Fif15teen Page 15

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  Something crawled across Akeem’s arm, waking him up with a start. He brushed himself absently as he looked around, momentarily unsure of where he was. He spotted boys scattered across the rocky shoreline in unusual sprawling sleep poses. Doc was leaning precariously against a rock with Mouse curled up in a little ball at his feet. Akeem looked up. The sun was beginning its long trek across the sky, and soon the heat of the day would be full upon them. They had slept far longer than they intended. His heart fluttered when the sound of voices reached his ears. He jumped to his feet and tiptoed over to Gideon. He shook him gently until his eyes flew open.

  “Someone’s coming,” Akeem whispered. Gideon was on his feet and fully awake before his mind knew what happened. The voices were getting closer, and the noise woke the other boys. Gideon signaled silence to them as they woke, commanding them without words to stay where they were. Gideon grabbed Akeem by the arm, and together they climbed the jagged slope and crawled to the edge of the cornfield. Akeem had never moved so silently in his life, and he was slightly amused by the fact that a sudden fear of death had transformed him into a stealthy ninja in seconds. They listened intently. Soon the sound of voices once again floated to their ears.

  Gideon mouthed the word angels, and Akeem nodded gravely back. Gideon reached down to his hip where his mace usually hung and found it missing. His face was a puzzled horror as he realized that he had left it back at the camp. They all left their weapons back at the camp. The danger of their situation showed plainly on Gideon’s face and caused a knot of cold fear to form in Akeem’s belly. They crept back down to the water’s edge and huddled with the other boys.

  “Angels, four p’haps five,” Gideon said with his lips more than words.

  “What do we do?” Doc moaned more loudly than he intended. They all froze when the rustling in the corn suddenly stopped. As luck would have it, at that same instant a large crow shot from the corn, hollering its morning frustrations. The corn began to rustle again, and this time the voices came to them clearly.

  “I have an idea,” Akeem hissed then ran for his backpack.

  “This is way too close to Dog territory; we shouldn’t be here,” said a shaky, high-pitched voice.

  “Don’t worry, Kailyn. I bet my eyes those Dogs are still sleeping; besides it’s rare for them to come to the river.

  “Yeah, those pigs bathe only once every two years,” a girl said and muffled giggling ensued.

  “They favor the winding road over the river most days,” Piper mumbled.

  “What are we doing out here anyway?” one of the girls asked.

  “A water duct to the castle isn’t working properly. It’s most likely blocked with debris, perhaps a dead animal. We just need to clear the duct. It’s around here somewhere. It’ll be quick, now hush,” Piper demanded, and there was silence.

  The girls were so close now that the boys could see the cornstalks moving in their wake. The darkness of the shaded cove and a few cornstalks were the only thing that separated them now. The boys pressed themselves flat to the ground, silently praying that none of the girls would look in their direction because they would surely be seen. Akeem returned quickly with his backpack and was now shuffling through it anxiously. Finally he found what he was looking for. To Doc it looked like Akeem held a tiny red candle with a grizzled and tattered wick in his left hand and a stand of covered matches in his right.

  “You wish to sing them ‘Happy Birthday’ until they die?” Doc asked sarcastically.

  Gideon beamed when he recognized what Akeem was holding. “Brilliant! You lot stay put; when you hear a bang, run like hell. We’ll be on your tails,” Gideon whispered. Gideon and Akeem crept through the cove and climbed back up the slope to the edge of the cornfield. They slid on their bellies into the corn. After a few short feet, the corn opened once again onto the bank of the river. Four girls were scouring the shore, looking for the clogged pipe. A girl with jet-black wavy hair and jade green eyes was mere feet away, kneeling on the rocky shore. She was pulling intently on something the boys couldn’t see.

  “Ready?” Akeem whispered nervously. Gideon nodded.

  “Toss it right down ’er nickers, bruv.” Gideon grinned viciously. Akeem struck the match and lit the wick of the M-80 he had brought with him from his fireworks stash back home. The girl looked up at the sound, and her eyes grew wide when the red missile arced toward her. It landed then bounced across the rocky shore, coming to a halt a foot away.

  “Run!” She warned the other girls and, like a colony of terrified rabbits, they zigzagged across the shore and scampered up the slope, disappearing into the corn. The remaining girl got up to run, twisted her ankle on a protruding rock, and fell toward the smoking M-80.