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The Salt Mines Mystery (Thunder and Lightning Series) (Volume 2)

By Aaron M. Zook Jr

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Chapter 1
– Fight



Hans Becher threw his skateboard onto the sidewalk in front of my feet.

“The skateboard champion is me, not you.” The sixteen-year-old refugee from East Germany strode toward me with determination. “Your words mean nothing.”

“My jump was the best, Becher.” I pushed my chest forward. “You lose.”

Hans’ German friends surrounded us.

Pete, my best friend, and twelve like me, laid a hand on my shoulder. “Gabe, it doesn’t matter if you’re right.” He tugged my shirt. “Don’t argue with that bully. He’s bigger than you. Let’s go.”

“Pete…” My eyes caught his for a second. “I can handle this.”

Hans punched me in the shoulder.

I rocked back to absorb the blow and steadied myself.

After Hans threw a couple of jabs, I darted in, fist aimed at his nose, but I missed. I retreated.

“You Americans think you’re number one in all the things.” Hans circled to his right. “But I’m teaching you different.”

Now we were on the grass. Hans’ friends dropped their skateboards to form a human wall on the lawn.

Alex, my fourteen-year-old brother, was off to one side, crouching over our dogs, Thunder and Lightning. Both strained at their leashes.

I lunged forward, smashing my fist into Hans’ rock hard stomach, and then connected with an uppercut, snapping his head back. While I regrouped for the next blow, Hans muttered a string of German words I hadn’t heard before.

He rubbed his jaw, tightened his fists, and circled to his left.

Like a boxer, I bounced away, but he bull-rushed me, knocking me to the ground. I twisted and fell, landing on my hands and chest.

Hans jumped on me, hammering my back to the ground to keep me pinned.

I struggled to breathe. My right cheek felt like it was on fire. My ears rang and I sucked in air and rolled. Or tried to. I didn’t move much.

“Polizei.” Several boys pointed at a German policeman gazing at us.

Hans let me up. The rest of the boys crowded around us. We brushed ourselves off and adjusted our clothes. The policeman was still on the opposite side of the castle park, looking our way and talking to an elderly couple motioning in our direction.

The circular park sidewalk surrounded a massive grassy area with gardens in the middle divided by smaller wandering paths. Black metal lampposts lining the looping walkway flickered on. The lights’ amber glow kept the evening darkness at bay and provided a cheery atmosphere for evening walkers. But not for me.

Alex appeared next to me. “Gabe, check out your right cheek.”

I touched the aching area, bringing away red fingertips, which I wiped on the grass. “He scraped me up, no thanks to you.”

“You wanted a ‘fair fight,’ didn’t you?” Alex said. “I held the dogs.”

“Hans is way older than me. He’s sixteen.”

“Then pick on kids your own age. Or size. Don’t be a twelve-year-old dummy.” Alex brushed past me, his shoulder grazing mine.

Pete hurried over with our skateboards. “Take these. We need to leave now or the Polizei will make us answer questions. Don’t rush or you’ll make it look like we were doing something wrong.”

I dumped my skateboard onto the sidewalk and weaved toward the castle, away from the cop. The policeman eyed Hans and his boys. Pete and I scissored back and forth, passing Alex, who had the dogs pulling him on his skateboard like huskies dragging a sled. Alex’s dog, Thunder, a black Great Dane mixed breed, did most of the pulling. My dog, Lightning, a small, golden-red Shih-Tzu mix, pranced for show.

I snuck a peek at the Polizei. He left the couple and headed in our direction. I rolled through a park side exit, whizzing under the arch into the busy city side of the castle. I found a bench, stopped, and sat. Pete plopped down next to me.

“Nice going, Gabe,” Alex said. “Now we have Polizei chasing us. You can’t stay here too long or he’ll spot you when he comes out of the park.”

“You didn’t help at all,” I said. “When I beat Hans skateboarding and he shoved me to the ground, you should’ve—”

“What? Come to rescue my poor, little brother? You would have told me to get lost and let you handle it.” He shook his head and narrowed his eyes.

I shoved off the bench and breathed into his face. “Thanks for nothing.” I spun around and wiped my cheek. Only a little smeared blood remained. “Come on, Pete. I’m not heading home with this loser.” I jerked a thumb in Alex’s direction.

“Don’t forget your dog, baby brother.” Alex stretched out Lightning’s leash to me. “And stay on the lighted streets.”

“Who are you? My master?” I snatched Lightning’s leash out of his hand.

Alex marched away, keeping Thunder close. They crossed the street and merged with the evening crowds as darkness fell rapidly.

“Come on, Pete.” I picked up my skateboard. “I’m nobody’s baby. We’re not following him, but we have to hurry to beat him home.” I picked up Lightning and we jogged toward less crowded streets. “There.” I pointed to an alleyway. “We can skateboard on the back streets.”

“Okay,” Pete said. “But I don’t like that part of town. And it’s not well-lit.”

“I don’t want to be on the same street as Alex,” I said. “He thinks he’s a king, ordering me around all the time. Anyway, there are two of us. We’ll be okay. I’m not gonna give in to Alex.”

Five minutes later, we skateboarded into the area where drunks and druggies hung out at night. Lightning, who was off his leash, darted in and out of corners to sniff everything. The cobblestone paths here made skateboarding worthless. We decided to jog again.

The older section of town had brown, stone buildings. Light orange tiles covered steep roofs. Broken tile pieces littered parts of the alleyway. Odd angles, tiny courtyards, and a few clotheslines reminded me of the medieval pictures I had studied in a homeschool history class about the Middle Ages. A few narrow side passages branched off the main road. Few of the lamppost lights worked. One flickered with a greenish tint.

The muscles in the back of my neck tightened. We slowed to a walk.

“You know how to get us through here, right?” I said.

“Like the back of my hand.” Pete stopped, pointed in one direction, shrugged, and motioned another way. “Come on. I know this place during the day. It’s a little trickier in the dark.”

“Go faster.” The tightness spread to my arms and gut. A gate banged behind me. I jumped and looked around. No one was there.

“I have to make sure we’re going down the right alley.”

“It’s been twenty minutes. Shouldn’t we be out?” I wiped sweaty palms on my pants. I remembered what happened six months ago. I didn’t want anyone kidnapping me again.

A light fog crept into the dim streets, making it harder to see any great distance. Halos of mist shrouded the lights. Garbage overflowed several trashcans. I plugged my nose. A chill settled between my shoulder blades.

“I may have missed a turn, but we’ll get there.” Pete faced me. His jaw dropped and he stabbed a finger at something behind me.

“Halt,” a deep voice said. A hand slapped onto my shoulder from behind.

I screamed.

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