Excerpt
from chapter 3:
Dave and Rob reached the cellar of the stone cottage and struggled to open the trapdoor.
“Those little jerks must’ve put something heavy over this.” They both shouted warnings and threats to their brothers who they were sure were just above them. They stopped and listened and when they couldn’t detect even a chuckle from above they decided that the boys had gone. They sat down on the cold dirt floor by the ladder and discussed all the terrible things they would do to them when they got their hands on them.
“Shhh. Did you hear that?” Rob said. They listened as the motorcycle-like roar of an engine got louder and louder then stopped. They could hear footsteps on the plank floor. Sure that the people above weren’t their brothers they started yelling for help.
No one answered.

Kevin and Missy walked in to the stone cottage and stared at the stove deciding how best to do what old Mr. Stark had suggested. When the boys below started yelling for help Missy gasped and Kevin smiled. He thought about the time these same boys had tortured him and he was glad that they were feeling helpless.
Quietly they took the rope that Kevin had thrown in the backseat and tied it around the stove, then Kevin looped it around the stove two more times so the stove would slide away and not tip over, just as Mr. Stark had instructed him. Missy followed him out the door as he unwound the rope, laying a trail from the cottage to the vehicle.
“My dad taught me a whole bunch of sailor’s knots last winter,” Kevin explained as he fastened the end of the rope to the seat bar. “When we’re sure that we’ve moved the stove off the trapdoor, you pull this end. See? Then I’ll give it a lot of gas and hopefully we’ll make it to the woods before those goons come out and see us.”
Missy nodded. “Are we just gonna leave the rope?”
“Yeah. I figure they’ll be too angry to take the time to unknot it from the wood stove. We’ll get it later.”
They climbed into the six-wheeler and Kevin slowly gave it some gas. Missy watched the rope tighten up and lift off the ground. She felt the tug when it lost all of its slack and began to pull the stove. She was distracted for a second when a flock of birds flew right over them and landed in the trees nearby.

“Listen,” Rob said, “it’s that motor again. They’re leaving.”
They started yelling “Help!” again then stopped when they heard a scraping sound above.
“Whoever it is, they’re moving something up there,” Dave said. He started pushing up on the trapdoor. It still wouldn’t budge. “Get up here and help me,” Dave ordered.
It was tight, but Rob managed to stand on the rung below Dave and reach up with his hands and push. Dave had his back hunched up and he was using his shoulder for leverage, his face looking down at the top of Rob’s head. Above them the stove was slowly moving, leaving deep scratches in the old wood floor as it circled toward the front door.
“Harder!” Dave demanded and before the stove was completely out of the way they forced the trapdoor up and toppled the heavy wood stove. The thud was loud enough for Missy and Kevin to hear outside.
Dave leaped through the opening just in time to see the rope go slack and hear an engine roar off. He bolted for the door and, for an instant before they disappeared down the trail, he saw two people in a little green tank.
Rob joined him. “Who was that?”
Dave snorted. “Remember Mr. Jackson’s utility vehicle? The one he wouldn’t let us ride in?” Rob nodded. “Well, his son and somebody else just drove away. I think maybe they were the ones who trapped us down there. Ricky and Lonnie may still be down in the caves.”
Rob turned and looked back at the open trapdoor. Dave met his gaze. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Rob shut the trapdoor and helped Dave upright the stove and scoot it back over the opening. They high-fived each other and laughed hysterically.