The Castle in the Sky

Chapter 3

PAZU!" Yelled a gruff voice from below. Pazu whipped his head up in surprise. "Huh? What?"

"What are you doing up there?!" It was Pazu's Boss. The head of the Mining Co.

"Did you get my meatballs?" The Boss yelled his mustache quivering.

"Yes! I did." Pazu yelled back, looking down at him. "But this girl came down from  the sky!" The last part of his words drowned out as the pipe explodes in the steam room, and smoke filled the area.
   
The Boss grunted as he turns a wheel, trying to make it stop.
   
Pazu leaned over the rail on the platform and saw he was needed. He turned back to look at the girl who fell from the sky, her brown braids a spew, her eyes still shut tight, her lips parted.
   
"Uh." Pazu said as he hears a string of cuss words from his Boss. Pazu quickly takes off his orange vest and lays it over the girl. "Don't go anywhere." He tells her. "I'll be right back." Pazu looked for a sign of movement, but the girl didn't move a muscle.
   
"Boss!" Pazu yelled down to the steam room as he hears more cuss words and grunts. Pazu grabbed the meatballs and climbed down the ladder.

"Listen Boss!" He yelled over the machine work. "This girl-" He got cut off as another piece of pipe explodes.
   
"Not again!" The Boss yelled as whistle noises fill the air.
   
"Listen to me!" Pazu yelled as the boss strutted towards the pipe. "This girl came down-"
   
"Tighten the pipe, Pazu!" The Boss interrupted. "No time to lose!"

Pazu sighed, and put the meatballs on the ledge, grabbing his work gloves and getting to work on the pipe. He screwed in a couple of bolts in before the Boss yelled, "I think I need a bigger wrench!"

"I'll get it!" Pazu climbed down from the pipe and dug through the tool box, but before he could grab a bigger wrench, a bell rang. Pazu looked up at it in surprise.

The Boss, with his hands obviously full, yelled to Pazu, "Pull up the carrier while I fix this!" Pazu's eyes widened, then he nodded firmly, his jaw set. This was the first time he' been entrusted to do the task of pulling the miners up from below.

"You think you can do it?" The Boss yelled.

"Yeah!" Pazu yelled back, then ran to the lever.

"Just stay calm and use your head!"

"Right!" Pazu said as he sat down on the little wood stool in front of the lever and the machine connected to it. The machine consisted a spool of wire that connected to the wheel on the platform above. He pressed a lever forward, causing the wheel to turn and the bars to pump, as it pulled up the miners.

Pazu stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth and glanced up at the wheel.

That's when he remembered the girl.

Her brown shoes were the only thing visible. Pazu was so busy staring that he nearly forgot to pull the brakes.

"Hit the brake!" The Boss yelled at Pazu.

Pazu, caught by surprise, quickly managed to pull the brakes in time for the miners to reach their level. The door to the elevator opened and six miners, plus a mining cart full of rocks, came out. The miners faces are tired, and smeared with soot.

Pazu whipped the sweat from his forehead.

"How'd it go, boys?" The Boss said as he came down to meet them.

"No silver." One miner said. "Not even a trace."

The Boss put on his spectacles, and picked  a rock, inspecting it closely.

"We're just not having any luck." Another miner added. "Maybe if we tried digging in the mines just east of here, we might find something."

"We'll just have to start all over again."

"Let's call it a night." The boss said slapping one of the miner's on the back.

They pushed the cart away, and Pazu, now given up on trying to tell The Boss about the girl, waited for orders.

"Shut off the boiler, Pazu. We're not going to find anything today." The Boss looked exasperated, so, Pazu decided not to push it.

"Kay!" Pazu said looking once again to where the girl laid on top of the platform.

The miners and The Boss left, leaving only Pazu to finish up.