The Little Moles of Gransberg

Prologue

               Croak. The toad sat along the perimeter of the marsh. It watched for any movement along the waters edge as its eyes darted in every direction almost simultaneously like a chameleon, all the while croaking every second at its post along the water’s edge. Croak. The toad’s eyes locked onto a movement in the distance- bubbles underwater moving closer. It hopped into the water, ready to swim towards the nearest crevice, away from the unknown predator.

Julain Niles exhaled another breath through her respirator as she swam in the waters of Gransberg Marshes. Her flashlight moved across the murky waters. A movement suddenly dashed beneath her and she moved the flashlight in its direction.

It wasn’t an alligator, but a large toad. Two things she wasn’t looking for as a zoologist. This area was one of the few places she could find the endangered Gransberg Water Snakes. The reproductive cycles of the species was nearly unknown amongst zoologists. To preserve the species, she needed to find out where these snakes hibernated and how they mated.

Movement of little creatures and fish picked up dust in the water, but no sight of snakes.

Julian lifted the light in her hand ahead of her and saw a pile of stone and timber ahead, as if a structure collapsed under water. The library’s map of the area was nearly 75 years old, but she didn’t remember seeing any sort of building in the area.

 Perhaps an old mining tunnel, she thought.

She swam towards the sides of the collapsed rubble until something glistened below her.

A shine from a scale, she thought.

Julian exhaled, lowering her buoyancy, and found her fingers reaching closer to the bottom, gently brushing the water to expose the glints identity.

She found a snake, she was sure of it. It wasn’t moving, so it was perhaps in hibernation. Do they sleep on the bottom of the water underneath the mud and dust? This was a giant discovery.

She couldn’t help but smile under her respirator as she waved her hand in the water, exposing the scales even more.

The light of her flashlight hit the scales as she looked closer. So bright and reflective like gold.

She looked even closer.

There was something strange about the scales.

Her fingers scooped under the loose mud and gently picked it up.

It wasn’t a snake, but a slithering line of a gold chain.

Julian slowly swam to the surface and inflated her BCD.

The curly strand of the gold chain wrapped around her fingers as she looked the old treasure, not realizing a figure stood at the edge of the water pointing something at her.

Bang.

Her jacket began to loose air and she felt her body start sinking in the water. A pain came from her back and through her chest. It was slowly replaced by a coldness as the waters of Gransberg engulfed her in its murky darkness.

Chapter One

               “Is this the house?” said a 6-year-old in the back seat as they drove through a neighborhood.

Christopher’s older brother Damien looked out the opposite window in the car, slowly counting how many times his brother had asked that. He was up to 46.

“Is THIS the house??” his younger brother chimed again.

47.

Their mother learned to ignore it after the 3rd hour in the car.

This place wasn’t like their old home, thought Damien.

The redwoods and pine trees at their old home were replaced with petrified branches of oak and willows. The lakes and marshes covered in thick mangrove and leaves were nothing like the blue sandy beaches.

Why witness protection decided to move their family to a dump like this was beyond him. He didn’t understand it.

Another hour had passed and his young brother repeated his chant. Damien counted 49. His mother’s furious eyes glared at his younger brother in the review mirror.

After a few blocks they drove further into a neighborhood and Damien felt the car slowly turn and slow down.

Damien nudged his brother and nodded.

“IS THIS OUUUUR HOUUUSEEEE????” he said loudly.

The car stopped and their mother put it in park.

“Yes, yes,” she finally smiled, “welcome to our new home, boys” she said as she got out of the car.

The outside was like a gingerbread house- an old Victorian style home. Tall window frames. Steep roof lines and turrets. The color was a mix of red brick with a creamy wooden frame around it.

“Ms. Evans, a pleasure,” said a man who was waiting for them.

Vanessa smiled back as she walked up with her two boys.

“Welcome to your new home,” he told her as the man gave her two sets of keys and a packet of information regarding the home.

Christopher was nearly jumping in place and Damien couldn’t help but smile.

Vanessa looked at her two kids and saw the excitement, “alright, alright, head inside and explore,” she told them.

Damien and Christopher began running for the door.

“And don’t forget to pack your things for school tomorrow,” she yelled as they went inside.

Damien and Christopher stopped and turned around, looking at their mom on the driveway.

