Choke

by Obert Skye

  “Do what? It’s not like I asked that deer to jump in front of us.”

  Kate bent down and picked up her flashlight. Once again she pointed the beam of light in front of us.

  My shoes crunched as I stepped over the forest floor. The track had not turned in the least. It was running perfectly straight. A tree branch swung back and smacked me in the face. When I realized there was nobody in front of me to make it swing back, I grew a little concerned.

  “I think the trees are out to get me,” I whispered.

  “It might help if you thought about somebody besides yourself for a minute,” Kate suggested.

  We came to a part of the track that wasn’t completely covered by dirt. I could see two wooden railroad ties and about three feet of rusted track.

  “Cool,” I said as Kate shined the flashlight on the track.

  “We’re getting close to the mountain,” I whispered, although my comment was unnecessary, seeing how the ground was beginning to seriously tilt upward. “What kind of train could go up a track this steep?”

  We hiked a couple of hundred feet more before the slope became too steep to continue. The metal detector still told us we were over the tracks. The side of the mountain was stone, and trees were growing sideways and at weird angles out of the cracks. Kate shined the light up and we could faintly see the track cutting between two large stone ridges and going straight up the mountain.

  I was familiar with the mountain. It wasn’t one I had hiked before, but it was the closest mountain to the manor. Despite that, however, I had never seen the railroad tracks on it.

  “What now?” Wyatt asked.

  “Let me see that,” I said, reaching for the flashlight. I took it from Kate and swept the beam over the ground and the small part of the mountainside we could see. There was nothing but trees and stone.

  “Shine it over there again,” Kate whispered, pointing to the left of the tracks. “Above those bushes.”

  I moved the flashlight’s beam. I could see a big bush growing right out of the base of the stone mountain.

  “I don’t see anything,” Wyatt reported for both of us just as a thin rain began to fall. “We should go back.”

  “No,” Kate insisted. “Look, that’s a stair.”

  I tried to see what she saw, but I couldn’t see any stairs. Kate pushed past me and pulled at the bush. A large, thick section parted, and I could easily see the stone stairs carved right into the mountain.

  “Nice,” I said happily.

  Kate stepped through the bush. When I followed her, the foliage seemed to bristle and scratch at my already scraped-up body.

  “Ouch.”

  “It’s just a bush,” Wyatt said as he stepped through scratch- free.

  We started hiking up the stone stairway. After five stairs they turned and switched up the other direction—five more stairs and it switched back again, climbing higher. The switchbacks were right next to the train track and hidden behind trees and stone ridges. At certain points you could see back down into the forest, but it was so dark I could hardly distinguish anything below.

  The light rain blew into our faces.

  All three of us shuffled carefully up the stairs. I was the first one to complain about how tired I was—I was also the second and third.

  “You’re the one who wanted to do this,” Wyatt reminded me, breathing hard as we stopped for a short rest.

  “Let’s go just a few more steps,” Kate suggested.

  “Right,” I agreed, and I began to slowly trudge up the next ten steps. My legs were burning, and my lungs felt like they were going to pop.

  The stairs switched back a final time and then ended at the edge of a huge wall. The wall was covered in a thick layer of wet moss. I looked around. We were about halfway up the side of the mountain now. It was sort of disappointing to find nothing but moss, but it was also kind of exhilarating to reach the end of the stairs.

  Kate and Wyatt began to feel around the moss for some sort of opening or door.

  “It’s mushy,” Kate reported. “It kinda feels like wet Styrofoam.”

  I shined the light down at the bottom of the moss wall. I could see rusty train tracks going right under the moss.

  “This has to be some sort of huge cave opening if it could fit a train,” I said. “Can you push through it?”

  Wyatt stepped back. He spit into both of his palms and then stamped at the ground like a charging bull. He leapt forward and jammed his right shoulder into the wall of moss. His body seemed to sink in ten inches.

  “I’m stuck,” he growled.

