the simple trap: 5

After lunch was over, the plastic plates scraped off and cleaned, and returned to their plastic bag, Cory led Darryl and Karl down to the springhouse. They walked down across the browning yard, towards the creek. They crossed the road, and then down the bank by the creek that ran down the length of the road.
Karl saw that the clasp on the door was twisted and dented. Darryl put his hand on the door, and pushed, but found that it swung outward. He opened the door, and Karl saw three steps down, into deep black.
The doorjamb seemed to bend a little to Karl. Must be the dim sun, the steel clouds, he thought. He looked up at the sky, at the shiny clouds. No sun for more than a year.
“Just walk down in there. With the door open, you can see well enough,” said Cory.
But Karl didn’t follow Darryl down into the spring house; he stood in front of it, clenching his jaws. He swallowed a rubber ball in his throat. There was enough room for the two of them, among the shelf – lined walls. Shit.
“Can we pull the shelves out of the back wall?” Darryl shouted out at Cory.
“Yeah, sure man. Sure ain’t anything down here worth preserving at this point.”
“I can’t believe nobody’s tried to raid this yet,” Karl said, looking right at the twisted latch.
Cory said, “What? Well, they did. I should have slept out here every night. You’d have seen the broken glass on the floor, if you were in there.” He gestured towards the door with his forefinger, and contempt.
Karl picked it up like a magnet, and took a step towards the door. Then he stopped again. Darryl rustled beyond the door like a fox in leaves.
“You need me down there?”
“Yes, Karl. Come down here for a second, help me get this shelf,” said Darryl.
“All right, well, I’m going to go see if there’s anything in the trap line. Would’ve gone out a lot earlier, but then again, y’all came along,” said Cory. He turned to walk back across the road to the trailer.
Karl put his hand up against the doorjamb, and looked down into the mouth of the cellar.