F. Wilson - Secret Circles

Weezy grinned. “Wouldn‟t that be cool?”

“Hey, guys,” Eddie said. “Let‟s get out of here.”

“What for?” Jack said. “We just got here.”

“Because I see footprints up here. Big ones.”

5

Jack froze. He glanced at Weezy and saw her standing statue-still as well. “Where?” he said. “You mean here? Nearby?”

Eddie looked around. “Right behind me. Didn‟t notice them before—I mean, who

would with this thing sitting in front of you—but they‟re here.” He dropped to one knee and thrust his arm through the gap. “Here, Weezy. I‟ll help you up. See for yourself.” Jack blinked.

Eddie offering to give his sister a hand … he must really want out of here.

Weezy looked a little surprised too, but took his hand. Her foot slipped as she tried to climb up.

Jack instinctively raised a hand to give her butt a boost and instantly thought better of it. Not a good idea. Instead he wove his fingers and held out his interlocked hands for her to step in.

“Here.”

The sole of her wet sneaker landed on his palms and he boosted her up. Once she was out he made a point of hoisting himself up and through the gap without help.

His feet squished in his sneakers as he checked out the sandy soil. He saw their own footprints, clean and crisp in the damp sand, but where—?

And then he spotted them—a line of indistinct, oblong depressions trailing along the perimeter of the pyramid.

“I thought you meant fresh tracks,” he said. “These are old.”

“Not that old. With all the rain we‟ve been having, they wouldn‟t be there at all if they were old.”

Jack had to admit he had a point.

“They‟re kind of big,” Weezy said in a small voice.

Eddie pointed at the nearest. “‟Kind of‟? That‟s a foot long if it‟s an inch. Maybe longer. It could have been made before the last rain.” He looked around. “Let‟s not kid ourselves, okay?

There‟s something out here in the Barrens. We saw it that night when the government guys were digging up the mound.”

Jack remembered the hulking shape silhouetted through the trees. Whoever it was had made Pepe le Pew smell like a rose.

“Oh, that. Probably just some big piney who hadn‟t had a bath since Christmas. All we saw was a shadow.”

“A big shadow. I don‟t want it showing up here.”

“It won‟t,” he told him.

Eddie looked around again. “Yeah? People go missing in here every year. We all say they got lost and starved to death—”

Jack smiled. “You always say the Jersey Devil got them.”

“I‟m not kidding, Jack. What if they don‟t starve? What if something gets them and that‟s why they never make it back?”

Weezy looked at Jack. “Maybe we should go.”

“Hey, wait. The Pinelands cover a million acres. Even if there is something out there, the chances of it crossing paths with us are pretty slim.”

“I‟m not so sure about that,” Eddie said. “This cage or whatever may be special to it. Maybe it comes back here, like, regularly.”

Jack had to admit they were getting to him. He looked around and sniffed the air. Saw nothing, smelled nothing. Still …

“All right, all right. We‟ll head back.”

They retreated through the burned-out area to their bikes, with Eddie, of all people, leading the way.

“Y‟think we‟re the only ones who know about that pyramid thing?” he said once they were on their way back toward town.

Jack noticed he‟d relaxed since putting some distance between himself and the pyramid.

Weezy nodded from the lead spot. “Good chance. Otherwise people would be yakking about it all over.”

“Hard to believe no one‟s ever found it before us,” Jack said.

Weezy slowed and let his bike pull even with hers.

“Maybe the Indians knew about it. And maybe some pineys do, but they keep to themselves.

It‟s not like people are looking for it. And like you said: a million acres of woods. There are places in here no human has ever laid eyes on. Don‟t forget, that‟s on Old Man Foster‟s land. It‟s even less likely for hikers or campers to be wandering around posted property.”

“Think Mister Foster knows about it?”

“I‟d bet not. He doesn‟t seem to take much interest in his land. No one‟s ever seen him. For all we know, he‟s dead.”

“Then who‟s posting all these no-trespassing signs?” Eddie said.

Jack and Weezy answered in unison. “The Jersey Devil!”

“Fine,” Eddie grumbled. “Be like that.”

Weezy said, “No big deal to hire someone to post signs.”

Eddie looked at her. “Y‟think we should tell anyone what we found?”

“Don‟t even think about it!” Weezy cried.

“Why not? Maybe some experts can come down and figure out what it really is.”

“I‟ll tell you what they‟ll come down and do.” She was talking through her teeth and Jack could sense the fury building in her. “They‟ll dismantle it and ship it off to the Smithsonian or something. You saw what they did to our mound. What makes you think they‟ll have any more respect for that pyramid?”

“‟Our‟ mound?” Jack said with a smile, trying to cool her down. “When did it become ours?”

She gave him an annoyed look. “ I know it‟s on Old Man Foster‟s land, and you know what I mean.”

That triggered a thought. “Foster … they‟ll have to get his permission first.”

Her voice rose. “Those guys who dug up our mound didn‟t have his permission! They just came in the middle of the night and did whatever they wanted to do, then left. They‟ll do the same with the pyramid!”

“Easy, Weezy.” He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. “We‟ll keep our lips zipped.”

She gave him a pointed look. “That means we don‟t tell anyone . Not even Mister Rosen, and

especially not Professor Nakamura.”

Jack figured Mr. Rosen could be trusted, but agreed about the professor. They‟d lost the baby pyramid because of him.

“Mum‟s the word.”

“Good.” She looked at Eddie. “You with us, dear brother?”

Jack tried telepathy: Agree with her. Maybe it got through, or maybe Eddie knew better from experience.

“All the way, dear sister.” He shrugged. “Besides, who‟m I gonna tell anyway?”

“It‟s like a duty,” she said. “The Barrens are special. They‟ve kept secrets for ages. We can‟t go messing things up just because we got lucky. We—”

“Goddamn you little bastids!”

The shout came from off to their left and Jack was surprised to see they‟d reached the spong already. The source of the cursing was a skinny man wearing an Agway gimme cap and bib-front overalls. He was hurrying their way, weaving among the traps Mrs. Clevenger had sprung. He snatched an upright stick from one of the traps and began waving it in the air.

He looked furious as he shouted, “I warned you „bout messin‟ with my traps!”

They‟d run into this piney before. He claimed he was Mr. Foster‟s son but Jack had a feeling Old Man Foster wasn‟t a piney.

“We didn‟t touch them!” Eddie called back, then spoke under his breath. “Least not this time.”

“Hell you didn‟t! This is the second time now I find you here with all my traps sprung! I‟m gonna teach you bastids a lesson you‟ll never forget!”

He broke into a run, whipping the stick back and forth ahead of him.

Eddie let out a wail and hit his pedals. His rear tire fish-tailed and kicked up sand as he accelerated. Jack and Weezy were close behind. As they raced away, a fist-size rock sailed through the air, narrowly missing Weezy‟s head.