To Reverse a Curse

Chapter 4

    I'm crouching behind a stalagmite, holding a rope that's connected to the door of the modified animal cage we have set out. There's a bone that still has some scraps on it from Flamethrower guy's remains sitting in the cage, and a trail of the other bones and things leading from the mouth of the tunnel we're in to the cage.
  Sam and Mike are hiding in strategic places along the cave. They each have pipes that they found in the mines, and when Josh passes them, they'll knock on the stone twice, letting me know if he's getting close.
  The caves have been silent for ten minutes.
    My legs were starting to cramp up, so I started bouncing on the balls of my feet. I sigh, a plume of moisture pushing through the air. 'It must be below freezing,' I think, 'I wouldn't want to be in the water right now.'
  Two metallic knocks ring out further down the tunnel.
    Josh must have passed Mike.
  I adjust my grip on the rope I'm holding, and I position myself so I can see the tunnel entrance.
  Two more knocks ring out, closer to me this time.
    Josh has passed Sam.
  I hold my breath, and exhale slowly through my nose.
    He should be here any moment now. Josh, crouched down, limps out of the shadows of the tunnel, and I can see his cloudy eyes glance around the cave. His eyes land on the cage, and he starts to growl.
  I hold my breath. 'Please, let this work...' I think, '...please...'
  Josh crawls closer to the cage, inspecting the trail of bones as he approaches. He slowly crawls into the cage, and I see him pick up the large scrap. As he lifts it to his face, he sniffs it, and then starts to gnaw on the bone, trying to get every last scrap of meat.
  I drop the rope, and the gate to the cage slams closed. I stand up, getting my flamethrower ready, and I approach the cage.
  Mike walks up behind me, and pats my shoulder. "That worked like a charm," he says, "Now...how are we going to get him down the mountain?"
I think for a minute, putting padlocks wherever I can on the cage door, so Josh can't get out. "We could make a sleigh-like thing and pull it along behind us," I say, "We're not too far from a mine entrance. We can carry him outside, and then use the sled from there,"
Mike tilts his head. "I suppose that could work," he says, "Someone would have to go ahead to find wood to work,"
    "I'll do that," Sam volunteers, "You two can handle carrying Josh out of the mines, right?"
    "Of course," Mike says.
    "Yep," I mutter. I stare back at the cage, and the Joshigo stares back at me. I sigh. "What are we going to do with him, though?" I ask, "Where are we going to keep him?"
    "Do you think we can take him to his parents?" Mike asks.
    "Absolutely not," Sam says, "They would not take it well at all,"
    "Then, where are we going to keep him?" I ask.
    "You have a basement right?" Sam asks me.
    "Yeah?" I say.
    "We can take him there," she says, "You agreed to take him off of the mountain, you take care of him,"
    I sigh and nod. "Fair enough," I say, "We can take him through the back door,"
    Sam nods, and then jogs down the tunnel, exiting the mines.
    I turn to Mike, who turns to me, and then we both turn to the cage.
    "Let's get started, then," Mike says, heading to the far side of the cage.
    I walk up to the near side of the cage, and grab the bars closest to the top.
    "When I say lift," Mike says, bending his knees to lift the cage, "Lift. Tell me if you need a break,"
    "Okay," I say, holding my side of the cage in a similar manner.
    "Ready?" Mike says.
    "Yep," I say.
    "Okay, Lift!" he says, and we lift the cage at the same time.
    With both of us lifting the cage, it lifts easily.
    I have to shuffle backwards down the tunnel, with Mike telling me when to turn.
    We only have to stop once, briefly. When we reach the outside of the mines, I'm almost blinded by the sun reflecting off of the snow.
    "Where's Sam?" I ask.
    "Right here," I hear her say, walking down the path, holding two pairs of old skis, "Will this work?"
    "That's perfect," Mike says, "Where did you get them?"
    "The Cable Car station," she says, "They have a whole back room of them,"
    I laugh a little.
    She places them in front of us, spaced out, and holds them still as Mike and I lift the cage on top of them.
    The cage makes them sink into the snow a little, but as Mike and I secure them onto the cage, they slide easily.
    "Okay," Mike says, throwing a tarp over the cage, "let's push the cage down to my truck,"
    I nod.
    Mike stands in the middle of one side of the cage, I stand to his left, and Sam stands to his right.
    We all start to push the cage, and we make sure that it doesn't slide out of control. It takes us a while to get it down to Mike's truck.
    "Now," Mike says, after we get the cage into the bed of the truck and cover it with a tarp, to obscure what's in it, "to get Joshy-boy to Chris' house,"
    "Okay," I say, and I'm about to close the back flap of the bed when I hear a noise from the cage.
    "Psst!" I hear Josh say, muffled slightly by the tarp, "Hey, Cochise,"
    I lean closer to the cage. "Yeah?" I say.
    "When we get to your house," he says, "I want you to contact my psychiatrist, Dr. Hill, okay?"
    "Why?" I ask.
    "He can help," Josh says, "Please. Explain the situation to him, and ask him to help,"
    "Okay," I say, "I'll see what I can do,"
"Thanks, bro," Josh says, "I'm so glad that you guys found me,"
"Me too," I say, and I close the back flap and walk away. I get into the truck, and Mike starts the truck. As we drive away, I watch the mountain. I can almost feel it watching me, like Hannah knows that we took Josh, and she's trying to glare at us from wherever she is on the mountain for not trying to help her as well. "I'm sorry," I mutter, "we were too late to save you. He'll be safe with us, though. I promise,"