Read Online RUNAWAY TWINS and RUNAWAY TWINS IN ALASKA: BOXED SET by Pete Palamountain - Free Book Online

"Or else you'll hurt me? We all know what's in store for me, so do your worst."
    The men exchanged glances and then each reached down and grasped Justin under one of his arms. In this manner they scooped him to his feet and began to drag him forward toward his destruction. The flashlight that Yellow Tooth carried was not much larger than the one the twins had used, and the tunnel was, therefore, poorly lit as the trio trudged deeper into the mine. The shadows on the walls danced high and low in rhythm with the moving light.
    Justin knew he was about to die an unpleasant death, a death the depraved J.J. Flack would find particularly satisfying when his minions reported back, but there was nothing Justin could do to prevent the inevitable. His life was over, and he now found himself thinking strange, mournful thoughts. He would never go to high school; he would never learn to drive a car; he would never have a girlfriend or a wife; he would never have children or grandchildren. Grandchildren? He stopped his thought processes abruptly. Grandchildren? Wasn't that a bit over the top in the self-pity department? Imagine, feeling sorry for himself because he wouldn't know his grandchildren. Ho! Ho! He forced his mind to disregard such thoughts, and he began to think about his father and his uncle and even the mother he couldn't remember. Soon he would see all three of them. The thought calmed him, soothed him, gave him peace. He closed his eyes and went limp, essentially giving up his efforts to irritate and frustrate the guards. It was now time to concentrate on what lay ahead, not stubbornly cling to what remained behind. He cleared his mind and began to prepare for eternity.
    A peculiar sound penetrated his thoughts. It was incongruous, a sound that didn't belong in a dark mine deep in the Bitterroot Mountains. It was a low, soft cry—mournful, helpless, needy. It seemed to come from far away, from somewhere ahead of them, from below. There was a long silence, and then the sound began again, softer, farther away, mysterious.
    "What was that?" the bull-necked guard said, pulling up abruptly. "Was that a human sound?"
    "Could be an animal, wounded maybe," said Yellow Tooth.
    "Sounded human. Listen."
    But the sound had stopped, and when it didn't resume after several minutes, Yellow Tooth shrugged. "Imagination."
    "No, it was something."
    "Let's get on with it."
    But after they moved forward another twenty feet, the moaning began again. They were now within a hundred fifty feet of the pit, and both men halted and stared at each other in confusion. "The hole?" said Bull Neck. "Is it coming from the hole?"
    Yellow Tooth flinched. "How could it? There's no one alive down there…is there?"
    "I don't know. Listen."
    But again there was no sound.
    Justin snapped to attention. What was happening? What had they all heard? What were the guards thinking? What were they so worried about? He raised his head and tried to pick up the sounds again, but there was nothing to hear—only silence.
    "What's going on?" asked Justin.
    "Shut up, kid," said Bull Neck.
    They were now moving again, and they were getting closer and closer to the dark, black pit; but they still couldn't see it, for it lay beyond a slight bend in the tunnel. Just before they reached the bend, they once again heard the crying, this time a plaintive plea, a supplication. "That's human," said Bull Neck. "And it's coming from the hole."
    "Sounds like it," said Yellow Tooth. "We'll soon find out."
    They dragged Justin around the corner, and the three of them stood facing the foreboding downshaft that held so many evil secrets. There were now no more sounds. All was quiet, as if the person in agony had given up, at least for the time being. The men released Justin's arms and pushed him aside. Then they advanced toward the pit, slowly, cautiously, until both stood on the lip of the hole, staring down into the inky blackness. "Nothing," said Bull Neck.
    "Shine the light over there,"