Prologue
Kavendish County was not a big one. It did not have to be. Most of the residents commuted to the larger surrounding cities to work. The people who could afford the large homes and lush properties were the one’s who didn’t want to settle in the urban areas. What started as a simple railroad town had, over decades, become the center of a great deal of wealth.
Still, not all of the community was what would be considered “privileged”. Some families had remained since the railroad days and continued to make Kavendish their home. Many of them couldn’t afford the huge houses that sprang up when the developers started building, but there where more rural areas.
There was still some farmland and a few cattle farms. Across the N&S No. 74 railway were a hard working people, red-blooded, blue-collared and proud of it. They lived a little more modestly than their commuter neighbors, but their land was theirs and there was enough of it.
All the townsfolk made it a great community, whether they lived in the developments or the rural side. Still there was a slight tension between the two groups. The divide was clear, and it was easy to tell what part of town someone lived in. Kavendish was not a large county, and as such there was only one high school. And young people often do not have as much tolerance as their elders.
The more well to do children had a name for those who did not share their lifestyle: “Tracks Trash”.
* * *
The Grady brothers were busily filling in a hole next to a large pine tree on Henry Dermitt’s two acre stretch of land. Their golden retriever, Goldie, lay in the sun watching them. Despite the cold February weather, the pair had managed to break a slight sweat. There were not many students at the high school from their side of town, and they did not stray into town when they did not have too.
James was the older of the two. He was one of the star players of the Kavendish High School basketball team. Tall and trim, he possessed a wiry strength born of hard work. His athletic achievements had afforded him some popularity, even among the snobbery of some of his classmates. His easy smile and gentle manner made him a favorite with the girls. It was his senior year and he already had a scholarship to Duke University. Life was good for him.
His younger brother, Zeke, was another story. His main resemblance to his brother was his head of dark brown hair. Although he was powerfully built, he did not care for sports, much to the dismay of the school’s coaching staff. Zeke was a merry troublemaker, not malicious, but too intelligent for his own good. It was his first year at the high school, and James had tried to make things easier for him. However, Zeke’s pranks and carefree attitude thwarted James efforts to get Zeke in with the popular crowd.
“You got this wired up right? I don’t want to dig this out again.” James shoveled the last of the dirt into the hole as Zeke adjusted the PVC pipe emerging from the ground.
“Relax. This is gonna be great.” Zeke could barely contain his glee as he checked the wired that passed through the pipe. Neither of them heard the young lady approach.
“I thought my father was paying you two to get rid of that tree.” The boys looked over their shoulders to see Katie Dermitt standing with her hands on her hips. There was an indignant look on her pretty face as she examined the scene. It was also her first year at the high school. She was not a fan of the brothers. She had known Zeke since kindergarten, and was furious when her parents moved her into the neighborhood.
“Don’t worry, Zeke has a plan.” James leaned on his shovel. “Don’t ya, Zeke.”
“Oh yeah.” Zeke smiled as he finished checking the pipe.
“I’m sure.” Katie sneered as she watched Zeke unroll a spool of wire. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Relax.” Zeke gave her a wink. “I’m great with wood.”
“I’m sure.” Katie rolled her eyes as James shot Zeke a c**k-eyed look.
“What?” Zeke shrugged, seemingly unaware of the double-entondra of his remark. Katie turned and headed back towards her house. She did not have much patience for Zeke’s smart mouth.
“Whatever.” She looked back at the brothers. “At least you didn’t haul that loser bookworm, Sullivan, along with you.” The boys watched as Katie disappeared into the house. Her parent’s property was large and they couldn’t tell how much she could see of what they were doing. She obviously had not noticed their accomplice.
“Hey, loser bookworm!” James shouted up at the tree. “You done up there?”
“Is it just me or has Katie gotten snottier since she made varsity cheerleader?” The pine rustled a little as the end of a thick nylon rope fell to the ground. With another rustle, Will Sullivan smoothly followed it. Will had a slight build and wore glasses. His short dirty-blond hair sprouted wildly from his head. He did not look like much of a bookworm in his battered jeans and thick flannel shirt. He was just barely older than Zeke and had grown up with the Grady brothers. His father had even worked for the brothers’ father years ago. “Rope’s secure, James. We ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s do this.” James pulled the end of the rope out to where Zeke was set up. The three boys all grabbed the rope as if to engage in a tug-of-war with the large pine. Zeke had a hold of the rope in one hand and a switch in the other. They were set to pull the tree away from the Dermitt’s house. “All right. When I give the word, Zeke hits the button and we’ll pull this big b*****d over.”
“You sure about this?” Will studied the pine with a skeptical look on his face.
