Page 14 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

James and Eli went to Storm House together the next morning, leaving Sebastian in bed. He woke briefly but told James he’d rather sleep than go look at the fuel cell with them. James was happy to let him rest. Sebastian hadn’t had any more headaches, but there was no reason to push him when they didn’t need extra help in the clearing.

The sun had gone, leaving clouds darkening the sky. When James and Eli reached the clearing, it seemed quiet. There weren’t even birds pecking at the ground or flying between the trees. The fuel cell tilted to the side even more off-center than before.

Eli shrugged his backpack off. “Why is it falling over?”

“I don’t know.” James approached it as Eli went to uncover the mechanism closest to the path. “It’s heavy, but I wouldn’t think it’d sink into the earth due to its weight. The ground isn’t exactly soft out here.”

As he rounded the fuel cell, he stopped short and almost tripped. “What the hell?” The ground in front of the fuel cell—not visible from the path because it was on the opposite side of the large cylinder—opened into a hole.

James backed up.

Eli looked up from his notebook. “What’s up?”

“Come over here, but be careful. Don’t get too close to the fuel cell.”

Eli approached. When he rounded the fuel cell, his mouth dropped open. “Where’s my fifth mechanism?”

“What?” James looked around. The tarp-covered crate and mechanism that had been next to the fuel cell were nowhere to be seen, just the hole and the fuel cell tilting toward it.

“Did it fall in?” Eli stepped forward.

James caught his arm. “Wait. What if the ground is unstable. It doesn’t look like that hole was dug. There’s no dirt around.”

Eli moved back. “You think it’s a sinkhole?”

James held Eli tight. “It must be.”

The hole wasn’t much bigger than the small missing crate. The fuel cell wasn’t in danger of slipping in and disappearing unless the hole widened, but there was nothing to say that wouldn’t happen.

Eli groaned. “It’s eaten all my data from the last day.”

James marveled at Eli’s unwavering focus on studying and data. “I don’t think that’s the most important thing right now.”

Eli ignored that. He probably disagreed. “We should look inside. What if the crate and everything is just under the surface. I could fish it out. It’s not like it’s a hole to the center of the earth.”

James wasn’t so sure. “Given it’s a mysterious hole at the vein intersection, it could be anything.”

Eli shrugged. “So tie a rope around me and let me get closer. We need to figure this out.”

James wanted to say hell no, but Eli’s suggestion was smart, and he had a point. They needed answers, and looking at the hole from five feet away wasn’t giving them much.

They trooped off to the barn, saying hello to Miss Moo and checking her hay and water trough before returning to the clearing with a sturdy rope. James secured one end to a tree and the other to Eli. Maybe they were being overly cautious, but James was taking no unnecessary risks.

James held the coiled rope, giving Eli enough slack to get close to the hole.

He approached and peered down. “Okay, that’s deep.”

“How deep?”

“I can’t see the bottom.”

“Really?” James was shocked, despite his concern the hole could be something exactly like this.

“It’s so dark.” Eli leaned over the hole. “The ground feels fine next to it. Not unstable, at least in this spot. I don’t see my mechanism.” Eli turned and walked back to James.

James began removing the rope from Eli. “We should move the fuel cell. It’s tied to the veins magically, but I don’t want to lose sight of it.”

Eli agreed.

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