Meadowview Acres (36 page)

Sheriff Buchanon jogged over to Darren in the rig and yelled up to him, “Start digging the hole where the floor was! You feeling alright?”

Darren nodded and gave him the thumbs up.

Don backed out of the way and wondered what they would have done without Darren and the Caterpillar. His head was getting worse, and he could tell the others were feeling it too. He knew they never would have been able to dig that deep before one of them fell to the effects of the curse.

Darren backed up the rig and put the bucket down. Moving the Cat forward, he scooped a big mound of dirt out of the ground. Backing up again and turning to the right, he deposited the load on the ground. The hole was going to take a while to dig, but he knew he could make shorter work of it if he used a steeper ramp. Darren turned back and moved the rig forward, scooping another bucket of earth out of the ground.

Gina and Lara had joined the others at the Port’s house. Bill had called about a half an hour ago to say that they hadn’t heard anything yet, but were going to wait at the entrance to the woods. Everyone was basically just sitting around making small talk.

Clara felt like she was going berserk with boredom. She didn’t know why they had to sit around doing nothing like a little pack of hens while all the guys got the important jobs. Clara didn’t want to hang around there all day waiting for news. The rock hadn’t affected her at all. She knew she should be a part of the dig with Hunter. She decided to wait a while longer and then make an excuse to leave. She would get her car and go out there herself.

Shasta and Bug were looking at a magazine, and the other women were talking about how the neighborhood will have changed after the crazy event was over. They talked about Claymont and Heather of course, but they also mentioned Hansen and Mr. Just. While they were discussing the people who had died, Clara thought just how lucky she had been. She was standing right next to Hansen, the rock had been at her feet. She could just as easily been the one to die.

She thought Hunter and Eli were the luckiest ones. They had been around the artifact many times, and they only became sick. She wondered why they were alright when all the others had died on the spot.

Clara was making herself antsy. She wanted to get out of there to go find Hunter. She was walking over to say goodbye to Bug when Shasta suddenly cried out…

The work was still going at a steady rate. Darren was about six feet down. He had managed to create a steep ramp into the pit. He would get to the bottom and scoop out another bucketful of dirt, then back up the ramp and deposit the dirt on top of the now quite large mound. The work was progressing and Darren was holding up well.

Sheriff Buchanon had driven the dump truck over and positioned it so that the back lined up with Darren’s pit. The safe holding the Rock of Varuupi had been removed from the back of the truck. It now rested with the concrete slab on the far side of the dig.

The rest of the group was slowly getting worse. The bright sunshine wasn’t helping either. Deputy Clay was sweating profusely and had started a nose bleed. Don had sent him back to Bill’s Blazer to get him farther away. The other two boys were back there, too. Hunter’s stomach was cramping, and Eli looked like hell.

Sheriff Buchanon was happy with the pace Darren was keeping. He was starting to get a creepy feeling and wanted this over with. The blue flashes of light were starting to mess with his head.

The sheriff walked closer to the pit and saw that it was a little deeper, maybe eight feet down. “Four to go,” He thought. “And maybe one more for good measure, depending on time.” He was just about to walk to the Blazer and check on the others when he heard Darren yell.

Darren was happy with the progress he was making. The easy repetition of the controls in the cab didn’t take much thought. As a result, Darren’s mind was wandering. He could see the end of this nightmare and felt almost hopeful. A few more hours and they would all be back in their homes in Meadowview Acres with their families.

He and Shasta had talked about what they would do that night. After all of the horrible business was over, they would finally just sit together and relax. No big talks about the future were necessary. They had no big plans. They just wanted to sit and be together.

Darren scooped out another big load and brought it to the top. He could tell that he was almost eight feet down. He dumped the load and turned back to the ramp. That’s when it happened.

His nightmare came out of nowhere and hit him like a ton of bricks. He was falling into the pit. His mind saw the steep ramp before him coming closer as he and the bulldozer tipped forward together. He tried to make the controls listen to his head screaming “Back UP! Back UP!” Something wouldn’t let his hands move the right way. They weren’t listening to his brain.

“No,” He thought. He couldn’t die in this rig like his father had! He saw Shasta’s face in his mind and willed himself to scream.

