The Legend of Safehaven Read Free

thought of being alone for a while, he realized it would be good to share this with the boy. So he put on a smile.
    “Come, Tonio, let’s go to a very special place, a place where the animals come to drink. You and I will be the first to see it, okay? Then we can bring your brother and sister with Tia Nancy and Tio Edison.”
    He walked even more slowly now that Tonio was with him. Yes, it was better to have company, to share observations, to give of one’s self by teaching another.
    “Look, Tonio, see that? It’s a pileated woodpecker. And over there, Trifolium plants.”
    Each new site brought forth burbles of delight from the boy.
    As they neared the spring, Galen gestured to Tonio to keep very, very quiet. They moved as silently as a young boy and an old man could. Luck was with them. They saw two raccoons drinking from the pool that the dam of glacial rock had formed below the spring. Tonio tugged on his coonskin hat, as he watched the animals wash their faces in the clear-flowing water.
    Suddenly Galen heard Edison shouting.
    “Freddie, Freddie! Where are you? Come on now, get back here!”
    Galen motioned for Tonio to follow, and they headed as fast as they could up the mountainside. They found Edison, Nancy, and Carmelita in a panic.
    “What happened?”
    “I don’t know. Freddie and I were walking over that crest. I sat down to tie my shoelaces, and when I stood up he was gone! Nancy and Carmelita didn’t see him, either.”
    Galen’s mind raced. Little boys do foolish things. He spoke quietly to conceal his own nervousness.
    “First, everybody should stay together. We’ll all go back to the place where Freddie disappeared. Then we’ll plan our search.”
    The five moved slowly toward the crest, turning their heads left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of the missing boy. As they mounted the hillside, Nancy spotted something.
    “Look, his cap! He must have come this way!”
    They moved toward the fur hat caught on one of the ever-present, wild-raspberry canes.
    “Slow down.” Galen spoke quietly. “And pipe down. Watch the ground for any sign of his tracks, and listen for him.”
    As they proceeded, Nancy noticed a depression in the moss and forest-plant ground cover. Then they all saw it: a hole, who knows how deep, but just wide enough to swallow a young and maybe overly curious boy. Was it an animal burrow or a surface communication to the vast, underlying limestone honeycombs in the mountain? The three adults silently prayed for the shallow-burrow alternative.
    They moved ahead slowly and carefully, not wanting to disturb any dirt by their vibrations. Edison gently squatted down next to the hole and tried to peer inside, but the cover was too dense to reveal anything.
    “Freddie, Freddie,” he called. “It’s Tio Eddie. Can you hear me?”
    All five strained their ears and waited.
    He tried again. “Freddie, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong. We just want to help you.”
    Then they all heard the soft whimpering. From the sound of it, Freddie hadn’t dropped in very far. Nancy spread apart the cover and stuck her face in the opening.
    “It’s okay, Freddie, we’re all here—me, Carmie, Tonio, your tios. We want to get you out. Queremos ayudarle . Tio Eddie will get some rope and a flashlight from the car.”
    At that, Edison took off through the forest.
    “ Escuche cuidadosamente . L isten carefully, Freddie. We know you’re a big boy. When Tio Eddie returns, he’s going to lower the flashlight with the rope. When you get it, I want you to shine the light to where you hear us and tug on the rope. Okay? ¿Usted entiende?”
    She heard him snuffle then say “yes.”
    Soon Edison charged back carrying a coil of heavy tacking rope, flashlight, car shovel, and a bag of chocolate candies—as usual, he traveled prepared. He lay flat on the ground next to the hole, while Galen tied one end of the rope around a nearby tree. Edison tied a smaller string to the rope, attached the