“All right, all right. We‟ll head back.”
They retreated through the burned-out area to their bikes, with Eddie, of all people, leading the way.
“Y‟think we‟re the only ones who know about that pyramid thing?” he said once they were on their way back toward town.
Jack noticed he‟d relaxed since putting some distance between himself and the pyramid.
Weezy nodded from the lead spot. “Good chance. Otherwise people would be yakking about it all over.”
“Hard to believe no one‟s ever found it before us,” Jack said.
Weezy slowed and let his bike pull even with hers.
“Maybe the Indians knew about it. And maybe some pineys do, but they keep to themselves.
It‟s not like people are looking for it. And like you said: a million acres of woods. There are places in here no human has ever laid eyes on. Don‟t forget, that‟s on Old Man Foster‟s land. It‟s even less likely for hikers or campers to be wandering around posted property.”
“Think Mister Foster knows about it?”
“I‟d bet not. He doesn‟t seem to take much interest in his land. No one‟s ever seen him. For all we know, he‟s dead.”
“Then who‟s posting all these no-trespassing signs?” Eddie said.
Jack and Weezy answered in unison. “The Jersey Devil!”
“Fine,” Eddie grumbled. “Be like that.”
Weezy said, “No big deal to hire someone to post signs.”
Eddie looked at her. “Y‟think we should tell anyone what we found?”
“Don‟t even think about it!” Weezy cried.
“Why not? Maybe some experts can come down and figure out what it really is.”
“I‟ll tell you what they‟ll come down and do.” She was talking through her teeth and Jack could sense the fury building in her. “They‟ll dismantle it and ship it off to the Smithsonian or something. You saw what they did to our mound. What makes you think they‟ll have any more respect for that pyramid?”
“‟Our‟ mound?” Jack said with a smile, trying to cool her down. “When did it become ours?”
She gave him an annoyed look. “I know it‟s on Old Man Foster‟s land, and you know what I mean.”
That triggered a thought. “Foster … they‟ll have to get his permission first.”
Her voice rose. “Those guys who dug up our mound didn‟t have his permission! They just came in the middle of the night and did whatever they wanted to do, then left. They‟ll do the same with the pyramid!”
“Easy, Weezy.” He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. “We‟ll keep our lips zipped.”
She gave him a pointed look. “That means we don‟t tell anyone. Not even Mister Rosen, and
especially not Professor Nakamura.”
Jack figured Mr. Rosen could be trusted, but agreed about the professor. They‟d lost the baby pyramid because of him.
“Mum‟s the word.”
“Good.” She looked at Eddie. “You with us, dear brother?”
Jack tried telepathy: Agree with her. Maybe it got through, or maybe Eddie knew better from experience.
“All the way, dear sister.” He shrugged. “Besides, who‟m I gonna tell anyway?”
“It‟s like a duty,” she said. “The Barrens are special. They‟ve kept secrets for ages. We can‟t go messing things up just because we got lucky. We—”
“Goddamn you little bastids!”
The shout came from off to their left and Jack was surprised to see they‟d reached the spong already. The source of the cursing was a skinny man wearing an Agway gimme cap and bib-front overalls. He was hurrying their way, weaving among the traps Mrs. Clevenger had sprung. He snatched an upright stick from one of the traps and began waving it in the air.
He looked furious as he shouted, “I warned you „bout messin‟ with my traps!”
They‟d run into this piney before. He claimed he was Mr. Foster‟s son but Jack had a feeling Old Man Foster wasn‟t a piney.
“We didn‟t touch them!” Eddie called back, then spoke under his breath. “Least not this time.”
“Hell you didn‟t! This is the second time now I find you here with all my traps sprung! I‟m gonna teach you bastids a lesson you‟ll never forget!”
He broke into a run, whipping the stick back and forth ahead of him.
Eddie let out a wail and hit his pedals. His rear tire fish-tailed and kicked up sand as he accelerated. Jack and Weezy were close behind. As they raced away, a fist-size rock sailed through the air, narrowly missing Weezy‟s head.
A blast of rage blazed through Jack. He felt his lips pulling back from his teeth in a snarl as he looked back at the piney. The skinny man had stopped running and was screaming something incoherent as he waved the stick.
What if that rock had hit Weezy? What would he have done?
“Jack?”
Weezy‟s voice.
He looked and found her staring at him with a worried look.
“What?”
“You … you looked kind of scary just now.”
“Didn‟t you see that rock? It just missed you.”
“I know. But the important word is „missed.‟ You looked like you wanted to kill him.”