School??

Chapter Two

               “Jonathan made some cookies at his home. He made them indoors,” repeated the teacher as he underlined “Jonathan” and “He” and then “Cookies” and “Them”. “THIS is an example of using a pronoun, ladies and gentlemen.”

Damien wasn’t sure if he understood anything the English teacher had been talking about for the last half hour. His mother was cruel to put them in school the day after they moved.

The lunch bell then rang.

Finally, he thought.

He found his younger brother Christopher and sat next to him on a bench.

Beep

Damien glanced over towards the sound and recognized the kid who was in his English class. The boy’s watch beeped as he sat down and Damien saw that he had set another timer.

A girl must’ve noticed his curiosity, “We call him Beeps, cause he sets his watch to time everything he does,” she said to Damien.

The kid called Beeps who was sitting on the opposite side of her did not look amused, “One must be punctual in all things,” he told her.

They were clearly friends, thought Damien.

“You guys are new,” she then realized as both her and Beeps looked at the two brothers.

Damien nodded, “I’m Damien, and this is my brother Christopher,” he told them, “We just moved here yesterday.”

Beeps pushed the thick pair of glassed up to his face, “what is your brother eating?” he awed in curiosity.

Damien looked over at his oblivious brother who was munching on a peanut butter and tomato sandwich. He was in a world of his own, unaware there were people talking about him. Damien called it his ‘eating trance’.

“My name is Lizzy,” the girl smiled, “Beeps and I are neighbors off of Lineal Street a few blocks from the Willow’s Park,” she told them.

“We moved into a place on Poland Lane, next to some giant swamp,” replied Damien.

Beeps and Lizzy looked at each other almost worryingly.

“326 Poland Lane?” asked Beeps.

Damien nodded as he bit the last bit of his sandwich which was also sliced tomato and peanut butter.

“Can we come over?” asked Lizzy almost too eagerly.

Beep’s watch suddenly Beeped and then the class bell rung.

“Today?” asked Damien as they got up from the table.

“No, no” snapped Beeps who looked at Lizzy, “I need to schedule it with my mom,” he told them.

“Tomorrow,” said Lizzy patting her geeky friend on the shoulder, “We’ll come over tomorrow.”

Chapter Three

               Vanessa watched the kid called Beeps set his watch for a new alarm after she opened the door to find him and a young girl standing in front of their house. She welcomed them in and told them there were snacks on the table if they wanted anything.

Damien and Christopher ran down stairs after their mother said they’ve arrived.

“Wow,” said Beeps as he walked around the house, expecting each room.

“Just wow,” he repeated again.

Lizzy was being just as weird as she held out her hands as if she was trying to feel something in the air. Christopher mimicked her and thought she was pretending to be a mummy walking around the living room.

Damien looked at them in curiosity and felt uncomfortable watching all of them behave in a strange way.

“What’s going on?” he finally asked.

Beeps and Lizzy realized they've been caught. They walked up to Damien and Christopher, slowly looking around to make sure their mom wasn't eaves dropping.

“326 Poland Lane,” whispered Beeps.

“YOUR house,” interrupted Lizzy.

"Is home to a mystery," continued Beeps.

“The woman by the name of Julian Niles went missing here about a year ago,” chimed in Lizzy, interrupting him again.

That’s why this was the cheapest house on the market, thought Damien. The reason they moved to this particular house made more sense in his mind.

“Like dead?” asked Christopher in awe.

“No one knows,” replied Lizzy, “One day the zoologist lady was here, and the next day…Gone.”

Damien knew he shouldn’t smile, but couldn’t help it.

“It’s true,” said Beeps, seeing that Damien didn’t believe it.

“Our mom told us the previous owner ended up moving to a different state,” replied Damien.

“Of course she would,” said Lizzy, “Why would a parent say otherwise.”

Damien looked at his younger brother who was nodding his head slowly, starting to wonder and believe the great mystery of their new house.

“Should we go through a box of her things?” smiled Damien.

Lizzy and Beeps looked at him in awe, “ You have a box of things that belong to Julian Niles? The missing lady?” they asked almost in unison.

They went upstairs into a guestroom and unboxed the things that the missing zoologist had left here, or her family forgot to take.

After a 15 minutes, Beeps suddenly tapped Lizzy’s shoulder constantly in excitement.

