Once they passed the last ranch, the tracks veered off into the desert as Max had suspected they would. Again, the lack of wind over the open land worked in their favor as the tracks remained easy to follow.
Liz slowed her bike to a stop and surveyed the land in front of them. It was totally flat for quite a while before little hills popped up off in the distance. «I don't see anything.»
«Me neither," Max agreed, pulling up beside her. «But
he did have a bit of a head start on us. We'll ride out for a while, then turn back.»
«Okay," she said, rolling the bike forward. «But we'll have to take it slowly. I'm just a novice at this thing.»
«You're already doing better than me," he said.
«I noticed.» She gave him a wicked grin and picked up the speed on her bike.
As they continued, the trail stayed relatively fresh for them, with only a few spots where it was obscured by underbrush or the light wind had simply blown sections of it away. Jason had been riding in pretty much a straight line, which was further proof to Max that the boy wanted to be found. Both Max and Liz continued at a safe pace to make sure they didn't lose the trail or hurt themselves.
After about fifteen minutes of riding, they had reached the area dotted with small hills that were somewhat similar to sand dunes. The change in their path forced them to be even more careful of where they were riding. Max had moved into the lead position, but the amount of care he was taking as he rode didn't prepare him when he reached the crest of a hill and lost the trail as well as the ground beneath him.
The bike jumped into the air as Max looked down to see a gaping hole directly under his rear tires. He threw his hand back and a familiar green force field spread beneath him as he and the bike came crashing down upon it. Tumbling from the bike, he managed to keep his concentration focused on the force field so it did not drop him down the dark hole.
«Max!» Liz yelled seconds later as she, too, was airborne.
Sliding his body to the side, he watched as Liz crashed down onto the shield where he had just been lying. He was impressed by how she managed the seemingly impossible task of staying on her bike, although she looked more than a little rattled by the jarring experience.
«Are you okay?» His voice was trembling with concern for her.
She nodded her head deliberately.
The force field continued to hold, protecting them from the dark cavern that lay directly beneath them.
«Hurry up," he said, pushing Liz and her bike off the shield. «I don't know how long this will hold.» He knew firsthand that his force fields were good for repelling bullets and evil alien beams, but he wasn't sure how long it could support the combined weight of Liz, him, and the pair of ATVs.
As soon as Liz and her bike were on solid ground, he used his free hand to pull his bike and himself off the green force field. Breathing a sigh of relief, he allowed the power of the force field to return to his body. Now, only a big hole with some ratty looking wooden beams lying across it sat in front of them.
«What is that doing here?» Max asked, still catching his breath.
«Must be an old mine," Liz replied, looking at the big hole. «They're all over the desert.»
«You'd think there'd be a sign or something," he said, looking for some type of warning but finding nothing.
«You'd think," she agreed.
They were standing on what looked very much like a
crater, with dirt rising around it on all sides. However, instead of finding a sloping depression in the ground, a dark crevice opened up beneath them. The chasm was about twenty feet in diameter and had several rows of rather loose-looking beams stretched across the top with several gaps of varying widths between them.
At roughly the same point where Max and Liz had come crashing down on their ATVs, several of the beams were broken through, revealing nothing but darkness below.
To Max, calling it a mine seemed wrong somehow. A mine evoked pictures of a large opening cut into the side of a mountain with wooden beams forming an arch that marked the entryway with maybe a set of tracks leading inside. He had seen that type of mine often in old movies and cartoons. But what he was looking at now was not the type of place that Wile E. Coyote would have dreamed up or Indiana Jones would have explored. This was, quite literally, a hole in the ground.
Looking back down the hill, Max confirmed that the tracks they were following did indeed lead in this direction. Jason definitely came this way, he thought, but was too afraid to suggest what he was thinking to Liz. He didn't want to know if his suspicions were true and, more importantly, he didn't want her to know.
«Hello! Is someone up there!» a familiar young voice yelled from deep inside the mine shaft. «Help!»
Max was relieved at hearing the voice that confirmed Jason was still alive.
«Jason, is that you?» Liz screamed back, on the edge of panic.
«Liz? Help!» Jason was past the edge.
«Hold on!» Max called back while he searched the area for anything he could use to make a ladder or some kind of rope. «We'll get you out. How far is it to the bottom?»
«I don't know!» Jason yelled back. «I'm not on the bottom.»
«What do you mean?» Liz asked, straining to see into the darkness beneath her. «Where are you?»
«I'm on some kind of beam," he replied. «But my bike fell to the bottom. It… it sounds really far.»
Max could hear Jason's voice trembling as it echoed up the walls of the shaft.
«We'll get you out of there," Max promised.
«Hurry," Jason replied. «I think the beam is going to fall!»
13
Opening her tired eyes, the first thing Maria saw was the beautiful painting still sitting directly in front of her.
The second thing she saw was the light coming in through the window.
And, naturally, the third thing she saw was the clock.
«Michael! It's morning!» she screamed, waking her sleeping boyfriend. «How could you let me fall asleep? My mom is going to kill me. Then she's going to kill you. And then she's going to kill the both of us again, just for the heck of it.»
«What?» He slowly came around to her shrill yells, not having heard a word of what she had just said.
«Morning.» She slowly summed it up for him in a clear and concise manner. «My mom. Me. You. Dead.»
«Well, we can't do anything about it now," he replied. He wanted to turn over and go back to sleep, but he couldn't because he was sitting up on the couch. His neck ached because of the awkward angle he had slept at.
Maria calmed herself, knowing that he was right. Feeling
morning breath overtaking her mouth, Maria reached in her purse for some mints. «I swear, one of these days I'm going to give that woman a heart attack.»
«Since you're here," Michael tested the waters, «how about making some breakfast?»
She glared at him in response, crunching on the mint.
«Kidding," he replied defensively, and got off the couch, moving into the kitchen. «You cooked last night. It's my turn this morning. What would you like? And keep in mind I only have eggs.»
«Michael Guerin?» She was shocked by the question. «Offering to make me breakfast? The world must be coming to an end. Have you been taken over by an alien… oh wait… never mind.»
«It's a limited time offer only.» He had no patience for her sarcasm first thing in the morning. He had no patience for anything first thing in the morning-or at most points in the day.
«I would love breakfast.» She leaned in to kiss him, but stopped short before making contact. «Ewww. Have a mint.» She handed him an extra breath freshener from the pack in her hand. The romantic mood ended, she released him from her embrace, and sat back on the couch admiring the wonderful painting as he went to the refrigerator to find out what was in there that he could use to make breakfast.