Sitting straight up in bed, his room was already warm. Sunlight shone in through the windows. Worry that he had overslept coursed through him until he heard the intercom crackling with Duke's voice. Just like the day before, it was a 5-minute warning to meet in the lounge.
Quickly diving out of bed, Caspian got dressed and was out the door in under a minute. Trying to rub the tiredness from his eyes, he poked his head into the dining room, only to see it empty and spotless.
“Ah no no no,” he murmured, hungry. Peering into the kitchen, he saw it was empty. Walking in tentatively, a bowl of fruit caught his eye on one of the counters. “Surely it’s there to be eaten,” he thought, snagging a particularly juicy-looking apple. Stowing it away, he made for the lounge not wanting to be late.
As luck would have it, he arrived at the same time as Duke, getting him a wry smile from a few of his teammates. Duke made no mention of the fact, giving out the day's listings and wishing them luck. Duke always seemed very busy whenever he saw him as if he had no spare time. “Planning the expedition probably,” he thought. As Rich had said the night before, they were paired up.
“Caspian, you get a good night's sleep?” Rich asked striding over to him.
“Feeling fresh and ready,” he replied smiling.
“Well we’ll get that out of you soon enough, don’t you worry,” Rich said grinning. “Come along, we’re heading out.”
“Remember not to bring him back in a wheelchair Rich,” Sofia called out. “Or else.”
“Yeah yeah,” he called back. “Don’t worry about all that Cas, you’ll be fine.”
“Uh-huh, I’m filled with confidence Rich,” he said.
“That’s the spirit, we’ll take the jeep today. I don’t need your leg falling off before we get there,” Rich said, moving towards the garage. “Open up the door for me ay.”
“Sure thing,” Caspian said, unlocking and hefting the door up. As Rich started up the engine, Percy entered the garage with Victoria in tow. “Hey Percy, hey Victoria,” he said waiving. “Have fun with the camels, Victoria.”
“I will,” she said, seemingly excited at the prospect of getting to hang out with animals.
Sliding the door closed after Rich had pulled out, Caspian hopped into the passenger seat. “So where are we headed?” he asked. Rich did something to do with excavation, or digging in laymen's terms. Maybe they were heading out into the desert?
“All that learning stuff is good and all, but it’s just not my thing,” he said, driving through the dusty streets. “Skill is important, but I’d rather give you guys some practical experience.”
“Why do I not like the sound of that,” Caspian murmured, his voice drowned out by the roaring engine.
“So we're heading to the quarry, I know the foreman who runs the place. We’ll have some fun doing some good old-fashioned digging,” he said laughing. “It’ll be great, you’ll love it.”
Hearing what was on the agenda, Caspian could not help but groan. That sounded like the furthest thing from fun. His body had recovered a lot, but the tinge of exhaustion still lingered in him. Now he had to do a day of hard labour. Just great.
Keeping his thoughts to himself, he mentally tried to prepare himself, letting the air blow into his face as they drove. With Rich’s driving, they’d arrived at the quarry in the knick of time. Stepping out of the jeep, his legs wobbled like jelly. The extreme turning had left his stomach a little queasy. Taking out the apple he’d grabbed, he took a large bit, juice flowing down his chin.
“Hey, where’d you get that from?” Rich asked, stowing the keys in his pocket. “What not gonna share?”
“Uh, I just got it from the kitchen because I missed breakfast,” Caspian said swallowing.
“Braver man than I, going into Chef’s kitchen like that,” he said clapping him on the back. “Alright, I’m gonna go find Jeremy, wait here.”
Caspian just looked at him expectantly.
“Jeremy is the foreman of the quarry,” he said shaking his head. “Just wait here I’ll be back in a bit. Try not to wander off too far.” Walking off into the large building they were next to, Caspian twiddled his thumbs trying to amuse himself.
He didn’t last long, only a few minutes before his legs got wrestleless. Trying to get out of the sun, he took shelter in the shadows cast by the building. Having eaten most of the apple, he just nibbled on the flesh left over, just to give himself something to do.
“Caspian?” a gravelly voice from behind called out.
Turning, he was surprised to see Abe walking towards him, the older man smiling widely. “Caspian I haven’t seen you around the last few days,” he said. “I was starting to get worried when you didn’t return from the expedition tryouts.”
“Abe my man, what’s going on? Yeah, I’ve just been elsewhere, busy and all. You know how it is,” he said hugging him. “How you been, still same old same old?”
“Oh, you know how it is, all work and no play. My weary bones are starting to feel it these days, but I need the money,” Abe said shrugging. “Did the expedition thing not go too well? Listen some things aren’t meant to be Caspian. I can see about getting you a job here at the quarry,” he said warmly. “There’s always next time right.”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Huh? What do you mean Abe? I got in,” Caspian said tilting his head. “That’s why I haven’t been around the past few days, I’m staying at their home base.”
“Wait what, you got in,” Abe said stunned for a moment. Laughing wildly, he pulled him in for a hug, the man's strong arms like a vice around him. Pulling back he put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “I knew you could do it, Kid. I knew you could. Didn’t I always say?”
“Haha I know right Abe, I could scarcely believe it myself,” Caspian said laughing along with him.
“You’ll have to tell me about it sometime, over a drink,” Abe said, looking off into the sky with a happy expression. “You’ll have to tell me all about it, I bet you’ve got some good stories to tell.”
“We’ll have to, but I might have to put that on the back burner for a while. The expedition leaves soon, and I haven’t got much spare time at the moment,” he said apologetically. “When I get back though.”
