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Subject: {ASSM} RP Wynter And Jimmy Pt 3 1/2 {Hoisington} (Mg MF oral rom ped inc)
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Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:10:03 -0500
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                          WYNTER AND JIMMY

    ************************************************************

This is an erotic fantasy.  The characters and the situation are
purely imaginary, and this story is  NOT intended to be a guide
for actual behavior.  Any similarities between this story and
actual people or actual events you should be ashamed of are
purely coincidental.  If it is illegal in your part of the world
to access and read erotic fiction, or if you are underage, or if
you don't like underage sex stories, then you should stop now.

This story is copyright 2005 by Russell Hoisington.  Please do
not remove the author information or make any changes to this
story.  You may post freely to non-commercial (free) sites, or in
the free area of commercial sites.  That does NOT mean that these
stories are in the public domain, nor does it mean that I give
permission for you to use them in spam advertising.  I reserve
the right to determine what is "spam advertising" by MY
definition, not yours or anyone else's.

Thank you for your consideration.

    ************************************************************

                         WYNTER AND JIMMY
              Part Three:  Boyfriends & Girlfriends
                      by Russell Hoisington


                              Eighteen

      Kenny rocked back on his heels, grimaced, and pressed both
hands into his abdomen.  "Aw, shit!" he grumbled.

      Jimmy stopped digging at the base of a building foundation
and stuck his hand trowel into the sandy soil.  He rose to his
knees and rolled his eyes.  "Now what?"

      Wynter slipped into diagnosis mode, frowned at Kenny's face,
and placed the back of her hand, which was mostly clean, against
his cheek and peered into his eyes.  Still frowning, she pressed
her fingertips against his carotid artery.  "No, Jimmy.
Something's wrong.  What is it, Kenny?"

      Suzie had been smirking, thinking Kenny was planning to slip
away for "a little action," as he'd started calling their
sessions.  At Wynter's words her look shifted to sincere concern.
"Kenny, are you okay?  Are you hurt?  What's wrong?  Can I help?"

      The internal rumbling intensified.  "I just told you what's
wrong.  Just my luck that there aren't any outhouses left."  He
looked around and found what he wanted where the ground started
rising to the south.  "If you need me, I'll be over there in
those pines."

      All four rose together.  Jimmy shook a finger at him.
"Remember, you're not a bear in those woods.  Dig a slit trench."

      Still grimacing, Kenny reached over one shoulder and slapped
his backpack.  "Got a folding shovel in here."

      "Good," said Wynter.  "Then use it."

      "Hey!  I'm a Future MD, too.  I know about field
sanitation."

      Jimmy rubbed his hands together to remove some of their dirt
accumulation. "Then practice what you know.  Okay, Doc?"

      His guts rumbled again, and he prayed that it was a fart he
felt trying to seep out.  "Okay, already!"

      Suzie grabbed the straps of his backpack and pulled him into
a quick kiss.  "That's to make you feel better until you can....
Well, you know.  Get the problem out."

      The Patented Shit-Eating Grin slid into place.  "You wanna
come wipe it for me?"

      Suzie stepped back and glared at him.  She stamped her right
foot.  "You're disgusting!"

      "That's why the whole world loves me."  He turned as Jimmy
said, "Uh, Doctor Field Sanitation, you _do_ know what leaves to
use and not use?"

      "I plan to use the leaves of the Charmin plant," he said,
patting the side of his backpack and frowning.  He tried to
calculate the best running speed to get him there in time without
causing himself to lose control and make the trip unnecessary.

      He began slipping off the backpack as he reached the trees.
A dozen feet in he spotted two downed trees among some scrub
brush.  He dropped the pack and pulled out the shovel and toilet
paper.  Both had been on top, just in case.  The second log
seemed more comfortable.  He crammed the shovel into the ground
twice to make a hole and then dropped the shovel and grabbed for
his belt.

      He sighed with relief as the pressure eased.  He sure was
getting tired of gastrointestinal problems that nobody could
diagnose.  All they ever did was treat the symptoms, usually with
results that were worse than the symptoms.  He didn't mind the
other medicine, the one that made him burp, but this stuff was
worse.  It could trigger, apparently at random, sudden bouts of
diarrhea.  He briefly wondered if he should become a research
specialist in gastrointestinal problems out of motivated
self-interest, but he quickly abandoned that idea.  _It's a
shitty job with no opportunity to get my hands on some cootchies.
Or in some_.

      He laughed at his little joke, then grimaced as another wave
shot through his guts.

      _Wish I'd brought a magazine_, he decided.  _Shovel, toilet
paper, magazine.  If I had to forget something, why couldn't it
have been the shovel?_

      After the next wave passed he looked around.  Something
glinted in the sunlight off to his right.  He couldn't tell what.
He thought maybe it was gold lost by one of the town residents.

      He waited a couple of minutes after the last wave, decided
he was finished, and reached for the paper.  He filled in the
hole and put the shovel and toilet paper back in the top of his
pack.  Then he went looking for the source of the reflection.

      He had no trouble finding it.  It was as big as a Chevy.
That's because it was a Chevy, one with cut tree limbs covering
it.  He noted the Wyoming license plates and looked in the side
window.

      His blood turned to ice water.

      He turned and raced back toward the others, stopping just
before he reached the tree line.  _No!  Think, damn it!_

      Kenny moved to his left until some scrub brush was between
him and the town, and then crouched and hurried forward.  He
peeked through the brush and saw the others disappearing into the
mine, followed by Dick Sarrel.  Dick was holding a revolver and
pointing it at the others.  Before he stepped into the mine
shaft, Dick looked around one last time, as if searching for...

      _Me_.  Kenny gulped.  _Now what?_

      He should grab his bike and run for help.

      _Run_.

      Kenny didn't like the idea of running.  He was always
running away.  Besides, in the time it would take him to reach
town and bring help, those two bastards could make Wynter blow
them.  Suzie, too.  And they'd probably have time to rape them as
well.  And Jimmy couldn't do anything about it.  They'd probably
do something to him to keep him from interfering.  Something
painful.  And Kenny's guardian Angel wasn't there to prevent it.
Only one person stood any chance whatsoever of helping his
friends.

      He took a deep breath and let it out.  There was a new
guardian Angel in town.  This one didn't have Ron's speed, didn't
have Ron's agility, didn't have Ron's knowledge of martial arts.
All this one had was his intelligence.  And his determination.
It would have to be enough, because if it wasn't, he was fucked
along with everyone else.

      Kenny searched.  _That way_.  That path would take him to a
ravine where he could approach the ghost town unseen.  He could
leave it over there to approach the mine.  That would provide the
best of what little cover there was.  _What then?  They could be
watching from the mouth of the mine_.  Kenny pieced together his
route and hoped he could remember it once he was in the middle of
things.  He sure couldn't run out in the open area and look
around.

      With a deep sigh he crouched, said a silent prayer, and sped
off. He dropped into the ravine, wondering whether, if he could
pull this off, Wynter would be grateful enough to show him her
tits.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Wynter forced herself to remain calm.  She had done it
before; she could do it now.  After all, she hadn't expected Ron
to save her that first time, and she sure didn't expect him to
save her this time.  She hoped Kenny had seen Dick take them into
the mine.  Jimmy had whispered to Suzie and her to stall as long
as possible so that maybe Kenny would see their capture and have
enough sense to go for help.  They were at least forty feet back
in the mine, past the point where the actual mine shaft extended
inward from a small natural cave.  The two thugs were between
them and the entrance in the cave.  A Coleman lantern provided
some light.

      "I'm getting tired of asking," Dick snarled before slapping
Jimmy.  "Where is Pencildick?"