Lizzy, Damien, and Christopher nearly jumped behind Beeps as they looked at a Map of Gransberg Marshes.

“This is your house,” said Beeps as he trailed a finger on the map, “And what is THIS?” he asked as his finger lay motionless on a snake.

“A sea creature ate her,” whispered Christopher in shock.

They all rolled their eyes.

“That’s about an thirty minute walk from your backyard, id guesstimate,” said Lizzy, “Should we check it out?” she asked in excitement.

Damien was invested. This was fun, he had to admit. Christopher was nodding his head.

Beep

“And time to go home,” said Beeps who adjusted his watch to a new alarm.

“Tomorrow?” asked Damien, smiling.

“Tomorrow” they all said.

Chapter Four

               “Good idea with these boots,” said Damien as they walked through the Gransberg Marshes. He didn’t think it would be this wet.

“You obviously didn’t have Marshes where you came from” laughed Lizzy as they followed Beeps holding the map and a compass.

No, they didn’t, he thought. Thank goodness.

Poorly drained land of murky shallow pools and deeper lakes. Cat tails and long grasses grew from the shallow areas. Those frightened branches of water oak stood next to the droopy limbs of willow trees.

Every step was followed by the sound of a mossy squish, and the smell was woodsy and wet.

Beautiful, thought Damien sarcastically. How he missed their old home. Beautiful valleys surrounded by wild flowers and redwoods.

He stepped over a dead log and made another squishing sound with his boots.

Lizzy was partially right with her thirty-minute walk comment…If they added an hour on top of it all

 A loud bang suddenly echoed through the air.

Damien and Christopher ducked out of instinct.

Beeps and Lizzy remained standing and looked at them.

“What was that?” asked Christopher slowly standing straight.

“Most likely hillbillies shooting alligators or fish,” said Lizzy who wasn’t worried in the slightest.

Beeps looked at his map and compass, “Doesn’t look like THAT is supposed to be here,” he said pointing over their left shoulder towards a mound.

They all turned and noticed there was a large mound of dirt, almost a hill, but unnaturally made as if it was dug out. On the opposite side they found an opening like a cave which was covered with a camouflaged tarp.

Damien noticed a generator inside and un-lit lights hanging all around the exposed rock and mud. The area was held up by metal beams and large shingles to keep it from collapsing.

They all explored further in, but it became too dark and none of them brought a flashlight.

“Looks like there’s some sort of mining tunnel here,” said Beeps as he used his watch’s light to see imprints of mining rails on the ground.

“Is this what that zoologist meant by the snake picture?” asked Lizzy to anyone who would hear as she looked at the equipment inside.

“The mining rails, you mean? Maybe it wasn't a snake but a curvy rail,” replied Damien as he and Beeps looked closer to see the old rails head into a small hole at the edge of the cave.

Christopher walked with Lizzy as they found a table layered with old documents and maps. They noticed pictures of mining families and newspaper articles of a rich mining family who founded Gransberg.

The near silence was broken by the sound of a boat motor getting louder and louder.

The group of children looked towards the water and saw a group of rugged men moving towards them. One was at the edge of the boat with binoculars who began shouting from the distance.

All of a sudden- gun shots.

They all began running.

No matter how many times the mangrove, weeds, and puddles tripped them, they managed to hop forwards like a frog to catch their momentum back.

The boat hadn’t reach land yet and the direction they all ran didn’t have deeper channels of water to allow the boat through.

They had an edge, thought Damien as he ran, tugging his younger brother behind him.

Vanessa Evans sat in her backyard and looked at the Marshes with a glass of red wine in her hand. There was a slight disgust seeing the view. Ugly trees, ugly grass, ugly water. She missed the beaches and she knew her kids missed them too.

A small price to pay for peace, thought Vanessa. She sighed. This wasn’t the life she imagined for them. Getting married, having kids, finding out your husband is a mob-boss, and getting into witness protection. What an amazing life, she thought sarcastically.

She hoped Damien and Christopher would be ok. This was a big adjustment for them all.

Her glass of wine suddenly dropped out of her hand and broke on the wooden porch as she saw the group of kids running towards the house from the Marshes.

She got up immediately and ran towards them.