“Sheriff, help!”

Sheriff Buchanon was at the side of the Cat in a flash. “What is it? Are you hurt?” He yelled.

Darren had put the engine in park, but was helpless to move any more. He gathered his strength and yelled out the window, “I can’t move. My arms, my hands, they aren’t moving. And I’m falling! Help me! I’m falling into the pit!” In Darren’s mind, he was still tipping forward into an unending abyss.

Don had too much experience at being efficient in a crisis. By the time he had jumped up to the cab of the Cat, he had already called for the others to help. He had yanked the door of the cab open by the time they made it to the rig. He had pulled Darren’s solid body out of the cab by the time they had figured out what was happening.

Deputy Clay got underneath the sheriff as he reached for Darren’s weight. Hunter could see what was happening and moved forward to help Michael carry the young man away from the site. Eli grabbed Darren’s legs as they passed, dragging on the ground. Together, the three of them got Darren to the Blazer and lay him down in the back of the truck.

Val was at Shasta’s side, “What is it? Are you in pain? What’s wrong, Honey?”

Shasta couldn’t speak. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She couldn’t explain it. She had an undeniable feeling of falling, but she could clearly see that she was still safely on the couch.

“Shasta!” Bug said firmly. “Tell us what’s wrong right now!”

Shasta started moving her lips, trying to form words that would make sense. She thought she had a sentence and then it would escape her thoughts again. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel the panic in the room.

“F, fall…falling,” she managed. “I f,feel like I’m f,falling.”

Valerie looked at Lara and Ann for help. With one a Neonatal nurse and the other a Physician’s Assistant, surely they would know what to make of this. Ann stepped forward and grabbed Shasta’s wrist to take her pulse. Lara seemed to freeze. The others thought she was most likely remembering Heather’s death.

“Her pulse is racing,” Ann said. “Shasta, Honey, look at me. Let me see your pupils. Okay, fine. Steady your breathing. Are you in pain?”

“No, no pain.” Shasta was beginning to recover from the episode, but was no less confused. “I just had a real feeling that I was falling forward. It was almost like when you have a dream, and something wakes you up at the last second. Do you know that feeling?”

“She’s still acting super weird,” said Bug. “What’s wrong with her?” Bug was going through her card catalog brain looking for anything remotely connected with a sensation of falling.

“I don’t know, Bug,” her mother answered. “Her pulse is slowing a bit, though. I think she’s getting over whatever that was.”

Clara was startled at the scene. She had a strange feeling when Shasta cried out. Clara instantly thought that it had something to do with Darren. “Shas? Did you see anything when you felt like you were falling?” she asked.

Shasta squinted her eyes together trying to clear her head and remember. “I feel like there was something, but I can’t remember what it was.”

“Keep trying,” said Clara. “It may be important.”

Agnes walked over to Clara then and asked, “What are you thinking of, Missy? You have an idea. What is it?”

It was Clara’s turn to stumble. “I, I just had a feeling when Shasta screamed.”

Agnes looked at her. “What kind of feeling, Clara?”

All of the eyes in the room were on her. Clara felt hot and uncomfortable. She wished she hadn’t said anything. She thought she would just make something up because what she was thinking was a little far-fetched.

Bug spoke for her, though. “You thought something happened to Darren, didn’t you?” Bug asked Shasta.

Shasta’s eyes got wide. “Yes, I did! I remember I was falling forward and I saw dirt. A lot of dirt.” Shasta was getting worked up again because of the recollection.

Valerie put an arm around her daughter to steady her once more. “Calm down, Shas. It was just a weird little dream. I’m sure Darren is fine.”

Shasta looked at Bug, and Bug looked at Clara. They were all thinking the same thing. Bug said, “It might not be a dream. Twins have this thing where they can feel what the other one feels. Maybe Darren and Shasta are connected like that. Maybe they can feel when the other one is in danger.”

Bug was obviously not thinking of Agnes’s feelings. If she had, she might not have said that in front of Darren’s mother. The look on her face was one of horror. “I’m going out there,” Agnes said and rushed to the door.

“I’ll drive,” yelled Clara, running after her.