      Wynter gasped when the force of the slap turned Jimmy's face
toward her.  She saw tears in his eyes, but he gritted his teeth,
turned his head to look up at Dick.  "I don't know where he is.
Maybe he went to set up another practical joke.  Maybe his
leaving _was_ a practical joke, and he's hiding somewhere waiting
for us to go look for him.  Or maybe he went back to town.  I
don't know!"

      "No."  Will's nasal voice was quiet and seemed much more
threatening for being so.  A revolver that looked like her
mother's .38 Special pointed around the front of the sling on his
left arm and toward Suzie and her.  Wynter knew that if he fired
it, the pain in his shoulders would be terrible, but he could
easily kill either Suzie or herself.  And the pain would be a
whole lot worse if he relaxed his aim and shot himself in his
left arm, too.

      "There's four bikes out there," Will said.  "Long Dick
counted 'em.  Now, maybe I can't hit you, thanks to that walking
dead man Lopez, but you tell me where he is or I'll kick you in
the fuckin' nuts.  I can kick a hell of a lot harder'n you
landing on the bar of that goddamned bike."

      Jimmy sneered.  "So I've heard.  You can kick hard enough to
kill a man who's down and helpless and not a threat to you.  Big
brave tough guy, aren't you, Will?"

      Dick rocked Jimmy's head with another slap.  "Last chance,
Bugboy, or I'm gonna let Will crush your nuts and stomp you to
death, and then I'll beat it out of one of your cock hounds.
Nobody ever comes in here any more.  We can throw your body in
that hole back there and no one will ever find it.  In fact,
we'll let these cock hounds join you after we're through with
them.  Now _talk!_"

      "_LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU SANCTIMONIOUS ASSHOLE!_"

      Wynter jumped.  What was Suzie doing?  _Think!_  Time
displacement settled in and she began analyzing alternatives.

      Jimmy licked at a trickle of blood seeping from the corner
of his mouth.  "You're gonna _let_ Will?  Gee, Dick, I thought
Will was still in charge.  So, he's taking orders from you now
that you've gotta wipe his butt for him?"

      Dick's eyes bulged.  A vein throbbed under the layer of crud
on his forehead.  "Shut up, Bugboy.  It's your last chance to
talk."

      Suzie stamped her right foot.  "He can't tell you what he
doesn't know!  Kenny didn't tell either of them!"

      Both thugs turned to look at Suzie.  So did Wynter and
Jimmy.  Jimmy gave Wynter a slight frown and a shrug.  Wynter
understood.  He had no more idea of what was about to happen than
she did, but he knew Suzie was about to invent something.

      "And I suppose he told you?" Will sneered in his nasal
voice.

      "He went off thataway."  She waved her hand in a northerly
direction.  "Over in those rocks somewhere.  He was supposed to
put down a sleeping bag or something, and then we were going to
slip away for a quickie.  We hadn't done it outdoors before."

      Wynter gasped, and then saw Jimmy give a slight shake of his
head.  Suzie was making it up.  Then he nodded, flicked his eyes
toward Will and Dick, then back to Suzie, and then to her before
nodding again.  He turned a glare to Dick.

      "I told you I didn't know, didn't I?  But I guess you
weren't smart enough to understand me.  It doesn't take much
brains to be Will's butt wiper, does it?  Just a good tongue."

      Dick backhanded him, causing Jimmy to stagger and almost
fall.  He turned to Suzie.  "Well," he sneered, "isn't it lucky
you have us here instead of Pencildick.  We can show you a
_really_ good time.  And with a lot more than what Pencildick has
hanging there."

      Movement at the entrance caught Wynter's eye.  She gasped,
and then looked back toward Jimmy, hoping that Will and Dick
hadn't noticed.  They hadn't.  Kenny was creeping into the
entrance, holding his shovel like a baseball bat.  He might be
small in stature, but he was big enough to dim the light.  She
had to be sure Will and Dick didn't notice that.   What could....

      She understood.  They didn't have a chance as things were.
Suzie and Jimmy were aggravating Will and Dick, trying to make
them angry.  If they got mad enough, they might make a mistake
that would let them escape.  If not, it wouldn't make any
difference in what would happen anyway.  She had to keep their
attention on them.

      "Don't worry, Suzie," Wynter said.  "They're just bragging.
Remember, I've seen what Will has.  He calls Kenny 'Pencildick'
because he's jealous.  It's not even half the size of Kenny's.
He can't hurt you with it.  If he wants you to blow him just push
your lips out and it won't even reach your teeth."

      Jimmy turned wide eyes to her.  She desperately hoped he'd
understand that she was trying to save their lives and not be too
upset with her because of the yucky words she had to use.  Maybe
he'd give her a chance to explain if they survived.  Then she saw
his head start to follow his eyes to the entrance, only to snap
back to her.  _He saw Kenny!_

      Suzie's reddening face was a mask of fury.  Wynter realized
Suzie thought she was being serious about having seen Kenny's
penis.  "Remember that party at your house last week, when we
were swapping boyfriends?  While you were doing Jimmy, Kenny told
me that the reason this one's called Long Dick is because it's
longer than a mosquito's, but not by _much_."

      Suzie's anger faded, and she turned her head slightly, like
Dragon in his 'curious pose.'  Jimmy barked out a laugh. She
hoped that meant he understood and wasn't mad at her for what
she'd had to say.

      "That's true," he agreed.  "When these two rape you, you'll
have to ask if it's in yet.  I hope you brought a book to read
for entertainment, because you won't get any sensation from
Dickless and Where's-My-Willy."

      The thugs turned savage, brutal faces at him.  Dick saw
Suzie's attention focus behind him and her eyes go wide.  He
ignored her and started to draw back his fist.  Then he
remembered what happened when he ignored Kenny as he drew back to
hit him.  Dick started to turn.

      The flat of Kenny' shovel slammed into the back of his head.
"_RUN!_" Kenny shouted.  Suzie made an immediate sprint for the
entrance.  Wynter and Jimmy hesitated for a moment, and Dick's
unconscious form pitched forward onto them.  Unbalanced by their
heavy packs they fell backward and were pinned under Dick.

      Kenny saw the revolver in Will's hand swinging toward him.
He yanked the shovel upward as hard and fast as he could, aiming
generally in the direction of the pistol.  The edge of the shovel
took off two of Will's fingers as he fired.  Kenny staggered from
a hard impact as Will screamed and lurched backward, into a
support beam.

      The rotten wood snapped and the upper beam crashed down.
The ceiling of the tunnel began collapsing as Wynter and Jimmy
struggled out from under Dick's unconscious form.  Kenny had to
get to Wynter and Jimmy and help move Dick off them, but Will
stumbled toward him.  He lifted the shovel and then lost sight of
everything in the dust.  All he could see was the glow from the
entrance, a glow that wavered as if someone were coming back
inside.

      "Suzie!" he yelled as he turned and moved toward her.  "Go
get help!  Hurry!  Don't stop for anything!  _Get help!  NOW!_"
He tripped over something and crashed down.  He felt another
impact, this one to his head.  The glow faded to a pinpoint and
then blackness swallowed him.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Suzie hesitated.  She knew that she should go for help, but
she didn't want to leave Kenny in there.  The cloud of dust
billowed out around her.  If Kenny, or the others, needed medical
help, and if she were caught by Dick, she'd never be able to save
him.  Them.  She hesitated another moment as her body tried to go
in both directions at once.  Then she stamped her right foot.

      "_FUCK!_"

      She slid out of her backpack on the run to her bicycle.

      The journey back to Hargus Road took forever.  She stopped
at each of the houses on Hargus Road.  Nobody was home.  And not
one damned car was on Dunne Drive!  Had somebody declared  this
to be No Driving to the Stupid Mountains Day?

