Meadowview Acres (31 page)

Eli said, “Hunter and I have soldering equipment. We’ll do that.”

Mark looked at the sheriff with raised eyebrows and said, “Are we missing anything? That seemed to come together relatively easy.”

Before he could answer, Agnes said, “Coming up with the plan may be easy, but the execution is a different story. The devil’s in the details.” With that she stood and left the room.

As they watched her leave, many of the residents felt uneasy about the task before them. The meeting was over for all intents and purposes, so Sheriff Buchanon made his way to the back of the room to speak with Bill.

The crowd had started to converse in small groups. The information was still overwhelming, and they needed to discuss it to understand it more. Some people were looking over the articles that Mark had put on a table nearby. Others were looking through the book titled,
Legends and Myths from Around the Globe
. Mark walked over to Don and Bill.

“So what are we missing? I still feel like we’re overlooking something.” He looked from one man to the other. They had been saying the same thing before he had joined them.

Don said, “I’m going to call Tony Clark tonight, so I can meet with him in the morning. Can you two scout out a site tomorrow morning?”

“Sure,” said Bill. “I can do that.” He looked at Mark.

“I’ll make time; this is too important. I’ll go to the office tonight and pick up the maps and meet you here at, what, seven?”

Bill nodded his head. “What else?” he asked Don.

“The boys,” he answered. “I’m going to give them the safe with the rock in it so they can take it out and wrap it up then solder it shut.” He motioned to Hunter and Eli who were standing with Hank. They had been waiting for Lara to come back into the room with Gina.

The three walked over and Sheriff Buchanon relayed the boy’s part of the plan to them. “After you get it sealed shut, do you think you can keep it in your car and follow us out to the site to help dig?”

The boys looked at each other and Eli said, “Sure, we’ll do anything we can.”

Hank looked worriedly at the sheriff and said, “Take care of the boys, Don. I know they’re used to being around that thing, but if you see anything squirrelly, take care of them.”

“You bet I will, Hank. Try not to worry.”

Clara came over then and took Hunter’s hand. “Do you need me to help? I don’t seem to have any reaction at all, Sheriff.” She looked up at Hunter and smiled, happy to be at his side.

“Right now we seem to have everything under control. But I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

Mark Hamilton spoke. “Clara, I have something that I could use your help with.”

She tore her gaze from Hunter to look at him. “Sure, Mr. Hamilton. What is it?”

“I wonder if you might have some time to spend with Bug. She seems to be a little lost with Shasta in the hospital.” He looked over at his black haired daughter. She was curled up on one corner of the couch next to Ann. She looked so small. “All of this has really been a lot for her to handle, and, you see, she thinks of Shasta as an older sister. Do you think you could fill in for a while?”

Clara looked over at Bug. She was so sweet. Suddenly, Clara had an image of Bug on the floor of the Hot Dog Hut with a bloody nose. A bloody nose caused by Hansen. That made her angry. “Absolutely, Mr. Hamilton. It would be my pleasure. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll start right now.” She leaned up on her toes to kiss Hunter’s cheek and then made her way over to where Bug sat on the couch.

Resuming their discussion, Sheriff Buchanon said, “We’ll reconvene tomorrow after I’ve talked to Clark, and you two have scouted the woods.” He turned to Eli and Hunter and said, “You boys are out of school because of the fire, but hang tight at home and we’ll let you know what’s going on.”

“When should we wrap the rock and solder the safe shut?” asked Hunter.

The sheriff looked from Mark to Hank to Bill, then back to the boys. “Well, no time like the present. Mark, you go on to the office and get the maps. Bill and Hank, you guys can’t be around. I’ll grab Deputy Clay and we’ll go with the boys. That okay?”

They all muttered their agreement and took off in different directions. Sheriff Buchanon, with the boys, grabbed Deputy Clay on his way out the door. “I’ve got an old leather coat in my cruiser that we can use to wrap the rock. The thing is so thick, it must weigh fifty pounds. I’ll get that and the safe out of my car and bring it, where?” He looked at the boys for information.

