West Virginia, January 1915

  Kermit took up his pickaxe, smaller than the ones the full-grown men used but still quite heavy, and continued chipping away at the clay wall. He worked as fast as he could, and yet progress was slow.

  It was Kermit's second week on the job. He had just finished fifth grade and the schoolmaster told the family that Kermit was well-educated enough for life, and that there was no point in sending him to university, so if they needed him in the mines, he'd sign off on it. They did and he did.

  Kermit missed school, but he did enjoy his work. He wasn't used to being surrounded by so many grown men. But he didn't mind them. His brother Millford was always around to keep him safe.

  Kermit was currently alone in a room at the end of a short mineshaft that had been largely abandoned once the miners struck coal elsewhere. But Welch, the mine owner, said he had a feeling about this abandoned room.

  It had been nothing more than a hunch, but it was so strong that Welch had asked to continue the dig. After protests from the foreman that further excavation would halt their progress in other areas, Welch had agreed to a compromise.

  Unlike some of the bigger mines in the area, this was a small operation and Welch was a reasonable owner.

  Kermit would continue removing the clay from the walls, which would be no major loss of labor.

  Kermit continued to chip away at the clay. He had almost filled a wheelbarrow, which meant it was time to move it outside.

  "Doing alright?" came a voice.

  Kermit spun around. It was Millford, his clean shaven face glistened in the dim lamplight.

  "Yes!" Kermit said, his voice full of enthusiasm. He wanted to show Millford that he was a strong worker.

  "Ready for lunch?"

  "Oh, I forgot," said Kermit. "I forgot to pack something."

  "I figured you would," said Millford, holding out his arm to show two small burlap sacks. "That's why I brought extra."

  "Thank you thank you!" Kermit said, sprinting toward his brother and hugging him.

  "Now let's get this barrow outside and have a couple sandwiches, huh?"

  Millford handed the sacks to Kermit before picking up the wheelbarrow handles.

  "Wow," said Millford. "You really filled this to the brim. Did you think you were going to be able to move this all the way outside on your own?"

  "That's how I see the other guys doing it."

  "Yeah, but they're bigger. They can carry heavier things."

  "Oh," said Kermit.

  "You should probably take it out when it's halfway full, that way it will be easier. Plus you get to see the sun twice as much."

  Kermit thought for a moment. "Got it."

  "I'll take it for now," Millford said, letting out a grunt as he lifted the weight of the wheelbarrow and spun it around to face the exit. "Oh and by the way, it helps if you start with the wheelbarrow facing the right way, too."

  Kermit thought for another moment. "Got it."

  A silence fell over them as they started up the mine shaft toward the surface until Kermit broke it.

  "Hey Millford."

  "Yeah?"

  "How did you get so smart?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You know how much dirt I should load in the wheelbarrow, you know to have it facing the right way, you even know that I'll forget my lunch. How do you know all that? I don't know any of it and I finished school already."

  "You keep learning," said Millford, grunting as he pushed the wheelbarrow over a big bump.

  "How?" said Kermit. "How do you know what to learn if you don't have a teacher?"

  "Life is a teacher."

  Kermit thought for a moment. "Got it."

  "You learn about people around you. I've known you since you were born, so of course I know you'd forget your lunch. I've worked here for a long time, so I know a lot about the men here, too. I know Welch, for example, believes that you're going to hit something precious. I also know that, whether he's right or not, it would be impossible to convince him otherwise."

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  "I'm going to hit something precious?" Kermit asked. "Like what?"

  "I don't know," said Millford. "It's just a hunch from Welch. You probably won't hit anything at all, but you've got a good gig for now. You're digging in clay, and you can take your time. At the end of the day, you still get your dime."

  "That rhymed," said Kermit.

  "Huh," said Millford, bemused.

  They got to the surface, where Millford emptied the wheelbarrow and placed it against a post.

  "Let's eat!" Millford said.

  "Yum!" Kermit exclaimed almost involuntarily. "What did you pack?"

  They sat down on a large rock. Other miners were also taking their lunch breaks, some standing and others sitting on the ground.

  Kermit reached in the sack to find a sandwich wrapped in a linen cloth.

