The Secret of the Missing Grave by David Crossman

Author:David Crossman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781608934294
Publisher: Down East Books
Published: 2015-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

13

TOO MUCH TROUBLE

“ANYWAY,” SAID BEAN, wiping the ice cream from his mouth with the back of his hand, then wiping it on his pants, which Ab tried to ignore, “there we were, with the floor almost all the way down and Mr. Proverb passed out—just lyin’ there—and smoke so thick we couldn’t hardly see nothin’.”

Ab was too eager to hear the rest of the story to correct her companion’s English.

“And I must’ve been leanin’ against the wall, or somethin’, ’cause all of a sudden I felt this loose brick. I couldn’t get my fingers into the cracks anywhere, so I just hit it as hard as I could.” He held out his bloody knuckles for her inspection and, when she had shown the required amount of sympathy and he had said, “Aw, it don’t hurt much,” he continued. “Anyway, one end of the brick swung out just in time to stop the slab. I mean, if I’d been half a second slower, even an eighth of a second—”

“I get the picture,” Ab cut him off. She didn’t need any more drama in her life at the moment. “Then what?”

“Well, I took off my shirt and smothered the fire with it, but it was mostly out already. That newspaper burns some ol’ fast, and the smoke was gone in no time. As I said, the slab comin’ down forced the smoke through the tunnel and into the walls on Maud’s side.”

“What happened to poor Mr. Proverb?” asked Ab. She had finished her sugar cone and was dabbing daintily at the corners of her mouth with the soggy napkin.

“He came to after a second, groanin’ and holdin’ his head and his knee. But as soon as he remembered where he was, he was on his feet, howlin’ out that crack between the slab and the floor—where the brick was—but ’course the door was closed, so it didn’t do any good.”

“But how did you get out?”

“That’s the funny thing. I figured we’d just have to sit tight ’til you come to find us, but all of a sudden the water started rushin’ and the slab started to rise all by itself.”

“Not all by itself,” said Ab. “I bet that’s when Maud came down and started collecting those bags I told you about.”

A light went on in Bean’s eyes. “So that’s what happened. She tripped it on her side.”

“Just the way she did when you and I were trapped down there.”

“You mean, she didn’t find the note?”

“I don’t see how she could have,” said Ab, vividly recalling Maud’s studio. “There wasn’t anyplace for it to come through.”

“But it went somewhere,” said Bean, perplexed.

Ab thought of something. “You say you took a brick out of the wall. What was behind it?”

“Behind what?” said Bean. “The brick?”

“Don’t tell me,” said Ab, holding up her hand. “I already know. It was plaster.”

Bean reflected thoughtfully. “No,” he said. “I mean, it was hard to see with the smoke and all, but I’d say there wasn’t anything there. Just space.

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