“What happened?!” she yelled grabbing Christopher who had his arms out in a hug, “Are you all alright?!”

The young kids started huffing and puffing in exhaustion.

“Men with guns,” said Christopher nearly crying.

Vanessa’s eyes suddenly widened with fright and paranoia. They weren’t safe here either. She grabbed Christopher in her arms and stormed into the house. She frantically called two people.

Beeps and Lizzy thought it best to not leave until the Sheriff finished talking to the mom. Damien stood next to them in silence.

There was a man who pulled up to the house shortly after the sheriff was called. Damien recognized it as the man who gave their mom the keys to the house when the arrived.

The sheriff came up and smiled, “Sounds like you little ones spooked some local hillbillies,” he told them. “They aren’t used to seeing kids out there, so they might have thought you were some small animals,” he said.

Damien found it hard to believe him, but Beeps and Lizzy nodded their head as if expecting it all.

“You shouldn’t be going out to the Marshes,” he told them, “Gators for one, but the folk out there are a little too territorial,” said the Sheriff who knew those hooligans like to shoot their catch. Probably collecting alligator pelts, he knew.

They didn’t mention the mining tunnels or the tables of maps and documents.

Beeps was nearly sweating to death as his watch had already beeped and he and Lizzy had to wait for another 10 minutes before the sheriff cleared them.

The sheriff had one final talk with the man and his mother before leaving.

Christopher was already up in his room. Damien slowly walked past the kitchen overhearing the last of the conversation. As he passed the room, he saw shimmering of something beneath the man’s coat.

“I know this is a big adjustment for you all,” the man told his mother, “You are safe, Ms. Evans,” he said.

“With people shooting guns at my kids?!” she yelled back at him, “You think this is a place to raise kids after what we had to go through?!” she yelled.

“They weren’t shooting at your kids, Vanessa” the man said, “the sheriff said the fishermen thought they were alligators,” he told her.

“Like alligators are even better,” she snapped, “what kind of place have you brought us into, and how are gun shots a normal thing,” she sighed in frustration.

“Gransberg is a good town, Ms. Evans, the people here are friendly once you get to know them and these town folks look after each other,” he told her.

Damien could hear his mother’s sigh all the way from upstairs as he walked towards his room.

This place was going to be a big adjustment to all of them, he knew. Part of him didn’t want to feel attached to anything, fearing they might move again. This home, his school, their new friends all might disappear. He laid in his bed and closed his eyes, pretending not to have seen the gun under the man’s coat.

Chapter 5

               “Ok class, my name is Mr. Peterson and I am your substitute teacher for today,” said the man standing in their English class. He was a lot younger, and wore a suit rather than normal clothes compared to their actual English teacher. The young man’s eyes scanned his classroom as he talked about sentence structure in writing.

Damien was tired from yesterdays excitement to even pay attention to what the substitute teacher was saying. He yawned again.

“I’ll say it one more time for anyone dozing off,” said the substitute as he walked around the class.  The man’s voice was particularly louder near Damien’s desk.

“Write a short story about Gransberg Marshes and use complete sentences, “he repeated, “This could be something fun you did with your parents, a fun adventure, or maybe a dream you had,” he told them all.

Damien thought for a moment about the assignment. It was probably not a good idea to write about the incident yesterday, and instead wrote about driving to their new home in this town. He left out any “complete sentences” about the disgusting smell and depressing scenery of Gransberg.

At lunch time he met with Beeps and Lizzy who were excited to recollect the adventure they had yesterday. Christopher was eating his tomato and peanut butter sandwich and smiled as they talked about it, seemingly oblivious to his crying episode last night. His mood was like a light switch sometimes.

Damien had to admit it was an adventure. The more Lizzy and Beeps talked about their uncles shooting alligators, and their cousin Fin who got arrested for throwing dynamite in a lake, the more he realized maybe this was an everyday normality in Gransberg.

His tense shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Mr. Peterson had us write a story about Gransberg Marshes,” said Beeps, motioning his head towards Damien.

Lizzy eyed Damien and Beeps, “I know Beeps wouldn’t, but YOU didn’t write a story about yesterday, did you Damien?” she asked cautiously.

“The less people know about this little adventure, the better,” replied Damien, “Last thing I need is my mother finding out that we were in search of the missing body,” he said.

