The Razor ripped through the underbrush moving fast. The gang were strapped in tight and Joslyn was driving hard. As the trees cleared and they found the Appleton road dead ahead. They bounced onto it and were at Hanks in no time flat.
As they pulled into the lot, they could see two sleek shapes parked just outside the shop. They climbed silently from the ATV. Jon raised the artifact telescope to his eyes and began fiddling with its odd bubble controls.
"I don't see anyone yet," he murmured. "Looks like the storage rooms are empty. I get some weird feedback from the lower one, some kind of interference."
"Try Hank's place," Joslyn said quietly.
Jon panned the telescope across to Hank's store and abruptly yelled. "Fire! The whole store is on fire. I can see Hank, it looks like he is hurt. He's on the floor just inside the front door."
Indy broke into a run heading towards the store. Without warning, the front of the store blew out in a rush of bright flames. Glass sprayed everywhere as the three kids were knocked to the ground from the force of the explosion.
"You guys ok?" Indy checked on his friends but they had just been knocked down and neither one had suffered any cuts from the flying glass. Indy was up and running towards the flames that were dancing on Hanks porch only seconds after he had fallen.
"Hank!" He found the old farmer crumpled on the floor just feet from the door. Luckily, the explosion only blew out the windows and left Hank in one piece.
"I... Got... Si... Help," Hanks gravelly voice stuttered and failed. "Don't worry big guy," Indy said. "I gotcha." Indy dragged the big man outside and once they were outside, Jon was there to help him. "Joslyn grab the first aid kit. Jon, go grab the artifacts."
When Joslyn came back from the ATV, she kneeled by the farmer's side and opened the first aid kit. "Try to keep still Hank. We're here now. You're gonna be alright," she said as she started cleaning his cuts and mopping up the blood.
"Stay with Hank," Indy told her. "He needs you. We got this."
They nodded at each other as Indy and Jon ran for the sinkhole. When they got there, they peered down into the hole. The pit was dark and silent below them. The generator inside Hanks store was probably destroyed in the explosion and the lights from the room below were all out.
"I'll go down first, hand me the rings," Indy said as he swung his legs out over the edge of the hole.
He took the rings from Jon and squeezed them tight. A ropy white mass fired off into the orchard hitting a tree with a splat.
He pulled out several more feet of the rope from the ring before sliding down into the hole.
"Ok I'm down," he whispered back up at Jon.
Jon slipped down the white silk rope and landed softly beside him. They could see light in the stairwell coming from the lower level. Jon pulled his sword from its scabbard and followed Indy down.
YOU ARE READING
Guardian (The Tower Saga, Book 1)
AdventureA magical tattoo. An ancient power. One seventeen year old boy. Indy is a normal kid. That is, as normal as the son of a billionaire can be. He has spent most of his life away from his family in elite private schools. But now that he has graduate...
