Find Wonder in All Things - By Karen M. Cox Page 0,2

them? Wasn’t it pretty obvious to everyone?

The older girl began her ascent up the bank. It was only a couple of feet, but still it was steep enough to require using all four limbs. Virginia grabbed hold of rocks and tree roots, patiently giving directions to her sister just behind her. After a minute or two, they were all standing by the tunnel’s entrance, peering into the darkness.

“Can you really find people’s dishes and furniture and stuff?” James wasn’t convinced that this little trip wasn’t a fool’s errand.

“Yes.” Laurel’s nod was emphatic. “We’ve found all kinds of things — clocks and silverware — and once we found the steering wheel of an old car. What kind did Daddy say it was, Ginny?”

“Model T,” Virginia replied. “But it probably came from the dump. People didn’t leave their cars in town when the Corps of Engineers flooded it. They packed everything up and moved the whole town up to the plateau.”

“There was a graveyard though,” Laurel went on, “and some people say they’ve found old coffins in the lake. Stuff gets caught in this tunnel when the floor is under water.”

James looked at her. “Coffins? Really?”

“Oh, Laurel. That’s just tall tales those men tell when they come up to the cabin to buy . . . supplies.” Virginia cast a quick glance at the boys and turned back around.

“Virginia, we all know your dad sells beer on the sly.” James had heard the Pendletons talk about how Mr. Elliot ran a small bootlegging operation out of his cabin up the hill from the marina. Most counties in that area of the state were dry — had been for as long as anyone could remember — but it didn’t stop people from drinking when they vacationed on the lake, and bootlegging was a profitable practice.

Virginia and Laurel exchanged looks but didn’t reply. The local law enforcement looked the other way regarding their dad’s little operation, but outright admitting that he sold contraband was still not a good idea.

Stu gallantly changed the subject. “What I’d like to find are some Indian arrowheads. Have you ever found any of those, Virginia?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t, but some kids say they found arrowheads around here when they were hiking.”

Stuart retrieved a flashlight from his cargo shorts’ pocket and shone it into the tunnel to light their way. The other two big kids took his lead and brought out their own lights.

“We can’t go in too far,” Virginia called, her voice echoing in the tunnel. “It’s blocked up with rocks and stuff.” In the quiet that settled over them, James could hear the drip, drip of water, like the ticking of the Tell-Tale Heart he read about in seventh-grade English class. He put his hand against the wall, feeling the cool, rough concrete under his fingers. The bottom of the tunnel was still muddy from ground water and rain, and in some places, it was slick with moss. He crept forward, taking care not to slip and fall.

Suddenly, James heard a blood-curdling scream from in front of him. He heard Virginia call in a panicked voice, “Laurel? What is it?”

“It’s bones — lots of bones! They must have fallen out of a coffin!”

“What? Oooh, cool — I wanna see.” Stuart backtracked with his flashlight trained on the ground. James hurried to catch up. Laurel stood, pointing, and he shone his light down where she indicated. Indeed, there were bones there — a pile of skinny bones, about six to ten inches in length.

“These can’t be human,” James scoffed. “They’re too little. It’s just some animal, Laurel. Kids!” He huffed, half in annoyance, half in relief. The idea of finding human bones didn’t appeal to him the same way it did to Stu. “You’ve been listening to too many old fishermen’s stories.”

She lifted her chin in defiance. “Well, how was I supposed to know? I’ve never seen a real human skeleton before.”

“There’s something over here.” Stu’s light disappeared in front of him although the soft glow still showed his silhouette near the wall of the tunnel. James heard him kicking debris around. There was a clatter of metal against stone and the rustle of movement. The light descended almost to the ground. The others came up to stand around him and help him look.

“It’s nothing — just some beer cans, some torn plastic something or other.” His disappointment was obvious.

Virginia laid a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll keep looking.”

Another twenty minutes of searching, however, revealed only more