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He looked up. It was Aaron.
B.J. glanced down at her again. “Be right back,” he said, and then painfully crawled to his feet and limped back to the hole and looked up. “I’m down here!” he shouted.
“Crap, kid! Are you okay?” Aaron said.
“I’ll live,” B.J. said.
“What the hell happened?” Aaron yelled.
“I found Meg.”
“Oh my God! Is it a cave? Is the gold down there with her?” Aaron asked.
“It’s not a cave. I think it’s an old dug cellar. There’s a really big iron box beside her, but I don’t know what’s in it. There used to be a staircase here, but it long since fell apart. I’d appreciate a lift up when you can manage it.”
“Lord, have mercy, little brother. Sit tight. I’ve already called the cavalry. How bad are you hurt? Should I call an ambulance?”
“I’m bleeding some, but I’ll live.”
Aaron sighed. “Mom’s gonna kill me,” he muttered, and then heard voices shouting his name.
“Here! We’re here!” Aaron shouted back, and kept calling until he saw the others coming toward him on the run.
Cameron was the first to reach him. “Where is he?”
Aaron pointed to the hole behind him. “Down there. He found Meg, and there’s a big iron box with her.”
“Is he hurt?” Cameron asked.
“He said he’s bleeding some, but I think he’s okay. He was standing up when I aimed the light down on him.”
At that point, the search for Meg turned into a rescue for B.J. The men began assessing the area where B.J. fell, and soon realized it was what was left of the wood floor from an old cabin, and B.J. had fallen through the door in the floor. When the ancient wood shattered, raggededges of the ancient spikes had ripped through B.J.’s side and across his back on the way down.
“B.J.! Get back!” Cameron shouted. “We need to enlarge the hole where you fell so we can get somebody down to help you up.”
“That will be me,” Aaron said.
“Anybody up there got something to cover Meg up? I don’t want any garbage to fall on her down here!” B.J. shouted.
Cameron took a disposable rain poncho out of his pack. “Dropping down a plastic poncho,” Cameron shouted.
B.J. saw it falling and caught it in midair. Then he pulled it out of the pouch, unfolded it, and carefully laid it over the remains.
“Okay! She’s covered! Just be careful with what falls in here!” B.J. shouted, and then eased himself down beside her so that he was kneeling between her and any falling debris, and settled in to wait.
He could hear the rumble of men’s voices from above as they began to clean up the opening, but he was past caring about what was happening above ground, and doing his best not to panic about where he was or how much blood he could feel soaking into his clothes, and started talking to keep his mind off the pain.
“My mother’s name is Shirley. I have three brothers, Aaron, Sean, and Wiley. I’m the youngest. There are hundreds of us up here on Pope Mountain. You and your Brendan left a wonderful legacy for all of us.”
The sounds above faded as silence enveloped him. By all rights, he should have been freaked out of his head, but in a strange way he felt safe, and as he continued to speak, his voice kept getting softer, like the whispers in church between him and his brothers when they were small.
“There’s something else. We didn’t know you’d gone missing. Over the years, Brendan’s journal, the one he wrote your story in, went missing, too. Then our family found it again, and that’s when we found out that you never came home. Brendan couldn’t find you then, so we came looking for you now. You’re not lost anymore, Meg. You don’t have to cry on the mountain ever again. We found you for him. It’s going to take a while, but we’ll get you out of here.”
And then he took off his belt, removed the ornate buckle with his initials on it, and laid the buckle on top of the cover he’d put over her.
“This is a gift. My promise to you that we’ll honor your time in this world and lay you to rest with your Brendan.”
As he swept his flashlight across the plastic shroud, it reflected off the silver buckle with the initials BJP. Satisfied, he leaned back, and as he did, a sharp pain doubled him over.