  I yanked on his left arm and pulled his shoulder out. There was a wet sucking sound as he slipped free. Once he stepped back, we could see that his impact had created a large depression in the wet growth.

  “Do it again,” I said.

  “You do it,” Wyatt complained, rubbing his right arm. “This is my throwing arm.”

  Kate pushed at the dent mark in the moss and her fingers slipped in a few inches. She wiggled them around. It sounded like someone was playing with a chunky wad of Jell-O.

  “Disgusting,” she groused as she pulled her fingers back out.

  “All right, move,” I said with authority. I handed Kate the flashlight and stepped back. I then rammed the moss wall with my left shoulder as hard as I could. My shoulder and upper body pushed all the way through the thick, slimy growth. The top half of me was now inside while my legs were still outside by Kate and Wyatt. I could feel one of them pulling on my legs. The moss around my torso broke away and I fell to the ground next to the train tracks. My kicking and falling made the moss opening big enough to walk through. Kate and Wyatt stepped over me as they came through the opening.

  As I got back onto my feet I could hear Kate oohing and

  aahing at something. I stood up straight and copied her. We were standing in a huge cave. The ceiling was at least thirty feet high, and when Kate shined the light ahead we couldn’t see an end to it. I saw a big metal switch on the wall and without thinking it through I pushed it up. It sparked a little and then instantly there was a humming noise followed by dim lights along the wall popping on.

  “That’s better,” I said, trying to sound like I knew that would happen. “There must be some sort of wire leading all the way to the manor.”

  Wyatt was staring at me. “Are all those scratches from that bush down there?” he asked in confusion. He hadn’t seen me in the light since my plant accident.

  “Yeah,” I lied.

  We began to look around. There were some weird drawings on one side of the cave’s walls, and the other side was lined with old furniture and what looked like rolled-up maps and scrolls.

  The whole scene was pretty cool, but the most spectacular part was the huge metal train engine sitting on the end of the tracks. It was only one section of train, but it was tall and long. We walked all the way around it in silent awe. The front of it was sloped with a lantern hanging from it and a large cowcatcher at the bottom. It had what looked to be a thick metal roof and a long rectangle body that was divided into four sections. All four sections had windows, and there was a door with steps leading up into the front end. The whole thing looked like a combination train engine and streetcar. Behind it was a giant metal reel that was three times my height and ten feet wide with steel cable coiled on it. One end of the cable was attached to the rear of the train cart. Next to the reel was a bulky looking generator.

  Above the train was a steel platform that was attached to the ground with six metal beams. One of the beams had metal rungs that someone could climb to get on top of the platform and look down at the train.

  We stepped into the train. There were twelve rows of dusty seats in the back and fancy lights hanging from the ceiling. Frilly mauve curtains adorned the windows and plush, dusty rose-colored carpets were on the floor. Up front was a huge steam engine and two seats. I opened the cast-iron door where the coal was supposed to go. There were small pieces of wood stacked up and a bin ful
l of coal next to the engine. I picked up a box of matches sitting on a short metal shelf.

  “We should see if it works,” I said excitedly.

  “That’s a really bad idea,” Kate replied.

  “How did this make it up that slanted track anyway?” Wyatt asked.

  “It has segments,” Kate said. “So it can bend like an accordion and be pulled up and lowered carefully by that cable and generator. Look at the windows. They’re like six inches thick. Probably so they don’t break when the cart shifts.”

  “I bet my dad doesn’t even know this is here,” I said. “And The Grim Knot doesn’t say a thing about it. Think we can get it started?”

  Kate stared at me. “That’s still a bad idea.”

  At the back of the cave there was a giant steel door with a thick latch. I pulled the pin from the latch and lifted it. We then rolled the large door to the side. Once it was open, I could instantly see why Whitey had helped me find this place. Of course it kind of bothered me that he hadn’t just said to look for a train track and hike up to a cave.

