Free Scenes from the Secret History (The Secret History of the World) by F. Paul Wilson

and forth like a snake for over a quarter mile.  And get this – nobody knows how old it is.  This could be something like that.”  Her face brightened as she smiled.  “And I discovered it.  I’ve got to get this diagrammed.”
    Wondering how she knew all this stuff, Jack watched her draw a few lines on her pad, then move off, weaving through the trees as she followed the mound to the right.  Jack and Eddie followed close behind through air heavy with the smell of burned wood.  This was Weezy’s show, but Jack was getting into it. Something about these mounds and the way nothing grew on them gave him a funny feeling in his gut, but he had to admit he was fascinated.
    “Oh, look at this,” she said after she’d gone maybe twenty feet.  “Another mound crosses here.”  She drew some more lines.  “This is getting confusing.”
    “Hey,” Eddie said.
    Jack turned and saw him standing atop the mound with his arms spread.
    “Eddie–” Weezy began
    “You want to map these mounds, right?  Well, instead of ducking through all those trees, doesn’t it make more sense to follow the mounds themselves?  It’ll be a lot less boracious.”
    Jack turned to Weezy.  “You know, that’s a great idea.”
    Weezy hesitated, then shrugged.  “I guess everybody has a good idea in them,” she muttered.  “Even Eddie.”
    Jack bowed and made a flourish toward the mound.  “Ladies first.”
    She smiled and faked a curtsy.  “Why, thank you, kind sir.”
    As the three of them began walking the mound, the sky darkened.  Jack looked up and saw a menacing pile of clouds scudding in from the west, blotting out the sun.  Weezy shaded her eyes as she stared skyward.
    “Shoot.  We’ve got trouble.”
    “Looks like a thunderhead,” Eddie said. 
    She nodded.  “Cumulonimbus – piled high.  Going to be a bad one.”
    “‘Cumulonimbus’?” Jack had to laugh.  Weezy never ceased to amaze him.  “How do you know this stuff?” 
    She frowned.  “I’m not sure.”
    “Do you sit down and memorize everything you read?”
    She shook her head.  “I don’t have to.  If I read something once, it’s there .  I never forget it.  Ever.  At least not so far.”
    No wonder she got straight A’s.  Jack would give anything – anything – for that power.
    Thunder rumbled in the distance.
    “Hurry,” she said.  “I want to get this done before the downpour.”
    She started quick-walking along the mound until she came to another intersection.  As she stopped to mark in her notebook, Jack looked around for Eddie and spotted him a couple of dozen feet back.  He was down on one knee, fiddling with his sneaker lace.
    “Come on, Eddie.  Don’t want the Jersey Devil to catch you.”
    He grinned.  “You kidding?  I have JD sausages for breakfast every morning." 
    He jumped up and started trotting toward them.  When he neared he jumped and landed inches in front of Jack.
    “Boo!”
    More thunder then, but another sound too.  As Eddie’s feet thumped onto the surface of the mound, they kept on going, breaking through the outer shell with a crunch.
    Jack looked down and saw Eddie’s sneakers sunk ankle deep in the softer sand within.
    “Jeez, man!  What’d you do ?”
    He heard Weezy hurry up behind him and gasp.  “Oh, Eddie!  How could you?”
    Eddie’s face reddened – whether with anger or embarrassment, Jack couldn’t tell.
    “Hey, I didn’t–”
    “You are the most unbelievable klutz!  This mound’s sat here undisturbed for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, and you’re here, what, ten minutes, and already you’ve desecrated it!”
    “It was a soft spot!  How could I know?”
    Lightning flashed, followed quickly by a roar of thunder that rattled Jack’s fillings.  He looked up at a sky completely lidded with dark clouds looking ready to burst.  Jeez, this storm was coming fast.    
    “Time to take cover, guys,” he said.
    He grabbed Weezy’s arm and started