Cal pulled into the gravel clearing and put the vehicle in park. She felt mysterious nervous excitement bubbling within her that was threatening to make her hyperventilate "Focus your breathing," she repeated the meditations one by one that her father taught her. Cal circled through the list twice before she found one that began to work.
She closed her eyes and took a few more deep breaths to collect her senses "this is so exciting..." her thoughts were bouncing rapidly from one possibility to another when her phone buzzed. She scooped it up and looked at the text "I'm sorry but something came up," she read it and rolled her eyes "feel free to explore on your own." She tossed the phone into the passenger seat beside her "is it me, my family or the mine you find unimportant..." she huffed and let a wave of calm wash over her "okay fine," she unbuckled her seat belt and sighed "I will."
"Onward," Cal climbed out of the vehicle and collected the tools "can't forget the crowbar, going to need that now." She reminded herself silently to thank her Dad for insisting she go prepared. "Can't forget these..." she grabbed her gps, radio and her phone "who knows if I'll need them "she shoved them into the pocket of her bag and set off, up hill... towards the mine.
On the way up she let her mind wander, wondering about what the day would bring. She remembered the spelunking trips her Dad took her on and the trips to the museums and shopping she would go on with her Mom. "I guess I can thank them for my obsession about the past."
Cal climbed up the last hill and stopped to admire the view "this old town," she sighed "it claims to have no secrets left." She smiled "but they forgot about this old thing." She turned to face the mine's entrance, the boards hadn't stopped the teen crowd. "Such disrespect towards the environment and the past," There was a small opening that revealed itself through the forgotten clutter of beer cans, candy wrappers and scattered trash "there is a secret in there, I can feel it."
Somewhere below unseen to Cal there was movement. . .
Recke stopped at the sound of her voice "why did I have to draw the short straw." He ducked behind a tree to watch from a safe distance.
"Report," Recke's pocket buzzed and spoke "I repeat... Recke, please give report."
He yanked the comm out of his pocket and growled into it "Damnit Tahk... You have rotten timing," Recke inched downhill to prevent Cal from hearing "adjust your sensors."
"Will do..." he paused "can I get a report now?"
"What am I supposed to report, the mine hasn't been opened yet." Recke moved further downhill "so Cal hasn't found the lost artifact from the future yet and disrupted the entire timeline."
"If everything is on track then why did the timeline shift and go into meltdown."
"How the fuck do I know?" Recke was getting annoyed "I'm back here amongst the primates and assholes while you're looking at the readouts."
"You don't need to get an attitude about it."
"I get a clean up task thrown at me with little to no explanation, no gear, no assistance just you barking at me constantly." He took a frustrated breath "You want an attitude Jackass I'll give you an attitude...." The comm clicked off "of course, he hangs up."
Recke muted the comm and tucked it deep in one of the pockets of his cargo pants. Back to business, he could hear her grunting, and then cursing. "What's that about?" He thought
Recke made his way quietly up the hill, keeping his eye on Cal he thought of the possible outcomes "I have to keep an eye on this, she can't find it before I do."
YOU ARE READING
The Old Mine
General FictionWhen Cal bought the Old Gamblers mine she was not expecting the events that came... Playing a twisted game of find the object, rude (and cute) Time jumpers, the constant threat on her life, trying to save the future, and having to say goodbye to her...