      As she approached Buffalo Road she saw dust from the
construction crew to the east.  She hesitated and then swerved
right at the last second.  She was pedalling so hard her lungs
hurt as she raced toward the construction area.  She had specks
in front of her eyes when she spotted a knot of men ahead.
Things were blurring and twisting.  She hoped she didn't pass out
before she reached them.



                              Nineteen

      The house phone rang.  A light on the telephone base said
that Angie was on her line, so Richard answered it.

      Ellen Carter didn't waste time with preliminaries.  "_I go
on a road trip with Dusty for three weeks, and I come back to
find that our girl has had a nasty adventure.  Kevin says she
wasn't injured.  Not physically, anyway.  How's she handling it
now?  Is she still okay?  Is it okay if I talk to her?_"

      Richard leaned back in the chair and put his feet on the
corner of his desk.  "Why, yes, I'm doing fine, Ellen.  Thanks
for asking.  Seriously, you'll be proud of her.  But she's not
here.  She went exploring Hargus City with Kenny, Jimmy, and
Suzie.  However, I can tell you that, according to her, I have
you to thank for the fact that she stayed level-headed."  He told
her how Wynter had handled the situation and her plans if Will
had been able to carry out his threat.

      "_Well, I, for one, am not surprised.  She is the brains of
the family, after all._"

      "I, for one, can tell you that the brains certainly don't
belong to Diane or Bob."  He was halfway through that story when
Ellen suddenly interrupted him.

      "_Hang on._"  She covered the mouthpiece and spoke with
someone for several seconds.  When she returned, her voice was
urgent.  "_Didn't you say that she was with Suzie?_"

      Richard straightened and put his feet on the floor.  "Yes.
Why?"

      "_I'm down at the ER desk.  A couple of highway crewmen just
brought Suzie in.  Let me put you on hold._"  Richard fretted
over why highway crewmen would be bringing her in.  Had they
stopped at a construction site on the way back?  Maybe they'd
stopped to see Keith, who worked many Saturdays during the summer
construction period?  If so, what had happened to Suzie?  An
eternity later she said, "_I'm in the treatment room.  She came
rushing up to a work crew, but fainted after she said, 'They're
up there.'  Looks like heat exhaustion.  Hold it.  She's coming
around._"

      Richard fussed and fumed while Ellen covered the mouthpiece
and spoke to someone.  Should he tell Angie?  Tell her what?  She
was still on her line, and besides, he didn't know anything yet.

      Ellen returned.  "_Will and Dick were there, hiding in the
mine.  They captured them and took them in.  Kenny tried to
rescue them while she and Wynter distracted those two little
bastards.  Suzie got out, but then the mine collapsed.  Kenny had
told her to forget about them and go get help.  He said that if
she tried to help, she might get caught, and then nobody would
know.  You'd better get up there.  Take the stuff.  I learn
anything else, I'll call you on your cell phone._"

      Richard replaced the handset with numb fingers.  For a
moment he didn't know what to do, but then he mentally kicked
himself.  If his eleven-year-old daughter could remain calm in an
emergency, then damn it, he could too.

      He punched the intercom button.  "Angie, hang up.  Call
Marti and get Keith's cell number, tell her we'll pick her up,
and then meet me at the truck.  _Now!_"  He cut off without
waiting for questions.  There wouldn't be any, he knew, because
Angie was too smart to waste time after that final instruction.

      He heard Angie talking to Marti as he reached the entrance
hall and made the one-eighty to the family room steps.  He
punched the garage door button and began loading several metal
cases into the pickup bed.

      Angie's eyes widened when she saw what he was doing.  "What
happened?"

      "Will and Dick were hiding out there.  They captured Wynter,
Jimmy, and Suzie.  Kenny managed to get Suzie out, but the mine
collapsed.  Gimme a hand with this one.  Suzie had enough sense
to follow Kenny's instructions and went for help.  She fainted
when she found a work crew.  Heat exhaustion.  She came to in the
ER while I was talking to Ellen.  You know as much as everyone
else at this point.  Put Dragon back in the house and let's go."

      The Labrador retriever had his own plans.  Richard relented
and put him in the bed of the truck.  He'd be relatively safe
because the boxes were strapped in place.  They picked up Marti
and sped away, relating the known facts enroute.  They raced down
Ninth.  Richard had Angie call Keith, brief him, and ask him what
road equipment he had available on the Buffalo Road project.
Richard told him to get up to Hargus City with a bucket loader
and grader, make sure that ten-ton vehicles could reach the mine
via the Turtle Mountain Road back trail into the ghost town, and
then keep the equipment handy.

      At Aspenleaf Circle the blue lights began flashing behind
them.  Richard slammed on the brakes, pulled to the side, and
jumped out, waving the car alongside.

      "There's been a cave-in at the Hargus mine," he explained.
"Our kids may be trapped."

      Patrolman Evan Peters nodded.  "Just heard it on the radio.
Get in and I'll take you there.  It's not safe for you to drive
there."

      "No.  I've got emergency equipment they might need.  You
break a trail for me.  Marti McCauley can ride with you.  I need
Angie to make phone calls for me."

      "You got it."

      Marti scrambled out of the truck and into the patrol car.
She'd rather have stayed with Angie and him, Richard knew, but
she wasn't about to waste time protesting.  Richard grabbed
Dragon and stuffed him into the cab before climbing in and
roaring off behind Peters' patrol car.

      He had Angie call the police station and ask for Joe.  He
was already enroute to Hargus City because Will and Dick were his
case.  The dispatcher patched her through to Joe, and then Angie
held the phone up to Richard's ear.

      "Joe?  I've got some emergency equipment.  Don't let
anybody, and I mean anybody, into whatever's left of the mine
entrance.  If you don't know what you're doing you can make the
situation worse, probably cause an additional cave-in that will
make things take even longer."

      "_Ron's on his way, might even be there by now.  People with
sense won't try to go in.  He won't let those with no sense in.
I'm turning onto Hargus Road now.  You think you can get your
truck up there?_"

      "There's that back trail off Turtle Mountain Road.  I should
be able to get in that way.  Keith's bringing some road equipment
to bring it up to ten-ton standards initially."

      "_I'm at Panner's now.  A four-wheeler could cross the
creek, but won't be able to make it up the switchbacks.  Too
unsafe.  That you behind Evan?_"  When Richard said he was, Joe
said, "_I'll have him set up a traffic control point at the end
of Hargus Road.  Might as well cut off the lookie-loos there,
before they get up above and fuck up the works.  Don't worry.
She'll be okay.  She's much smarter than you are, so she'll avoid
injury.  And if Jimmy gets hurt, well, at least he was smart
enough to bring along his own doctor._"

      "Thanks, Joe.  And you'd better tell Peters that we're going
to Turtle Mountain Road.  I forgot to do that."  He nodded, and
Angie shut off the phone.  She gave him a worried look, but said
nothing, waiting for her next instruction.  This had to be
tearing her guts out, but she was remaining mostly calm and
certainly rational.  He said thanks once again that he was
married to her instead someone like her lunatic sister and told
her that he loved her.

      Then he had her call the Smackover Mine and the Lucky Goose
Mine and alert them to stand by for rescue operations.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Richard stopped next to Peters a dozen feet from the mine
entrance, and everyone erupted from the vehicles.  Ron was
standing with his arms crossed and feet apart in front of the
open gate.  Someone Richard didn't recognize was lying on the
ground at his feet.  Several people talking in excited voices
were nearby, but not too close to Ron.  Dragon sniffed the man
and then started into the mine entrance.  "Dragon, no!  Sit!"
Dragon sat, his eyes fixed on the dark tunnel and his nose
working furiously, ears up and head twisting.  His tail flicked
dirt onto the man's face.

