“You can explain at the top!” Lacey said as she shoved Ben toward the stairs. They both began to run as fast as they could, the skulls of thousands of men lighting their way.
Their legs were burning and aching, completely out of breath they collapsed on the floor of the lighthouse as soon as they climbed through the ridged hole. Strangely as soon as they fell, that hole closed up, the floor looked as though Ben had never fallen through. They both looked at each other, at this point, neither seemed surprised, they had just witnessed so much.
“So, what on earth was that?” Lacey asked.
“I’ll tell you in the car, right now I want to just get the prize and get out of here.” Ben stood up, his body struggling to hold his weight due to exhaustion.
“Okay, but where’s the prize?” Lacey asked in a frustrated tone. Ben pointed to the ceiling, he saw his aunt’s eyes widen as she focused in on the red container that had the black compass on the bottom. They both began to climb the stairs, slowly testing each step to ensure its safety. As they reached the top Lacey reached over to grab the container.
“Wait!” Ben exclaimed.
“What?” Lacey pulled her arm back quickly.
“Look.” he pointed to the container, then pointed to a thick black wire that the container was chained to.
“That’s okay, let’s just cut the wire.” Lacey said confidently.
“Wait a sec’.” Ben followed the wire with his eyes, and just as he expected it was the electrical wire that energized the light at the top of the lighthouse. “If we cut that wire, the light will go out.” Ben said.
“So?” Lacey responded. “We’ll cut the wire, and then someone will notice the light is out and they’ll come fix it. Heck we could even leave them some money for the damage.”
“No!” Ben said firmly.
“Why?” Lacey asked, this time with concern.
“I promised I wouldn’t let that light go out. We just have to figure out another way to get the container.” He looked again at the container, and then looked down to the floor; a shiver of fear went down his spine, as he realized how high up they were. “Wait, it looks like the top of the container screws on and off, doesn’t it?” Ben nudged Lacey.
“Yeah, I think so, but who knows how tight the lid is.” She replied
“What if we could somehow get a hold of the bottom of the container and twist it until just the bottom dropped off, that way the lid stays connected to the electrical wire, and we won’t have to cut it.” Ben waited, hoping Lacey would agree to his idea.
“I could probably reach it, I don’t know about twisting it though.” She looked at the container again. “Well let’s try it.”
She reached as far as she could; Ben held her legs to stabilize her. Her fingers grasped the container; it was too large to wrap her hands around. “Ben run to my car, I have a batting glove in the back. I think that’ll give me a better grip.” Ben ran down the stairs. He returned quickly and handed her a gray and blue batting glove.
“You play baseball?” Ben asked.
“Well, softball.” Lacey said as she reached for the container one more time. The gloved hand gave her enough traction to twist the container slightly. “Hey it’s working!” She said. “But I think you will have to go to the bottom to catch it.” Ben made his way down the stairs once again and looked up just in time to see the container drop; as it dropped a single piece of paper flew out of it. “It must be a check!” Lacey yelled with excitement. Ben let the container fall to the floor and went after the check, adrenaline coursed through his veins, for a moment he couldn’t feel how badly it hurt to move.
The check floated into his hands, he could hear Lacey as she bounded down the stairs. Suddenly his face grew sad. “It’s not a check.” Ben groaned.
“What do you mean?” Lacey said, as she jumped onto the floor.
“It’s more numbers, look.” He handed her the slip of paper, then dropped to the floor, suddenly his body began to ache again.
Lacey read the writing aloud, “Congratulations on a job well done, you found the first, now there’s another one. This waypoint leads to a mountain of black, deep in the glass you’ll find what you lack.” Lacey sighed loudly. “Well I guess I better call your mom.”
4
Ben took a long sip of his hot chocolate; even though it was summer his body felt so much better having the warmth of the mug in his hands. He was sitting in a corner booth at a restaurant on the coast. His entire body ached, but now that there was excitement about another trip, it somehow wasn’t bothering him as much.
Lacey slid into the booth, “Okay, just got off the phone with your mom, she said I can have you through the weekend.” She shoved a French fry into her mouth then continued to talk. “I think if we leave here today…Oh sorry” she said as she accidentally spit a chunk of fry at Ben.
“Say it don’t spray it!” Ben said jokingly.
“Anyhow, as I was saying, if we leave the coast today, I think we can get to that lake by this evening. We’ll set up camp, and then find the treasure first thing in the morning.” She shoved another fry in her mouth.
“Sweet!” Ben replied. “Ya know what I was wondering?” He took a fry off her plate, “should we have left that clue for the next person?” He asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well if anyone else figured it out, they won’t have a chance.”
Confused by his sincerity she said, “You’re joking right? We don’t want them knowing where to go!” She shook her head, clearly uncomprehending his intentions.
“Isn’t it a little strange that no one else was there though? I can’t be the only person who found the compass.” Ben continued to play with the French fry.
“Ya know, that is weird, but oh well. I mean most parents wouldn’t have read the instructions, and most kids wouldn’t have either…you’re just a freak who likes to follow directions.” She laughed then grabbed the fry from him and chowed it down. “You almost ready?” She grabbed her phone and the GPS unit, then slid out of the booth.
