The Barrel - Take 2

If you've read the book, The Narrows Escape, you'll remember the barrel, and the role it played. It was based on a real 50-gallon drum that we saw during the flood (see pictures on post labeled The Barrel). In these deleted scenes, you can see how the barrel was originally introduced, and the role it played in helping Brady convince the others that he was on to something:

"Hey, look at the size of that trunk!" shouted Brady.

            Everybody inspected the smashed remains of a tree that lay partially submerged in the shallow water near the left bank. Devin stared in awe at the battered trunk with just broken shards remaining of what had once been large branches. He gulped nervously as he realized what similar forces would do to a human body.

            Down the bank a few yards was a large pile of debris that had been dumped by the river where the canyon widened a bit. On top of the debris sat the 50-gallon drum they had seen. The two rangers headed straight for it – Ranger Smith jogging and Ranger Sorensen hobbling along behind.

“What on earth are you doing?” asked Uncle Darrell as the ranger inspected the outside of the barrel.

“Oh, uh, I’m just checking to see what kind of barrel it is,” answered Ranger Smith, looking a little flustered.

“Why?” asked Uncle Randy.

“Oh, uh, well…we can’t leave hazardous materials in the canyon,” he answered. “They can ruin the environment.”

“Yeah, we better carry it out,” agreed Ranger Sorensen. He turned to Brady and said, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to confiscate it.”

“That’s fine,” answered Brady. “I was just joking about it being mine anyway.”

Then, a couple of chapters later, after the rangers and Arthur had gone ahead:

Brady breathed a sigh of relief as the panic and adrenaline seeped from his body. He had made it across the pool and could once again feel the ground beneath his feet.

Then he remembered the obstacle he’d encountered. “Hey, Dad, I kicked something in the water.”

“It was probably a rock.”

“No, it was smooth,” insisted Brady. “Like plastic.”

“So?”

“I think it was the barrel the rangers were carrying.”

“There’s no way they’d leave it there after all the trouble they went through bringing it this far,” argued Uncle Randy.

“Unless they no longer needed it,” Brady reminded him.

“If this is about them being robbers again…” began his dad.

“You wanted proof,” Brady reminded him. “If this is the barrel, then it proves they were lying about wanting to take it out of the canyon.”

His dad considered it for a second. “Well, go back and check. We could use a rest anyway.” He and Uncle Randy laid the stretcher on a large boulder and his dad checked the man’s vital signs again.

“I was hoping someone else would check it out,” muttered Brady as he peered anxiously at the pool they’d crossed.

“I’ll check it out,” volunteered Amber. She took off her pack and waded out against the current until she was forced to swim. She had to swim full bore to make any progress, but about halfway across she stopped. Only her head was above water, but she was anchored in place. “I found something!” she gasped.

Brady’s dad and Uncle Randy looked over with interest.

“Is it the barrel?” asked Brady excitedly.

“It feels like it, but there’s no lid. It’s full of water inside.”

“It could be a different one,” suggested Uncle Randy.

“It’s just as I suspected!” declared Brady. “As soon as they ditched us, they opened up the barrel, transferred the money to their pack, and then sunk the evidence!”

The others looked at him in surprise. Then his dad slowly shook his head and declared, “Either you’re the next Sherlock Holmes or the next Franklin W. Dixon. I’m not sure which.”