      "Hi," Ron said, then followed their eyes to the unconscious
man.  "Mr. Mims here is in the slow group.  He needed an
explanation of why he couldn't go inside and look for... uh, look
around.  It's been quiet in there since I arrived.  No sounds,
natural or otherwise.  I don't have a light, and it's too bright
out here for me to see much in the gloom with the sun still
overhead."

      "Thanks."  He turned to Angie and Marti, who looked like
they wanted to bolt inside.  "I can use some help dressing."

      A few minutes later, hard hat on, flashlight in hand, and
various items clipped to the belt around his yellow suit, he
attached a line to his waist and left the coil of rope with Ron,
along with instructions to have people start dismantling the
fence and gate as soon as possible.  A distant siren cut off to
the south as he kissed Angie, handed her a radio that matched the
one connected to his headset, and pulled on the breathing mask.
He turned on the flashlight and swept it around the entrance as
he stepped inside.  He fought the urge to rush to the end and,
instead, examined the natural cave as he moved forward.

      "Cave portion seems undamaged.  Shoring should be replaced
just in case.  Stand by."

      Something small lay in front of the debris pile.  A pair of
black, heavy-framed rectangular glasses and a bloody folding
shovel lay beside it.

      Angie's voice spoke through his earpiece.  "An ambulance
just arrived."

      Richard sighed in relief.  "Their timing is impeccable.  I
found Kenny.  He's breathing but unconscious.  There's some blood
here, but it doesn't appear to be his.  His legs are partially
buried.  Tell the medics to bring a stretcher and for God's sake
not to touch anything except the floor, and that includes the
dirt and rock over his legs.  _I_ will move that and they're not
to help unless I tell them precisely what to do.  I'll repeat
that when they get here, but maybe hearing it twice will keep
them from doing something stupid.  Hang on."

      Something to the side had caught his eye.

      "Well, the blood most likely is either Will's or Dick's.
There's a hand missing a couple of fingers sticking out of the
rubble next to the wall.  It's probably Will.  I think I see part
of a sling, though it's too dirty to be sure."

      "What about...."  Angie couldn't finish the question.

      "Nothing yet.  But that doesn't mean anything."

      He certainly didn't want it to mean anything.

      "Suzie's here," Angie said in a broken voice.  "She got out
of the ambulance."

      "I hope that's good."  Richard turned his attention back to
Kenny.  He examined the way the rubble had buried the boy's legs
and then slowly, carefully, began uncovering them.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Suzie raced to Mrs. King and Mrs. McCauley and Ron and
Dragon near the entrance of the mine.  "What's happening?  Is
everybody okay?  She looked at Patrolman Peters and some other
man carrying an unconscious man to the ambulance.  "What happened
to him?"

      Ron gave her a slight bow and a warm smile.  "He just needed
a little convincing to stay out of the mine."

      "Richard has found Kenny," Mrs. King said.  "He's
unconscious but doesn't appear to be harmed."  Suzie turned and
bolted for the entrance.

      Ron caught her in one arm, swinging halfway around as he
lifted her off the ground.  "Suzie, no!  If you bump into
something you might cause more to collapse and crush him.  Mr.
King is in there and he knows what to do.  And the medics are
about to go, too."

      Suzie looked around.  Mrs. King was talking to the medics.
"Hurry!" she begged.  "What are you waiting for?"

      Ron's voice was gentle.  "She's telling them to be careful,
Suzie.  They can't help if they cause more to collapse, you know.
Look, I'm as anxious as you for them to get Kenny out of there,
but they have to know what to do before they go in."

      Suzie tried to keep from crying.  "But he might have been
the one shot!"

      All talking stopped.  Everybody was looking at her.  Mrs.
King was white as snow.  "Shot?" she mumbled.  Then, louder, as
she grabbed Suzie's arm, "Somebody got shot?"

      Suzie nodded, then shook her head.  "I--I don't know.  After
Kenny knocked out Dick, he... I mean, Will, I guess, shot his
gun.  Then somebody screamed, but it sounded sorta like Will.  I
think.  My ears were hurting from the bang and I couldn't hear
good."  She couldn't see good, either, with the tears now filling
her eyes.

      Mrs. King pushed a button on her radio.  "Check Kenny
closely.  He may have been shot."

      After several long seconds the radio crackled.  "Not
exactly.  Went through the backpack but didn't touch Kenny.  I'll
have him freed in another minute."

      "Dad!" Ron waved with his free hand as Officer Lopez emerged
from the ghost town and ran toward the crowd.  Then he looked at
Suzie.  "Want me to put you down?  Will you stay here?"

      Suzie gulped.  She really wanted somebody to hold her or
else she knew she'd start really crying.  She might anyway.  "Do
you have to right now?" she squeaked.

      It felt really good to have Ron squeeze her and kiss her
cheek.  "Nope.  If I have to keep somebody out of there, I can
always do it one-handed, you know.  And I'm sure Dragon will help
me."

      Suzie glanced down.  Dragon looked up at the sound of his
name, then turned his attention back to the mine, turned his head
and lifted his ears, and whimpered.  It sounded to her like he
was crying, and that made her own brimming tears overflow.  Ron
cradled her head in his neck and rubbed her back.  "Where are
your parents?" he asked in a soft voice.

      "They're coming in the car."  She sniffed.  "Nurse Carter
told the ambulance driver to let me ride with them if they knew
what was good for them.  And they did."

      She felt Ron's laugh more than she heard it.  "Darned smart
of them.  Ellen's the one person that I wouldn't want to fight."

      Another hand pressed against her back and a soft voice with
a faint Mexican accent asked,  "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

      She turned her face to Officer Lopez.  "Yeah.  No.  Well,
yeah, I'll... I'll be okay if Kenny and the others...."  And then
she lost it.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Angie looked around.  Fire rescue was arriving.  Another
ambulance pulled in, too, along with a police car.  The patrolmen
were herding the few onlookers away from the site.  Marti had
started crying when Suzie did and had let a patrolman escort her
back to his car.  Angie wished she could afford to sit down and
cry, too.  But Richard and her daughter and Marti's son needed
her.  If Richard could still function, then she could, too, for
the children's sake.

      Two SUVs and a van were coming down the back trail.  The van
had the local radio station's call letters plastered on the
doors.  One SUV belonged to Maynard Sillerman, a reporter for the
local paper.  She didn't know the young reporter for the radio
station, but Maynard was an older man descended from the miners
who had settled the area.  He knew to stay out from underfoot in
this situation, and he would help Ron keep the radio reporter
under control.  The other vehicle carried Kevin and Candis.

      Ron told the fire rescue team to remove the guard fence and
gate per Richard's orders and then turned to his father.  "Dad,
do you have TCPs at both entrances?" When Joe said that he did,
Ron asked that he alert them to let Don and Carolyn through.

      "They should know that, but...."  Joe reached for his radio
as Angie's came to life.

      "He's free and coming around,"  Richard reported.  "Medics
think it's just a mild concussion and bruised legs.  We'll be on
our way out in a few seconds."

      On Joe's radio Sam Peters, who had been told to substitute
for his brother as the Hargus Road traffic control point, was
saying that the Middletons had been redirected to Turtle Mountain
Road, where Evan had been told to set up.

