Life Among The Dead (Book 2): A Castle Made of Sand (34 page)

“No, Carla, stay. I want you to see this,”
Dan says without looking at her.

“I don’t think I want to… whatever it
is.”

A feverish Dan looks at the tree trunk table
that the bewildered ladies sit at. The impressive piece of
furniture on which he had played countless games of chess against
Bruce last winter. After Oz had brought his uncle’s body home, Dan
took a peek at what lies within a secret cabinet under the heavily
lacquered top. The women watch him pull four hefty banker’s boxes
from it.

Three of the troves are filled with files,
loose papers, and envelopes. Since they are of no use to Dan, he
pushes them away so he can focus on the one he has been questing
for. He feels eyes upon him, and finally realizing the oddness of
his actions he explains himself. He isn’t certain how to word this,
how to tell his spectators that his uncle came to him in a dream to
tell him the solution to all their turmoil is masturbation.

Dan just lifts the lid to the crate to reveal
two neat stacks of periodicals. The left is composed of vintage
magazines in mint condition. If a market for them still existed,
they would be very valuable. The other tower yields modern, far
raunchier fare. It isn’t what is in the box, the published
material, he sought.

Dan turns the lid over in his hands to view
the long white envelope taped to the plain brown underside, a
discovery he had ignored on his previous inspection. Written in
Bruce’s hand are the words Dan once thought meaningless, or held
only value for the author himself. Now, they could mean everything:
In
the
event
of
a
water
landing
.

##

Hey
kid
,

If
you’re
reading
this
,
one
of
three
things
has
happened
.
1
)
I
never
made
it
back
from
Vermello
,
and
probably
never
will
.
2
)
I
made
it
back
only
to
expire
on
the
throne
.

3
)
You’ve
proved
to
be
a
horrible
nephew
and
husband
,
and
went
behind
not
only
your
wife’s
back
but
mine
as
well
to
look
at
my
personal
cache
of
spank
rags
.

Personally
,
I’m
rooting
for
option
three
,
but
I
know
you’re
better
than
that
.
If
the
words
I
labeled
this
with
have
piqued
your
interest
it
can
only
mean
that
all
the
naysayers
who
told
me
I
was
crazy
to
build
my
dam
here
were
right
,
or
that
it
has
fallen
by
unnatural
means
.
Since
I
can’t
predict
who
is
at
fault
,
I’m
going
to
make
it
easy
and
just
blame
you
.
Whatever
you
did
,
it’s
done
,
so
stop
worrying
about
it
.

All
the
negativity
of
those
people
made
me
doubt
myself
.
I
began
to
wonder
what
I
would
do
if
the
Parson’s
did
collapse
.
It
had
me
paranoid
to
say
the
least
.

The
hill
my
ranch
sits
on
was
constructed
by
carting
the
excavations
of
our
quarry
out
east
here
.
I
couldn’t
stand
the
thought
of
settling
on
anything
but
New
Hampshire
soil
.
The
ranch
itself
was
once
a
ski
resort
.
I
had
some
wild
times
at
in
Vermont
.
I
had
it
moved
board
by
board
here
and
reconstructed
.
Rich
guys
like
me
like
to
do
shit
like
that
.
Why
else
be
rich
,
right
?

Getting
to
the
point
,
I’ve
never
held
much
faith
in
insurance
.
A
man
is
his
best
insurance
.
Those
companies
just
like
to
dick
people
around
,
make
them
pay
for
peace
of
mind
then
never
come
through
when
they’re
needed
.
A
man
needs
to
use
his
brain
and
prepare
for
the
unthinkable
,
instill
fail
safes
and
contingencies
in
the
anticipation
of
any
disaster
.
One
day
you’ll
learn
how
to
use
yours
.
Probably
not
with
the
same
surgical
precision
as
I
use
mine
,
but
it’ll
suit
you
.

As
I
watched
them
rebuild
my
home
,
I
had
an
epiphany
.
This
is
the
point
you
will
call
me
crazy
…

##

“He’s crazy!” Dan says after reading his
uncle’s plan.

