Junior's Luck

Junior's Luck-Chapter 12

The haunted mansion occupied half a square city block. Across an alley and directly behind it stood a branch of Hartley's bank, surrounded by an asphalt parking lot with drive-through lanes for auto banking. Kelsey peddled to the far side of the grounds opposite the gate he and his father had entered the Saturday before. A tall, rusted, wrought-iron fence bounded the entire estate. Its pointed, vertical bars looked like spears.

Kelsey stopped at a spot where overgrown bushes and saplings crowded the fence.

No one in the house can see us here, he thought.

Kelsey planned to lean the bicycle against the iron bars and use the seat as a step stool to reach the top of the fence. From there, he and Junior would hoist themselves over and drop on the other side. Simple.

"Hey!" Junior called in a hushed shout as Kelsey started toward the fence with the bike. "What if it's electrified?"

Kelsey stopped cold. He hadn't thought of that.

"They'd have danger signs, wouldn't they?"

"What if they never put them up? What if the signs fell off?"

Junior took the bicycle from Kelsey and positioned it parallel to the fence, let go, and jumped back. It clanged against the iron-no sparks.

"I didn't think it was electrified," Kelsey said. "Danger signs would have been posted all over the place."

"Let's get over the fence," Junior said.

A pair of headlights swung onto the street from off Broadway. Kelsey and Junior slipped behind one of the towering oak trees that lined the sidewalk. The hum of tires against the pavement grew louder and then faded away.

"Come on, before another car comes by." Junior stood on the bicycle seat, his hands wrapped around the crossbar of the fence. "I'm not strong enough to pull myself up. Give me a boost."

Kelsey moved next to Junior and braced himself. Junior stepped onto Kelsey's shoulder with a rubber-soled shoe. Kelsey handled the load with ease. Junior had lost a lot of weight during his illness. Kicking and groaning, Junior dragged himself up and over the top, taking care to avoid the sharp points. He hung from the crossbar for a moment, let go, dropped to the ground, and collapsed against the fence, exhausted.

"You all right?"

"Go." Junior breathed out the word and inhaled deeply.

Kelsey shed the backpack, tossed it over the fence, stepped up on the bicycle seat, and scaled the slender iron bars. The struggle to haul himself over the fence turned his biceps to jelly in a few seconds. Kelsey dreaded pull ups in gym class. After two of them, his arms felt like they did at this moment, and he'd drop to the floor while the jocks like Mike Stephenson made fun of him. A wimp. Well, he had to do it now. He had to get to the other side.

After another futile effort, when exhaustion had overtaken him, he gave up.

"Come on, Kelsey," Junior said, still struggling to catch his breath.

"I can't make it." Kelsey stood on the bicycle seat, his shoulder against the iron bars.

"Yes-you can. Swing your-leg up."

Kelsey hung from the crossbar and tried to kick his right leg up to it. He fell short, and the leg swung back down. The momentum carried his body to the left and back again like a pendulum. He kicked as he swung to the right and hooked the heel of his shoe over the crossbar. With the added leverage, he scrambled to the top. The pointed tips of the iron bars creased his chest as he rolled over to the other side. Kelsey was too tired to experience any pain.