“Bobby, you believe in God?” Sam asked his son.
“I don’t know. Not really, I suppose.”
“Well, pray anyway.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Tom peered out a smudged window to watch the rain splatter across its cold, glass surface. “Sure is nasty out there,” he said. “We made it inside just in time.”
“Lucky us,” Anne replied sarcastically. “We may be stuck here for a while, so let’s see what we can uncover.”
Anne and Tom had arrived at the Bayberry Library shortly before storm clouds burst wide open. They were greeted by Gabriel, the town’s librarian. “Why, hello, Mr. Timmerman; Mrs. Wamsley,” Gabriel had welcomed them. “What brings you in on a Saturday afternoon?”
“Gabriel, we need access to the Historical Records Room. Can you let us in?” Anne asked.
“Doing some research on the Pumpkin Festival for tomorrow’s big story?”
“Exactly,” replied Anne with a warm smile.
Gabriel led them to the locked room, fished around his left pants pocket for a key, and let them inside. “There aren’t many people here right now, so I’ll just leave the door closed. Do you mind locking up when you finish?”
“No problem, Gabe,” confirmed Tom. Gabriel smiled and walked back to his desk at the front of the library.
An hour passed and the two journalists had uncovered nothing significant.
“Found anything?” Anne finally asked.
“To be honest, I’m not even sure what we’re lookin’ for,” replied Tom.
Anne sighed deeply. “Me neither.” She closed a dusty book and walked over to a rusty filing cabinet. “Wonder what’s in here,” she said.
Tom looked up and saw the silver cabinet wedged into a corner of the room. “Open it and find out.”
Anne tried opening the filing cabinet. Locked.
“I’ll go get the key from Gabriel,” Tom said while standing.
“No, Tom, hold on a second.” He froze in place. “Why would they keep a locked filing cabinet in a locked room?”
“To keep people like us from snoopin’.”
“Snooping into what?”
“Wizards and beasts and sea creatures?” he grinned.
“You ever pick a lock?” she asked sheepishly.
“Come on, Anne, we’re not gonna break into an old filin’ cabinet. What if that’s where Gabe keeps his booze?”
“Well, either way, we win. I could sure go for a drink right now,” she joked.
“Darlin’, you just said the magic words!” Tom laughed. “Criminals need the right motivation.”
Tom walked over and pulled a pocket knife from his pleated khaki pants. “Now, don’t go tellin’ your husband I know how to do this.”
“My lips are sealed.”
Less than a minute later, Tom had picked the lock and the drawer slid open. Anne’s eyes grew wide when she looked inside. “What is it, Anne?” he asked.
“Tom, I think we just hit the jackpot,” she replied with a shaky voice.
* * * * * * * * * *
The wind howled. The storm grew more violent with each passing second. Max, Larry, and Jed stood at the base of Mt. Misery staring into nothingness.
“Sheriff,” Max shouted above the raging storm, “if Caroline is up there somewhere, she is in a tremendous amount of danger. She’s exposed to the elements, to lightnin’ strikes, and if a big gust of wind catches her frail little body, she could fly right off the mountain.”
Jed overhead Max and panicked. Without warning, he began running up the side of Mt. Misery.
“Jed, get back here,” Larry screamed. His words were either inaudible, or Jed simply ignored them. After a twenty-foot head start, Max and Larry reluctantly followed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Caroline was half-way up the mountain when the storm unleashed its fury on Bayberry Cove. First, rain turned dirt into mud and made her footing unstable. Then, winds gusted at dangerously high speeds, nearly knocking her off balance a dozen times. Finally, lightning began striking in bunches. Loud cracks to her left and right, with the loudest of all hitting above her. "If Boreas could control two monsters, he could surely control the weather," Caroline thought. "I must be close – this must be his desperate attempt to frighten me away."
She kept climbing.
And climbing.
And climbing.
Until the weather became too fierce. The conditions became too dangerous.
Caroline reached for a rock’s edge, but her left foot slipped out from underneath her body. She fell face-first into a puddle, squealed in agony, tasted blood on her bottom lip, and felt a sharp pain shoot through her right arm.
“Ok, Caroline,” she mumbled, “get back up and keep going.” Her body didn’t respond. Louder this time, “Get back up and keep going!” She scrambled to her feet, wiped blood away from her face, and put weight on both legs. Everything felt fine. Swinging her right arm, Caroline realized nothing was broken, but she also knew the storm was too brutal to keep climbing. That’s when a strong gust of wind smacked hard against her thin frame, knocking her off balance and sending her sliding down the mountainside.
Ten feet, twenty, thirty – she picked up speed, ricocheting off rocks and bushes as she slid further away from Mt. Misery’s peak.
Caroline was descending with so much velocity, that the end seemed inevitable. A few bumps and bruises would heal, but the impact of hitting the ground at such a high speed would certainly kill her. She had five minutes. Maybe less.
But that’s when he broke her fall.
Jed Rogers appeared from nowhere, anchored himself to a sturdy bush with deep roots, wrapped his arms around Caroline as she passed, and held on for dear life as his right shoulder popped out of its socket. His football career ended at that moment. Jed screamed, but didn’t let go. Short of his arms being ripped from his body, Jed would never let go.
The two teenagers gasped for air. Everything hurt.
“Jed, you came for me,” Caroline panted.
“Yeah, I came.” he winced.
“Where is everyone else?”
“We got separated a while back. The storm was too strong. They could be anywhere.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“We need to find shelter. Wait out the storm. Ouch!” Jed groaned.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my shoulder. It’s separated. I need you to pop it back into place.”
“Jed, I don’t…”
“Listen, Caroline, I need you to do it or I could be in serious trouble.”
“Jed…”
“Caroline, please!”
“No, Jed, look over there.” Caroline sat up and pointed to a small opening in the side of the mountain. Jed could barely make out the cave through the sheets of rain covering its entrance, but it was there.
“Quick, let’s get inside.” Jed and Caroline struggled to their feet and hurried to the cave’s entrance. Jed went first to make sure it was safe, then Caroline followed.
Once safely inside, Jed and Caroline took a dozen heavy gasps before their eyes began adjusting to the low levels of light.
“Jed,” Caroline said nervously, “do you see what I see?”
“Yeah,” he gasped.
Her voice cracked. “What is this place?”