“What is it?” Heather asks.

“Bruce wants us to build an ark!”

##

People
often
speculated
where
the
Charles
would
go
if
the
dam
ever
failed
.
Some
said
it
would
follow
its
old
path
,
others
said
it
would
wash
everything
in
its
way
straight
to
Mexico
.
Actually
,
it’ll
veer
east
a
bit
and
dump
into
the
Gulf
between
Louisiana
and
Florida
.
I’ve
made
it
a
point
to
keep
abreast
of
all
changes
in
the
topography
south
of
here
,
both
natural
and
manmade
.
I
told
you
I
was
paranoid
.

Once
underway
,
your
best
bet
will
be
to
stick
to
the
middle
and
ride
Old
Man
River
all
the
way
.
You
may
be
thinking
that
the
voyage
is
too
risky
,
but
staying
is
riskier
.
The
fact
may
have
escaped
your
attention
,
perhaps
it
hasn’t
presented
itself
yet
,
but
our
hill
is
now
an
island
,
and
it’s
going
to
erode
fast
.
The
river
is
far
too
swift
and
the
hill
is
just
a
pile
of
dirt
and
scraps
of
granite
.
It’ll
melt
like
a
pat
of
butter
before
long
.

The
reason
you
need
to
keep
to
the
middle
is
simple
--
the
shores
aren’t
going
to
be
smooth
from
ages
of
wear
.
There’s
going
to
be
surprises
underneath
:
buildings
,
trees
,
and
all
sorts
of
shit
you
don’t
want
to
hit
or
get
stuck
on
.
As
far
as
your
vessel
,
there’s
a
shed
out
on
the
far
edge
of
my
land
,
and
in
it
are
all
the
tools
and
supplies
you’ll
need
.
Even
before
I
wrote
this
,
I
made
you
an
instruction
manual
.
Follow
it
to
the
letter
,
or
else
you’ll
surely
get
yourself
into
trouble
.

Don’t
fuck
this
up
,

Bruce

At first light, the castaways walk to the
shed at the property’s end, after consuming a breakfast of the few
items not packed up for Raleigh. Everyone ate but Dan, who felt too
nauseous and didn’t see any point in wasting the food if it was
just going to come back up. He feels a chill, though he sweats
profusely.

Words of concern are ignored, and he tells
his wife and friends that he is fine. They suggest he lie down, but
he refuses. He needs to see the extent of his uncle’s obsession.
The inventory is exactly what he predicted--extensive. Bruce never
took the easy way. The supplies are stacked to the rafters: planks
and steel pipes, elbow joints and bags of assorted hardware, and of
course King Bruce’s explicit handwritten instructions.

As a kid, when Uncle Bruce would make a rare
visit, the two would put together models. The man always brought
one with him as a gift. Dan, like most kids, would often get ahead
of himself and need to be reminded to follow the directions, lest
he skip an important step in the order of operations. Dan would
become so excited about the finished product, he’d forget the
minute details involved, which would result in sports cars with no
seats, bombers without their gun turrets. Bruce never got mad. He
would just say things like: ‘If something is worth doing, it’s
worth doing right,’ or ‘Measure twice, cut once.’

“Are we doing this?” Carla skeptically
asks.

“Not much choice,” Dan answers, leaning
against the shed for strength. “We’re eroding. One way or another
we’re going into the river.”

“And we’ll be out of food before long,” Oz
adds.

“Can we do this?” Heather inquires.

“Yup.” Oz peruses the schematic. “It’s all
mapped out perfectly. Shouldn’t even take too long.”

Jack and Vincent watch them carry long items
from the shed. The boys sit contently in a tandem stroller with its
sunshade drawn over their heads. The grown-ups have no such luxury
to protect them from the heat, and within an hour they are
sweating, especially Dan whose shirt is completely drenched. He had
foolishly hoped the endeavor would be like something out of a movie
montage, with the group unanimously deciding to take on the task,
everyone lifts a tool, a few snapshots later and the job is done.
So far all they have is a steel frame sitting on rows of smooth
timber out on the front driveway.