“Hey, even better man. Then you’ll have some wild stories from an expedition to tell,” Abe said smiling. “Can’t wait to tell the guys about this, they’ll be thrilled. Alright, Cas I gotta get back to work, you take it easy now. You’re in the big leagues now, so don’t forget about us little folks ya here.”
“I’ll never forget you Abe, it was great seeing ya,” he said, waving as he walked off. As he went, he heard bits of what he was saying. He seemed to still be in disbelief about the whole thing, laughing to himself that he knew it would happen. Seeing his old friend again had warmed something in Caspian’s heart. Abe had been a rock for him, hell the man had basically helped raise him for much of his teenage years. He owed him a lot.
“I’ll help him out,” Caspian decided. When the expedition money started flowing, he’d give some to Abe. Maybe then he wouldn’t complain about his back so much. Laughing to himself, he felt revitalised.
“Oi Caspian, what cha dawdling around for,” Rich called out to him. “Let’s get a move on.”
“Coming, coming,” he replied, looking at Abe’s figure walking off into the distance. Shaking his head with a smile, he joined Rich at the door.
“Alright we got permission to use one of the old parts of the quarry for today,” Rich said, holding a pickaxe and a shovel. “You’re gonna want a hat for this by the way.”
“I didn’t bring one,” Caspian said. “He hadn’t known that.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I brought two then ain't it? They’re in the back seat.”
Lo and behold he was right, two large-brimmed hats were sitting in the back of the jeep, plain as day. Putting one on, it was a snug fit. “Where too?” he asked.
“Follow me, I know the way,” Rich said donning the other hat. “Also here, take this.’ Handing him the pickaxe, he felt his arms sag from the weight of it. With Rich leading the way, they both started to descend into the quarry. Like a huge wound in the world, the deep cut was uniform and expansive. It was one of the only places the city had found limestone in large quantities that hadn’t been wrecked by all the flooding. Lucky for them it was so close to the huge spring that kept the city hydrated.
“So what are we here to do Rich?” Caspian asked after they had walked for a few minutes.
“I’m here to watch and give you advice when you ask for it,” Rich said humming. “You’re here to break some rocks with that pickaxe.”
“You’re serious?” Caspian asked deadpan. Break rocks. Is this guy for real?
“Oh yes completely. Knowing how to swing a pickaxe and use a shovel properly is a very important skill. Without proper form, you’ll tire yourself out in only a few swings, and possibly injure yourself,” he said. “The longest we ever had to dig on an Expedition was seven years ago. What a nightmare, it was four of us digging into the rock for a week nonstop.”
“That sounds awful.”
“Oh it was, make no mistake. But that’s just part of the job in the end. It was worth it too, big payday when we got into that bunker,” he said rubbing his hands together. “Of course, that is an extreme example, but you never know what the desert will throw at you. Duke likes us all to be physically capable, just in case. I agree with him.”
“I can’t agree you with that I guess,” Caspian said. Not that he wanted to spend the day hitting stone, but in the end it wasn’t really up to him. “Did you at least bring water and food?”
“Huh, oh that’s what I forgot,” Rich said slapping his face. “Silly me. I’ll get it after you start up, can’t have you getting dehydrated now can we.”
Walking for a few more minutes, they entered into an offshoot of the quarry that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. Coming to a stop, Rich dropped the shovel. Caspian let the pickaxe slide to the floor, only holding the handle.
“You ever doing anything like this before?” Rich asked.
“No not really,” Caspian replied, shaking his head. He’d dug before, but never anything harder than stone, and never for extended periods of time.
“Alright then. First things first, don’t use your own body for it,” he said. Seeing the confusion on his face, he explained himself. “Alright, lift up that pickaxe for me, above your head. Alright, it’s not that heavy right, you’d do that for a while before you get tired. Now lower it. This time keep one hand at the end and slide the other one down the handle. Then in one motion, let it fall down while sliding your hand to the end. Give it a try.”
Listening to the explanation, Caspian gave it a try, the tip of the pickaxe getting stuck in the stone. “Like that?” It had felt pretty natural of a motion.
“Almost, but I saw you using your back when you lifted it into the air. Instead of that, make it a full-body motion. Start low, give it a little push into the air, and let gravity do the rest of the work on the way down,” he said, mining the action for him.
“Alright.” Making the changes he said, he swung again, his hand sliding down the handle of the pickaxe. A loud crunch sounded as the tip bit into the limestone again.
“Perfect, did that feel better than the first time?” Rich asked.
“Um, maybe?” Caspian said unsure. “It was kind of hard to tell honestly.”
“Fair enough. You’ll feel the difference after you’ve been swinging for a while though,” Rich said. “You can get started now then.”
“Started on what,” Caspian asked confused. There was nothing around them. Sheer walls of rock surrounded him.
“Just start hitting that wall over there,” Rich said, pointing at the closest rockface. “I’ll go get the stuff I forgot, so I expect to see some progress when I get back. Go on them, get to it, we’re losing daylight.”
“You can’t be serious,” Caspian thought, as he looked at Rich’s back. Turning to look at the rock wall he’d motioned to, he seemed to taunt him. “What even is this training.”
Sighing, he lifted the pickaxe like he’d been shown. Just before he brought it down, Rich shouted something at him.
“MAKE SURE TO BE CAREFUL OF FALLING ROCKS!” he yelled, pointing up at the ridge line.
“Wait what,” he said alarmed. Scanning the walls, he looked for anything that looked loose. He definitely didn’t want to get squished by a boulder. Now he knew why he’d gotten so many sympathetic looks last night. This was awful. With nothing else to do, he hefted the pickaxe into the air and brought it careening down onto the stone and cracking it apart.