      Joe turned to an approaching patrolman and started pointing.
"Bill, you've got traffic control.  I want a general parking area
over there, and set it up using your judgment.  I want this line,
call it red route, thirty feet wide, kept open for emergency
vehicles, and have the ambulances park over here, where they'll
be handy.  When the equipment transports arrive, park them here,
with nothing in front so they can offload and then pull straight
out.  Loop back to red route this way, call it blue route.
Junior can set up wherever he can get the best signal back to the
radio station as long as it doesn't interfere with emergency
traffic flow."

      Angie watched Kevin and Candis speak briefly to Marti and
then hurry toward them.  Angie spoke first.  "Kenny's coming to.
He doesn't appear to be hurt other than a mild concussion.
They're bring him out."  They thanked her and clutched each
other.  Kevin had the presence of mind to express wishes for
Wynter's safety.  Candis looked pale, dazed, and ready to faint.

      When the lead medic appeared in the gloomy entrance, Suzie
demanded to be put down.  Ron did, but kept his hands on her
shoulders restraining her.  He continued to hold her back when
the medics put the stretcher down in front of them.  Ron bent to
whisper something in her ear.

      Kenny's hand lifted and felt his face, as if he were
checking for his glasses.  Richard emerged from the mine, holding
them in his hand.  Richard gave them to Angie and then began
ordering supplies and equipment on his cellular phone.

      Dragon got up, sniffed Kenny, and licked his cheek, leaving
a clean streak.

      "Dragon.  Here.  Sit."  Dragon looked at his secondary
charge, sniffed Kenny one more time, and obeyed, once again
turning his head, perking his ears, and sniffing in the direction
of the mine.  His tail stirred up small intermittent clouds of
dust.

      One medic handed Kevin a stethoscope and began reporting
while the other went to the ambulance for a gurney.

      Kevin and Candis knelt beside the stretcher.  Before Kevin
could warn Candis to stay out of his way, Kenny opened his eyes.

      "Headache," he mumbled.

      Everyone breathed a sigh to release some of the tension.
Kevin smiled at his son and rested the fingertips of one hand on
the boy's shoulder.  "You seem to have a minor occipital
concussion, Doctor.  We'll get you in for some x-rays and, as a
bonus, discover whether there's anything inside that skull.  You
also have some leg contusions and a couple of abrasions, but
nothing serious.  We'll x-ray them, too, just to be sure there
are no partial fractures."

      Angie turned to wave Marti forward.  She was halfway there.
Behind Marti she saw Don and Carolyn approaching from the parking
area.  Behind them was an incoming police vehicle carrying a fat
man.  Richard whispered a few words that she knew were meant to
be a comfort and dialed another number.

      Kenny's voice was stronger.  "I lost my glasses."

      "They're here," Angie said.  "Want them?"

      "Yeah.  I mean, please.  Dad, I don't wanna go to the
hospital.  I want to know what happened to Suzie and Wynter and
Jimmy.  Mom, please!"  He raised a weak hand to push her away
before she smothered him in kisses.

      Suzie pulled away and dropped to her knees beside Candis.
"I'm here.  I went to get help like you told me to do."

      "You done good," he said, taking his glasses from Angie and
shoving them onto his face.  "Real good!"

      Suzie straightened the glasses and kissed him.  Then she
removed his glasses and smothered his dirty face with kisses.  To
nobody's surprise, except maybe Candis', Kenny didn't object.
She stopped long enough to whisper something in his ear, let him
whisper, "Okay!" and started over.  Candis gave up and rose to
her feet.

      "_Suzanne!_"

      Angie turned to Carolyn's shocked face and Don's look of
mild concern.  "I know what you mean, Carolyn.  I want her to
hurry up so I can have my turn!"

      Carolyn frowned at her, while Don's grin on his round face
made him look more than ever like a younger Mickey Rooney.

      "And then I want to kiss Suzie, too.  Listen, Kenny told her
to go for help, and she did.  If she hadn't done what he asked,
we might not have found them..." her tightening throat cut off
her words for a moment, "...in time.  You have a very special
daughter there."

      Joe knelt beside Kevin.  "Can he wait long enough to tell us
what happened?  We need to know."

      Kevin shrugged. "If we can get Suzie to let him."

      Suzie froze and looked up at everybody.  She blushed, put
his glasses on straight, and said, "You tell them, okay?  I'll be
with Mom and Dad right here if you need me."

      Kenny gave her a strange grin.  "Uhhh....  Okaaaay."  Angie
thought his reply carried several messages and that Suzie had
understood all of them because her blush deepened and she quickly
looked at everyone's faces to see if they noticed.

      Kenny winced and then told them how he'd seen Dick herding
the others into the cave, and how he'd decided it was a good
thing he'd not forgotten the shovel instead of the magazine after
all.  From the looks on their faces Angie knew everyone else,
including Suzie, had no more of an idea of what that meant than
she did, but nobody interrupted to ask.  He told them how the
others had distracted the two thugs until he was close enough to
knock out Dick, who fell on Wynter and Jimmy.  He said that Will
had turned and pointed a gun at him, and that the gun had gone
off as Kenny chopped off a couple of Will's fingers with the edge
of the shovel and that Will had staggered into a supporting beam.

      "_WHAT?_"  Angie staggered as she was shoved sideways.  The
fat man stormed forward to tower over Kenny on the stretcher.
"You _maimed_ my son?  Taylor, I'm going to sue you for every
penny you earn for the rest of your life!  Lopez, I want you to
arrest this juvenile delinquent on charges of wanton criminal
assault with a deadly weapon, battery, maiming, mayhem, anything
else I can think of.  Well, why isn't somebody in there bringing
Will out?"

      Joe's voice was strained but respectful.  "Judge, we have to
dig his body out carefully or the mine could collapse some more."

      Wilson's ruddy face blanched and he staggered.  He spoke in
a small voice.  "Body?  Will's.... He's dead?  But... he was just
a boy!"  Angie could sympathize with the anguish in Judge
Wilson's voice, but then her anger flared as Wilson snarled at
Kenny.  "You _killed_ him, you sniveling little reprobate!
Lopez, make that charge _murder!_  I'll see to it that you never
see the light of day again, you hooligan!  And Lopez, I want your
son arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder!  It's
_their_ fault that Will is dead!  If they hadn't...."

      "_SHUT UP!_"

      Everybody turned in stunned silence and looked down at the
source of the high-pitched scream.

      Suzie's red face made her hair look blonde.  She jerked away
from Don's restraining hands, stamped her right foot, and stormed
forward.  "_SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU SANCTIMONIOUS ASSHOLE!_"

      "Young lady!  You do _NOT_ use...."

      Suzie paused long enough to stamp her foot again.
"_Goddamnit, shut UP you obnoxious old BASTARD!_"

      Judge Wilson took a step backward and almost tripped over
the stretcher.  Angie actually saw fear in his eyes.  "Don't you
_dare_ blame Kenny for what happened!  You wanna blame somebody,
fine.  Blame yourself.  It's _your_ fault!  If I fuck up, my
parents punish me. I don't like it, but it makes me think before
I do it the next time.  But nothing _ever_ happens to Will
because _you_ won't let it, so he just does whatever he _wants!_
The _only_ one who ever tried to teach 'em right from wrong was
Ron!  I'm gonna be _grounded_ for the rest of my _life_ after
this, but _I DON'T CARE_, 'cause I'm not gonna let _Kenny_ take
the blame 'cause you're too _stupid_ to be a parent!  I can't
vote, but next election I'm gonna ask Mom and Dad to payroll me
from restriction long enough to tell everybody what a _stupid
fuckin' shithead_ you are and tell them to _kick you out!_  They
were gonna make Wynter 'n' me _blow_ them, and then they were
gonna _rape_ us and _kill_ us and throw us in a stupid hole in
the floor!  You'da got 'em off on a _jaywalking_ charge or
something 'cause _you don't care!_  Kenny cut Will's fingers off?
He shoulda cut his stupid _pecker_ off!  This is _ALL YOUR
FAULT!_"

      Everyone stood in stunned silence as Suzie turned and looked
up at her parents.  "So go ahead and ground me already.  I _don't
care!_"  She stamped her right foot.  Angie admired the look of
stubborn defiance on her still-red face.

