The Ghost of Lizard's Rock (22 page)

Josie’s Rock

I called for a meeting of
the Cow Pie Gang on Saturday morning at 10 o’clock. As usual, I
walked over to get Allie at her house and played with the twins for
a few minutes before leaving. It seemed like they really had
accepted me.

The walk from Allie’s
house seemed like it took no time at all this morning. That’s
because Allie and I never shut up the entire way. Most of the
conversation was centered on Troy’s dreamy eyes, but just to keep
things interesting, I would casually drop in Eric’s name to tease
Allie. Each time she would turn pink and smack me a good
one.

It only took us about an
half hour to get to the dry tunnel’s entrance. I grabbed the big
rock blocking the entrance and pushed it to the side.

“Look,” said Allie as she
pointed to the ground at a heavy cable running along the entrance
of the tunnel.

All along the left side of
the tunnel were small lights attached to the rocky wall about every
6 feet. A small wire attached to the light was connected to the
main cable.

I pushed the giant rock
back into place to block the tunnel again.

Allie and I turned off our
flashlights, as the entire tunnel was lit up.

“That is so cool!” as I
stepped just inside the hideout.

Both Allie and I stood
silent as our eyes took in every inch of the cave. The lights
continued around the hideout’s walls - providing a bright light
that lit up every inch of the room.

“How did you do it?” asked
Allie.

Oliver and Jacob pointed
to Dan.

“I created a solar panel
this summer at a science camp that I went to. I hid the panel and
all the cable outside on the hillside where nobody will ever find
them.” He walked over to the rocky ledge that had once been
Wesley’s, and most recently, Oliver’s couch. Six large batteries
were placed in a row. “There is enough power created by the solar
panel to run all the lights in the tunnel and in the hideout. If it
is a cloudy day, these batteries will help with the power and last
up to 16 hours.” Dan walked over to a plug in by the last battery.
If we have a sunny day, there is enough power to run a television,
small fridge, or even a microwave.” Dan smiled at Allie, “Just in
case you want to nuke someone.”

The entire gang broke out
into laughter.

I said, “How long did it
take to do all this?”

“We got here a couple of
hours ago,” answered Dan proudly. “We all did it.”

I looked down at the table
in the center of the room where the journal lay. Two new chairs had
been added. Now, each of us had a chair – kind of like the Knights
of the Round Table.

I sat down in the chair at
the end of the table and pulled the old journal and the pen toward
me. I began writing and didn’t stop until I had written all the
events surrounding Robert. To protect Robert’s name I called him
‘Bashful’ from the story of the seven Dwarfs’. Nobody would ever
know it was him.

I talked out loud as I
wrote so each member of the gang could hear the words I was writing
on the page, “As of today, we the Cow Pie Gang, understand that it
is more important to protect those who can’t protect themselves,
than it is to have revenge on someone who has hurt us. We must
remember that standing up for that which is right is more
courageous than doing nothing in the face of that which is wrong!
Signed Kati – keeper of the journal.”

I smiled into the eyes of
each member of the Cow Pie Gang, “Let’s go home.”

Each of us walked out of
the tunnel and into the bright light of the morning sun.

Dan turned off a switch
near the entrance and all the lights inside turned off. “The
batteries will keep charging even though the lights are off. Once
the batteries are full, there is an automatic switch that cuts the
power to the batteries.”

“Very impressive,” said
Allie as she patted him on the back.

I looked at Allie, “How
about going up to the top of the rock with me?” She nodded her head
and followed me.

A couple of minutes later,
we arrived at the edge of Lizard’s Rock and sat down. We waved our
hands at the boys as they disappeared into the forest.

“Do you think Maggie and
Josie were like you and I?” asked Allie.

I nodded my head, “I’m
sure they were.” I turned toward Allie, “From now on this place is
Josie’s Rock.”

We continued to sit there
quietly staring out over the beautiful forest below.

“Strange,” I said after a
few minutes, “but it feels as if Josie is sitting right here with
us enjoying this very wonderful and peaceful moment.”