After another bite of his sandwich, Christopher thought for a moment, “That was fun to write about,” he said.

Damien put down his sandwich as they all looked at Christopher in worry.

“They had you do the assignment?! What did you write exactly?” asked Beeps, shuffling himself closer to Christopher.

“About cool stuff I found in the marsh,” he told them.

The sentence went nowhere after that, they realized.

“And?” said Lizzy, motioning him to continue.

“And I said I found a cool rock,” he said.

The tension in them all eased a bit.

“And the cool cave, and the cool pictures of maps and people, and tunnels,” continued Christopher.

The tension rose back up and everyone’s head slammed into the table in worry.

“Maybe the substitute teacher won’t think anything of it?” said Damien who wasn’t sure himself. We need this little adventure to be forgotten, thought Damien.

The class bell then rung and they all said goodbye, talking about another hang out this coming weekend. This time within the safety of their own neighborhood.

Damien and Christopher stood outside of school waiting for their ride. Their mom told them that the man who had given them the house-keys and visited yesterday, Peter, was going to pick them up. She said they were close work friends back at her previous job. Damien’s never saw him before they moved here.

“Wait a moment!” yelled a voice from the school entrance. It was the substitute teacher, Mr. Peterson.

“Christopher, can I chat with you for a quick second?” he asked as he walked up to them.

Christopher’s eyes suddenly hit the pavement as he thought he was in trouble.

“We are actually going to get picked up any second, and my mother doesn’t like us not being here on time,” he told the teacher, hoping to get Christopher out of it.

“It’ll be quick,” replied Mr. Peterson, almost too quickly. Damien swore he saw a flash of annoyance on the teacher's face.

“Hey!” a voice called from the parking lot. A man slowly ran up to the school, “Sorry I’m late, fellas,” he smiled at the two boys.

“You don’t look like their mother,” said the substitute teacher.

“Good eye,” smiled the man named Peter, “I’m a colleague of hers, and have been tasked to pick up the boys today,” he told him, “You are one of the teachers?”.

“Substitute teacher for English,” the younger man corrected, “Ricardo Peterson,” he said as he shook Peter’s hand.

“A substitute on the 3rd day of school? Kinda odd,” said Peter as he sort of half- laughed at the idea.

The younger man shrugged his shoulders, “What are you gonna do, you know. People move out of town last minute,” he told him.

Peter nodded his head, still finding it odd, “Ah well, gets you a job, right” he laughed.

The substitute teacher cleared his throat, “well, I won’t keep you. Christopher, I’ll talk to you about your assignment tomorrow,” he told him.

Peter looked at Christopher and back to the teacher, “Is everything alright?” he asked, “Anything their mom needs to know?” he asked.

“No, no,” replied Mr. Peterson, waving his head at the now nonsense of it all, “Just some pronoun practice, is all,” he told the man.

Peter nodded and shook the teacher’s hand again.

“Now boys,” he told them as they walked to the car, “let’s get some ice-cream before we head back home,” he smiled. Christopher jumped and cheered at the idea. Damien wondered if the man was still wearing a gun on his belt.

Chapter 6

               “Six and a half minutes,” replied Beeps as he set his watch at lunch time, “that’s how long I take to eat my pasta, sliced apples, and brownie bite,” he told them.

“How long does it take you to brush your teeth?” asked Damien who was bombarding him with questions.

“Five minutes,” replied Beeps who was not amused by the constant questioning.

“Showering?” chimed in Christopher.

“Bathing,” corrected Lizzy, who knew her friend all too well.

“Correct, Bathing,” nodded Beeps, “Thirty-four minutes,” he told them.

There was an awe across the lunch table.

It was then they seemed to have noticed a shadow hovering over their table.

They looked up and nearly jumped off the bench as they saw the substitute English teacher watching them.

“Just the crew I wanted to see,” spoke Mr. Peterson with a large grin on his face.

Damien knew that grin all too well. It was something her mother did when bad things happened. It was a fake smile that hid something.

Beep’s looked at his watch and suddenly it Beeped. The class bell rang a second after.

As they stood up, Mr. Peterson stopped them.

“All five of us are actually going on a little field trip,” he told them.

“I don’t think our parents signed onto nay field trips, Mr. Peterson,” said Lizzy looked surprised.

