Rough Road Ahead (In Progress)

Chapter 20

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            Max, my father, Sam and Luck had climbed from the mine, finally finished pulling the gold slabs up from the ground. "Ok family." Luck declared from infront of us. "You are free to go." He smiled, clapping his hands. His brother was beside him, emulating what his brother did.

            My family looked at one another. Was this really happening? Were they really going to let us go? For some reason, it seemed so illogical. I had tried to keep my hopes up, telling myself that they would do what they had said, that they were good people, in spite of kidnapping us. But I had never believed it.

            "We have done what we said we would." Good told us, "and we are going to leave you all alone."

            Luck looked at a ford 5-1 50 across the lawn, "we are taking that car, and you will never see us again."

            My heart started to pound. We were getting out of here. We were escaping. We were free. I could go home. I could go to school. See my friends. See the world. I would never take life for granted again.

            Luck had us carry the heavy gold blocks over to the car, putting them in the trunk and covering them with a patchwork quilt we had found within the house. He tucked his gun away, and like a good brother, so did Good.

            I had realized that Good and Luck were very close. Luck was the ring leader, while Good followed whatever he did without question. Luck was in the car, he didn't have the keys and I questioned how the car had ended up by the old farm house.

            It was old, rust covering it from trunk to tire. The keys were missing, but Luck said that he could hot-wire it within the hour. He had looked under the hood and was surprised that the engine was in perfect condition, the entire car was almost powderized with the rust, but the engine held no resemblance to that. Good pulled a slab of gold from the trunk, handing it to my father with both hands. "Take this." He said, trying to smile.

            My father gave him the evil eye taking it, "why are you giving me this?"

            Good backed up a step, leaning on the old car, "think of it as compensation." He pointed at the house, "if you were thinking of telling anyone about this house and about us." He gestured to Luck who was under the car, wrench in hand, fixing it. "Think again, because no cops will ever find us. Once we get back to our town, we will be gone and no one will find us. We have it set up like that. The only good telling the cops will do is getting this gold taken from you."

            My father gave him a blank look, his eyes watching the gold, feeling the weight in his hand. He paused, "fine." He coughed.

            "Good." Good said, the smile reaching his eyes. Luck climbed into the front seat, starting the car as the engine roared to life.

            "Time to go." He said and Good turned, climbing into the front seat.

            "Buy family." Luck said as he drove away, the car bouncing along the road, the trunk weighed down with the gold. We all stood there, our eyes watching them drive away, their tracks left in the dust.

            "We're free." I said, not believing my own ears. "We're free."

                                                            ****

            After all of us were sure that we weren't dreaming we hoped into the trailer, closing the door and sitting on the sofa that we had gotten so used to. My father started the trailer without a word.  The silence was defining as we started to drive down the path we had taken to the farm house. Back tracking our steps as we went. Nothing was said. I doubted anyone breathed as we sat there.