Fool's Gold (10 page)

“Everybody get in the reeds!” Jack yelled out.

Before I could even think to react Jack grabbed my hand and yanked me forward. He dove headfirst into the bulrushes and I jumped in after him, landing almost on top of him.

“It's a plane!” Jack said.

I looked through the reeds and up into the sky. I could hear the engine—it was getting louder—but I couldn't see anything in the sky. No, there it was! A small, single-engine plane zipped by! It was black, no markings whatsoever, and it cut across the sky, just over from us. It was gone in a few seconds, and the noise of the engine faded away.

“Do you think it saw us?” I asked.

“Doubt it. If it had it would have most likely doubled back for a better look. I think we're safe.”

“Maybe now Red won't argue so much the next time we tell him we have to do something,” I suggested.

“I doubt it. Let's keep moving.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“
HOW MUCH LONGER
before we go?” I asked Jack.

“Soon.”

The sun had been down below the horizon for about fifteen minutes but there was light spilling over the edge. My clothes were still damp and I was feeling cold. We were safe where we were, hidden at the edge of the marsh, but we'd have to wait for complete darkness before we attempted to break free and cross the more open section of field leading to the catacombs.

“You boys have done well to get us this far,” Moose said.

He sounded like a teacher congratulating us on doing well on a test. I had to remember that he wasn't a teacher and that Jack was probably right—he'd kill us too.

“The catacombs are oshould have six hours beforever there,” Jack said to Red, pointing the way across the field in the gathering darkness.

“Just up from the cliffs,” Red agreed. “Maybe we should go that way, down by the water, and then climb up the cliff.”

“I thought you'd probably want to avoid the water,” Jack said, and then he chuckled softly to himself.

Why was he taunting Red again? That was so typical of Jack—if someone was pushing him around, he just had to push right back, whatever way he could.

“The cliff is too steep to climb,” I explained. “Especially at night.”

“Besides, they have lots of guards on the perimeter of the camp, lots of eyes looking for people to come in off the lake. We'd be seen for sure if we tried to come in that way. Here, we're already inside the camp, and nobody is looking in this direction. The guards are all looking
out,
not
in
.”

“You boys know what you're doing,” Moose said, before Red could comment. “So how do we get there from here?”

“We follow that line of trees,” Jack said, pointing across the field. “It'll lead us close. Do you know how many guards there are at the catacombs once we get there?”

“Two outside and two inside is what we were told.”

“Then they outnumber you two,” I said.

“Even numbers. We're gonna take'em two at a time, and we have the element of surprise,” Red said.

“And I'm probably bigger than all four of them put together,” Moose said.

“But these guys have special training,” I pointed out. “They know how to defend themselves.”

Moose chuckled. “I'm not so worried. Before we go I better give you boys something.” He grabbed the tackle box that was by his side. I'd been more than a little curious about what he had in there. He opened it.

“Here, take one of these.”

He handed me a hat, a black hat. I was cold, but why would he have brought hats?

“When we get close to the catacombs, pull it down over your face,” Moose said.

“But how will I see?”

“Through the eyeholes. It's a balaclava.”

“I've heard of those,” Jack said. “Skiers use them sometimes.”

“That's the ticket. They want their faces protected from the cold. We want our faces protected from being identified. To take the guards out we have to be practically in their faces, and we don't want them to be able to finger us later on. No use in stealing the gold if we can't stay out of jail and enjoy it.”

“But we're not going to hurt them, right?” I asked.

“What we're gonna have to do maybe will hurt them, but it isn't gonna kill them,” Moose said.

“If we were going to waste them we wouldn't be worrying none about hiding our faces,” Red said. “Dead people can't identify you in a lineup. We want everybody to walk away.”

He was right, and that was reassuring … until I remembered that Jack and I had seen everybody's
faces, his and Moose's and even Dom's. More and more I was thinking they weren't going to let us walk away.

Moose handed everybody a balaclava and we put them on the tops of our heads.

“What else you got in that box?” Jack asked.

“Some lengths of rope, handcuffs and tape.”

“Why do you have tape?” I asked.

“Same reason we have the rope and handcuffs. We're gonna have to make sure these guys aren't going anywhere.”

“But how will tape stop them?”

“It stops them from yelling,” Red said. “We tape their mouths shut so they can't call for help.”

“If all goes well, then nothing will be discovered until the change in guards tomorrow morning, and by then we'll be long gone,” Moose explained.

“Yeah, us and some of the gold.”

“How much of the gold are we going to take?” Jack asked.

“As much as we can carry back to the van,” Red said.

“And how much is that?” Jack questioned. “There's going to be more gold there than four people can carry. There's probably enough gold it'd take a hundred guys to cart it away!”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Seriously. The entire gold reserves of the Bank of England. We're not talking millions of dollars, we're talking a
billion
dollars.”

“I can't even imagine how much gold that would be,” I said.

“It's a mountain. We're just taking a few straws from the haystack and leaving a fortune behind,” Red said.

“But we're still taking a small fortune with us just the same,” Moose said. “The gold comes in bars, and each bar weighs twenty-five pounds.”

“That's heavy,” I said. “I know I can carry two bars … maybe three.”

“You'll take three,” Red said. That wasn't a suggestion—that was an order.

“I can carry four,” Jack said.

“And I'm good for five or six,” Red added.

Six bars would be one hundred and fifty pounds. Red was stocky and strong-looking but he couldn't have weighed much more than that.

“And Moose here, he's good for at least six bars, maybe seven,” Red said.

“Maybe eight,” Moose bragged.

“I don't know,” I said. “The truck is a long way from here and it's uphill and it's going to be dark and we have to travel through the woods and—”

“Let's just get it back to the raft and we'll tow it most of the way,” Red said.

“What about the waterfall?”

