Chapter Twelve

It was about a twenty minute drive out of the Lake Placid area as they headed toward the edge of the Adirondack mountain ranges. In the back of the truck, Nickole was sitting in between Seth and her brother. She remained quiet the entire time, listening to the four boys yammering about their own interests; cars, girls and other teenage topics in which Nickole had no interest. Several times she found herself wondering why she was even there. 

Nickole began to analyze the choice she had made. Her relationship with Alex was becoming distant, their mother was not fond of his friends and frankly, neither was she. Come to think of it, Nickole hardly had any interest in driving around with them at all. So why did she risk lying to their mother for Alex? Maybe she thought of it as her chance to try to strengthen her relationship with her brother, by taking part in his own interests. Plus, going out with him and his friends also meant a chance for her to see more of the mountains, even if they were only going to the edge of them. Regardless, it would be the farthest away from home she would have been in a long time. Though she was ashamed to admit it, she was excited to be doing something active for once and, all things considered, glad that she lied to her mother about it.

After heading off the main road and onto more narrow, winding roads, they began to approach the base of the mountains. The paths became rougher and less paved the deeper they traveled. The tremendous stature of Hetrick’s F-250 was built to endure rocky mountain roads, but that did nothing for the shaking of the truck’s cabin, though Nickole hardly took notice of it. She found herself glancing past the boys on either side of her and out the windows when she could. She was trying to view the splendor of the wilderness that traveled past her.

As they headed deeper down the old path, Hetrick slowed the truck before bringing it to a stop. They had gone far enough into the hills that everywhere Nickole looked, she could not see beyond the trees. Hetrick turned off the truck and suddenly everything went deathly quiet as the roar of the F-250’s engine was silenced. At once, everyone opened the doors and stepped outside. Nickole followed Alex out the left side of the truck. She could instantly feel the soothing touch of the mountains’ warm, spring air as it brushed across her flesh in the form of a soft breeze. The atmosphere was filled with the sounds of birds all around them and the smell of pine trees. She was only several miles from home and yet it was as though she had crossed into a whole new world.

“Where are we?” Alex asked. “Is this it? Where’s the road?”

Hetrick walked around to the bed of his truck. He grabbed an old, worn backpack and slung it around his shoulder. Closing the bed gate, he headed back over to the group.

“What’s in that?” Seth asked Hetrick, pointing to the bag on his back.

“Just a few things we might need,” Hetrick replied casually. “Come on, follow me.” He began heading uphill into the trees.

Alex was about to follow when his pocket suddenly vibrated. He quickly pulled his phone out to see a new message from his mother. Nothing serious, he thought. She simply reminded him to ensure Nickole was brought home later from her friend’s house. It seemed Nickole’s deception really had worked. Still, Alex shook his head in annoyance at the way their mother was constantly looking into their lives. Not wanting her to spoil his afternoon, Alex dropped his phone into the truck through the open window and then caught up with his friends.

They were only walking through the woods for a minute before Alex was beginning to question what they were doing.

“Hetrick,” he called up to his friend’s brother. “I thought you said you found a road that cuts through the mountains.”

“No,” was Hetrick’s response as he stopped and turned to look back at Alex. “I said I found what could be the remains of one.”

Alex was confused. “What does that mean?”

Hetrick continued hiking up the hill. “You’ll see. Come on.” Alex and Seth exchanged glances, but decided not to question him just yet, and they followed Hetrick and Danny further up with Nickole just behind them.

It was not much farther, but when the treeline began to break open, the first thing they found themselves standing before was a small cliff that rose up in front of them, blocking their path. It was not exactly a cliff, rather it looked like the result of a landslide or something of the like. It towered about fifteen feet above them, with numerous tree and plant roots jutting out from the wall. Nickole’s jaw dropped. Alex shook his head at the way she was so easily impressed by new sights.

“What is this?” he said, a little aggravated. “Where’s your ‘remains?’”

Hetrick stepped forth and placed his hand around a large tree root sticking out of the cliff. “You’re standing on it,” he responded with a grin. Alex and the rest of them looked down simultaneously. Suddenly, he realized what Hetrick was talking about. As they stood before the dirt cliff, they realized they were standing on what appeared to be a disfigured formation of black, rugged rocks embedded in the ground. Some were flat and level while others pointed out as if they were dug into the ground. Alex looked behind and saw more of these stretching down the hill. Scanning the cliff once more, it was clear to him now that some time earlier, the road where they stood had been destroyed, and they were now standing on its concrete remains. So it stood to reason that the rest of the road lay above them, but why would anyone want it destroyed?

“So this is it?” Seth asked.

Hetrick nodded. “Yeah, I found this last year while exploring the edge of the quad paths. I’ve just never taken the time to get up there, until now at least.”

Seth shrugged as he glanced up and down the ravaged hillside before them. “Well how hard could it be?” he said with confidence. “It doesn’t look like much of a climb.” With that, he walked over and grabbed hold of one of the roots embedded in the dirt.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” Hetrick shouted after him. As soon as Seth put pressure down on the root to pull himself up, the loose dirt supporting it suddenly gave away. Seth fell onto his back as the cliff quickly began to disintegrate. Nickole laughed to herself and attempted to help him up. It was then that they realized just how unstable the cliff really was when a large, young tree sitting near the edge of the deteriorating ledge was brought down in the slide.

