smell had lifted, leaving behind the scent of mud after a spring rain. Everything seemed almost normal.
Pa shrugged and said, “Wake me up when we get there.” He climbed back in among the garbage bags.
“Is the disaster over?” Ma asked the goons. Obviously they knew everything there was to know through their technologically advanced ears.
“Close enough for horseshoes,” said Goon One. “You folks are authorized to go home. We’ve been assigned to escort you and assure the safety of the premises before you enter.”
Ma harrumphed.
“Claire, do you want to get me my
special walking stick
?” said Grum.
That would be pretty amusing, I thought, Grum pulling a gun on the goons. But Ma put her hand on Grum’s shoulder and said, “That’s all right, Mum, I think Stan is good for his word, if nothing else.” Then she turned back toward the goons. “Gentlemen, I appreciate it, but we won’t be requiring any escorts or assurances. You’re authorized to leave us alone. Kids, give these gentlemen back their glasses and say thanks.”
Dang. I was hoping! I dug the glasses out of their hiding place in my pocket and held them out to Goon One. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Just one more thing,” he said, turning to Jed. “I’m going to have to confiscate your Little Genius.” He held out his hand. Ma’s face crinkled. “His
what
?”
“He must mean me,” I said, even though I knew he didn’t. “Odum wants me bad.”
That joke got me a groan from Barbie. Jed was groaning, too, but not for the same reason. “No! Really? Stan gave me that system for Christmas! He can’t take it back!”
“Sorry, kid. Company policy. Security clearance required. Yours has been revoked.”
“Unless, of course, you wish to return with us to the stadium,” said Goon Two.
Muttering like Pa, Jed felt around in his pockets, then pulled out the green alien bug-eye goggles. He dangled them and shook his head sadly. “What a waste of resources. I’m the only one who can even use this unit.”
“Nevertheless,” said Goon One, stepping closer. I wondered if I ought to fetch Grum her special walking stick after all. But Jed gave in. He muttered some more and dropped the goggles into the big meaty outstretched hand. The men thanked him and got into the Hummer.
“Why didn’t they make you fork over the computer?” Barbie asked. I was wondering the same thing.
“Without the headware, that’s just a fairly intelligent cell phone. If Stan wants it back, he can call me.”
Smiling at that, we loaded into our vehicles to leave. “This time, I’ll follow you,” Ma said to Jed.
He had just turned the ignition when headlights cropped the ridge. A shiny black pickup truck was coming our way. “That’s Stan!” Jed smacked the steering wheel. “I can’t believe he’s coming for us after he made a deal!”
The truck cut us off, goons poured out of it like circus clowns, and we were swept away into the guts of Zone Q forever. In my imagination. Actually, there were only two people in the cab: Boots and Miss Beverly. She gave us a weak smile and a little wave as they sped by. Her son ignored us and careened the vehicle toward the newly installed gate at the Trace.
“They must be going to cure Miss Beverly!” Barbie said.
I smacked my head, realizing. “Zensylvania has adrium! That’s why Odum made the Dogstars an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“Makes sense,” Jed said. “And whatever he paid them, it wasn’t enough.”
At that, Jed backed the truck out, and we headed for home.
I was pretty nervous about what we’d find at the bottom of the hill. Would all the leachate be gone? Would all our stuff still be there? At least the goons hadn’t reclaimed the broken borrowed glasses from Grum. She was wearing them on top of her asbestos curls now. We could use them to scan the property for adrium ourselves.
So much for all our fears and worries. The second I saw the house, I knew things had changed for the better. It actually seemed to stand a little straighter, like Miss Beverly’s neck. The front door opened right away as soon as Ma turned the key, no kicking necessary! There was hardly any water left in the basement, and the remaining puddles just looked like ordinary yuck water, no colors except rusty brown.
Same thing in the yard—most of the water had been sucked away, even that almost-pond the henhouse had been swimming in and Pa had soaked in. Plus, there were really cool looking swirls etched into the mud. All the drag marks and footprints had been erased from the night Pa got adrified. The walls in the castle had lost their colors, but there were grayish shadows of swirl shapes left behind there too. I put a cuckoo back on the wall, and it had nothing to say.
When we got done checking everything out, Ma put her hands on her hips, shook her head, and sighed towards the jam-packed SUV. “I’m pooped. Let’s hit the hay and leave all that junk to take care of tomorrow.”
Just then the car door opened and out stepped Pa, looking fresh as a daisy. “Hey, what are we doing back home? I thought we were going camping!”
“That was when we were running for our lives, Craig,” Ma said. “Our property’s fine, Stan Odum’s off our backs, and I’m going to bed.” She turned toward the front steps.
Pa grunted in a sort of disappointed way. He looked at me and then Barbie with a question in his eyes. It reminded me of the look he used to give when he was teaching us something and wanting to know if we’d gotten it—how to start a bonfire, how to worm a fishhook. Then he turned all around, looking for something, someone . . . Jed. Pa’s eyes lit up at the sight of him playing chase with Stupid. I mean Fluffy Kitty.
Then Pa stepped toward Ma, calling, “Claire, wait, don’t go.”
Ma paused at the kitchen door and turned her head toward Pa. Just her head. “What now?”
“We’re all packed and ready,” he said. “What do you say to a spontaneous camping trip, Mrs. Daniels?”
Cocking her head in amusement, Ma turned our way and looked from face to face. I made prayer hands and begged with my eyes. Say yes, Ma. Say yes!
“Tomorrow’s . . . a school day,” she said slowly.
“Oh, so what. Let the kids have some fun for a change,” said Pa. “We ain’t had a vacation in years.” He didn’t sound all blustery and bossy, though. He sounded a little nervous.
“No school for the rest of the week!” Grum called from inside the house. “They just announced it on the news. All the public water and sewer lines in town have been damaged. Electricity’s out all along Main Street too.”
“Yay! No school!” I said while Barbie said, “No school? Darn!”
“Well, I guess,” said Ma, getting my hopes up, “if you really want to go camping, you all can go ahead and have fun without me. I have to work. We can’t afford for me to take time off.”
Down went my hopes. What if this Pa wasn’t the jolly old camping Pa, just the couch warmer Pa in a rare good mood? I didn’t want to go anywhere with him and without Ma.
Pa was still working on her. “You can go to work from the campground, dear. In fact, you’ll be closer. It’s just a five minute drive from there to the factory.”
“That’s a fact, but everything’s easier at home, getting ready for work, cooking, all that.” Ma’s voice had a kind of wishful tone behind her excuses, though. We almost had her. I knew she wouldn’t appreciate any unsolicited comments from the peanut gallery, so I just begged her harder with my eyes, and jiggled a lot.

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