Ike Hamill - The Vivisectionist

“Wow,” said Jack.

“Hold this open, will you?” Stephen asked Jack. He was holding the stairs up with his left hand.

The section stood five stairs high and it pivoted on a hinge at the top. By stepping over the bottom few stairs, Stephen was able to duck through the hole created. He reached back over the stairs to grab his light.

“I think it’s weighted or something,” said Jack. “I don’t have to hold it up — it just stays here.”

“Probably a spring,” said Ben who had come up behind Jack. “Do we have something to prop it open with so it doesn’t close behind us?”

“I think I’ve still got that piece of broom handle,” said Jack. He pulled the piece of wood out of his pack. It was about eighteen inches long. Jack wedged it between the exposed studs and the bottom of the raised section of stairs.

Ben looked at the arrangement with his flashlight. “Oh, look,” he said. Ben was pointing at a latch build onto the underside of the hinged stairs that extended out and engaged a stud. “I think we’re supposed to use this.” He moved the mechanism and it locked against the stud, holding up the stairs.

When they caught up to Stephen he had shuffled down the passage. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all plywood at only five feet high, requiring the boys to hunch over and shuffle their feet.

“Watch where you’re stepping,” said Ben. “Could be another pit or something.”

“Ben, can you set your alarm?” asked Jack. “I want to make sure we start back to the house at four so we’re not late for dinner.”

Ben paused and set his watch while Stephen roamed ahead. Jack waited for Ben and then the two of them moved quickly to catch up. The hall was full of turns and the boys became disoriented; not sure which direction they were headed.

“Man, this is small,” said Jack.

They came to a four-way intersection.

Stephen had stopped, blocking the hall. “Which way?” he asked.

Ben had an idea — “My brother’s friend goes in caves all the time and he said they always put arrows to mark the way out. Anyone got a marker or something.”

“I’ve got a Sharpie,” said Stephen. He pulled it out of his pack and handed it to Ben.

Ben leaned down and drew an arrow on the floor. It pointed back the way they had come. “So, if we have to get back out, we just follow the arrows,” said Ben.

“That’s cool,” said Jack.

“But which way do we go?” asked Stephen.

“I guess it doesn’t matter,” said Ben. “But if we find a dead end or something, at least we won’t get lost.”

“Let’s keep going straight,” said Jack.

For almost an hour they walked hunched over through the corridors. They marked many more intersections, and plenty of dead ends. When they came to a dead end they would back-track to the previous branch and then put a small “x” on the floor. Eventually they came to something new: the passage took a vertical jog. The ceiling opened, but they faced a wall about five feet high.

“This maze is in ‘3D,’” said Stephen. “Awesome — help me up.”

“Wait, how are we all going to get up?” asked Ben.

“Two will go up and then help the other,” said Stephen. “You go up — I’ll show you.” He laced his fingers together and held out his hands. Ben put a hand on Stephen’s shoulder and then stepped up on to his hands. Stephen lifted him a couple of feet and Ben pulled himself up to the next level.

“You go now,” Stephen said to Jack.

“Nah, I’m lighter than you two. I should go last,” Jack said.

“Makes sense,” said Stephen. “Give me a boost then, would ya?”

Jack boosted Stephen up and Ben helped from above. Then they both leaned over the edge and held out their hands for Jack to pull him up.

“Let me try something first,” said Jack. He handed his light and pack up to Ben.

The passage measured only five feet wide and Jack went to the far right side. Gripping the lip with both hands, he walked his feet up the left-hand side of the wall until he got a foot over the edge. Pulling himself most of the way up, he shot out his left hand at the last second and Ben rolled him onto the edge.

“Pretty good, son,” said Stephen. “I don’t think you even needed help.”

“I need to work on the end-part,” said Jack. “I was stuck.”

Down the corridor they took a left turn followed by right. Another thirty feet along and they faced a five foot drop. Stephen crouched, about to jump down, when Ben stopped him.

“Hey, we only have five minutes until four. Maybe we should head back,” said Ben.

“I just want to see what’s down here,” Stephen said. “We’ll head back when the alarm goes off.”

“We’re just going to have to climb back up though,” said Ben.

“I vote for going until the alarm,” said Jack. “That’s why we set it.”

“Okay,” Ben relented.

They jumped down and found that the hall turned right almost immediately. Six feet later, it ended with a door. Diminutive, but perfectly proportional, the door had an oval-shaped brass handle. It was set into the plywood wall, and it was painted blue with a blue frame.

“Can we even fit through that thing?” Jack asked.

Ben’s alarm sounded and the boys jumped at the sound.

“Let’s go,” said Ben.

They retraced their steps and came to where the corridor jogged up again. Stephen tried Jack’s technique and Ben had to push him over the lip when he could go no further. Ben suffered a similar fate and Stephen grabbed his belt loop and hauled him up.

After handing up his pack, Jack tried a new idea. He used the same positions for his feet and hands, but trotted up to the wall and executed his climb in one smooth motion. Like a high-jumper, he let his momentum pull his weight up and over the edge. Ben and Stephen clapped and whooped approval as Jack made it up on his own.

“You boys are only half awake,” said Jack’s mom at dinner. “Rough day?”

Jack’s had his head turned to the side and propped up on one hand. Ben and Stephen both slumped over their plates.

“We were trying to track a deer,” said Jack. “But it ran too fast.”

“Elbows, Jack,” said his father.

“Hey mom, can we write our diaries in the morning? I’m tired,” said Jack.

“Sure, but they better be done before you go out,” she replied.

The trips back and forth to the hotel had taken their toll. Normally, they could hike that distance with no problem, but they had expended extra energy moving through the woods to avoid Smoker and Bag Man.

“So what’s the most interesting thing you guys have learned this summer?” asked Jack’s dad.

“Ummm, we learned that you can find yellow and black morel mushrooms starting in July,” said Jack.

“It’s easiest to find them four to ten days after a good rain,” said Ben.

“You’re not eating these, I hope?” asked Jack’s dad.

“No, of course not dad,” said Jack. “Oh, and we learned that mosquitos grow in vernal pools.”

“Interesting,” his dad replied. “What are vernal pools?”

“They’re temporary pools that start from springs or spring snow melt,” said Ben. “But they don’t have fish. So salamanders, and frogs, and stuff can live there without being eaten.”

Later, upstairs in Jack’s room, Stephen expressed his disappointment with his friends. “You guys totally wasted all that vernal pool stuff — now what are we going to write about?”

“Relax,” said Jack. “There’s tons of stuff to write about.”

“Yeah, but we had that all worked out,” Stephen sighed. “What a waste.”

“Well what are we supposed to say? ‘Oh no, dad, we didn’t learn anything interesting. Might as well sign us up for soccer camp or hauling trash at one of your work sites,’” said Jack.