“We'll carry it around that. It won't be quick, but we should have six hours before anybody notices what happened—plenty of time.”

“I guess so. So how much is twenty bars of gold worth?” I asked.

“A fortune,” Red said.

“And we get to keep one bar, right?” I asked.

Moose smiled. “One bar.”

“And you two split the rest between you,” I said. “We get a cut of the rest,” Red said.

“You know, we have to share with our associate.”

“You mean your boss?” Jack asked.

“Our partner.”

“Partner? Seems like he does all the talking while you two take all the risks and do all the work.”

“It was his idea, and he came up with the plan,” Red said, defending him.

“So he's the brains and you two are the muscle,” Jack said. “I guess he doesn't get as big a share as you two.”

Neither man answered. That meant he was getting at least as much as them.

“It's dark enough,” Red said. “Let's get moving.”

Slowly Jack rose to his feet, and we all did the same. We had been hidden behind the reeds but now we were peeking over the top. We were looking out at an open field—a field that we had to cross to get to the protection of the line of trees. It was quiet and dark. Twice while we'd been waiting we'd heard jeeps being driven, and once we'd seen a patrol as it crossed through the field on the far side. We could only hope that nothing
would come while we were crossing. If it did, we'd have to drop to the ground and stay motionless and silent and hope it would pass by without seeing us.

Jack led the way, followed by Red, then me, then Moose. Although Jack was only a half-dozen paces ahead he was almost invisible. He looked more like a darker shade of black against the night. Above our heads the sky was cloudless and a million stars sparkled. There was a quarter moon and it was shining down on us brightly. I was grateful for the light to help us see but afraid of being seen because of it.

In the distance I heard the roar of an engine and I startled. Everybody stopped dead in their tracks and listened. It was getting louder. Then we saw two little headlights bobbing along in the distance. A jeep was crossing the field we'd just crossed, and it was coming in our direction!

“Get into the trees!” Jack hissed.

Quickly we all took shelter within the thin line of trees. If it had been day we'd have been clearly visible but in the darkness we had a good shot at staying hidden. The jeep continued to move slowly. It looked like it was almost following the route we'd travelled, right along the trees.

“As long as we stay here, stay quiet and don't move we'll be okay,” Jack said.

“I got a better idea,” Moose said. “You two stay low, and, Red, you cover me when I need it.”

What was he talking about? What was he going to do? I stayed low to the ground, pressed up against Jack. Neither Red nor Moose moved either.

The jeep got closer and closer. I tried to look behind the bright lights to see how many guys were in it. I could make out the shadow of a driver and maybe a second person. As it came closer the headlights swept over us, but the driver wasn't looking into the trees. The jeep was right beside us and it kept moving—it hadn't seen us. Then Moose stood up and ran toward the jeep! He leaped up and into the back of it! The engine roared and then the jeep swerved, hitting one of the trees with a thud. The noise of the engine stopped and the lights died, leaving everything in total darkness. Red ran out, gun in hand. Jack and I stayed where we were, frozen in place.

“Cover your face,” Jack hissed, and I pulled the balaclava over my face as he did the same.

We ran over to the jeep. Moose and Red, holding their pistols, stood over two soldiers, who were huddled on the ground.

“Get the box,” Red ordered.

For a split second I didn't move because I didn't realize what he was talking about, or that it was me he was talking to.

“Get moving!” he barked, and I sprang to life, running back to where we'd been hidden in the trees. I didn't see the tackle box right away and I had to feel
around until I found it lying on its side in the tall grass. I brought it over.

The two soldiers were now on their feet, leaning with their hands against the side of the jeep.

“Both of you, take off your uniforms,” Red ordered.

“What?” one of them asked in disbelief. I thought I recognized his voice.

Red put his gun to the soldier's head. “You think I'm joking around here?”

The two soldiers began taking off their coats and shirts. It wasn't long before they were standing there in their undershirts and shorts.

Moose took the tackle box from me. He opened it and removed a piece of rope. He used it to tie the hands of one of the soldiers together. He then did the same with the second. Next he bound their legs, and then he took the tape and sealed off their mouths. Moose picked one of them up—it was like he wasn't even straining—and put him down among the trees. He then did the same with the second.

“You know how to drive one of these things?” Red asked Jack.

“Sure.”

“Good. You're gonna drive. But first you boys better get into the uniforms.”

“What?” I must have sounded even more shocked than the soldier did when Moose asked him to get
out
of the uniform.

“Get into the uniforms. I got a plan. A plan that will let us get away with a whole lot more of the gold than I thought we could.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

JACK SLOWLY BUMPED
the jeep across the field. I sat at his side in a uniform that was way too big. I felt like I was swimming in it rather than wearing it, but at least it was dry. Like every other kid in the country I'd thought about what it would be like to someday wear my country's uniform, but this certainly wasn't the way I'd dreamed about it.

I rolled back the sleeves so my hands were free. If it hadn't been for the fact that I was sitting in the jeep, partially hidden, there was no way I would have fooled anybody. Jack looked a bit more believable, though, because he filled out the uniform. As for me, I looked like I was wearing my father's clothes. And what would our father think about what we were wearing, what we were doing? He was in uniform to defend our country. We were wearing uniforms to
steal
from our country. We were so proud of him, and if he'd known what we were doing he would have been so ashamed of us.
I
was ashamed of us. I just wished we had a choice.

“It's up ahead,” Jack said. He brought the jeep to a stop.

“Do you think they're in position?” I asked. Red and Moose had left on foot ten minutes ahead of us so they could circle around the entrance to the catacombs to come at them from the rear.

“Maybe. Let's just wait another couple of minutes to be sure. If we arrive before them then it's over. We'll be captured wearing these uniforms. That would make us spies. And you know what they do with spies.”