Read Online Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald - Free Book Online

ceiling, she planted her feet onto two pieces of concrete and grabbed onto a metal girder with her left hand for balance, then manoeuvred the shovel under a boulder with her right hand. She put all the weight she could onto the shovel, trying to lever the boulder up, but it wouldn’t move even an inch. She tried again, but the boulder still wouldn’t budge.
    Nora shimmied over to another small boulder closer to the other wall and tried the same thing. This time the concrete moved, but just barely. Nora smiled. She tried again, and managed to lift the boulder about an inch above the one below it. She let the rock fall back into place, careful to leave the blade of the shovel wedged underneath.
    â€œYou okay down there, Adam?” Nora called as she held onto the shovel handle tightly with her right hand and slid the blazer from around her neck with her left. She wasn’t really expecting an answer, of course, but she figured hearing her voice might keep Adam calm. Instead, he started to cry.
    Nora’s heart quickened as soon as she heard Adam’s wails, and she had to fight the deep-seated maternal instinct within her that made her want to jump from the pile and run to him to make sure he was okay. “Hush, now,” she called to him in the most soothing voice she could. “It’s okay, Adam — I’m right here.”
    Adam’s cries grew louder, and Nora could feel the blood rushing through her veins. She wanted so badly to climb down to him, but she knew she had to finish what she started. She looked down at her feet to make sure that they were both perched in stable spots on the girder below her, then leaned forward with her left hand and positioned the blazer in front of the boulder, making sure the metal buttons were facing down. When she had the blazer in place, she shifted all of her weight onto her right arm and pushed down on the shovel handle as hard as she could. The boulder lifted up off the one beneath it, and Nora quickly shoved the blazer underneath it with her left hand. As she did so, she lost her balance and fell sideways, just managing to get her hand out from under the boulder before it crashed back down on to the one below it.
    Adam’s wails had intensified and now he cried out at the top of his lungs in loneliness and desperation. Nora felt every mournful sound in her gut and she wanted to weep or to scream in desperation. But there was no one to help them. It was all up to her. “Hold on just a little longer, sweet one!” Nora called. “I’ll be there soon!” She steadied herself against the shovel handle, then, when she was sure she’d managed to regain her footing, pulled the shovel out from under the boulder and dropped it. It clattered down the pile noisily, then skidded across the floor a few feet before it came to a stop.
    Nora turned her attention back to the boulder, trying to tune out Adam’s cries so she could focus. She squared her feet on the girder below her, then tugged on the blazer with all her might. She could feel the metal buttons scraping against the concrete below them as she inched the boulder closer and closer to her. It was working! She stopped and caught her breath, then tugged on the blazer again. This time the buttons slid a little more easily, and she managed to drag the boulder almost all the way to the edge of the pile. She shuffled her feet down the girder a little further and inched away from the path of the boulder, then reached over and gave the blazer one final pull. The boulder slid forward and then fell down over the edge of the pile. It crashed down to the floor with a mighty bang, and a cloud of white dust exploded up from it.
    â€œI did it!” Nora exclaimed. “Adam! I did it!” She poked her head through the hole where the boulder had been and shone the flashlight through it, down the tunnel. She couldn’t see much, but she could feel the cool air against her face as she