The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide #1)(72)
The last bit of information must have struck a chord with Cash because the actor got out of the car to see the fossilized wood for himself. He climbed down into the canyon and fell to his knees at the first petrified log he found. The actor placed his hand on the log and began to weep uncontrollably. He cried so hard tears and snot dripped down his face, like he was kneeling at the tombstone of an old friend.
Topher, Joey, Sam, and Mo couldn’t figure out what was causing his bizarre mood swings. Still, they all kneeled beside the actor to offer him their support.
“What’s wrong, bud?” Topher asked.
“I just can’t believe how long this has been here…,” the actor cried. “It’s overwhelming when you think about it.… Somehow this wood has stood the test of time beyond anything else we know.… It was here hundreds of millions of years before us and it’ll be here for hundreds of millions of years after us.… It’s a little certainty in such an uncertain world.… None of us even know what tomorrow will bring.… None of us know what’s next.…”
The actor rested his head on the petrified wood and continued crying. Although he wasn’t making much sense, the Downers Grove natives realized where all the emotion was coming from. After a week of being criticized, analyzed, insulted, humiliated, and vilified by every news source, radio station, talk show, magazine, and gossip blog on the planet, Cash Carter was finally having the breakdown the media all wanted. It was possibly the most human moment the actor had ever experienced, and unfortunately for the tabloids, no one was there to catch him in the act.
Once they finished exploring the Petrified Forest, the Downers Grove gang journeyed farther west toward the Arizona Meteor Crater. At four o’clock they exited the interstate and ventured down another winding desert road to the site of the prehistoric impact. From the parking lot the attraction just looked like a rocky hill, but once they climbed up to the observation deck surrounding the crater, they stared down at the enormous hole in awe. It was nearly a mile wide and several hundred feet deep.
“This is incredible!” Sam said. “I had no idea how big it would be!”
“That’s what she said,” Joey joked. “But I know, right? It’s like God just scooped out a piece of the earth with a giant ice cream scooper.”
“Finally, something on this road trip that doesn’t disappoint,” Mo said. “I was afraid this would just be a glorified pothole.”
“Some scientists think this was the meteor that killed all the dinosaurs,” Topher informed the group. “Can you imagine how hard the ground must have shaken on impact?”
Cash wasn’t as interested in the attraction as the others. He skulked to the far end of the observation deck and lit another cigarette. Meanwhile, Topher, Joey, Sam, and Mo took selfies, group pictures, and panoramas of the crater. They posted their pictures on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat—grateful to finally have something worth sharing.
All their phones began to buzz at the same time with an incoming video chat.
“Oh look, Huda and Davi are calling us,” Mo said. “I bet they saw our pictures and are jeeeeeeealous! Let’s answer our phones with the crater in the background to really rub it in.”
They turned their backs to the crater and answered their friends’ calls at the same time.
“Hey, guys!” Topher said. “Guess where we are!”
Huda and Davi were very distressed, like some kind of tragedy had occurred. Davi’s face was bright red and he was panting like he had run all the way to the cybercafe. Huda’s eyes were puffy like she had been crying.
“Is it true?” Huda sniffled. “We figured you guys would know since you’re with him.”
“Is what true?” Mo asked.
“You haven’t heard?” Davi asked in shock. “It’s been all over the news and the Wizzer blogs.”
“We’ve been trying to avoid the Internet since St. Louis,” Joey said.
“Are you talking about the rumors of Cash missing stunt training?” Sam asked. “Because if so, you guys don’t need to worry about that. It was just a misunderstanding and Cash took care of it.”
His words were anything but helpful. In fact, the international Wizzers started panicking a little more.
“Davi, they don’t know what we’re talking about!” Huda said. “How can they be in the dark when they’re with him?”
“Sorry, our Google Alerts were becoming too much so we turned them off,” Topher said. “What’s going on?”
They could tell Davi was searching the Internet while talking to them because his eyes darted all over his screen. The Brazilian boy came across something that made him gasp and cover his face.
“Oh no!” Davi exclaimed. “Huda, it’s true! Some site called Deadline just confirmed it!”
The Saudi Arabian girl burst into tears like she had learned a family member had been killed. She had to cover her mouth so she wouldn’t wake up anyone in her house.
“You’re scaring us!” Mo said. “Just spit it out! What happened?”
“Guys…,” Huda whimpered. “We didn’t want to believe it at first.… The network made the announcement this afternoon.… Wiz Kids has been canceled! The show’s not coming back! It’s all over!”