Free Bitterroot Crossing by Tess Oliver Page A

lived.
     
     
    Chapter 13
     
        I basically had to load the same truck, with the same materials twice. I was beat and, for once, anxious to get home. The sun was just setting behind the mountain, casting long, gray shadows over the nearly deserted lumber yard. Mr. Mitchell was standing outside the office staring down the road.
        “I’m finished for the day, Mr. Mitchell.”
        He turned at the sound of my voice. “Huh? Yes, great.” His attention turned back to the road.
        “Are you waiting for someone, Mr. Mitchell?”
        “No, well, yes. Baxter went out skateboarding and it’s nearly dark.”
        “He’s not back?” I headed to where my bike was parked. “He usually goes to the park on his skateboard. I’ll go get him.”
        “Thanks, Nick.”
        My bike sputtered some as I sped down the road. It had not been the same since it fell from the sky. The closer I got to the park, the emptier the streets seemed to be and the more I started feeling like something was wrong.
        My intuition was on target. The gang, excluding their leader, was taunting something in the cypress tree that grew in the center of the park. Crow swung like a monkey by one arm from a branch near the top of the tree and was poking at something crouched on a lower branch. That’s when I spotted Butcher attempting to ride down the sidewalk on a skateboard, Baxter’s skateboard. Human cries came from the tree. I walked beneath the branch where Baxter clung with all his strength. His face was pale and streaked with tears.
        “Why, if it isn’t Crush?” Axel came around the trunk of the tree. He swung a heavy branch at me, which I grabbed away from him. I hurled it through him like a javelin. He looked down at the hole it left in his chest and laughed. “Look, Butcher, I’m a donut.” The hole filled in and Axel snarled at me. “I forgot about those damn reflexes of yours.”
        Baxter whimpered above my head. I peered up at him. “Hey, buddy, it looks like you’ve got yourself stuck in a tree.”
        He sobbed loudly. His fingers turned white as he gripped the branch tighter.
        “Do you think if I climbed up there, you could follow me back down?”
        He shook his head at first. “The ghosts will get me.”
        “I won’t let them get you.”
        “We’ll see about that,” Crow said from above.
        I started climbing the tree. My foul-smelling audience seemed to be entertained by it. Axel and Crow made it as tough as possible, snapping off the branches I reached for. I nearly fell to the ground twice, but I managed to hang on. The harder they tried to knock me off, the more determined I was to climb it. I made it to the branch Baxter clung to and I positioned myself right behind him. “Baxter, I need you to loosen your hands and knees and start scooting back toward me.”
        He was still crying hard. “I’m real scared, Nick.”
        “I know you are but you’re the coolest dude I know. You can do it, bro.”
        It seemed like an eternity but Baxter finally relaxed enough to scoot back. The entire time I was watching to make sure he didn’t fall, I had to keep an eye out for the ghosts. They seemed to be watching the entire spectacle with humor and curiosity which was fine with me as long as they left us alone. Of course, I was convinced they weren’t done with us. My plan was to try and get Baxter free and clear of them first. I hadn’t seen Steamer yet either, and I worried he might creep up on us any minute. He was the meanest of the bunch.  
        “You’re awesome, buddy. Now watch what I’m doing and follow me down the same way.” I grabbed hold of the lowest branch jutting from the top of the trunk and stuck my foot in the natural holes formed by animals and weather. My feet hit the ground. Suddenly the tree shook like crazy dislodging a crapload of leaves and Baxter. He dropped the last few feet but landed on