      Carolyn's mouth moved soundlessly behind a clawed hand, her
eyes wide in horror.  Don looked down at Suzie and shook a
finger.  "You said to Judge Wilson what everybody else here has
said, only we said it behind his back because we were too afraid
to confront him.  For that part, you are not to be punished,
especially since you were braver than we were.  But for the
language you used, young lady, you are hereby grounded for five
seconds with no time off for good behavior."

      Three of those seconds passed before Suzie realized what her
father had said.

      Wilson threw off his shock and started to say something.  He
looked at the microphone pointed at him in Junior Arnold's hand
and at Maynard Sillerman furiously scribbling notes.  Then he
finally noticed the looks on everyone's faces.  Several onlookers
broke into restrained applause, three policemen and most medics
and firemen among them.  He sagged.

      Joe leaned toward him and spoke softly.  "Your Honor, you
don't want to be here when they bring his body out.  Go home.
You don't want to see him until McNair's has prepared him.  I'll
send a car to take you there."

      Tears streamed from the judge's piggy eyes and down his
jowls.  "But... he was just a boy," he sobbed.

      As a patrolman led Wilson back to the parked vehicles, Angie
tried to feel sorry for his loss.  She couldn't.  She knew that
Suzie was right.  The best she could feel was pity.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Joe Lopez dropped to one knee beside Kenny.  "I apologize
for the interruption.  You said Dick fell on Wynter and Jimmy,
pinning them down, and that Will then triggered the cave in.
Where were they in relation to the collapse?"

      Kenny had been frowning at Dragon.  There was something
about him....  He rubbed his dirty forehead and looked at Joe.
"They were right under it."

      Joe looked up at Richard and Angie for a moment.  They had
blanched and were holding each other up.  "It collapsed on them?"

      "No."  Kenny thought for another moment.  "They got out from
under him just as Will shot me and I cut off his fingers."

      Several people gasped and muttered.

      "He didn't hit you," Joe said.  "He hit your backpack."

      "Aw, man!"  Kenny grumbled.  "I'll bet he ruined the toilet
paper."

      Joe snorted a laugh before continuing.  "Did... did Wynter
and Jimmy try to follow you out of the mine?"

      Kenny paused and tears began collecting in his eyes.  "I
dunno.  I don't think so.  I heard Wynter yell something, but my
ears were ringing and Will was screaming and I didn't understand
her.  I think I remember a log landing between us.  Behind Will,
too, and he started after me.  I turned and ran and didn't see
anything.  Something hit me in the head, and next thing I knew I
was here."

      Joe looked up.  Richard and Angie were still holding each
other, clinging to the one tiny thread of hope that Kenny had
provided.  He looked at Ron, standing quietly at the entrance,
and felt an overwhelming, irresistible urge to hug his son.  As
he rose he noticed Dragon, head cocked and still sniffing in the
direction of the entrance and whimpering softly as his tail began
stirring the dirt again.

      Kenny watched Dragon, too.  _Something...._  "Oh!  I almost
forgot.  Did you find the car behind those trees over there?"  He
pointed with a wobbly hand.  "There's a dead guy in the back
seat."

      Joe grimaced, rose, and gave orders to two patrolmen.

      Kenny twisted to look at Dragon again.  He frowned.
Somewhere deep inside his throbbing head a thought--he was sure
it was an important one--was again trying to push its way to the
surface.  _Something...._



                               Twenty

      Kenny Taylor was in shock.  No, not medical shock.
Emotional shock.  He listened to Suzie telling off Will's dad
with eyes so wide he thought he'd never be able to close them
again.  He'd been amazed that Suzie had gone for help instead of
going home and hiding under her bed.  And now here she was,
screaming her lungs out at Judge Wilson in behalf of _Studman_
himself, and not caring what happened to herself afterward.

      An invisible hand threw an internal switch, and his feelings
toward Suzie, without his conscious knowledge, changed.  Revenge
schemes and payback plans winked into nonexistence.

      After Kenny finished answering Officer Lopez's questions,
Ron embraced his father before kneeling beside Kenny and
extending a hand.  When he took it, Ron gave him a gentle but
firm squeeze and shake.  "Looks like I'm out of a job as your
guardian Angel.  You did a damned fine job without my help.  You
don't need me any more."

      At last Kenny really and truly understood what Wynter meant
whenever she said her heart felt too big for her chest.  Ron
released his hand and rose.  Suddenly Suzie was there.  She took
his hand in both of hers and pressed it to her chest.  Kenny
frowned at her.  She'd been wearing a bra when they were
exploring the ghost town, but she certainly wasn't wearing one
now.  She noticed his frown and winked at him, sliding his hand
slightly to one side so that he could feel the rising curve of
softness.  She released it when her parents moved beside her and
knelt.

      Mrs. Middleton kissed his dirty cheek.  "Thank you from the
very bottom of my heart, Kenny.  You did a very brave thing in
rescuing Suzie for us.  I don't know what we'd have done if....
Well.  I'm so very glad that you got out in time.  You'll always
be the guest of honor in our home."

      "Kenny," said Mr. Middleton, shaking his hand, "I want to
thank you for what you did for Suzie and for us.  I have no doubt
whatsoever that you saved Suzie's life, and for that I will
always be grateful.  I'm glad you're okay, too."  Kenny noticed a
tear in the corner of Mr. Middleton's eye, but he ignored it the
way Jimmy would do.

      _Jimmy_.  Kenny's breath caught, the same the way it did
when he'd heard about... about Chipper.  _Poor Jimmy and..._

      _WYNTER!_

      It was the moment the lights came on for Kenny.  As the
Middletons rose, he lifted himself on his elbows, ignoring his
father's protests, and stared at Dragon.  His head turned
slightly, mimicking Dragon's "curious pose."  He resisted for a
while as his father gently pushed his chest and said words Kenny
did not hear.  Finally he grinned and lowered himself, wincing
and whimpering as his head touched the small, soft pillow.

      "May we?"  It was Mr. King's voice asking his father.

      "Of course."  His dad rose and moved back so that Wynter's
parents could kneel beside him.

      Mrs. King made a futile attempt to straighten his hair.  Her
face was streaked with tears, and her voice trembled as she said,
"Kenny, you're the bravest boy I know.  I'm so glad you saved
Suzie.  I hope...."  She couldn't continue and turned to bury her
face in Mr. King's neck.

      Mr. King tried to say something as he wrapped his arms
around her and squeezed.  He pulled one hand away briefly to pat
Kenny's.  His own tears began to trickle down his dusty cheeks.

      "Hey," Kenny said.  "She's okay, you know."

      Mr. King nodded.  "We certainly hope you're right, son."

      "No!  She is!  Can't you tell?  Hey, the proof's right in
front of you."

      Mrs. King's head snapped around so hard Kenny was surprised
her neck didn't crack.

      Mr. King frowned down at him.  "Proof?"

      Kenny lifted a hand and pointed.  Everyone looked at Dragon.
"He knows she's okay.  He's wondering why she doesn't come out to
him.  Watch the way he's acting.  He wants to go in to see her
because she won't come out to him.  I don't know about Jimmy, but
I know Wynter is okay."

      Mrs. King looked down and gave him a grim smile.  "Oh,
Kenny, I do so hope you're right."

