Ford raised his hand. “But it’s back at my house.”
“Great.” I crossed my arms. “So, no one can talk to you while you’re down there.”
Connor grabbed his pack and pulled out the flashlight. I glanced down at the hole in the floor. Below the floorboard was more wood that rounded as a border and a solid ledge for the ladder to attach to. The rungs went down, deep into the packed dirt. Whoever created this tunnel had taken an extraordinary amount of care in making sure it was done well.
“Toss one of your glow sticks down, so we can see how far down it goes,” I said, hoping the depth would discourage him. To my surprise once the light hit the bottom, it wasn’t that far, and it didn’t seem nearly as deep or intimidating.
“See, piece of cake.”
“Still, it’s dangerous, Connor,” I begged him to see reason.
His flashlight was out, and before I could say anything else, my best friend was crawling down inside the hole.
“Shut this hatch, then you guys get back to the club and help me out over there.”
My mind was racing nearly as fast as my heart. Everything about this situation was screaming at me to make him stop. This wasn’t a fun game; this was him going underground just to see where the tunnel went.
Right as I was about to open my mouth, Rook stepped forward.
“I’m going too.”
Some of the pacing eased as I swung my eyes over to his dark hair and light eyes.
Connor watched him, then flicked a gaze over at Ford.
“Cool, we’ll meet you guys there.”
Ford hesitated. “Maybe I should go too.”
“I need someone to help me lift the hatch in the cellar!” I cried, nearly hyperventilating over these idiots.
Ford gave out a sigh, like I was so irritating to him, but gave me a small nod.
Connor and Rook slowly made their way down into the hole, and once they were on the ground, they gave us a salute before walking forward and out of view. Ford slowly lowered the hatch until it was sealed closed.
Then he stood and looked at me, like he wasn’t sure what to do with me.
“We better get back in time to help them out. Without the snow down there, they’ll move faster.”
I moved behind him, exiting the cabin the same way we’d come in, and tucked my hands under my armpits. The air was frosty and cold as we started walking again. I didn’t want to walk all the way back when the air felt this cold against my face.
My knees felt too small to clear the snow, which was crazy because I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d had this much snow. Every Christmas was usually spent hoping for snow, but accepting a bit of frost that liked to coat the trees.
We walked for what felt like ten minutes before I finally broke the silence between us.
“How come you stopped me from reaching him?” I asked, keeping my eyes ahead and ignoring how red my nose was getting.
Ford glanced over, but kept walking.
“Didn’t want you to fall in.”
Liar. I rolled my eyes, knowing he couldn’t see me.
“I wouldn’t have fallen in.”
Ford scoffed. “You’re clumsy. I think you would have then we’d all get in trouble, and your dad would come down here and see that his perfect daughter was hurt. Then we’d be in trouble, just like we always got in trouble as kids.”
“We’re still kids,” I offered, huffing out a breath.