“Sure, they did, I had all their signatures,” he told them as he took out several papers with their parent’s signed names at the bottom.

It was odd enough that this field trip suddenly sprung out of nowhere, and even more odd their parents said nothing about it.

They drove in Mr. Peterson’s car and headed towards the Marshes.

“My mother doesn’t like me taking field trips,” whispered Beeps in the backseat, “She says it takes away from important school work,” he said.

The substitute teacher didn’t seem to hear them as he continued driving, taking the streets away from the residential areas.

“I don’t like this at all,” whispered Lizzy.

It took about thirty-five minutes until they felt the car stop and park. They looked out the window to see Gransberg Marsh. Even Lizzy and Beeps didn’t recognize which side of the Marsh this was.

“Hello little ones,” said a voice walking up to them from the other side of the dirt road.

Damien recognized the Sheriff from yesterday.

“You all are just gonna take a little field trip today to explore that fun cave you saw last time,” said the Sheriff playfully as he quickly looked at Mr. Peterson and nodded.

“I’d rather go home,” spoke Lizzy.

“Me too,” said Christopher and then Beeps.

The Sheriff’s smile disappeared, and Mr. Peterson cleared his throat.

“Let’s pretend this is another little adventure; You can write about it in our class tomorrow,” said the substitute teacher, "I wouldn't want to give you all a failing grade," he finished.

They didn’t move.

The Sheriff’s hand suddenly rested its fingers on the gun holster.

“Let’s go,” Mr. Peterson said firmly, “before anyone gets hurt.”

They all started walking into the marshes.

Chapter 7

               The cave they had visited had two people inside, and all the lights were turned on exposing shovels, wheelbarrows, and boxes of equipment. The Sheriff and Mr. Peterson pushed the children inside as the two men hovering over a large table looked up at them.

The larger man walked up to the children. His muscles were nearly the size of Christopher. He wore a very tight shirt that looked like it was about to rip apart at every motion, and he wore pants that would have been too big for even Ghandi. The bulky monster leaned down and everyone in the cave would have sworn the clothes were about to tear, but they didn’t.

He looked at Damien, then looked at Sheriff and their other colleague Peterson.

“Are they dangerous?” the big man asked.

“No, Paulie,” replied the Peterson, “They’re kids,” smirked the substitute teacher.

The man who stood at the table, the boss, suddenly got angry, “Don’t mock my cousin, Peterson,” he told the younger man.

“That’s why you don’t take steroids,” whispered Lizzy to Christopher.

The boss man walked up to the kids and looked at Christopher who stood petrified. He smiled, revealing gross teeth and an even worse breath.

Beeps mumbled something but the man didn’t seem to hear him. Damien swore Beeps mumbled “Five minutes”, referring to the time Beeps takes to brush his teeth.

“Let’s get this going,” interrupted the Sheriff who motioned Mr. Peterson to push the kids further inside the cave.

They walked up to the mining rails that Beeps had found on their first visit. With the lights now on, they could see it more clearly.

“Get in and tell me what’s on the other side,” said the boss man, pointing at the small hole where the mining rails led into.

“Little moles in the little hole,” chanted the big man they called Paulie. The rhyme seemed to have turned into a little song and even Christopher started chanting it until he was told to stop.

“Get in,” said the boss man, his patience was running out.

Damien looked at Christopher and then to Beeps and Lizzy. They knew they needed to do it if they were going to get out of here.

Lizzy nodded and it was just the courage Damien needed.

Chapter 8

               Vanessa Evans looked at her watch again. It was supposed to be an early day at the school, and her kids were late getting back. She needed to relax, she knew. It was hard on everyone, including herself, if she was wound up every day. It was an adjustment, she knew. New job, new place, new rules. New me, she thought to herself. No more helicopter mom, she said to herself.

A minute past and she went to the phone. No more helicopter mom starting tomorrow, she corrected.

She phoned the school and talked to a councilor on the other end.

“What?!” she yelled after a moment, “WHAT FIELD TRIP!” she shouted.

Vanessa suddenly heard the front door barge open and footsteps rushing into the house.

She immediately dropped the phone and jumped over the counter, hiding below it. The stranger’s footsteps walked next to the hanging phone.

“Vanessa!” the voice called out. Panic flooded her brain as she swore it was her husband’s voice. He had found them.