“Oh shit!” Seth exclaimed in shock. He scrambled off his back to hurry out of the way of the collapsing tree. Alex rushed over to grab Nickole and pull her away. Danny and Hetrick stepped clear as the tree toppled over the edge with the flow of the small landslide and crashed onto the ground. 

After a few seconds, the event was over, and fortunately, nobody had been harmed. Nickole shook Alex’s hand off her arm. Seth climbed back onto his feet and wiped the dirt off himself. There was a brief silence but then everyone broke out into a laugh.

“Is everyone okay?” Hetrick asked. He looked over at Seth and shook his head. “Now you know why I’ve never been up there yet.” The laughter was then directed at Seth, but something suddenly caught Nickole’s eye.

“What’s that?” she said, pointing toward the remains of the fallen cliff. Everyone shifted their attention toward the dirt and debris. Hetrick inched forward and began digging away at the dirt around the roots of the downed tree. After clearing away a little bit of the debris, they could make out what appeared to be an old-looking frame that formed the shape of a small doorway.

“Whoa,” Hetrick gasped under his breath. The others walked over next to him to get a look at their discovery.

“What is it?” Nickole asked with growing interest.

Hetrick continued clearing away the surrounding dirt. “It looks like the entrance to a mine or something.” He removed the bag from around his shoulder and set it on the ground. Rifling through it, Hetrick pulled out three small flashlights. He handed one to his brother and the other remaining light he tossed to Alex. Turning them on, Hetrick shined his light toward the opening. The light revealed a tunnel heading into the hill. He could not tell if there was an end to it, but it was definitely a mine of some sort. Hetrick ducked his head and slowly crept his way into the tunnel, followed by Danny.

With the only other flashlight, Alex went to join them inside. As Nickole attempted to go in with him he reached his arm out to stop her. “Stay here,” he said in a commanding tone. Nickole gave him a look of disdain, believing if the mine was safe enough for him then it was safe enough for her. Alex looked over at Seth. “Could you keep an eye on her?”

Seth nodded. “Yeah, sure,” he reluctantly replied.

Just inside, the tunnel was narrow and compacted. The three of them inched their way through the darkness, shining their lights around as they went. In seconds, however, the tunnel began to open and become more spacious. They could now stand up straight and were able to take a better look around. The only other source of light came faintly from the way they entered. Alex guessed it must have been an air duct rather than an entrance. But who could tell? These mines must have been abandoned for many years.

Hetrick knelt by the wall of the tunnel and picked some of the materials from it. He shined his light on the dirt in his hand. It was a light brown color. It was soft but remained intact as he handled it. “It’s clay,” he said, his voice echoing in the close quarters. “This is a clay mine!”

Hearing this, Danny felt around the walls a bit, realizing his brother was right. Alex walked a little further down the tunnel. Still, he could not find an end to it as far as his light would travel. “I didn’t know there were any mines in these mountains,” he said.

“This could be a single vein of a whole system,” Hetrick replied. “Clay is pretty abundant in the Appalachians. There were a whole lot of mines like this back in the old days.”

“Uh-huh,” Alex mumbled. He looked over at a wooden frame stretching out on the ceiling of the mine. “You think that road you were looking for had anything to do with these mines?”

Hetrick shrugged. “Maybe,” he muttered to himself. Getting back to his feet he said, “Let’s get out of here. We’ll come back another time when we’re more prepared and give this place a look around.” He and Danny turned to head back to the entrance.

Alex reached up and touched his hand to the wood beam over his head. Without any warning, the beam suddenly collapsed, and with it the fragile frame came crashing down. Alex dove out of the way as more debris continued to drop from the ceiling of the mine. Hetrick and Danny watched in horror as the tunnel’s structure became increasingly unstable.

“Get out of here!” Hetrick yelled, shoving Danny toward the opening. In one final effort, Hetrick attempted to rush over for Alex but the mine was caving in too quickly. It was no use. Hetrick cursed and scrambled out of the tunnel with the cave in hot on his tail.

Outside the mine, Seth rushed to help Danny and Hetrick as they slipped out of the disaster. As soon as Hetrick got clear of the entrance, the frame had caved in with the rest of the tunnel. They hurried to their feet but it did not end there. After the entrance gave in, the remains of the previous landslide caused by Seth picked up again.

“Alex!” Nickole screamed as she recklessly rushed toward the sliding earth.

“Nickole, No!” Hetrick reached out and pulled her back. The whole cliff was crumbling and quickly falling down the hill. “Get out of the way! Run!” he shouted, pushing the others to move away from the calamity. Hetrick dragged Nickole clear of the landslide’s path.

At last, the action faded and ceased. The entire area of the hillside had been transformed by the mishap. Nobody said a word. Hetrick caught his breath, he couldn’t find the strength to move just yet. Nickole was extremely shaken. She tried to remain as calm as she could, but her brother was now trapped on the other side, buried under the mountain. She could not control herself as she cried out, “ALEX!”