  Behind the door was a massive cavern lit by a couple dozen bare lightbulbs hanging by the walls. This cavern was twice the size of the front one and as large as two indoor football fields put side to side. The ceiling was at least fifty feet high. All around the room there were wooden crates and hundreds of barrels. On one of the edges was a small, round spring filled with crystal clear water. And in the middle of the room, I saw four wooden posts that looked just like the ones that had once been in the conservatory. Next to each post was a short, leafy plant with thick, black leaves.

  “This whole mountain’s hollow,” Wyatt said, impressed.

  On the far end was a small, wooden door as well as a huge iron cage that fit into a carved-out side of the cave. We walked over to the wooden door and pulled it open. There was nothing but a long, dark tunnel behind it.

  We ignored the tunnel for the moment and checked out the humongous cage. The bars were so tall and wide that we could easily slip between them. There was a giant-sized door with a pin in the lock.

  We opened a couple of the wooden barrels and found they were filled with some sort of dry, cereal-looking stuff. Wyatt tried one and said they tasted like bark. We also looked into some of the crates. There was rope in one and old clothes in another. One was filled with ornate table lamps and fancy china.

  Kate walked over to the four posts sticking out of the center of the massive cavern. Wyatt and I followed her. She touched one of the posts and then knelt down by the plant.

  “These plants look different from the last ones,” she said, brushing the leaves.

  “How do they even grow in this dark place?” I asked.

  “You tell me,” she said. “You’re the one with the freaky plant connection.”

  “They’re kinda cool-looking,” Wyatt spoke up. “I’ve never seen a plant with black leaves and white edges.”

  Kate stood up and faced me. “So you’re supposed to find the stone and raise the dragon in here?”

  “What?” Wyatt asked in surprise. “You still have one of those stones?”

  I looked at Wyatt. His wet, dark hair was plastered to his head. The raindrops on his face made it look as though he had been crying.

  Nobody besides my father and Kate knew about the single stone that had been produced when Pip had died. Well, that really white guy suspected, but he didn’t know for sure. I had kept the secret from Wyatt because I knew that if it ever got out we’d have people combing the mountains looking for it.

  “Do you have another stone?” Wyatt persisted.

  “Maybe.”

  “That’ll grow a dragon?”

  I nodded.

  “And you didn’t tell me?” he yelled.

  “He told me,” Kate said, making things worse.

  “I couldn’t,” I insisted. “It’s too dangerous. You know what those last stones did.”

  Wyatt had been the one to help me fight off some of the dragons. I had found him in Kingsplot where the dragons were pillaging. He had been hiding under a bench. Together we had destroyed most of the beasts.

  “I know what they did,” Wyatt said, sounding hurt.

  “My father made me promise not to tell.”

  “You told Kate,” he reminded me.

  “He did,” Kate said proudly.

  “Would you stop exacerbating the situation?” I asked her, unconsciously using one of my new dictionary words as my voice echoed off the cavern walls. “Who cares when I told you, Wyatt? What matters is that now we have to find that stone and hatch the dragon so I can finish it.”

  “What matters is that I get back home,” Kate said. “My parents will be waking up in a couple of hours, and I can’t . . . wait . . . do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” I asked quietly.

  “It’s like a whistling, breathing sort of noise,” she said. “Do you hear it?”

  “That’s just Wyatt,” I told her. “His nose hums when he breathes.”

  “It’s true,” Wyatt admitted. “I’m going to get my adenoids . . .”

  “Shhhhhhh,” Kate demanded. “Listen.”

  I could hear something now. It sounded a bit like wind being sucked through a straw while the straw was being flapped around wildly.

  “It’s coming from that door we opened,” I said nervously while pointing across the massive cavern to the far end.

  “We should go,” Wyatt said, definitely scared now.

  “We’ve gotta close the door,” I replied.

