Splash

Better As Rats

Miles

I stare down at the half-buried object in front of us.

"What is it?" I ask, weirdly nervous.

Jesse kicks the suede lilac box lightly with his foot, it doesn't move. "I don't know, I was hoping you might." He pauses for a few beats then suddenly continues. "I'm diggin' it out."

Before I can say anything, Jesse is on the ground, clawing at the dirt around the box. I can't help but laugh a little before I move to my knees and help him.

***

After a solid 5 minutes of ripping up the dirt surround the- larger than expected- box, Jesse lifts it out of its little hole with both hands.

The bottom half of the suede box is covered in a thin layer of dirt, thin enough to tell that it hasn't been embedded in the dirt for that long. It reminds me of my mother's jewelry box that sits on her dresser, except this one is much more extravagant. The part where the two halves meet is lined with gold- real gold- and a huge gem stone is carved beautifully to fit the gold cast which acts as the box's clasp.

Jesse looks at me, wide eyed. After a long silence, he finally speaks. "This must be worth a fortune." His voice is hushed even though we are surrounded by the endless solitude of the forest near his father's farm.

"Really? That is what you're thinking about? How much you can auction it off for?" I reply, shaking my head at his predictability.

"Well, what do you think we should do with it?" He asks, sitting back on the dirt.

"Leave it."

"You're joking, right?"

"Well it must belong to someone," I begin, taking the box from him. "and if they didn't want it, I'm sure they would have sold it not buried it where no one would find it."

"What, so they're hiding it? If they were doing that I'm sure they would have done a better job of concealing it." Jesse pauses, meeting my gaze. "Miles, just think about how the money from this box could help us, our families. My old man could use some new equipment and I'm sure Mae would be over the moon of you could finally pay for her education." He pauses again, leaning in closer. I swallow and clench my jaw, not trusting what will spill out of my mouth if I don't. "You've stolen before, it's not hard."

"Yeah, but nothing this expensive. Who in this town could even afford this? Even the wealthiest residents would struggle to scrape up the coin."

I suddenly get the feeling someone is watching us from the shadows of the trees. I scan the brush, careful to keep my head down.

I catch a dark figure moving behind a huge oak before I quickly avert my eyes.

My eyes lock onto Jesse's, who nods at the warning in my eyes.

I casually place the box back into its hole in the dirt and push the dug up soil back to fill the sides. "Let's go, it's probably a fake anyway." I keep my face and voice as neutral and indifferent as possible and push myself up. Jesse follows suit seamlessly,- rolling his eyes and acting as if I'd won- though I can see the tension in his body. I make sure to walk off in the opposite direction from where I saw the figure.

***

Twenty minutes later and we're down by the foreshore.

"Did you see any features? Something that might give them away if you saw them again?" Jesse asks, sliding his hands into his pockets in an attempt to look casual- there are still a few people strolling around even as the night darkens.

"It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a he." I look at Jesse sidelong, he seems a little more creeped out than I expected him to be. I was preparing for one of his good old lectures, you damned idiot you make me lose out on that treasure for a scary shadow in the woods, maybe I should have given that frilly dress to you instead of Mae, you fucking baby.

He blows the air out of his cheeks nervously.

"Jesse," I stop walking and grab his arm to stop him too. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He meets my stare too casually, like he always does when he's hiding something from me.

"It's not nothing." I know him too well for this to be nothing.

He drops his eyes to the ground and runs a hand halfway through his hair and leaves it there as he speaks. "I don't know. My dad's been talkin' about a group of men that have been 'round a couple times talkin' about how nice his land is, et cetera. But recently they've been throwing him a few offers on the land. Big ones too."

I furrow my eyebrows at him. "What do men with coin want with your father's land? There's no way they would use the farm." I raise my eyebrows again, my eyes widening with them. "They want to destroy it."

Jesse's face is stone as he turns and begins walking again, I follow. "I get the feeling they'll stop at nothing to get his land." He says quietly, full of cold rage. "What ever they want with it, they want it bad. We have to stop them before they try anything." He turns his face to look at me, his pace steady like his strong voice. "Are you with me, Miles?"

I drop his stare. There can be no good reason for these rich bastards to want Jesse's father's land. No reason that won't cause some sort of pain. Because that's what they do to people like us, the filth of the town, destroy, destroy, destroy. We would be better to them as rats, at least then they could keep us as pets. "Of course, brother."