“s**t, Will, it’s simple.” James glared briefly at Will. Despite being the oldest of the group, it was Will who was usually the voice of reason. This however never stopped Will from going along with whatever scheme the Grady brothers had cooked up. “The explosion will pulverize the three roots and we’ll be able to pull it right over.”
“And why aren’t we doing this the old fashioned way?”
“Because to cut it down and burn out the stump takes three days. I had basketball practice Friday. It rained yesterday.” James was beginning to lose patience.
“Bringing us to the here and now.” Zeke chimed in as he readied the switch.
“So we’ve resorted to gunpowder.” Will shook his head. His gut told him this was a bad idea.
“Oh, stick a tampon in it!” James hissed.
“Yeah, if it bothers you so much, I’ll take your share of the cash.” Zeke grinned.
“Keep dreamin’.” Will smiled a bit. The brothers smiled to themselves. They knew that with a little teasing, Will would get the blood up for almost anything.
“Do it.” James tightened his grip on the rope. Zeke hit the switch, and for a half of a second nothing happened. They thought they would have to dig up all of their hard work. They quickly learned otherwise.
The rain saturated the ground the day before. It made for easy enough digging, but also made the earth much more susceptible to give. The ground shook slightly. Goldie jumped to her feet and scurried to the far side of the yard. With a deafening roar the forty-foot tall pine tree leaped out of the ground. It shot a remarkable three feet into the air before gravity caught it and brought it back down with a thud that again shook the ground.
The boys shielded their eyes from the rain of moist earth that cascaded the yard. James was the first to realize what had just happened. The others quickly soon saw as well. The tree stood for a moment, but was ready to fall in any direction at any moment.
“Oh hell.” James muttered to himself, as adrenaline surged through is body. He quickly brought the others out of their awe. “HEAVE!” He shouted as the three quickly dug in.
“YEAH, NUMB-NUTS, WE FIGURED!” Their young backs and legs strained against the inertia of the pine. They pulled in unison, hoping against hope that their combined strength would be enough to topple the tree in their direction. Slowly, the tree began to lean. The boys gained a little ground, but did not dare allow slack in the line.
The tree began its fall. For a brief moment, Zeke smiled at what his plan had accomplished. He had not planned anything so spectacular, but he liked nothing better than a good explosion. He liked nothing better than when his father’s construction company provided him with the necessary materials to achieve combustion on large scales. Zeke’s revelry quickly came to an end as the tree headed for himself and his partners.
The boys dropped the rope and scrambled. James and Will ran one direction while Zeke headed the other way. The pine came to ground hard and loud. Its branches barely missed Zeke. He brought his hands up to protect himself, although he did not need to. Goldie came to his side after the crash. She was loyal most of all to Zeke, and sniffed him to insure he was indeed unhurt. The young men approached the hole left by the tree and the blast.
“Jesus Crackers.” Will shook his head in amazement. Goldie sniffed the outer edge of the crater and then descended in. The hole was a little deeper than four feet and easily six feet across. Will looked at Zeke, who was marveling at his handiwork. “********, Zeke.”
“Damn, that was cool!” Zeke exclaimed. He was grinning from ear to ear.
“No, that was overkill.” James was quickly pondering the possible consequences, and how to avoid the unpleasant ones. Katie yelling shrilly from the house interrupted his thought processes.
“WHAT THE ******** DID YOU MORONS DO?”
“Hey Will, I think she know you’re here.” Zeke grinned as Will extended his middle finger.
“How long do you think it’ll take for Moris to figure this out and find our sorry asses?” Will looked at James, hoping his friend had a plan. Officer Moris lived in the neighborhood and was not a big fan of the way Will and the Grady boys entertained themselves.
“Hopefully longer than it takes you two to fill in the crater.” Will ran for the shovels. Zeke retrieved the wheelbarrow filled with bags of soil Mister Dermitt had provided. James grabbed the chainsaw. “I’ll take care of the firewood.”
James brought the chainsaw to life and began cutting at the branches of the tree. Will and Zeke piled the branches in the hole and crushed them down as best they good manage. They didn’t have enough dirt to fill the hole, but there was enough to cover it. They knew they did not have much time before Mister Dermitt or Officer Moris paid them a visit. They did not doubt that Katie was on the phone to one or the other. Will vowed not to get sucked into anymore of the Grady’s plans. This was a familiar vow, one he had made and broken every other weekend it seemed.
They were the young men everyone knew would do great things one day. They were the boys everyone rolled their eyes at the mere reference of as they waited for news that one of them had blown themselves up or burnt their house down. This news never seemed to come. To their schoolmates living in the half million dollar homes, they were Tracks Trash. In their minds and spirits, they lived like kings.
