wood is imbedded into him. “Jiron!”
Down below in the basement, Jiron walks with a makeshift torch. He found a chair and broke it apart. Using one of its legs, he tied an old cloth around it and then used flint to strike a spark to light it.
The basement is fairly empty, some old boxes and crates. He rummages around for several minutes before he hears Miko’s cry from upstairs. Pulling a knife, he races back up the stairs to the ground floor then takes the steps leading to the second floor.
His foot hits the one step which Miko had bypassed before and it breaks in two beneath him. Losing his balance, his foot sinks through the step and he falls upon the stairs. The torch goes flying out of his hand as he stops himself and comes to land a few steps above him.
“Jiron, help me!” he hears Miko cry out again.
“Coming!” he hollers back. Pulling his foot out of the hole, he finds only a few scrapes on his calf and then gets to his feet. Stepping over the hole in the stairs, he picks up his torch and races the rest of the way to the top.
“Where are you?” he hollers as he reaches the top.
“In here!” Miko yells, a touch of fear in his voice.
Running down the hall, he bolts through the door to the room where Miko is stuck and comes to a stop as he sees him there. “What happened?” he asks as he sheathes his knife.
“The floor gave way and my foot’s trapped,” he explains. “Help me out of here will you?”
Grinning despite the gravity of the situation Jiron comes over to him. Miko’s leg is sunk into the floor to just below the knee and he takes note of the jagged edges biting into him. He puts out his torch so it won’t catch the building on fire and then kneels down next to him.
Blood is now flowing from a couple wounds. He tries to pull his leg out but that only drives the wood in deeper and elicits a cry of pain from Miko. “Don’t!” he cries.
Next he tries to push the boards away but that hurts just as bad. Not sure just what to do, he looks at Miko and says, “I need to get the others.”
A haunted look leaps to Miko’s face as he realizes Jiron is suggesting leaving him here alone. “Don’t leave me!” he exclaims.
“I don’t see that I have a choice,” he says. “I could get you out but not sure how much pain and damage I would cause in the process.” He gets to his feet, “I won’t be long.”
“Jiron,” Miko says pleadingly.
“I’ll be right back,” he says as he races from the room.
Taking the steps two and three at a time, he hits the bottom running and is soon out the front door, racing to where James and the others are searching. “James!” he hollers as he runs through the streets.
“James!” he cries again.
“What’s wrong?” Fifer asks as he and Qyrll dash around a corner to see what he’s yelling about.
“Miko’s hurt,” he says.
Just then James and Dave enter the street further down and run toward them. Uther and Jorry come running down a side street. “Where’s Miko?” James asks.
Turning back the way he came, Jiron says, “He’s hurt. His foot broke through the floor and it’s wedged in there pretty bad.” Breaking into a run, he leads them back to the old temple. “Need help to get him out.”
The others follow him as he races back down the street. When the temple appears down the road ahead of them, they see Miko being led out of the front by someone who looks just like the miner he mentioned seeing days before.
“Miko!” James cries.
The miner stops dead in his tracks and glances their way. He begins moaning and wailing as he reaches out toward them with one hand.
Jiron takes in the scene, Miko having his hands tied behind him and a gag in his mouth. “The miner is no ghost!” he exclaims, drawing both knives as he bolts forward.
Miko lurches toward the miner and knocks him down the stairs. Losing his balance, Miko falls as well and lands upon the steps with a thud.
The miner rolls down to the bottom of the stairs and quickly gets to his feet. One glance at Jiron approaching and all pretense of being a ghost disappears. The man turns and runs for his life down the street.
“Get the miner!” James yells to the others. “I’ll take care of Miko.” As the others take off after the miner, he approaches Miko and helps him to sit up.
With a groan, Miko gets to a sitting position. His leg that had been entrapped in the floor has a blood soaked cloth tied around it, with more blood still oozing through. James removes the gag from his mouth and then uses it to tie around the wound in an attempt to stop the blood loss.
“He came to me up there,” Miko says through gritted teeth. “At first I thought he was a ghost but then he gagged me and got me out of the floor.” Gasping, he stops talking when James tightens the knot securing the rag in place. “Ripped my leg some doing it.”
“I think that will do for now,” he says. “When we get you back to the horses we’ll do a better job.”
“Thanks,” he says.
The sound of approaching feet heralds the return of Jiron and the others. Marching in front of them and looking the worse for wear is the miner. His face is reddening slightly on one side and a trickle of blood can be seen from the corner of his mouth.
“Good job,” says James.
“He almost lost us by ducking into a building but Fifer was smart enough to run around to the other side and tackled him as he left,” Jiron says. Shoving the miner forward toward James he says, “Not much of a ghost.”
Shaking his head, James replies, “They usually aren’t once you figure out what’s really going on.” He glances to Dave with a grin and says, “A man in a mask.”
At first Dave doesn’t know what he’s talking about but then cracks a brief grin as he nods. “I get you,” he says, remembering Saturday morning cartoons.
“What should we do with him?” Uther asks.
“I say we kill him right here,” Jorry threatens.
“No!” the miner cries out. “Don’t kill me. I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“Oh yeah? Then what were you going to do with our friend here?” he asks as he indicated Miko.
Defeated, the man says, “I just wanted to scare you away. I would’ve let him go after awhile.”
“Were you the ghosts we saw last night?” Qyrll suddenly asks.
Glancing at the tattooed visage of Qyrll, the man nods. “Usually that’s all it takes before everyone leaves. You guys wouldn’t go.”
“Have you been doing this long?” James asks him.
“Years and years,” the man explains.
“Why?” Jiron asks.
When the man doesn’t reply, James says, “There are only two reasons I can think of. One, you like your privacy and I somehow doubt that would be the reason. Or two, you discovered something up here you would rather not share with the rest of the world.”
The miner’s eyes widen at the last one and James nods. “Thought so. What did you find?” he asks. “Gold? Gems?”
Staring back in silence, the miner refuses to answer.
Taking a knife out, Jiron asks, “Want me to persuade him to talk?” Holding the knife before the miner, he threatens him menacingly.
“No and put that away,” James tells him. “We don’t need to know that badly.” To the miner he says, “You keep your secrets, I really don’t care.”
“What are you going to do with me?” he asks.
“What should we do with you?” asks James in return.
“I will cause you no more trouble,” the man whines. “If you let me go, I’ll not bother you again. I swear.”
“Very well,” says James, seeing the earnestness in his eyes. “I see no benefit in either your death or keeping you with us. Get out of here.”