Hunter said, “There’s a shed behind my house. It seems to be far enough away that we haven’t had a problem. Bring it there and we’ll meet you with the soldering tools.”

The boys and Deputy Clay left him there on the sidewalk. Sheriff Buchanon started walking to his cruiser. He was going over the plan in his head trying to see if they were forgetting anything. He knew one thing for certain. He was ready for this whole thing to be over with. He unlocked the trunk of his cruiser and looked at the safe inside. He had bought it at Hardware on Main after Hunter had handed the backpack over to him at the hospital. The twinge of a headache started immediately and began to grow. He reached in and grabbed the safe, pulling it from the car. As he reached back in for his heavy leather coat, he thought, “Let’s get this son of a bitch sealed.”

Bright blue stars sparkled in his vision.

CHAPTER 33

Darren & Shasta

D
arren was still really concerned about his mother. She had been acting so strangely since finding out about the curse. She was so calm, so quiet. Her weeping and fits of anger at her husband’s death had gone away as well. She seemed oddly at peace.

He had been surprised when she offered his dad’s bulldozer to help dig the hole for the burial of the artifact. No one had expected that, but he had been shocked when she had given her permission for Darren himself to be the operator. Darren didn’t know what to make of that.

After Agnes left the meeting, it had come to a close. Their path had been decided. People now were talking in small groups or looking over the books that Bug had left out on a table. Darren had already seen the books, and the only person he wanted to talk to wasn’t there. He needed to get back to the hospital. He had promised Shasta that he would tell her everything that had been discussed.

Shasta was doing better today, but her voice was very rough and her skin was still tender. She coughed a lot, too. He was surprised at how he, Hunter and Eli had managed to get out of the fire with very few problems. He and Hunter seemed to be fine after breathing the oxygen given to them by the paramedics. Eli had come around pretty soon after being pulled from the building and seemed no worse for wear. Shasta had been in there much longer than they had, though, and she was paying a price. Still, Darren knew that they were all very lucky. He was especially; he still had Shasta.

He stood up and dug for his keys in the front pocket of his jeans. On his way to the door, he was stopped by Shasta’s father.

“Going back to the hospital, Darren?” Bill Port asked.

“I promised Shasta I would tell her what happened at the meeting,” he replied.

Bill looked at the young man in front of him, but couldn’t read his expression. “How’re you feeling about your part in all of this?”

Darren answered truthfully. “I’m honestly fine with it. I’ve been exposed to the artifact and didn’t feel any weird effects. I really don’t see much risk in my involvement.” He looked down at the floor and said, “I’ll just be glad when it’s over and all of this is behind us.”

“I can’t imagine what you and your mom have been going through.” Bill said. “You’re one tough guy, I’ll give you that. If you or Agnes need anything, and I mean anything, you call us, okay?”

Darren said that he would and started to leave when Mr. Port said, “So are you going to break this to Shasta or should I? You know she’s not going to like the idea of you being such a big part of this plan.”

Darren thought for a moment then said, “I’ll do it. I think she’ll understand why I feel like I need to be involved.”

“Well, good luck.” He winked at Darren knowing the boy was in for a tough argument with his daughter. “I’m headed to the hospital, too. Want a ride?” Mr. Port admired the soft spoken young man. He was full of a quiet strength that Bill respected. The way he had handled himself since his father died had been remarkable.

“Thank you, Sir. But I’d better have my car there in case I stay later than you.”

“Alright, then, I’ll see you over there.” Bill clapped him on the back and made his way out the door.

On his way to the car, Darren went over the plan that had been discussed at the meeting. The whole way over to Community Hospital, he was trying to dissect it to find a weakness. Everything seemed to be in place, but he remembered what his mom had said. The devil’s in the details. Darren, looking for holes, tried to walk through the plan step by step.

By the time he pulled into the parking lot, he had gone over the plan three or four times. He was missing information on exactly where they would be digging and if they could get the materials to pour on top of the box, but everything else seemed sound.

He could hear Mr. Port’s voice coming from Shasta’s room before he got there. It sounded like he was giving Shasta and Mrs. Port a play by play of the meeting.

