Jane and the Fire – Part XXIX

Jane is back! In 1958, young Jane has just moved to the city of Chicago, Illinois with her parents and cousins. When Jane stumbles across a hidden panel in the wall of the abandoned house, she becomes certain that it isn’t as empty as it seems. After discovering the false newspaper hiding blueprints, Jane begins to wonder…what are the Three Thugs doing with a tunnel?

The fading evening light spilled into the hall as the person on the porch entered the house. Jane froze, and nearly passed out with relief as she heard Don’s piercing whisper.

“I think the house is empty!”

Heart still thudding, she turned back to the front hall. “Well, then, you think wrong. What are you doing here?”

Paige and Don stood gaping in the front hall. “What are you doing here?”

As they crossed the street to the park playground, Jane described the blueprint in the hidden panel cupboard. “The tunnel blueprint was what they were hiding that day at The Hungry Eagle!”

“Be more careful next time,” Don said sagely. “We wanted to see what was happening because the dining room light lit up half the road outside.”

Jane shook her head, grinning. “Maybe you should consider moderating the volume of your whisper!”

Paige cut off the bickering. “What could they want with a tunnel?”

Jane shivered. The evening chill was settling in. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it can be anything good.”

Bill and Will sat building castles in the park sandbox. As Jane watched Will shape turrets attached to the outer wall of the castle, she noticed Bill cackling to himself, sitting a little away from Will’s castle.

“Billy..?” she began, but it was too late. He popped his spade out of the

middle of Will’s castle.

“Hey!” Will cried, furious, “What was that for?” He jumped on Billy, and Don languidly separated the two laughing fighters. They started on their ways homeward.

“We’ll have to keep a closer eye on your cousins, with these unsavory characters about, Jane,” Don said.

“Where’d you even come from?” called Willy over Don’s shoulder, still arguing with Billy about the sand castle debacle.

“Below,” said Jane, thoughtfully.

She said goodbye to Paige and Don as they reached the steps of the Joyces’ apartment, holding Billy and Will firmly by each hand.

The next morning was a Saturday. Jane woke bright and early, setting off from home at Mrs. Joyce’s bidding with Billy, Willy, and $5. Saturday was cleaning day, and no one had breakfast at home. They made their way to The Hungry Eagle, where Don and Paige were already busy setting tables with napkins, cutlery, and catsup.

With Jane’s help, the rest of the tables were quickly set, and soon the 5 children were sitting down to syrupy French toast, milk, and orange slices. Paige swiped an orange slice playfully from Willy’s plate, and Don, riotously amused, swiped a few more, causing Willy to fly into a rage and upset a pitcher of syrup into Jane’s lap. Jane stormed away to the washroom to try to squeegee away as much of the syrup away as possible. The Hungry Eagle was filling up with eager breakfasters. The air was thick with conversation and the sizzle of food on the frying pan. It’s a struggle to step around all the people to find her friends and siblings again. When she finds their booth again, it’s empty. The half-emptied plates are still there, but the children have disappeared. Jane looks around. In the crowd in the shop, it’s hard to see at all. Where…?

…are they? We’ll find out in the next issue of Spirit!