Saucer in the Dunes

25 Bad Medicine?

I stepped off the fence after seeing what I could see in the darkness over the hedge, which wasn't much. Jimmy followed me, trotting behind as we made our way down Cemetery Road in near pitch dark. He reminded me to sneak up from behind the brush on the opposite side of the Confederate memorial close to the old church.

I was about to split off the road and head into the thin woods when a sudden overhead light got our attention. It was a bright silver shooting star, only it seemed too close and was moving much too slowly. We froze and stared up at the cloudless night sky. Then, in a blink, the single bright light split into several other smaller silver lights, and each slowly drifted away over the horizon blocked by trees. It made a strange sound that we could hear, almost a crackling sound like someone wading up tin foil. It was faint, but we definitely heard it. I don't know if the fellows in the camp heard it, but they saw it all right! We could hear them shouting over each other in surprise. I made a mental note to listen to Dynamite Don the next night. He had to have seen it or at least heard about it.

Finally, we went back to business. I split off and jogged to the thin bunches of trees cleared of all underbrush. I stopped only a few feet in, knelt, took my firecrackers out, and looked at my smoldering cigar. It was about half gone and burning slowly. I blew on the tip, and it glowed red. I looked back. Jimmy was still jogging away down the road on his way to the bend where he would enter the woods.

I started walking again, slowly, because it was really hard to see. I tried but couldn't be as quiet as I had hoped, but I figured the fellows would be too noisy to hear me coming anyway. I would make more of an effort as I got closer. Finally, through the darkness, I could see the tall hedgerow surrounding the cemetery where the wrought iron fence had left off. I slowed down, trying to be careful not to break any dry branches as I walked.

I kneeled behind the hedgerow and began sorting out all the tangled strands of firecracker fuses. I also unrolled my sheet and found the eyeholes. They would prove to be nowhere near big enough. Satisfied with my stash, I proceeded as we had planned. I knew Ronnie and Jimmy must also be in place in their part of the woods by then. Still, no firecracker sound, so I stayed quiet and waited.

I eased down through the short wet grass and came to the break in the hedge that permitted entrance to the cemetery from the manicured woods, and from there, I finally saw the boys and their camp. Three tents were pitched side by side, the Durley's being the larger two-room tent they bragged about, dwarfed the other two. The fire had almost burned out, but I could see the silhouette of JT with his back to me. He was sitting on a fold-out camping stool, poking at the fire. The Durleys, both Chuck and Tony, were talking but were too far away to be heard. Chuck was carrying his squirt machine gun.

I tied three firecrackers together the way Ronnie showed me, then crawled across the ground and placed the small bundle behind a large headstone and, as quietly as I could, tied two more small bundles together and put them even closer. I kept crawling and wrapping bundles together until I had run through one whole pack.

Then I dared to move closer. They had no idea I was there. I eased along the ground to the other side of the hedge where their camp was. I could hear them talking. Tony was making fun of someone for going to bed. I got my first good look at Wiley. He was tall and had light brown hair slicked to his head, like Alfalfa from Our Gang. So this was the chump who humiliated my friend.

I kept close to the ground behind the low-hanging branches and unwrapped the delicate paper fuse that tied a whole pack together. That was going to be a good one!

I moved on and placed the other two bundles behind two other gravestones farther to the left. I had just crawled back behind the boxwood hedge when I heard a crazy shouting, then a pop. I was instantly filled with excitement, as if I were about to enter a battle myself. There came another pop, then another, then more. I scampered across the ground to the last gravestone in the row, lit the fuse, and, nearly forgetting my cover, ran back and dove behind the hedge as they started to go off. It was so loud that I broke out in nervous laughter as I heard the shouts of the boys and more firecrackers from the other side of the cemetery. Our plan, it was really coming together!