CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - Extra Innings

With no way to tell time, me and Eddie didn't know how much longer this game was gonna go on, but it seemed to get lighter outside. Maybe the crack of dawn will be here before we know it and we could get outta here as free men. We'd been sittin' at that spot for a while with nothin' happenin', but I was gettin' suspicious. "I'm a little worried here. Maybe we oughta move on, whaddya say?" Eddie agreed, "we kinda are out in the open, but I can see ya a bit better, so maybe it's almost daytime." We stood up and stretched, especially Eddie. God I love watching him stretch. He spreads his legs apart, stretches his arms as high as he can, his sleeves ridin' down so I can see little of his 'pit, then he swings both arms like he's throwin' a punch or somethin'. Boy, the things ya see when ya ain't got your camera. I have this secret thing about gettin' him to pose for me. But for now, a little ahead in this here game, we gotta keep up this winnin' streak, so we mosey on. Maybe we made a huge mistake, as you're not gonna believe what happens next.


Walkin' a few steps, we hear a couple of snaps, like we're crackin' tree branches or twigs or somethin'. THEN, another snap and Eddie screams and goes down. "Holy quicksand! I'm stuck! Somethin's got my foot!" I look down and notice Eddie's ankle is snagged by a bear trap. Then that god awful voice comes back, "you have 1 minute before the teeth appear." The voice was right, the trap was in two sections. First was the snag, then the steel part would come up and cut Eddie's foot off if I didn't act fast. I grabbed the trap, which was slowly closin' in and started to pull it apart, Eddie, too. We were both tryin' to yank this thing open so we could run off. Spatters of blood were runnin' on our hands, Eddie was screamin' louder, "my foot! my foot! HE'S CUTTIN' IT OFF!" "Not if I have anything to say about it", I said as we continued pryin' this thing loose. The snag had some sharp little bits inside and it was tearin' at the skin on our hands. Finally, with the two of us, teeth gritted, faces red, breath held, we managed to get a little slack on this thing, Eddie's foot started gettin' loose, "good boy", I said, "wiggle it loose, we'll be outta this in a minute", then POP, we broke it off. Eddie fell back and caught his breath, we was both a little winded, then I stood up, Eddie tried to, but when he put his foot on the ground, he let out this really loud scream. I grabbed him and yelled, "hang onto me, boy, we gotta get outta here. Ya gotta hop outta this, I'll hang onto ya!" I ran, he hopped, we didn't know where we were headed, we just had to get outta this part. A few yards later, we heard an explosion. "HOLY TNT! The trap was loaded with dynamite!" "So those were the teeth", I muttered. That horrible voice came back, "well, now, you saved his life, didn't you. You didn't let him get blown up. Quite noble on your part." I started gettin' really pissed, "you maniac, whoever you are! What's goin' on here? If you had any guts you'd say all this to my face!" "Well, if you turn around, you'll see I'm standing right here."