“Okay so you entered the waypoint, let’s make sure they are right.” She handed the GPS unit to Ben as they walked to the car, “Um, do you have 43 degrees 43’32.1” North and 121 degrees 14’43.6” West?”
“Yep, it’s called Paulina Lake; we can double check the map if you want.” Ben replied.
“I’ll drive; you find it on the map. Man, this sucks that you aren’t old enough to drive, I’m getting so tired!” Lacey complained as they climbed into her car.
“I’ll drive.” Ben said.
“Uh huh—no! I don’t need to buy another car on this trip!” She laughed then pulled out of the parking lot.
By the time they reached the self-pay drop box at the campground it was completely dark. Mosquitoes kept landing on Ben as he put the money in the envelope like Lacey told him to. In the headlights it looked as if he was doing some sort of strange dance, kicking up legs, the random throw of an arm, and then the inevitable slap. Lacey laughed then flipped on the high beams just to mess with him a little more.
“Jerk.” He said as he climbed in the car.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lacey said with a smirk on her face. “What camp site?” He showed her the small map on the brochure from the pay booth. She took a right and looped down a winding road. A few campers were sitting at their campfires, some were roasting marshmallows, and others just huddled up together to stay warm. “We don’t have any wood for a fire.” Lacey said with a concerned tone. “We could go out and look for some.” She suggested. Ben shoved the pamphlet in her face again pointing to a picture of a bear.
“No thanks, I’ll just freeze.” He joked. “Sorry but I’m not goin’ out in the forest for wood with bears around.”
“Wimp.” She laughed then pulled the car into their campsite. They both pulled stuff from the car in a hurry; the mosquitoes were eating them alive. Lacey had picked up a small pop-up tent from a store along the way. Within ten
minutes they were inside the tent each cuddled in their sleeping bags trying to get warm.
“Well I’m gonna go to bed.” Lacey said as she started to close her eyes.
“I think I’m laying on a rock.” Ben complained as he wiggled about in his sleeping bag.
“Sucks to be you.” Lacey yawned as she rolled over and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning they awoke to the sound of a barking dog. Ben was all twisted up in his sleeping bag; just his eyes peeked out as Lacey kicked him in the leg to wake him. “Let’s get going.” She said. Immediately Ben started to laugh. “What?” She asked, with irritation.
“You look like a raccoon!” he laughed even harder, “Your makeup is smeared all over, and your hair is all stuck to your head, oh my gosh—you have drool on your cheek!” He sat up in his cocoon and almost choked he was laughing so hard.
“Shut up!” She said, “Do you want a bath in the lake this morning? You’re almost my size but I can still whoop your butt!”
“Oh man, can you please stop talking!” Ben threw his hand over his nose then said, “Your breath reeks!”
“Get up, you little pain in the rear.”
They both ate a protein bar and drank vitamin water as they looked at the GPS unit and the surrounding areas. “What did that thing say again?” Ben asked.
Lacey pulled it from her jeans pocket. “Congratulations, blah, blah, blah. Okay, look for a mountain of black, deep in the glass you’ll find what you lack.” She looked up at Ben, and then rubbed her eyes again, still self-conscious about her raccoon eyes.
“Check this out.” Ben slid the campground brochure over to her, and then pointed to a picture of a hiking trail, on one side was the lake; on the other side large rocks of obsidian were everywhere.
Lacey read the text aloud, “along the eastern edge of Paulina Lake are the remains of volcanic activity from over one hundred years ago. The ‘black mountain’ as the locals call it, is one of the largest obsidian flows in the country.” She looked up at Ben. “Dude…we’re there!” They both got up and headed toward the hiking trail.
As soon as they rounded the first corner on the hiking trail they could see the obsidian flow, it was amazing next to the bright blue water of the lake. Ben continued to check the GPS unit, they were headed in the right direction, just a quarter mile more and they would be rich! He smiled eagerly, and then jogged past Lacey.
They approached the hillside cautiously, they weren’t sure if anyone was around and didn’t feel like explaining anything to anyone, and so they tried to look as normal as possible. “Okay the GPS unit says we need to go fifteen more feet, north—east.” Ben said as he faced the black glass, he then pivoted his body so he was facing the direction the arrow indicated on the unit.
They both began to climb, the obsidian was slippery with the morning dew covering it, and almost every piece had sharp edges, just waiting to slice into them. They arrived at the exact location the unit showed and looked around, they couldn’t see anything. Ben looked at Lacey with a frustrated expression, and then kicked a piece of volcanic glass by his foot. “Ouch!” he yelped, not realizing he had kicked it that hard. He lifted his foot to examine his shoe, thinking maybe he had broken a toe. As they both looked at his shoe Lacey noticed something. Some of the pieces of obsidian had little tubular holes in them, from when the lava had cooled and air bubbles had escaped. Inside the rock under Ben’s other foot there was a small piece of paper rolled up and slipped into one of the holes. They would have totally missed it, thinking they should look for a container again.