      Mr. King straightened and wiped his cheeks dry as he
continued to watch Dragon.  "I _know_ he's right."  He reached
for his cell phone and punched the keypad as he rose.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Suzie was thrilled that Her Man was able to use his
"professional influence" to get her a ride with him in the
ambulance.  Her parents followed in the car.  She wished she
could crawl in beside him and hold him on the trip, worrying
every time a stupid bump caused him to groan or whine.  Once they
were on the paved county road it was a smooth trip and he stopped
whimpering, and for that she was grateful.

      They had briefly stopped where the road crew was working so
that Mr. McCauley could say something to Kenny.  Except for that
the trip was uneventful.  She insisted on staying until the
results of the x-rays were back.  Doctor Taylor, who wasn't
needed at the mine, and his wife had returned to the hospital.
Doctor Taylor said that he'd see to it that Suzie got a ride
home, and that he would drive her himself.

      Doctor Taylor sent Kenny to x-ray.  He told Suzie she
couldn't go to the x-ray room but he'd be honored to have such a
sweet and lovely lady accompany him while he arranged a room for
Kenny.  Her feet didn't touch the floor for an hour.  He wanted
to keep Kenny for observation at least overnight.  He kissed Mrs.
Taylor and told her she could go back to her office and that he'd
let her know as soon as he knew something.  He also told her not
to be jealous because he was in the presence of such a
beautiful....

      Doctor Taylor frowned at her hair.  "Well, I don't know what
to call that color.  But whether she's a blonde or a redhead,
don't worry.  She's not competition for you.  Not _too_ much
competition."

      Mrs. Taylor looked at her and shook her head.  "Watch out,
honey.  He's a smooth-talking asshole, but he's still an
asshole."  Then she bent down and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"And thanks again.  Without your help, we might have lost Kenny.
You like chocolate chip cookies best, don't you?"

      "I sure do!"

      Mrs. Taylor laughed at the excitement in her voice.  "I'm
going to bake you three dozen.  And when they're gone, I'm going
to bake you another three dozen, just for you."

      Suzie was still speechless when Mrs. Taylor disappeared
behind the elevator doors.  Her mother and Caroline could have
their stupid Fig Newtons.  And she wouldn't have to share with
her dad because he didn't care for sweets.  Six dozen chocolate
chip cookies, and they were all just for her!

      Okay.  She'd share them with Kenny if he asked.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Kenny adjusted his pillow so that it didn't put too much
pressure on his injured head, though it wasn't bothering him very
much because of the shot Nurse Carter had given him.  He had been
pissed off because Dad had insisted he take a shower before he'd
let Suzie in to see him, but, he realized, he sure did feel a lot
better now that he was clean. In fact, the only thing that could
have made him feel better would have been having Suzie in the
shower with him.  He filed a mental note to try that with her as
soon as they had a chance to do so.

      He recognized his father's knock.  The door swung open
immediately.  Suzie bounced in ahead of him.

      "What do you think, My Lady?" his dad asked.  "Does he look
better clean?"

      Suzie looked at him the way she used to look at Jimmy and...
and Chipper.  "I think he looks great!"

      Kenny worried about the way his dad looked at Suzie, but he
relaxed when his dad burst into a laugh.  "You know, honey, I
think so too.  Why don't you sit here and act as his bed rail, so
that he doesn't fall out.  He's somewhat clumsy, you know."  He
lifted Suzie and put her on the edge of the bed.  "Son, the
x-rays were surprising.  There's actually something besides bone
in that thick skull of yours.  But it's a good thing you're as
hard-headed as your Mother.  It's all soft-tissue injury.  I
can't believe you don't even need stitches.  If there are no
complications tonight, you can go home tomorrow, but I mean
_home_.  Okay?"

      He started to moan, but Suzie turned to him and winked the
eye that his dad couldn't see.  "Okay!"

      "Now, I have to get back to work so I can pay your doctor's
bill.  He's one expensive S. O. B.  I'm sorry to say, Suzie, that
I'm going to be doing extremely boring stuff.  Son, I wonder if
you'd be so kind to entertain my lovely escort so that she won't
have to be admitted with an acute case of advanced tedium?"

      He felt his Patented Shit-Eating Grin slide into place.  Dad
had stolen most of that speech from Officer Lopez.  "I can do
that."

      His dad took Suzie's hand and kissed it as he bowed from the
waist.  "I'm sorry that you'll have to settle for second best,
but you really would be bored to tears following me around.  Oh,
and son, when you order dinner later, order for two.  I'll tell
Don and Carolyn they've given their permission for Suzie to eat
with you."

      Kenny was acutely aware of the grumbling in his stomach.
"We haven't had lunch and we're starving now, you know."

      His father threw up his hands.  "Then order lunch!  If you
can't figure out such a simple treatment, you're not much of a...
Future MD."

      Kenny noticed the hesitation in his father's final words.
"Dad, she's okay.  And if anybody can get them out of there
safely, it's Mister King."

      His father drew a deep breath and let it out.  "You're right
about that."  He bowed to Suzie, patted Kenny's shoulder, and
closed the door as he left.

      Suzie looked at her hands.  The silence grew uncomfortable.
Kenny broke it.  "Suzie, weren't you wearing a bra this morning?"

      She grinned at him and flashed him a quick look at her tits.
"It's that bulge in my pocket.  I took it off in the ambulance.
The attendants were riding up front and I was in the back.  I
knew you'd be okay, and I wanted you to be able to play with my
boobies if you wanted to."

      Suzie's grin faded.  She adjusted the top of his sheet.
When she had it just right she suddenly began twisting it around
a finger.  She had the most serious look that he had ever seen on
her face.  "Kenny, if it hadn't been for you, I'd be dead now.
Or worse."

      He shrugged.  "Hey, if it hadn't been for you, I'd still be
trapped in those rocks and would probably starve to death there."

      "Yeah."  She unwound the sheet from her finger, smoothed it,
and then began twisting it around the same finger on her other
hand.  "We, um, we made a good team watching out for each other,
didn't we?"

      "Yeah.  We did."

      "Yeah."  She unwound the sheet and smoothed it again.  This
time she stopped herself from twisting it around a finger and,
instead, twisted the fingers around each other.  "Um, you don't
have a girlfriend, do you?"

      It was more of a statement than a question.  Kenny grinned
at her. "I didn't until now."

      She looked at him from under her raised eyebrows. "Really?"

      He grinned.  "Yeah!"

      "And do I have a boyfriend now?"

      "Yeah!"

      Suzie gave him a big smile and looked at the door.  She took
a deep breath and sighed.  "If that stupid thing had a lock, I'd
let you do me as long as you want right here on this bed."

      Kenny sighed.  "Just my darned luck.  I finally get a chance
for a little action today, and we're here where somebody could
come in at any moment.  Since we can't, you wanna grab that phone
and dial 303 and order us some lunch?"

      Instead of getting the phone, Suzie looked at the door,
scooted down a few inches, checked her alignment between Kenny's
crotch and the door again, and then grinned at him.  "You know, I
could give you a handjob under the sheet while we're waiting."

                               ~ ~ ~

      Angie looked at her watch.  Eight-Thirty.  No wonder it was
dark.  She sat with Keith and Marti McCauley inside a large tent
that some relief organization had provided.  Joe and Maynard were
supposed to be keeping track of all the ones who were helping
them.  She looked out the open tent flap, past Ron.  Richard was
at the mine entrance, talking to one of the heavy equipment team
from the Lucky Goose.  New shoring was supporting the natural
cave.  An emergency-shaft boring machine had arrived, and Richard
was coordinating its use.  The Lucky Goose crewmen didn't know
the Hargus Mine.  Richard did.  He'd done a study of it for his
Master's thesis.  The last person who knew more about the Hargus
Mine than Richard had died half a century ago.