  It was too late, the noise grew louder. Suddenly, huge bursts of what looked like thick, gray dust exploded from the openings. The gray cloud raced across the room, blocking lights and rolling toward us. Wyatt was already running for the front of the cave.

  “Go!” I hollered.

  “What is it?” Kate screamed back.

  “I think they’re . . .” I was going to say bats, I mean, we were in a cave after all, but just then millions of thick, dusty moths swarmed around me, and I changed my guess. I started to yell something else, but some flew into my mouth, flapping their feathery, duster-like wings. There were so many they pushed me to the ground. It was a struggle to get back up.

  “It must . . . the lights.” I barely heard Kate screech.

  Her words were buried by the vibrating hum of millions of moth wings flapping. It was hard to see anything besides dark dots, but I stumbled in what I believed was the direction of the large metal door. I felt Kate bump up against the side of me, and I grabbed her arm. The moths were clinging to my face in thick patches. I could feel them working down into my shirt and moving up my pant legs. A hot and painful panic filled my body—I honestly never thought I’d die by moth.

  I reached the wall and felt around with my free hand as I tried to see through all the moths. I found the door opening.

  I could feel, and faintly see, the horde of moths swarming through the huge opening like a dirty river, into the large front cavern where the train was.

  Kate fell to the ground, and I jerked her up as we pushed through the thick moths toward the moss wall. I didn’t know where Wyatt was or if he had already made it out. We reached the train and pulled ourselves forward as the moths swirled in great bulky patterns that batted us back and forth. My arms were covered and it felt like I was wearing a bug turban on top of my head. The noise was deafening, and it caused my brain to rattle around in my head.

  The opening in the moss wall was much larger now that all the moths were moving out of it. Holding Kate’s hand, I got out of the cave and over to the stairs on the left side of the opening. Instantly the bugs thinned and I could see my arms and the stairs clearly. I looked back and viewed the stream of moths pouring out of the opening and moving into the dark night.

  Kate was spitting and frantically whacking at her hair. I pulled my shirt off and started slapping my legs and back with it. I was tempted to take off my pants because there were hundreds of squirming bugs in them, but I was coherent enough to realize
that if we survived this, Kate would tease me endlessly for wearing boxers that had dogs on them.

  “Where’s Wyatt?” I yelled while digging moths out of my ears.

  “He’s still in there,” Kate said, worried. “We have to get him.”

  “Did you see all those things?” I wailed.

  Kate was already moving back toward the moss opening. The insects were still swarming out of the cave. Thousands of them were as big as mice and millions were as small as Tic-Tacs with wings. Random beams of light shot out like lasers through the moths.

  “You’ve got to go in and turn the lights off,” Kate said.

  I looked around. “Me?”

  “Yeah,” Kate replied. “Then maybe they’ll settle down.”

  “But . . .”

  “They won’t kill you,” Kate argued.

  “Then Wyatt should be fine,” I argued back.

  It was rainy and dark, and I couldn’t really see Kate all that clearly, but I knew exactly the kind of look she was giving me.

  “All right,” I gave in. I figured since I still had them down my pants and in my hair I might as well do it. I waved my shirt like a helicopter and charged back into the opening. Moths splattered up against me like fat drops of water. One shot right into my mouth. I gagged and spit it out.

  I got to the wall and groped around for the switch. The second I found it I threw it down, and the lights went off. The only light now came from the opening in the moss that showed a tiny sliver of the slightly less-dark outside world. The bugs began to head to the dim light and out of the cave.

  I knelt down and covered my head. It seemed like forever before most of them were gone. I lifted my hands off of my head and looked around in the dark. I could see dots of them going out, but it seemed there were fewer in the cave.

  I stood up. “Wyatt!”

  I heard something call from the direction of the train. I held my arms in front of me and felt my way to the train.

  “Wyatt!”

  “Here!” he yelled back.

  I felt for the door and then climbed up the few steps into the train. Moths kept hitting me on the face and arms, but the amount was bearable now.

  “Wyatt!”