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It took some time to get all the way back to Angus. Everyone was quiet, and the broken skateboard that Bea carried on her back was a constant reminder of what they'd left behind. But when finally they squeezed through the tight space that had stopped Angus, the grin on his face when he saw Gregg was heartwarming. The two embraced with unconcealed emotion and they continued up and out of the mine hand-in-hand.

"So what are we going to do now?" Germ asked Bea.

"I guess I need to take this to the police."

"Let me go with you, Bea," Mae offered. "We can talk to Aunt Molly."

"I thought you didn't like her."

"I don't. But she's better than the rest," Mae said as they got off the lift and saw the first glimmer of the light of day.

"You going to tell her about the rest of us?" Germ asked.

"Not if I can help it, but you know how the police are. They can worm stuff out of you."

"Hey!" Mae said, anger creeping into her voice. "It's not like WE killed them!"

"Not them, no," Bea agreed. She let the fact that they probably had indeed killed the cultists hang unsaid but very obvious.

"Bea, do what you think is right," Angus said from behind her and she turned around.

"Thanks Angus. I hope we don't get into too much trouble, but we've got to tell them."

"We could... I dunno, leave a note or something," Mae suggested.

"Na. Let's just get this out in the open and be done with it - for better or worse," Gregg said, and they all turned around at that. Gregg seemed like the last person who would want to come clean to the cops.

Bea turned to the others, and - one by one - they all agreed.

"Okay. We'll talk to Aunt Molly. Just me and Mae. It will be good to get this all over with."

With that, they stepped into the late afternoon sun. Everything was as they'd left it, and the climb up the broken tree limb wasn't too hard. Germ was the last to drop to the ground, then they walked through the woods before emerging at Bea's car.

"Good luck you two," Gregg said from the back seat as they headed back towards town.

"And if it all goes bad," Germ added, "we'll have fun in prison!"

"Yeah, thanks for that encouraging word,' Bea spat.

"Hard to commit crimes in prison," Mae noted.

"Not if you're determined!" Gregg laughed.

"They gonna have to take me in a four piece!"

"Dude, you packin' wolf tickets. You gonna be on the bumper beggin'."

"You gonna be hangin in the ding wing sippin' that bug juice, girl."

"You best be ridin' the leg of some honcho the minute they open the steel, dude."

"Dude, I'm gonna be the rabbit. I'll be outta my peels before they find my boof."

"You better or you be meeting some big ass commandos your first night."

"Guys," Bea interrupted. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Where were you during Prison Week?" Mae said with a grin.

"We're just practicing our prison lingo," Gregg explained.

"Prison Week? What's that?"

"Prison Week? Do you even TV? How do you not know Prison Week?"

Angus filled her in. "Every year there's a thing where TV shows do a week on prison related themes, Bea."

"Oh. Yeah, I don't even TV," Bea said, mimicking Gregg.

They dropped Germ and his gear off first, before letting Gregg and Angus out in front of their building, then taking the car back behind the Ol' Pickaxe.

Bea opened the trunk and looked at the broken skateboard.

"You ready to do this?" Bea asked Mae as she picked it up.

"No."

"Me neither. But let's get it done."

They started walking up the street towards the police station.

"Hey, there's Aunt Molly over there. Let's just go talk to her."

As they approached, the policewoman looked up but her eyes widened when she saw the skateboard. Casey certainly wasn't the only skater in town, but there weren't a lot of them and she had certainly been given a description of his board during the search.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mae said flatly. "We found him."

"Really? You found Casey?"

"Yes Officer Molly," Bea said, denying Mae her accustomed put-down of her aunt.

The cat's eyes scanned the two.

"You've been down in the mine. In there?"

They both nodded.

"Okay. Come with me back to the station. Detective Brown hasn't gone home yet..."

Bea looked at Mae. Mae nodded her acceptance, but Bea saw the worried look on her friend's face and she suddenly felt very protective of her friend. She took Mae's hand and the two followed Aunt Molly.

*********************

Four hours later Bea finally emerged from the detective's office. She saw Mae sitting in the hallway waiting for her.

Aunt Molly was with her, and she stood up as Bea approached.

