Free Trapper Boy by Hugh R. MacDonald Page A

pick up a lump of coal. “Just throw something at them and they’ll stay away.”
    â€œNo, don’t do that. I already hurt one last night. I made the mistake of dropping some food at my feet, and one of them was up my pant leg before I knew it. I threw it against the wall. Poor thing, it was only looking for food.”
    â€œYou got your pant legs tied up tonight?” Mickey asked.
    â€œYeah, I won’t make that mistake again.”
    â€œYou know the best thing when there’s a cave-in? I mean when no one’s hurt, of course. You get to go exploring ’cause you don’t have to worry about the door. It just stays closed.”
    â€œDa said I wasn’t to leave the door under any circumstances,” JW said.
    â€œThat’s what every new man is told on the first shift, but after a while, you get to realize that it’s okay to do a little exploring, as long as you’re here when the trams are ready to go,” Mickey said. “I do it all the time. C’mon, I’ll show you where your father works. I’m working the door close to where he is.” Mickey pulled a rock from his pocket. “Look what I found on one of my treasure hunts.”
    â€œWhat is it?” JW asked and squinted in the dull light. He saw a fossilized imprint of a dead animal. At least it looked different from the usual ferns and other plants. Perhaps it was a fish.
    â€œI’m not sure, but there’s a bunch more in the same tunnel. It’s only a five-minute walk up the tracks. We can be up and back before they even think of getting the cave-in cleared.”
    Against his better judgement, JW ignored his father’s warning and decided to follow Mickey. It was just a short distance, and they’d only be gone a few minutes. It felt like old times – Mickey and him on a treasure hunt.
    Mickey pulled open the trap door, and for the first time JW ventured beyond it. He watched Mickey pull it closed and waited until he took the lead. Their headlamps cast a dull light. Mickey walked the tram rails as if he’d been doing it his entire life. JW looked up the tunnel that Mickey pointed out as the one JW’s father worked in. It was dark and he couldn’t see any light at all.
    â€œIt’s just up ahead where I found the rock I showed you,” Mickey said. “The tunnel has lots of other strange-looking rocks in it too.”
    â€œIs it a working tunnel?” JW asked.
    â€œNo, it’s abandoned. There was a cave-in months ago, and Old Man Hennessey was hurt real bad, so they closed it down. We gotta be careful, walk lightly.”
    Entering the tunnel, JW felt a shiver run across his shoulders and wondered if he should turn around. The promise of long-dead animals encased in stone and coal overruled his fear. His father had told him and Mickey many times about the fossilized animals and plants found at the Joggins coal fields on Nova Scotia’s mainland. A famous scientist, Charles Lyell, had discovered them there many years ago.
    â€œA few more feet and we’ll be there,” Mickey said. “Look!”
    JW stared at the pile of rocks and saw the outline of something. Pulling a piece of coal closer to his face, he was disappointed to see it looked like the skeletal remains of a plant, perhaps a fern. He dropped it and pulled another from the pile. It also looked like a plant of some kind.
    â€œAre these the only rocks you found?” JW asked.
    â€œThere’s more in further, but it’s too dangerous to go in any deeper. But it’s where I found this rock,” Mickey said, holding it out. “You can have it. I can get more later.”
    â€œNo, that’s yours. I mean, thanks, but I want you and I to find some more on our next treasure hunt.”
    â€œWe better get back,” Mickey said. “There’ll be a lot of trouble if we’re not at our doors once the trams start running again.”
    Mickey