Hidden Treasures

Chapter 3

The pavement flew by as the boys rode their bikes towards Wompatuck. They rode quickly, as their anticipation fueled their adrenaline. There may have also been a little fear on Alex's part, as riding his father's bike was definitely a risky move, but one he felt like he just had to take. Riding over the hills and around the curves, the boys rode quickly and in silence, their destination growing ever closer. Finally, one last corner and they were entering the park, up a hill and then turning into the bike paths that wove through the park like a paved spider web.

The bike paths were perfect, no cars and plenty of fun hills to ride up and down. The boys had traveled them many times, so they knew the ones to take to get down to the reservoir, which was almost at the other end of the park. They rode along, slower now in case any wildlife showed itself for them to wonder at, or catch, and finally arrived at their favorite part of the reservoir.

Here, the road actually met the reservoir at the end of a long thing inlet, disappearing into the inky black water and appearing fifty yards away on the other shore. Danny had no idea why the water was so dark, something leaching into the water or something. When they first waded out in sneakers and socks, it always turned their socks and shoelaces brown, so they had started using beach shoes instead, and avoided white clothing.

A small island rose from the water off to the side of the sunken road, covered in bushes and small trees. Only if you looked closely would you notice that there was a channel that divided the island in half, and that the channel contained a large pair or metal doors leading into the island's interior. This was their bunker, only a short walk through the water away and yet a complete secret as far as they knew.

Carefully, the boys stashed their bikes out of sight in the bushes and changed from their shoes into beach sandals. They had gone in barefoot several times in the past, but Danny had cut his foot the previous summer by stepping on broken glass in the dark water, so they went the safe way with the shoes now.

Stepping into the water, Danny smiled, "Not too chilly at all, perfect for fish if we want to try later."

"Yep," replied Alex, "We definitely have to do that. We can't waste a trip here by not going fishing."

While the pond near their houses was perfect for turtles and frogs, the fishing was much harder due to the overabundance of weeds which they caught with their lures with increasing regularity. So, whenever the boy made the trip out to the reservoir, there was always fishing planned. The reservoir teemed with pickerel, which were always fun and easy to catch since they seemed to eat almost anything.

Wading out into the water, the boys were quickly up to their waist. They took their time, picking their way over to the bunker. When they reached it, the boys climbed onto the top which was overgrown with grass and trees. The entrance was below them, in a channel faced by another cement wall. Grabbing a couple of good sized sticks for rifles, the boys planned the assault of the Normandy bunker complex, obviously held by the enemy who was even now firing machine guns on the troops down on the beach.

"Sarge, I think we have to move in now! Get the grenades!" yelled Captain Alex.

"You got it Captain! Fire in the hole!" replied Danny, dropping a pair of rocks down the little vent shaft in the roof of the bunker. The ground shook and their ears rang with imagined explosions, and the boys rolled down the hill to burst into the bunker, spraying their pretend machine guns around to make sure the enemy was done for.

Another enemy vanquished, the boys got to work cleaning out the bunker. Since the door didn't close as tightly as they may have liked, a lot of debris floated in with the water. Sometimes, the boys even found a Henry living in their bunker, which was always a nice surprise. Today was no exception, though the debris was limited to leaves and sticks floating in the water. They had scavenged a pair of folding chairs and an old wooden table that sat perched on a cement step that was above the water, and this is where they usually made their next plan.