Until last night, that is. While we were doing that, a lady came in and talked to Hiccup about cutting us a check. We weren't really even sure which end of the mall we'd come in from, and we were reluctant to look down at the end of the mall where the strange person had been trying for unlocked doors. I'd only been to the Dodd City Schoolhouse once before, when Slim Jim and myself had stumbled upon it by accident a few years back, so I didn't really remember where it was. As the person got closer, I could tell from the baggy clothes that the person, a guy, was definitely no cop.
There were scattered boards here and there and wooden beams holding up the ceiling. They were mostly empty, with some junk, although one contained tanks for what was probably once a sprinkler system.
All the tile had already been pulled up from the floor, and we could see shops all along the way had plastic covering their entrances.
There just wasn't any easy way to get down there and check it out. They were in Tulane Stadium when John Gilliam returned their franchise-opening kick-off for a touchdown.
We hung out for a while down there, checking out my parents' camper. To make matters worse, I noticed that each time the figure would pass one of the doors to the mall he would walk over to it and attempt to open it. The wall led right up to a small bridge that crossed the creek directly in front of the schoolhouse. He said no, but they did in the past.
I was determined to keep exploring the rest of the day anyway, but I really just wanted to go back to our room and lie down.
Hiccup and I talked about whether we should just go into the schoolhouse anyway, or whether we should ask those people if they minded us going in there first. We weren't really even sure which end of the mall we'd come in from, and we were reluctant to look down at the end of the mall where the strange person had been trying for unlocked doors. I ended up just taking the rope out of my backpack and throwing it down so I wouldn't have to carry it again. I had no idea what I was going to do. There wasn't too much to see, so we went up the wooden stairs to the upper floor.