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.”

The Allred Christmas party

     The Allred cousins are all grown up. Most of us are in our 30's or 40's. Yet we are still close. Every other year, we have a big family reunion, like the one described in The Narrows Escape. That may be the only time we get to see almost everyone at once, but luckily we have other opportunities. Last night we had our annual Christmas party for all the Allreds living in Utah. Although there were a couple of the cousins missing, I counted 13 of my cousins there with their families, as well as two sets of aunts and uncles. Tonight, my parents are hosting another Allred Christmas party for all the Allreds living in California. We also get together for the 4th of July, weddings, etc. When I hear others complaining about how much they can't stand their cousins, I just can't relate. I know each one of my cousins and their spouses by name. I know most of their kids by name (although it gets a little harder each year to remember them all). And best of all, I love spending time with all of them. Our family reunions and other family parties have kept us close over the years. They have allowed our kids to get to know each other and become friends.
     If you don't feel close to your extended family, I encourage you to find ways to get together and renew those acquaintances. Find a large place to get together, enjoy a potluck dinner together, play some games, or just talk. Make sure that there are plenty of activities to keep the kids occupied so that they are enjoying themselves too - otherwise it might turn out to be a bomb rather than a blast. And don't give up if the first time doesn't turn out as great as you are hoping. Sometimes it takes a few years for those family ties to gel - especially if you haven't seen each other in a while. If you stick with it, the benefits can be fabulous! Over the years, I've seen friends come and go as circumstances have changed; but family - families are forever!

DTB Fort

Some of my favorite memories from the DTB club were building our forts. It seems that we built one at every reunion between the ages of 7 and 15. Not only that, we built forts at other places - including several different spots around my neighborhood. In the first drafts of the Narrows Escape, I had the family reunion take place in the White Mountains of Arizona, totally separated from the hike. When I changed location, I changed the fort too to match the new setting. Of course I pasted the old scene among my deleted scenes files in case I ever wanted to use it again. Here is the original:

             After completely examining their fort, they began exploring the surrounding area. They hadn’t gotten very far when the rain started falling again.

“Not again!” exclaimed Devin. “Why does the rain always have to ruin our fun?”

“Should we go back?” asked Brady. “Maybe we can work on our book some more!”

“But we did that all afternoon!” complained Devin. “I didn’t come all the way to Arizona to read and write. We can do that at home.”

“We can always wait it out inside the fort,” suggested Trey, ducking back inside their retreat.

Devin and Brady followed him in. They had to stoop over slightly so as not to bang their heads on the “roof,” but there were plenty of branches to sit on. Devin was pleasantly surprised at how well the roof was doing at keeping the light rain out. There were only a few spots where the water was seeping through.

“Hey, we’re pretty good builders,” he said proudly.

“You mean architects,” corrected Trey.

“What’s the difference?”

“Architects sounds more professional,” said Trey.

“Well I’m just glad we don’t have to go back,” said Devin. “In fact, we can hang out here instead of in the camper every time it rains.”

To pass the time, they played Tic-tac-toe by using a stick to scratch in the damp earth. They were running out of dirt when Devin heard a voice calling out from the other side of the river.

“Shh! Quiet! Someone’s coming!” hissed Devin.

The three boys sat silently, without moving, listening to the drumming of raindrops against the tree, and the gurgle of water from the nearby creek. Devin could feel his heartbeat pounding as they waited for the threat to pass.

“Brady! Devin! Trey?” the voice repeated.

“It’s my dad,” announced Brady. “I better go find out what he wants.”

Brady carefully climbed up the wet branches to the lookout post. As he disappeared from view, Devin heard him call out, “Hey Dad, over here!”

Brady lowered himself back into the clubhouse. Several seconds later, Uncle Darrell followed – though a bit more cautiously. He was wearing his familiar red jacket and his favorite cowboy hat. The three boys’ coats were slung over his left arm, dripping wet from the rain.

Once inside, Uncle Darrell had to stoop over almost double to keep from hitting his head. A low branch still knocked the hat off his head anyway. He carefully placed it on again and gladly accepted Brady’s invitation to share his branch. Then he passed out the coats.

“This is a nice set-up you have here,” Uncle Darrell said admiringly, as he inspected the makeshift roof. There were still only four or five drips.