She and Ben lifted the rock to expose the hole and hopefully slide the paper out without ruining it. Lacey opened her Leatherman pocketknife that she kept on her key chain, and then exposed the tweezers. “This is exactly why I got these things; I knew they would come in handy.” She said with pride as she maneuvered the tweezers into the hole, “Just like ‘Operation.'”
“I thought you got those to pluck your eyebrows.” Ben joked.
Lacey looked up at him to say shut up, but suddenly her face looked shocked and afraid, “Ben!” She yelled, but it was too late. A scratchy hand covered Ben’s mouth, and just before he was blindfolded he saw a thick stick being swung at the back of Lacey’s head. He cringed when he heard her body collapse onto the sharp rocks.
5
Lacey awoke to the pounding of loud music; she was blindfolded and gagged as well as totally disoriented. Her head throbbed and her neck ached. She remembered seeing the man standing behind Ben, but after that she couldn’t recall anything. Analyzing her current situation, she came to the conclusion that things hadn’t gone well. It felt as though her legs were tied to the chair she was sitting in and her hands were tied behind her back, she wiggled her wrists, this was gonna be tough.
“Hey” she heard Ben whisper. She moved her head back to figure out where his voice was coming from, immediately she knew as they bumped heads. “You okay?” Ben whispered. She could barely hear him over the obnoxious music.
“Yeah” she mumbled, although it sounded more like she was humming.
“I think I can get us out of this.” He said, “Can you reach my hands?” He felt her fumble for his hands; he stretched his arms so that she might be able to get a grip on the rope that was keeping him captive. They were sitting back to back on two chairs. Ben had been contemplating how they would escape since they brought them to this cave. He was assuming it was a cave anyway, they hadn’t tied his blindfold on tightly enough and he could see just enough out the bottom to know they were on a dirt floor. “Hey let’s try rubbing the backs of our heads together to get these blindfolds to come off.” he suggested. They pushed the backs of their heads together and started moving them around; they could feel the knots of the blindfolds rubbing against one another, then suddenly Ben’s dropped down to his neck. As his fell it grabbed onto Lacey’s and pulled hers slightly off, one eye was exposed, and the blindfold rested diagonally across her face.
He felt Lacey trying to manipulate the rope once again; he wiggled his hands to try to loosen the knot even more. Suddenly he felt the rope slide off. Lacey looked around the room; it appeared to be a cave of some sort. It must be close to the obsidian flow, as she noticed a large amount of the black glass poking out through the walls. Ben untied his feet, cautiously looked around, then worked on the rope around his waist, as soon as he was free he went to Lacey’s aid. He first worked the knots on her feet loose, just as he was moving up to untie her hands he heard a noise. He turned quickly to see shadows emerging from the cavern that forked off the other side of the cave. “Shoot!” He said. “Hang on.” He ran into the shadow of the far wall, Lacey was sitting half tied looking around the room trying to see where the threat was coming from, with one eye it was a bit of a challenge. The room was very dark with a single lantern glowing on a card table in the center of the room. She turned enough to see where Ben was hiding and decided she should distract whoever was coming so she stood up, both chairs were still attached to her waist; her hands were still bound behind her.
“Hey!” A deep voice called behind her. She turned quickly; with the chairs swinging from side to side making her balance a little shaky, and her one eye exposed, she looked like a drunken pirate with a hunchback. There were two men making their way toward her, she was surprised to hear them laughing now. They pointed at her and made some sort of rude comment, then continued to come closer. They seemed so distracted by how funny she looked that they didn’t even realize Ben was gone.
As soon as Ben saw his chance he emerged from the shadows, grabbed the propane lantern on the card table, then as quietly and as hard as possible he slammed it into one of the kidnapper’s heads. The man turned with his hand on the back of his head, and saw Ben behind him, suddenly Ben whipped his right leg through the air while spinning on his left foot. He connected with the man’s left ear, the man dropped with incredible force.
Just as his assailant dropped, the other man grabbed Ben’s arm. Ben used a s
elf-defense tactic and grabbed the man’s wrist, pulling the man towards himself then just at the right time Ben raised his knee and slammed it into the man’s crotch. The man lost his grip and crumpled over in pain. Ben took one step back and as the man’s head was at waist level, staring at the floor, Ben took his right foot and kicked him in the face as hard as he could. The man fell next to his partner, both left unconscious by a nine year old boy.
Lacey screamed though her gag and jumped up and down, one eye was still covered, but she saw every second of Ben’s attack, she was amazed. Ben ran over and untied her hands and waist, the chairs fell to the floor with a crash, unfortunately the sound was loud enough to rouse the first man, he lifted his head in a bit of shock trying to figure out where he was and what had just happened. Lacey grabbed Ben’s arm and they both ran as fast as they could down a tunnel that they assumed led to the outside. They were nearing the end of the tunnel, and could see a slight light shining through some sort of opening; when they got closer they realized the light they were seeing was shining through what they thought was a large piece of obsidian blocking their exit.
Waypoint: Cache Quest Oregon (Waypoint Book Series) Page 3
