Scout's Honour

Chapter 8

As Corey had predicted, the skies had indeed opened and both Ethan and Matthew had quickly become drenched in rain.

"I like rain" Matthew told him as he continued to dig the hole that was now deep enough for someone to stand knee deep.

"Why?" Ethan asked coldly, attempting to shelter under a large tree.

"It's peaceful"

Ethan rolled his eyes before looking around and taking out a cigarette.

"They're -"

"Bad for you... I know" Ethan interrupted Matthew who shrugged and got back to work.

It took Matthew about twenty minutes before he eventually seemed to be content and began pulling strands of bark off a nearby tree.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked him, watching but not helping.

"You'll see" the young man beamed, now drenched in rain as well as sweat.

Rightly enough, after almost forty minutes, Matthew stood back and gestured to Ethan to admire his work.

Ethan had to admit that the trap was impressive. The hole had now been covered with strips of bark which was then layered with leaves, pine needles and dirt which made it look exactly as it had before Matthew had began digging.

"It's cool" Ethan told him, to which he grinned "but what's the point?" He continued and Matthew looked concerned.

"Well if someone falls in there, we'll have to drag them back out anyway before we can..." Ethan paused.

"No, silly!" Matthew chuckled "we need to split them up first. We can't just jump on two of them! I'll stand here as bait" he explained "when they run toward me, one of them will fall in here, the other will run away. That's when you jump out and capture him!"

Ethan had to admit that the plan seemed plausible, but he couldn't help but smile as he considered how much effort and brain power it would have taken Matthew to come up with it.

"Okay" Matthew finally said, brushing wet mud from his mac "you go and wait over by that tree" he pointed "I'll get their attention".

Ethan shrugged. He was glad that Matthew had taken it upon himself to be the leader of their little partnership, he was also glad that, so far, he had had to do very little. He shuffled through the dirt until he found the large tree and stood there while Matthew took position.

The pair looked at each other as Matthew put his finger to his lips, indicating to Ethan to stay silent before he bellowed out into the forest.

"Ethan!" He roared and Ethan watched him, confused.

"Ethan over here!"

His shrill voice bounced off the trees and echoed with each shout. A few minutes passed, with Matthew almost going hoarse on a number of occasions.

With the sheer size of the forest, Ethan doubted that anybody could even hear him but as he continued to shout, the bushes nearest Ethan began to rustle.

Matthew continued as Ethan crouched down behind the tree and glared at where the noise had come from. Perhaps it had been an animal, maybe another racoon. He stared harder, wiping rain from his eyes, and then it happened.

The twins, Carl and David, burst from the bushes and began sprinting toward Matthew, passing Ethan's hiding place as they did.

They reminded Ethan of gazelles, though Ethan didn't quite know the correct name for them. They were equally as fast, seemingly gliding over the terrain as they burst in Matthew's direction.