“Vanessa Evans, its Peter!” the voice called out.

Vanessa slowly stood up and recognized him.

Peter held out his gun before realized it was her, “Where are the kids?” he asked, putting the gun down.

She told him about some surprise field trip they were having, but Peter ignored her as he reached for his phone and began messaging someone. Another phone buzzed in his pocket and Peter answered it.

“Yeah,” he said to whomever he was talking to on the other side of the line, “You have the vehicles location?” he asked them.

Peter motioned Vanessa for a pen and paper and he quickly wrote something down.

Vanessa quickly ran with Peter towards the car and he pulled out his GPS, entering the coordinates from the piece of paper.

They pulled up on a dirt road and Vanessa saw the Sheriff’s truck along with another vehicle on the opposite side.

Several U.S. Marshalls were standing next to two women and they began walking into Gransberg Marsh.

Chapter 9

“Let’s go,” said Damien as he went on all fours and squeezed into the cold and muddy hole.

               Damien could somewhat judge how far he had crawled based on the echoes of the men at the entrance calling out “are you there yet?”  hey turned the

The ground water built up to their wrist when Damien realized the tunnel opened up in the darkness.

“How are we suppose to see anything?” asked Lizzy who felt herself standing up slowly.

Beeps was the last to crawl out as he dragged a piece of equipment tied onto him.

“Someone help me put this up,” he spoke in the darkness, trying to turn his watch on for a little light.

Lizzy and Christopher helped Beeps lift the equipment and folded the metal legs out so it stood upright. They turned the switch on and light filled the room.

“What do you see?!” yelled the Sheriff on the other side of the tunnel. The boss, the large cousin, and Mr. Peterson all took frantic turns looking into the tunnel the children crawled through.

“It’s empty!” yelled Lizzy as they looked around.

“Bad news for you, look harder!” yelled the boss.

“There’s another tunnel here,” said Christopher pointing.

“There’s another tunnel!” yelled Lizzy.

The boss shoved his head into the small hole, “stop wasting time and get on with it! You’ve got 15 minutes to report back or we throw dynamite inside and tell your parents it was a cave in!” he yelled.

Lizzy and Damien looked at Beeps who suddenly set his watch for 15 minutes.

They folded up the light and all crawled into the 2nd dark tunnel.

Damien felt the water reach to their waste and above their elbows. It almost made him panic and claustrophobic.

“Is that seaweed?” asked Lizzy in the darkness as she felt something slimy in the water.

“We’re not in the ocean, Lizzy,” replied Beeps in a manner of fact, “It’s probably mangrove or some water weeds,” he said.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t attached to anything on the ground, and Damien felt like it was moving around them.

“I don’t like this, Damien,” whispered Christopher as the water rose nearly up to his neck.

Before they decided to turn back, they felt the ceiling of the tunnel disappear and open up.

“What’s that sound?” asked Christopher as he stood up in the dark cavern, feeling the loose weeds all around him. The water was nearly at his waste.

“Let’s get the light on first,” said Damien, helping to raise the piece of equipment.

They turned on the switch and the room filled with light.

The slippery vines in the water suddenly darted in all directions towards the edges of the cave.

Damien realized it wasn’t mangrove, or weeds, or even seaweed.

“Snakes,” he said to them.

Lizzy and Beeps huddled towards Damien and Christopher who stood in the water eying all the snakes swimming around them.

Beep

Beeps looked at his watch, 7 ½ minutes to go, “half way mark,” he told them.

“What are they actually looking for?” asked Damien.

Lizzy had remembered she and Christopher looking at the table at the entrance that was piled up with articles and maps.

“Treasure,” said Lizzy, “There was an article about the founders of Gransberg being rich, they were a mining family,” she said to them.

“They must have had a fortune,” said Beeps.

“And hid it somewhere,” continued Damien, realizing where this was going.

It was then he saw his younger brother pick up something in the water. At first Damien thought it was a snake, but as he walked up to Christopher, he realized what it was.

“Gold,” said Damien.

Beeps and Lizzy looked over to see what Christopher was holding- a handful of gold chains and rings. They both turned to each other and looked down into the water.

“Looks like we found it,” whispered Beeps in disbelief as he reached in the water and took out a handful of gold treasure.

