Mista Jones's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

The youth slept on the pine needle bed. Mista stood and looked at the open pit. An empty trap was a danger to any creature that wandered by. He could not leave it like this. He took the pressure plate apart first. The wood snapped clean under his boot. He flung the pieces deep into the brush. Then he shoveled loose dirt and leaf litter back into the hole, packing it down in layers. The scaffolding came down next. He coiled the ropes tight, looped the hooks, and wrapped the bundle in oiled cloth and green leaves. The block and tackle would earn its keep again at the quarry. He stowed the bundle near his other gear. When he stepped back, the ground looked tired but ordinary. Soft moss already crept toward the seam. Roots would knit it shut by the next rain. No animal would break a leg here. He carried the sleeping youth a short way to a lean-to he had built weeks ago. Branches and leaves covered the frame. From three paces out, it vanished into the trees. Inside, a woven mat waited on the floor. He laid the boy down and pulled a blanket over the splinted ankle. Mista sat at the opening and watched the boy breathe. The trap was gone. The shelter held. But the youth would wake soon, and Mista still did not know what to do with a stranger who had seen too much.