Darren walked into the room as Mr. Port was saying, “Lara had to leave the room. The idea of Eli being in harm’s way was just too much after losing Heather. Oh, here he is!” He broke off when Darren stepped into the room.

Darren greeted the Port’s then went to Shasta’s bedside and gently kissed the top of her hair. It seemed to be the least tender place on her body.

She smiled weakly back, the skin on her face and hands bright pink. “Dad was just catching us up on the meeting. How do you think it went?” She asked him in her gravelly voice.

“Well,” Darren started. “I thought about the plan the whole way over here and I’m not coming up with any holes or anything. I know there are unforeseen aspects, but I can’t figure out what those might be.” He looked at Mr. Port, then. “I feel pretty confident that we’ll do the job right and put this thing to rest.”

Shasta caught the look between Darren and her father. “What? What aren’t you saying? What do you mean by “we’ll do the job”? She looked at Darren as understanding came into her eyes.

“Honey, I think Mom and I will go on home and leave the two of you to talk.” Bill went to the bed and kissed his baby’s auburn hair. Val did the same then gave Darren a hug on her way out. “We’ll see you in the morning, Sweetie,” she said to Shasta.

Once they were alone, Darren scooted his plastic hospital chair over so that he was next to Shasta. She was looking at him with a measure of fear in her eyes. She waited for him to speak, already knowing what he was going to say.

“Now, listen. I’ve already been around that thing. In the fire, remember, and then again when we were out of the school with the paramedics.”

Shasta, still waiting for an acceptable explanation, glared at him.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but the backpack was right beside me. I noticed a couple of the firefighters vomiting and one of the paramedics had to go lay down, but I just thought it was because of the smoke.” He took her tender hand gently and continued.

“I didn’t feel anything, Shas, not a thing. No headache, nausea, weakness, nothing at all. And I was around it for a pretty long time.” He could see tears forming in her deep brown eyes.

“Let me try to explain. This whole time, I’ve felt not only grief for my dad, but I’ve also been really mad, too. I didn’t know why until today at the meeting. Mom said something about how Dad was the reason for all of this. She wasn’t blaming him at all, she was just saying that he unknowingly started this in motion by digging up the box. That’s when it hit me. I’ve been mad at Dad.” He stopped a minute trying to find the words to explain what he was feeling.

Shasta had started to understand a little of what he was saying. She knew that he was grieving, but she had also seen something else in him. Now she understood what that had been.

“So you think being a part of the solution will make up for the deaths the rock caused? Darren, none of that was your dad’s fault. He’s completely innocent in this. So are you.” She could see the hurt in his eyes.

“I know that. I get it, but I don’t feel it. That’s the difference. The reasoning makes sense to me, but I can’t help how I feel. And I feel like I need to make this right. Then, maybe I can just grieve my dad and get rid of the anger.” He looked at her then, hoping she would understand.

Of course she did, they were Darren and Shasta. They were completely connected. He could see acceptance in her eyes and relief flooded over him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Shasta any more than she already had been.

“I promise you two things,” he said. “The first one is that I will be incredibly careful and observant. If I feel the slightest twinge of anything, I’ll get out of there. We’ll get this done as quickly as possible and get out.”

“And the second thing,” Shasta prompted, curious.

He brought her little pink hand up to his lips and kissed it tenderly. “The second thing is, that when this is over, you and I are going to make up for lost time. We’re going to sit on the couch and watch movies, eat pizza and gummy worms and do absolutely nothing for at least a month.”

She laughed then, thinking how heavenly that sounded. A simple evening at home with nothing to worry about seemed like a distant dream. “Oh Darren, I can’t wait for that. It’s pretty bad when your dream is eating gummy worms on a couch watching a lame movie.”

Darren grew serious again. “Really, Shas, I don’t want you to get worked up about this. I feel like it’s the right thing to do. And when it’s done, it’s done. The nightmare will be over.”

Shasta thought for a minute about what Darren had before him. She knew that he was big and strong and smart, but those things didn’t seem to matter if the curse got to you. She understood why he needed to do this, why it was so important to him.