  "Something really good," said Millford, unwrapping his sandwich.

  Kermit bit in. It was crunchy.

  "Yum! Bacon!" he said loudly.

  "Easy," said Millford. "Don't want to get the other miners jealous. Let's just enjoy it quietly."

  "Oh," said Kermit in a whisper. "Yay…. yay, yay, yay."

  Kermit practically devoured the sandwich. The bacon was so rich and salty, he felt full and needed time to digest it.

  Millford ate much more slowly.

  Suddenly, a loud noise came from a nearby mine shaft.

  "What in tarnation is goin' on?" a man said, running past the two boys.

  "Cave in!" another man called.

  Several miners rushed toward the shaft where dust began spilling out.

  Millford looked at Kermit. "Stay right here," he said. "I need to go help. Don't move. I'll be right back."

  Kermit thought for a moment. "Got it."

  Kermit sat and watched as Millford sprinted over to the mine shaft. Several men entered and exited, helping injured miners limp to safety. Millford took one after the other, putting their arm over his shoulder and bringing them to the benches a few yards away. Finally the commotion settled as Welch, the burly mine owner, arrived on the scene and began examining the injured miners.

  Covered in dust as he came back to Kermit a few moments later.

  "Five dead."

  ***

  Cave-ins weren't exactly a rare occurrence. Kermit and Millford's father had died in one several years earlier. It was just a hazard of the job, and mining was about the only occupation that locals had available to them.

  Kermit didn't complain. Even if it was a dangerous job, he enjoyed his little role at the mine, and he earned a whopping fifty cents per hour. And he had been assured that he was working in a safe section.

  Nonetheless, after the cave-in earlier that week, he and Millford had spoken.

  "You know either of us could go at any moment, right?" Millford had said.

  Kermit understood, at least he understood the concept. But there wasn't much he could do about it, scary as it was, so he didn't let it bother him.

  "That just means we go to heaven," Kermit had said.

  "True," Millford had said. "Haven't thought about it that way, I guess."

  "What if we don't get there at the same time?" Kermit had asked.

  "I'll wait for you if you wait for me."

  "Deal."

  Kermit mulled over his brother's reassuring words as he continued to chip away at the clay. He was alone now, his brother working a few shafts over with the rest of the men.

  Then Kermit's pick ax hit something solid.

  "Huh," Kermit said to himself.

  He dug around, excavating the rock as best he could, letting clay fall at his feet in clumps. He held his dim light up to it.

  It was shiny.

  "Oh!" Kermit exclaimed, he wasn't sure to whom. "Oh! I think… I think I found something!"

  He involuntarily jumped, allowing his giddiness to take over.

  "I think I–"

  Suddenly, a deep rumble began to rise from the ground. It seemed to come from all directions at once.

  "Oh… oh no!" Kermit said. He tried to grasp the rock he had excavated, but it was firmly in place.

  Dirt began to fall from the ceiling as the rumble grew louder.

  Kermit turned to run. He leapt out of the room and into the main shaft, sprinting for the exit. Dirt continued to fall from the ceiling and rocks began to dislodge from the walls.

  Kermit sprinted, maneuvering around rocks and dodging as much as he could.

  He cleared a corner and saw the sunlight from outside the cave. It was a few hundred yards.

  He began to run faster, faster, faster… until a boulder dislodged from the side of the wall and knocked him over, rolling onto his leg.

  Kermit fell over, winded. He was pinned to the floor facing up. Dirt began falling onto his face and into his mouth as he gasped for breath.

  "Help!" He called, beginning to choke on dust.

  He tried to push the boulder off his leg, but it was no use. It may as well have been placed there by God himself. It wasn't moving.

  "Help!" Kermit called again.

  The dirt continued to fall, beginning to cover Kermit's body, pinning him to the ground.

  "I'll wait for you, Millford," Kermit said quietly. He gasped for breath one more time, choking on dirt and dust.

  Mercifully, A boulder fell from the ceiling.

  Everything went dark.

  ***

  Kermit awoke gasping for breath. But he was no longer in a cave.

  Instead he was in a strange room with bright, artificial lights…