They ignored the snakes slithering around them and took a moment to appreciate the jewels and gold chains.

Suddenly the sound of a gunshot echoed through the dark tunnels.

A warning mark, they knew.

“Let’s head back and tell them, “said Beeps.

“Wait!” shouted Damien as Beeps and Lizzy began to turn back, “These snakes must have a way out into the marsh,” he said.

“He’s right,” said Lizzy.

Beep

Several gunshots echoed loudly around them.

Time was up.

“Here!” shouted Christopher as his hands flew up at the discovery.

Damien rushed over with Lizzy and Beeps to see what Christopher found- a small tunnel leading somewhere. They found their way out.

“It’s under water,” said Beeps.

They were all thinking the same thing. Who knew how far this tunnel even went.

They could hear an angry voice shouting through the tunnels they came from.

Damien looked at them and suddenly took a deep breath, plunging himself underwater and through the tunnel. They swam in the dark, cold, murky waters as snakes slithered across their face and bodies. A wall of thick mud and leaves clumped together suddenly stopped him. He pushed harder and harder as Lizzy and them helped. The obstacle was hard to get out of the way. Bubbles of air rose in every direction around them in desperation. Damien felt his lungs slowly run out of air with no sunlight in sight.

Chapter 10

               “Find anything yet?” called out Peter who looked at one of his fellow U.S. Marshalls scanning the left side of the marsh they walked through.

“Not yet, sir!” the man called back.

Vanessa Evans walked with the two mothers.

“My son Beeps is not the type of boy who would survive out here,” the woman pouted, worried about her little boy. She had the same watch as her son wrapped around her wrist.

Lizzy’s mother comforted her.

Vanessa couldn’t help built feel a tremendous amount of guilt, feeling like trouble follows her around.

Peter was ahead of them, eyeing out for anything unusual. After meeting the substitute teacher, Ricardo Peterson, he had looked up his record. He found it odd there would be a substitute teacher so soon after school had started, and the day after an incident happen with children in Greensberg Marsh. He had the same paranoia as Vanessa, but he knew when it wasn’t worth looking into.

Ricardo Peterson was definitely a red flag that popped up. A list of criminal activity on his record from drugs, theft, and assault. No school in their right mind would hire such a person. After looking into Ricardo Peterson, he had contacted a school official in the morning,  and they told him the Sheriff had vouched for the man’s employment. Then the counselor told him that they were on a field trip to the museum.

“Damien!” shouted Vanessa, “Christopher!”..

The moms frantically looked and scouted at every single movement.

Croak.

Lizzy’s mom suddenly jumped and shouted.

Peter turned suddenly and pointed his gun towards the commotion only to realize what had frightened her- a large toad at the edge of the water.

Croak. Croak.

A sudden blast echoed in the distance. Dynamite, thought Peter.

Tears filled Vanessa’s eyes as she worried about her boys.

Please let me find them, she quietly prayed.

“Over here!” called Beep’s mother as the Marshalls ran to the water’s edge. The toad jumped into the water out of the human’s way.

Bubbles. Lots of Bubbles.

Lizzy’s mom thought it was alligators.

A large log suddenly rose to the water’s surface and a second after- four little face.

Damien drew a desperate breath of air as they all rose to the surface.

Damien caught his breath with Christopher, Lizzy, and Beeps beside them.

“Damien, Christopher” a voice said behind them.

The kids turned around and Damien recognized his mother starring at them.

They made it out. The large log that had blocked their exit path suddenly rolled over

Peter looked at the dead body in the water.

Chapter 11

               Peter listened to them as they described the events that unfolded. One of the U.S. Marshalls escorted them back while Peter had called for backup, and continued towards the sound of the explosion where the cave was.

It had been the talk of the town for nearly five years when the local paper reported the events. Police had identified the dead body that rose up in the water- Julian Niles, the missing Zoologist. According to the local conservation teams, the explosion had ruined the local nest of the endangered Gransberg water snakes, but the town had funded a conservation center in the name of Julian Niles to preserve the species.

Lizzy, Beeps, Christopher and Damien didn’t say a word about the treasure that was now buried under all the rubble. Since that day, they became the town’s little celebrities. The local papers and towns folk continue to call them to this day- The Little Moles of Gransberg.