      Ron uncrossed his arms and refolded them with the other arm
on top.  Two hours ago a Denver television crew that had been
doing a fluff piece on skiing areas had arrived.  The television
station pressed it into service to cover the unfolding drama, and
the third-string reporters had realized this was their ticket to
the big leagues.

      First they insisted on taking a camera into the mine.  Ron
wouldn't let them in.  Not knowing exactly who Ron was, they
complained to Joe, citing the press's so-called "rights."  Joe
explained to them in no uncertain terms that they had absolutely
no right to get themselves killed, possibly cause further
collapse of the mine shaft, and certainly divert rescue efforts
away from saving two "more important" lives.  Then he apologized
for being such a horrible father that he couldn't control his
son, and that should his son decide to follow through on his
threat to see how many screws could be removed from the inside of
the camera, well, there wasn't much he could do about it until
Ron was finished.

      By that time the equipment flunky had sorted out who the key
players were.  The male reporter signalled the cameraman to
follow him.  Ron tagged along.  The reporter shoved a microphone
in Marti's face, and asked her how she felt knowing that her son
might be dead under tons of rock.

      The medics said that the reporter's arm wasn't broken, but
he wouldn't want to use it for a few days.  The reporters had to
do some fast talking and make some heavy promises to get their
camera back.  Ron and his Swiss army knife had already removed
several screws.

      For some technical reason that Angie didn't understand, the
crew's truck wasn't linked to a satellite, but was instead saving
everything to video tape.  Ron had a few quiet words with the
cameraman, the equipment flunky, and the female reporter,
assisted by reporter Maynard Sillerman.  The tape suddenly
vanished, and Angie knew it would never reappear.

      Junior Arnold was still wandering around with the radio
station's microphone, but he knew better than to key it without
the permission of everyone within reception distance of the mike.
Adrian Black, the station owner, was friends with both Ron and
Joe. Any equipment repairs would come out of Junior's pay.

      Marti still hadn't recovered from her "interview."  Keith
was doing his best to comfort her, but she refused to let him
take her home.  Angie felt very sorry for Marti.  Richard had his
job to keep his mind occupied.  She could always assist him in
small ways.  Keith could always return to the road improvement
project, even though he'd turned it over to one of his
subordinates.  But Marti was alone with her thoughts.  Her fears.
Her personal terrors.

      Angie now believed Kenny.  She could see Dragon sitting to
the side of the entrance, out of the way of the rescue work, and
could watch his expression and his actions.  But she wasn't sure
that Dragon was letting them know that Jimmy was all right too.
What if he really was under a ton of rock, and Wynter was in the
dark, alone?

      She was still worrying about that when Richard entered the
large tent and looked wistfully at his cot and sleeping bag.
Then he took a cup of coffee from one of the volunteers and sat
at the table between Angie and Keith, squeezing the shoulder of
the latter and hugging the former.

      Angie kissed him, nuzzled his neck, and whispered her
concern to Richard.  He jerked back, looking surprised.  "Haven't
you figured it out yet?" he asked.

      "What?"

      "Shit, I'm sorry.  I figured it out an hour ago, when I was
in there with the shoring crew.  Keith, Marti, I sincerely
apologize for being such an idiot.  I got too wrapped up in what
I was doing, and have absolutely no excuse.  All of you, look at
Dragon.  Keep watching.  He's waiting for Wynter now.  Keep
watching.  Keep--_there!_  See that?  He only does that when
Jimmy's around.  He knows Jimmy's alive, too."

                               ~ ~ ~

      Richard was too exhausted to dream, but something was
bothering him.  He opened his eyes.  It wasn't dawn yet.  Joe was
gently shaking his shoulder.

      "Richard," he whispered.  "Shhh.  Don't wake the others.
Outside.  Let's talk."

      Richard pulled on his boots and followed Joe out.  Ron was
standing just outside the tent.  "Have you slept?" Richard asked
the self-appointed guard.

      "Us young people don't need as much sleep as you old guys,"
he said.  "Besides, it's good luck to watch the sun rise on your
birthday."

      "It's your birthday?"

      Joe snickered.  "You can't slip anything past Senor Klutz if
it's blatant enough, son."

      Richard sighed.  "Well, Happy Birthday, Ron."

      Ron looked him in the eye and nodded.  "You rescue them and
it will be."

      Richard couldn't argue with that.  He turned to Joe.
"What's up?"

      Joe glanced toward the mine.  "They found Sarrel.  They'll
be bringing him out in a couple of minutes.  He was alone.
Nobody was trapped under him.  He wasn't all that far back under
the rubble, so perhaps that means they'll reach the other end of
the fall soon."

      Richard breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew that when the
ceiling went, it was more likely to continue to the interior for
some distance.  "They escaped.  I told you so."

      Joe looked pained.  "Well, we can still think so."  He
looked at Dragon and then back to Richard.  "Are you sure about
him?"

      Richard draped an arm over Joe's shoulder and looked down at
him.  "Joe, the only person I'd trust with my life more than you
is Dragon."

      Joe's eyes widened.  "That's a pretty freakin' high
compliment for a dog!"

      Richard grinned.  "He's a pretty freakin' special dog."

                               ~ ~ ~

      Kenny felt the bed move and then lips press to his.  He
whined.  He was exhausted and wanted his mother to let him sleep.
A tongue forced his lips open and raked across his teeth.

      His eyes exploded open and Suzie pulled back.  "You need to
brush your teeth," she giggled.

      "Suzie?"

      "Who'd you think it was?  Nurse Carter?  Anyway, I brought
breakfast."  She pointed over her shoulder at her backpack.  "You
want the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit or the Egg McMuffin?"

      "What time is it?"

      "Almost six-thirty.  I hope orange juice is okay.  I brought
two."  She handed him his glasses and straightened them after he
crammed them on his face.  She slipped out of her pack's straps.

      "Yeah.  Sure!  Hey, how'd you get your parents bring you
_this_ early?"

      She shrugged and opened the pack.  "My bike was home when I
got there and so was my backpack.  I left a note on the kitchen
table and snuck out.  I had to wait a half-hour for McDonald's to
open."  She removed the food and put it on the rollaway table.

      Kenny frowned.  "They open at six this time of year."

      "They were two minutes late, so my boyfriend got an extra
two minutes of sleep."

      "The nurses let you in this early?"

      "Caroline always says, 'If you don't ask, they can't tell
you no.'  By the way, I got something special from her for your
dessert."

      Kenny waited, but she began unwrapping the breakfast
sandwiches and said nothing.  "And?"

      She giggled and whispered in his ear.  "Strawberry douche."

      _Studman_ looked at the door and its absence of a lock.  He
wondered how to jam a chair under the handle to hold it closed.

                               ~ ~ ~

      Richard removed his mask as he neared the entrance of the
mine.  The dust wasn't as bad here.  Breakfast had worn off an
hour ago, but he'd convinced himself that he couldn't break away
to eat.  The gnawing in his belly eventually won the argument.
The radio sprang to life and Angie asked if he was planning to
join her for lunch or if he was going to do his Diane imitation.

      "If you'll look toward the mine, you'll see my manly form
emerging in two seconds.  Please refrain from throwing yourself
at my handsome bod when you see me.  It makes the other men
jealous."

      He removed his finger from the transmit button as one of the
workmen behind him yelled his name.  He turned around, and Dragon
rocketed past him.

Copyright 2005 Russell Hoisington

    ************************************************************

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here at ASSTR (The Alt Sex Stories Text Repository).  ASSTR's
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Russell Hoisington
State of Confusion

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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