"Stay here for just a little while, okay? Let me talk with the detective for a minute."

Bea nodded and sat beside Mae. Her friend's face was tear streaked.

"It's okay, Mae."

"Oh Bea, I couldn't help it. I told them everything."

"Yeah. I did too. Look Mae, whatever happens happens, okay? You had to."

"I'm not worried about me," Mae said, choking up. "I'm worried about Gregg and Angus. And Germ."

"Me too. But Mae, we had to. We had to do all of it. We never had a choice. If we hadn't, we'd never know who they were. Mae, they killed people. They killed Casey, and if we hadn't done what we did, they might have killed us. Certainly others."

Mae's eyes found her own and she looked at Bea like a child seeking assurance from her mother. Bea felt very worried herself, but for her friend she stayed strong and tried to exude confidence she didn't feel.

"We did, didn't we?"

"Mae, we saved lives. You know we did. If these guys don't see that, fuck them."

Mae's face turned bitter. "Yeah. Fuck them."

"We're goddamn heroes, Mae. You're a goddamn hero."

The door opened sometime later and Molly stepped out.

"Come with me, guys. We need to talk."

"Do I need a lawyer?" Bea asked warily.

"No, Bea. Come on, let's go into my office where it's private."

They followed Aunt Molly again, down the hall and into a small office where Molly shut the door.

Bea sat beside Mae in front of Molly's desk and looked around. The shelves were full of obscure books and a few official-looking papers were framed and hung behind Molly's desk. She apparently was no mall cop regardless of what Mae called her.

"First, let's get this out of the way. There will be no charges against you. For any of it."

"None of us? Really?!" Mae burst out, as if releasing pent-up pressure.

"No. We didn't release it, but we found evidence that something like this was going on. Diaries from two of the... well, of the people that died in the cave-in. They were very detailed. They named names."

Bea felt her face redden with anger. "But... you didn't arrest anybody?!"

"No. We didn't. Because they are all dead. Every one of them named in those diaries was killed in the cave-in. We had no evidence. So we kept it quiet."

"You'll find evidence enough now," Bea assured her.

"Sounds like it. But you did the right thing. The policewoman in me says you didn't, but the woman in me knows you did. I talked with detective Brown. We're not going to press any charges against you. Not for trespassing or anything else. But I'm asking you not to tell anyone else about it. We'll release a statement once we've recovered the bodies, but we won't mention any of you. But the media is going to be on this like flies on shit. They'll find out who it was that discovered the victims. I suggest you tell them whatever you want about today, but don't mention... the freak cave-in. Alright?"

"We can do that," Bea assured her.

"Good. We'll have a team out there tomorrow to recover them. I'm going to take the skateboard to Casey's parents tonight. You know... if you'd have told us all this last year..."

"We thought you'd find them," Mae said, a little indignantly.

"We might have, if we'd known where to look. The diaries mentioned the pit, but they didn't say where it was, Mae. Guys, we're just people trying to keep the peace. We're not superhuman when we put on this badge."

Bea considered asking if she could come along, but decided against it. His parents would have a tough enough time dealing with the truth without some ex-girlfriend they didn't even know showing up at their doorstep.

"Thanks, Aunt Molly," Mae said. "I'm sorry about... all that Mall Cop stuff."

"No problem, Mae. Now you two get on home. Tell your parents. About today. They'll find out soon enough anyway. Best you tell them first."

Bea thanked her as well, and the two left the police station.

"Hey Bea," Mae said as they walked down the street. "Can I come over later?"

"Sure Mae. I think I'd like that."

"Might be very 'later'."

"I'll keep the window open," Bea laughed.

They split up at Bea's building. As she climbed her stairs, Bea was feeling pretty good, all things considered. She wondered what the next few weeks would bring, but Molly's assurance that they wouldn't get in trouble with the law relieved a burden on her mind that she only realized had been there when it was gone.

"Is that you, Bea?" her father's voice came to her when she opened the door.

"Yup, it's me dad."

"Glad to have you back. How was your camping trip?"

She walked into the TV room and sat on the couch.

"Dad, we have to talk..."