That night, as Stanley lay on his scratchy and smelly cot, he tried to figure out what he could have done differently, but there was nothing he could do. For once in his unlucky life, he was in the right place at the right time, and it still didn’t help him.
“You got it?” he asked X-Ray the next morning at breakfast.
X-Ray looked at him with half-opened eyes behind his dirty glasses. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grumbled.
“You know…” said Stanley.
“No, I don’t know!” X-Ray snapped. “So just leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to talk to you.”
Stanley didn’t say another word.
Mr. Sir marched the boys out to the lake, chewing sunflower seeds along the way and spitting out the shells. He scraped the ground with his boot heel, to mark where each boy was supposed to dig.
Stanley stamped down on the back of the blade of the shovel, piercing the hard, dry earth. He couldn’t figure out why X-Ray snapped at him. If he wasn’t going to produce the tube, why did he make Stanley give it to him? Was he just going to keep it? The tube was gold in color, but Stanley didn’t think it was real gold.
The water truck came a little after sunrise. Stanley finished his last drop of water and stepped up out of his hole. At this time of day, Stanley sometimes could see some distant hills or mountains on the other side of the lake. They were only visible for a short while and would soon disappear behind the haze of heat and dirt.
The truck stopped, and the dust cloud drifted past it. X-Ray took his place at the front of the line. Mr. Pendanski filled his canteen.
“Thanks, Mom,” X-Ray said. He didn’t mention the tube.
Mr. Pendanski filled all the canteens, then climbed back into the cab of the pickup. He still had to bring water to Group E. Stanley could see them digging about two hundred yards away.
“Mr. Pendanski!” X-Ray shouted from his hole. “Wait! Mr.
Pendanski! I think I might have found something!”
The boys all followed Mr. Pendanski as he walked over to X-Ray’s hole. Stanley could see the gold tube sticking out of some dirt on the end of X-Ray’s shovel.
Mr. Pendanski examined it and took a long look at its flat bottom. “I think the Warden is going to like this.”
“Does X-Ray get the day off?” asked Squid.
“tust keep digging until someone says otherwise,” Mr. Pendanski said. Then he smiled. “But if I were you, Rex, I wouldn’t dig too hard.”
Stanley watched the cloud of dust move across the lake to the cabin beneath the trees.
The boys in Group E were just going to have to wait.
It didn’t take long for the pickup to return. Mr. Pendanski stepped out of the cab. A tall woman with red hair stepped out of the passenger side. She looked even taller than she was, since Stanley was down in his hole. She wore a black cowboy hat and black cowboy boots which were studded with turquoise stones. The sleeves on her shirt were rolled up, and her arms were covered with freckles, as was her face. She walked right up to X-Ray.
“This where you found it?” “Yes, ma’am.”
“Your good work will be rewarded.” She turned to Mr. Pendanski. “Drive X-Ray back to camp. Let him take a double shower, and give him some clean clothes. But first I want you to fill everyone’s canteen.”
“I just filled them a little while ago,” said Mr. Pendanski.
The Warden stared hard at him. “Excuse me,” she said. Her voice was soft.
“I had just filled them when Rex—”
“Excuse me,” the Warden said again. “Did I ask you when you last filled them?”
“No, but it’s just—” “Excuse me.”
Mr. Pendanski stopped talking. The Warden wiggled her finger for him to come to her. “It’s hot and it’s only going to get hotter,” she said. “Now, these fine boys have been working hard. Don’t you think it might be possible that they might have taken a drink since you last filled their canteens?”
Mr. Pendanski said nothing.
The Warden turned to Stanley. “Caveman, will you come here, please?”
Stanley was surprised she knew his name. He had never seen her. Until she stepped out of the truck, he didn’t even know the Warden was a woman.
He nervously went toward her.
“Mr. Pendanski and I have been having a discussion. Have you taken a drink since Mr. Pendanski last filled your canteen?”
Stanley didn’t want to cause any trouble for Mr. Pendanski. “I still got plenty left,” he said. “Excuse me.”
He stopped. “Yeah, I drank some.”
“Thank you. May I see your canteen please.”
Stanley handed it to her. Her fingernails were painted dark red.
She gently shook the canteen, letting the water swish inside the plastic container. “Do you hear the empty spaces?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Mr. Pendanski.
“Then fill it,” she said. “And the next time I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it without questioning my authority. If it’s too much trouble for you to fill a canteen, I’ll give you a shovel. You can dig the hole, and the Caveman can fill your canteen.” She turned back to Stanley. “I don’t think that would be too much trouble for you, would it?”
“No,” said Stanley.
“So what will it be?” she asked Mr. Pendanski. “Do you want to fill the canteens or do you want to dig?”
“I’ll fill the canteens,” said Mr. Pendanski.
“Thank you.”
