The Madrona Heroes Register: Underneath It All

Chapter 20 - The Tunnel People

Dr. Samantha Trace had spent the last hour at her desk. The more she tried to work, the less work she was able to do. Huitre was infuriating. What did she even see in him. And more importantly, what did he see in that mediocre Jordan woman? Huitre wasn’t even giving her information on the Jordan children anymore.

Luce was not going to be happy. Really, what was she supposed to do? Huitre was useless. Grater was more than useless. And now Luce was spending all this time with Ollie. At least Ollie appeared to behave around Luce. But that made her angry as well. What was it she felt? Irritation? Jealousy?

Ollie listens to Luce but not to me. No wonder Luce thinks I can’t get this job done. He thinks I can’t even parent my own child. Samantha Trace sat at her desk, her shaking hands balled into fists.

“But why?” Ollie whined to his mother.

Trace had marched from her office straight to the greenhouse where she found Ollie engaged in deep thought over how best to prune a shrub. The label read “Myrciaria Dubia.”

“Because I’ve decided we’re going to have a nice mother-son afternoon together.”

“But I’m supposed to finish this whole row before the end of the day.”

“Go with your mother, son. Everybody needs a break once-in-awhile, and it’s a beautiful day out.” Xander Luce appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

Ollie’s shoulders slumped.

Samantha’s did too, humiliated that she needed her boss to get her son to want to spend time with her.

“Can we see animals, at the zoo maybe?” Ollie asked?

“I was thinking we’d go to the Burke instead.” Samantha replied.

“Ah, the natural history museum. That’s a fine choice.” Luce chimed in.

Samantha grimaced.

Ollie sighed. “All the animals there are already dead.”

§

Binny screamed.

“Zoe?” Gabe’s voice faltered.

Binny collected herself and motioned to the others to come close. “Everyone get back.”

The man was sitting up from where he had apparently been sleeping. Stacks of paperback books were stuffed under the bench. Radiating out from the bench on either side was an assortment of two liter plastic bottles missing their labels. Most were empty. Some contained a liquid that nobody wanted to guess at.

The man wore a military jacket with an American flag patch on the sleeve and a black backwards baseball cap. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Rubber bands made several mini-ponytails out of the long hair that covered most of his face. The remaining exposed skin was all deep crisscrossing lines.

“The library is closed for the day.” The man said.

Unsure of what to say, no one responded.

“Did the security guard let you in? Or was he not at his post. I’m going to report him.” The man wagged his finger as he spoke. “Breaking and entering is what it is. Just because the guard abandoned his post, doesn’t mean that you didn’t commit a crime breaking into the library. Don’t the posted hours mean anything to you?” The man was screaming.

Cassie started crying.

Zach yelled, “Run!”

The old man had stepped between the children and the door through which they’d entered the station. Going back the way they came wasn’t possible. Zach chose the tunnel heading left as it was slightly better lit. The other kids followed.