Up the Creek! (Milligan Creek Series Book 1) by Miller Kevin

Author:Miller, Kevin [Miller, Kevin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Millstone Press
Published: 2018-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

9

Lehman ’ s Island

The boys’ enthusiasm returned as they beached their canoes in a small inlet at the base of the hill and then scrambled up the grassy bank. When they reached the top of the hill, they realized they were in the middle of what used to be an old farmyard.

“Cool!” Matt said as he picked up the rusted blade of an old scythe. The wooden handle had long since rotted away.

The ruins of an old house sagged under the weight of time and decay. It was constructed of old, peeling logs. Although the frame remained intact, most of the roof had fallen in, and the entire structure was tilted toward one end, as if a strong wind had pushed it over. The windows were mostly broken, and the front door was nowhere to be seen. Strewn about the farmyard were all sorts of old, rusted farm implements, tin cans, barrels, rolls of barbed wire, smashed wooden crates, broken bottles and jars, and even an old pick-up truck. The truck looked like it was from the 1950s. It was shot through with weeds, and saplings poked out through the windows and holes in the rusted body.

As the boys wandered through the mess, they saw two low outbuildings partially hidden by trees. Upon closer inspection, they concluded they were chicken coops. At least that’s what they smelled like. Although the farm looked like it had not been occupied for decades, the buildings still gave off a slightly pungent odor. Like the house, the outbuildings were made from thick, rough-hewn logs with small, dark windows that were probably half a meter square. The roofs were made out of sod. A diverse mixture of grass, weeds, and even a few small trees had established themselves on top of the buildings over the years.

“Wow, I can't believe these old buildings are still standing” Matt said.

“They built things to last back then,” Andrew observed.

Matt peeked inside the doorway and waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. A chicken roost, a couple of old buckets, and an old leather boot came into view. “I’m going inside for a closer look.”

“Watch out for bats,” Dean warned.

“There aren’t any bats out here,” Matt said. Then he paused and looked back at Andrew. “Are there?”

Andrew shrugged. “There might be. They do like old, abandoned buildings.”

Matt turned to Chad. “On second thought, maybe you should go first.”

“Forget it,” Chad said. “Let’s go check out the house.” “Sure,” Matt agreed.

As the boys turned toward the house, Dean looked around at all of the trash strewn about the yard. “Imagine,” he said. “This looks like a junk pile now, but at one point, this was somebody’s home. I wonder who it was.”

“If I knew where we were, I could check the RM map when we get home,” Andrew said.

“No need to wait till then,” Matt replied .

Dean and Andrew turned to where Matt was crouched outside the front door of the house. As the other boys walked over, Matt stood up and held out a small piece of paper.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.