Free Old Bones by Gwen Molnar Page A

Mandy been content to just sit and talk? Now he was sure to be in trouble again, like he had been last year when he’d gone out on his own to the Old Willson With Two L’s Place and almost died. His dad would about give up on him after this, and the Normans would blame him for Mandy’s setback. And he hadn’t been any use spotting the crooks.
    He remembered a saying of his grandmother’s. “I feel like crawling into a hole and pulling the hole in after me.” That’s exactly how I feel, Casey thought.
    A car’s motor toiled in the distance. Casey sighed, brought his feet down from the second chair and stood up.
    The light Dr. Norman had in the Jeep was powerful, but his cellphone wasn’t working. He wasn’t keen that Casey should go alone down into the valley, but he agreed to it when he realized Mandy couldn’t answer his calls, and only Casey knew where she was. He gave Casey a big grey sweatshirt to put on and tucked a blanket under it to cover Mandy. Casey rolled back the sleeves, grateful for the warmth of the long shirt that went almost to his knees.
    Casey put on the shoe he’d left pointing toward Mandy. He was on his way down as Dr. Norman, driving off to get help, turned his jeep and purred down the road from the summit roundabout. Quiet settled in again. Casey was grateful for the bright circle of light helping him see ahead.
    I should spot the T-shirt soon , he thought as he eased carefully down the irregular slope. Am I going too far to the right? he wondered, for there wasn’t any sign of his white shirt and the surface of the cliffs seemed different. It occurred to him that the way down had been much easier this time.
    He swung the light around. To his surprise it showed something he recognized. “The cave,” said Casey. “The darn tourist cave. I’m miles off course.”
    â€œMandy! Mandy! Wake up and answer me, Mandy!” he shouted.
    He knew there’d be no answer but he kept calling anyway. Casey sat down at the cave entrance and tried to remember how far the cave was from the route they’d taken down.
    â€œNow,” he said, “how would Dad handle the situation?” He knew perfectly well that his father wouldn’t have got into this situation in the first place. Never mind that; how would he get out of it? “Think,” he told himself.
    â€œWell, point one: I am much too far to the right. Point two: The cave is roughly parallel to my T-shirt so I must edge to the left till I spot it. Point three: Get to the T-shirt and head down to Mandy.”
    Not that easy. Trying to move left on the level was much harder than going up or down, or being on the path to the cave. Every time he came to a fissure he had to work his way up to where it started and come down the other side. He was glad for the light, but holding it didn’t make climbing any easier. He felt panic rise up.
    â€œThey’ll be here soon with a stretcher and I won’t be with Mandy.”
    Then, almost as if his dad were right beside him, Casey heard, “Steady on, son, you’re doing fine.” Swinging his light way to the left, Casey caught sight of a glimpse of white and side-stepped toward it. Mandy should be in line below the white shirt. She was.
    With Dr. Norman’s light fixed shining uphill, Casey took the blanket from under the grey sweatshirt and tucked it around the sleeping Mandy. A damp clay smell filled his nostrils and he pulled the sweatshirt close around him. He sat down beside Mandy and found her cold hands and rubbed them till they felt a little warmer. He shivered and looked up to summit of Horsethief Canyon.
    â€œThank goodness,” he whispered.
    Headlights ringed the summit edge and powerful lights moved down the cliffs. He could hear voices now, coming down toward him.
    They’ll take care of Mandy. She’ll be okay now. My part’s over, he thought. All I have to do now is climb back