Not bad at all, Devin decided. I’ll bet Steve and Shane couldn’t do any better themselves.

They quickly gave Uncle Darrell the “tour” – which they were able to do without even getting up. They then humbly accepted the praise he heaped on them for their craftsmanship.

"This is great!" Uncle Darrell repeated with a wide grin. “Your fathers and I used to build forts like this all the time in the orange groves and fields behind our house. We would spend hours and hours pretending we were Roy Rogers, fending off bandits and Indians.”

“Roy Rogers? Who’s that?” asked Devin, wondering if he was related to Buck Rogers from the twenty-fifth century – one of his favorite TV shows.

“My dad still has all his old Roy Rogers stuff in a box in our garage,” Trey explained. “He was some old cowboy.”

“Not that old!” laughed Darrell. “But I almost forgot. I was supposed to find you to make sure you guys weren’t getting all wet. Aunt Doris was afraid you were going to catch pneumonia or something, but you’re all much drier than the rest of us.”

“So we can stay?” asked Brady hopefully.

“I don’t see why not,” Darrell replied. “I’ll just go back and tell them what a masterful job you guys did.”

“All right!” exclaimed Devin, extending his hand so Brady could slap it.

Uncle Darrell left the way he came, and the three boys remained in their fort, playing games until the rain stopped. 

2014 World Series

Naturally, I'm disappointed about this year's postseason. The Angels were the #1 seed in the AL, finishing with the best record in baseball, only to be swept by the Royals. The Dodgers were the #2 seed in the NL, and have the best pitcher on the planet, as well as the best #2 man. Unfortunately, the Cardinals appear to be Clayton Kershaw's kryptonite, beating him twice in four games to knock them out of the postseason too. Brady (Dodgers) and Devin (Angels) would have been disappointed - but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't have been interested in the World Series. In fact, Brady would have been rooting heavily for the Royals for three reasons: 1) A Dodger fan can't root for the Giants; 2) He played for the Royals in Little League; and 3) He likes rooting for the underdog - and the Royals haven't made the playoffs in almost 30 years. Although Devin would have been tempted to root for the Giants just to spite Brady, both he and Trey would have also rooted for the Royals due to the underdog factor. They appear to be a team of destiny - winning a record 8 straight games to start the postseason. They have also set other records with their late inning heroics. Let's go Royals!

Congratulations!

As the 2014 baseball season ends today, I want to express my congratulations to both the L.A. Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The DTB Cousins would be pleased, since Brady is a Dodgers' fan and Devin is an Angels' fan. Trey enjoys going to ball games to hang out with his cousins, and so since they are the home town teams, he would be pleased too. Since I am a fan of both teams, I will be faithfully watching them both compete for the title. It will get really interesting if both teams make it to the World Series for the first ever LA Freeway Series!

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

I was nominated for the challenge by my wife to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket challenge. The challenge has been sweeping the nation, raising funds and awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease. Today I took the challenge and nominated the other DTB Cousins (Darin and Troy) to participate in the challenge as well.

Arthur at the Riverside Walk Trail

In the earlier drafts of The Narrows Escape, Arthur accompanied the rangers to the end of the trail rather than heading back upstream with Devin to search for Shane. Here is a deleted scene of his arrival at the trail's end:

          Arthur looked up, and there it was – the Riverside Walk Trail, the path that led back to the parking lot and civilization. But something was wrong. He had walked down the Riverside Walk several times over the years. On all his previous trips, there had been dozens of people milling about - playing in the river or just enjoying the scenery. Now there wasn’t anyone to be found. He looked up at the rain and quickly realized why.

          As he stood there, Arthur was quickly swallowed up with despair. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he had been fueled on by the hope that somehow he’d find Shane waiting for him here at trail’s end. As that hope flickered and died, he sunk onto the steps that led out of the river and dropped his face into his hands.

Now what do I do? He hadn't planned beyond this point, and his mind was too numb to think clearly. For the first time since setting out to find his son, Arthur wept. His emotions couldn't be contained any longer and they streamed forth in a raging torrent.

Finally, after letting go of his emotions, Arthur’s brain was clear enough to evaluate his situation. His first thought was to go to the ranger station to find out if they had any information on Shane. Hopefully they had found him and were holding him there, waiting for the rest of his family to arrive. The only problem was, he didn't have access to a car - and it was too far to walk.

