Watch Out it's a Trap!
Jeremy was leading the horse pulling the large log towards the river bank when the horse stopped. It would go no further. It whinnied in protest. Jeremy walked over to see why the horse had stopped. As he passed the horse, he patted her side and then her head. He almost fell in the hole that was there right in the middle of the path he and his brothers had built just a few years ago. This hole was deep and large, and it looked as if it had been covered up with branches, but the branches were down in the hole. Jeremy looked over the edge and was about to ask if someone had fallen when he was pushed into the hole itself. He landed with a loud thud and lay on his belly with his arms outstretched. There was no movement, and all was silence. Except for at the top of the hole as a couple of men covered up the hole again. Moved the horse and the log off to the side and unhooked the horse. Then they took the horse with them and went away.
Jason had also been coming up the same path, but he was about half an hour away from that hole. He had another horse and log going along the path, but he also had Joshua who was following along with a pointed staff to help guide the log that the horse was pulling.
"Jason, when we get to the river, can we take a break?" Joshua shouted so he could be heard over the sounds that the log made as it was dragged along the dirt path. Jason stopped the horse and turned to look at Joshua and said"
Jeremy should be there, and we can all take a break at that time!" He then turned to guide the horse forward, but the horse would not budge. He went to look to see what the matter was, but didn't see anything, but the horse would not budge, he looked at the horse and called for Joshua to help. Josh was good with horses and could usually get them going, Jason called him a 'horse whisperer.' Joshua went over to where the horse had stopped, he used the pointed staff to check the pile of branches for a snake or some other animal that the horse may have smelled. When he poked the staff in at several points it seemed like the branches were okay. Just for good measure he put the staff a little farther out and found that there was nothing underneath the center of the branches.
"Jason looks like there is a hole in the middle of the road. A rather large hole I would say!" Jason looked and took the staff, he had a little farther reach, and he could check to see and yes, the staff went through. He stood for a moment to think about what the best way would be to either go around or remove the branches and get help to fill in the hole.
"Joshua, can you run and get a couple of men to help, I think we can fill in this hole at least enough to get over it. Then we can come back and finish filling it in later. Joshua went back to get some help and he got about three men to help. They quickly pushed the branches down and then placed more dirt and branches on top. They did not hear the almost imperceptible cry for help under all that dirt and branches. Once they had filled it in, they brought the horse and log over the filled-in hole. They still did not hear the muffled sound coming from underneath the debris.
They finally made it to the river bed but did not see Jeremy, the log, or the horse. They looked for tracks but there were no tracks either. Jason and Joshua were worried.
"Josh, wasn't Jeremy supposed to be here before we got here?" Jason asked as he took a drink from his canteen. Josh, nodded and said:
"If he was here, there is no evidence that he arrived, there are no tracks, nor is there a log here?" Joshua said as he scratched his head and took a sip from his canteen. They stood there and both looked at each other and said:
"The hole!" they unhooked the horse and as Josh ran, Jason grabbed the horse and rode quickly back up the path. When he arrived, one of the other loggers had a horse and a log as well and had just begun to go over the filled-in hole.
"Stop, Stop!" Jason hollered as he rode up the hole. He grabbed one of the shovels they had used and started to dig up the dirt and the branches, Joshua joined in as well as the logger who had been about to trample over the hole one more time, which would have packed the dirt and the branches in even tighter. Swede had just come up and started to help wondering why Jason and Joshua were digging up the hole. As he dug with them, Jason gave him the shovel and pulled up more dirt and debris. It was slow going, he was afraid that his brother might already be dead. But he also hoped that he was still alive. Joshua had tears in his eyes and kept pulling up branches and dirt. Swede, instead of using the shovel, just started to pick up more and more of the dirt and branches, As they got deeper and deeper, they had to put the branches and dirt off to the side of the hole. Finally, Jason felt Jeremy's body underneath. Without much more to do, he cleared the dirt and branches off of his brother and handed him over to Swede who gently lifted him to one of the other men who put him down over by one of the trees. Swede jumped out and then helped to pull Jason and Joshua out. They went over, and Jason bent down to listen for a heartbeat. He did not hear one. One of the newer loggers suggested that they first try to breathe into the person's mouth and then push on the sternum in order to stimulate the lungs and heart to work.
"What is that going to do?" asked Joshua who was already to accept his brother's death!
"Mr. Bolt sir, I was planning to be a physician in Germany when I read about Dr. Friedrich Maass in the medical Journal that had shown that compressions on the sternum would help the heart to start again and the breathing into the mouth would help the lungs to fill with air!" Jason listened to this logger and then took his advice. At first, breathing into Jeremy's lungs and then pushing his sternum hard seemed to do nothing. Joshua got down on his knees and helped by pressing the sternum and then letting Jason blow into Jeremy's lungs. This took quite a while, and then all of a sudden, Jeremy seemed to gasp and take a breath on his own and he was breathing normally. There was a cry of joy from everyone, and they lifted Jeremy carefully onto the wagon and Jason and Joshua took him home. Swede and the men filled up the hole, first making sure there had been no one else in there, and after it was filled in. They put their tools away and got ready to check on Jeremy in town.
Candy came running up to Dr. Wright's office as soon as she was told about Jeremy, she was ready to cry when Dr. Wright told her she could go in and that Jeremy was okay. She had given him a sedative and he was sleeping, and Candy took his hand and held it for some time. Meanwhile, Jason Joshua and the others who were loggers were having a meeting at Lottie's. Aaron walked in and Jason looked at him suspiciously.
"Do you have something to say to me, Jason!" Aaron said as he went to get his own private stock. He poured the drink and turned around. Jason was so hurt and angry that he did not wait for Aaron to take a drink, he took his fist and hit him square in the jaw and then turned around and walked out! No one said anything, not even Joshua who was standing there trying to remember the last time he had seen his brother this angry and hurt but he could not remember anything like this. Jason had been like an angry bull who just charged without thinking about it. Aaron was still on the floor, with a bloody nose and a sore jaw. Harve was there and helped him to get up.