He looked at his watch again. It was a few minutes after 1:00. The women weren't due for another hour. And being Allreds, they’d probably be late.

As he considered his situation, Arthur decided that he had three options. He could hike up the Riverside Walk Trail and wait for the women so that they could take him to the ranger station. He could hike down the river to search for his son some more. Or he could hike back upstream to reunite with his group and intensify his search.

          As he debated each option, a movement downstream caught his eye. There was someone down there. He was too far away to tell for sure, but it looked like a pair of rangers. Arthur immediately set out to find out what he could. On his way, he braced himself for the worst.

##

Arthur froze in his tracks. As the rangers approached, he could tell that they were carrying something. His worst nightmares were confirmed when he saw the body bag they were carrying between them. He immediately looked for a second one, hoping it was the couple he had heard about, rather than his son. But there was only one.

          He waited, unable to move, as they approached. His heart beat faster with each of their steps. Finally they reached him.

          "You shouldn’t be down here," one of the rangers informed him.

          Arthur tried to speak, but his tongue stuck in his throat. "My boy was taken in the flood. Did you find him?" he finally managed. The last part was so garbled that he wondered if they had understood him or not.

          "So you’re the father," the first ranger said, his voice softening with compassion. “Ranger Smith mentioned you when he radioed for us to start searching yesterday.”

          Tears streamed down Arthur's face as his heart burst open. The rangers carried the body to the riverbank and carefully laid it down.

"We found him just a few hundred yards downstream," the ranger explained as he unzipped the bag. "We were on our way back to our vehicle just now. I hate to do this to you, but we need you to identify him for us."

          Arthur didn't want to look, but he knew he had to. As the ranger folded back the bag, his heart leaped for joy. It wasn't Shane! "It's not him!" he announced gleefully.

Immediately he felt guilty for taking joy in someone else's pain. The happy expression faded from his face as he pictured the hiker's brother and family. "You didn't find his girlfriend?" he asked.

The rangers looked puzzled, so Arthur explained that he and the rangers had found the other group.

“We haven’t had any radio contact from them since early this morning – before you entered the Narrows,” Ranger Forte admitted. “So we hadn’t heard about the other group. But he’s the only one we’ve found so far.”

          "We're still searching. We'll find your son," promised the second ranger.

          For some reason, Arthur couldn't take too much comfort in that. He slowly followed the rangers back to the trailhead, fear once again gripping his chest. What happened to Shane? Is there any chance he’s still alive?

          When they reached the trailhead Arthur stopped, unsure of how to proceed.

          “What’s wrong?” asked Ranger Forte.

          “The rest of my group is still in the canyon,” Arthur explained.

          “Well, you should probably wait for them up at the parking lot where it’s safe,” the ranger urged him.

          “What do you mean?” asked Arthur.

          The rangers both looked up through the rain at the dark, cloudy sky and Ranger Forte said, “In all honesty, the conditions are ripe for another flood. We’re trying to keep everyone out of the area in an effort to avoid another disaster.”

Arthur felt his fear growing exponentially. His legs began trembling as he watched the rangers load the body onto a metal framed litter to wheel it back to the parking lot. What do I do now? Arthur didn’t know. He felt so helpless.

As they got ready to leave, they heard a shout from the river. Arthur turned excitedly, hoping to see Shane or his family. Instead, he saw the group of hikers he and the rangers had found inside the Narrows. Rangers Smith and Sorensen led the group, Smith bearing the injured teenager on his back. Arthur and the other rangers waited for the group to join them.

As they got closer, the hikers began noticing the body bag. Arthur could hear their gasps and sobs and see the grief plastered on their faces. The sight of them seemed to open the faucet to his own emotions. He could feel their grief as if it were a large blanket draped over his shoulders. His shoulders drooped further as he realized that the scene could very easily be repeated with his own family.

Assuming the group of foreigners had exited the canyon via Chamberlain’s Ranch, and his own family had continued downstream, that meant that they were the only ones remaining in the canyon. If there were another disaster, they would have to face it on their own.

After helping the teen onto a second litter, they began the relatively easy hike up the paved Riverside Walk. Although Arthur generally enjoyed such hikes, he couldn’t find any joy in this one.