I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake, 1906

Leo’s inspiration for his trick on Fletch and Wilkie is a ghost story “every kid in San Francisco [knows]” (28). The story is of Corey Drew, a wealthy man who lived in what was at the time one of the most prosperous parts of the city: Rincon Hill. Corey was set to marry a beautiful wife and had a great life planned, when one day he was robbed and killed while walking up the hill. The person who killed him was never found, but the legend says that the ghost of Corey Drew still haunts Rincon Hill.

Leo doesn’t believe in the ghost, but he is sure he can scare Fletch and Wilkie with one. He grabs one of his dad’s old hats, powders his face white with flour, grabs a candle and heads toward Rincon Hill, where Fletch and Wilkie are hiding out. He thinks that “[w]ith their eyes full of sleep, hopefully Fletch and Wilkie would believe that they really could be looking at a ghost” (30). He knows that this idea might be out there, but he remembers Grandpop and the bear and decides to go through with it.

When Leo leaves the boarding house, it’s almost sunrise. He plans it carefully so that there is enough darkness to leave a spooky effect, but it’s close enough to the start of day that there will be people around in case something goes wrong. As he approaches Rincon Hill, he realizes the neighborhood is deserted. The only sound comes from the dogs that fill the streets, howling into the night. For a moment, he worries that their howling is a signal for danger. He reminds himself that “[b]rave people [get] spooked all the time. What made them brave was that they [don’t] let their fear stop them” (32). He thinks of all the scary experiences his Grandpop Faced, and finds the courage to keep going.

Rincon Hill, which was once a beautiful and wealthy neighborhood, has fallen into disrepair. Finally, Leo approaches a “beaten up building. The roof [is] half caved in […] The front window [is] shattered and the front door [is] hanging off its hinges” (33). Leo realizes this must be the place where Fletch and Wilkie are staying, and goes inside before he loses his nerve.

Inside, the place is filthy and damp, filled with rats and garbage. Fletch and Wilkie are asleep on the floor, with newspapers as blankets. Leo begins to look around to see if his gold nugget is laying out somewhere, but he doesn’t find it. He takes a deep breath and lights the candle, placing it under his face. He whispers into the darkness, asking for his gold.

For a moment, it seems as if the trick is going to work. Wilkie is immediately frightened by Leo’s ghostly act, but Fletch isn’t so easily fooled. Leo wants to run, but tries to imagine what his Grandpop would do. He thinks about what it would be like to be a real ghost, and thinks how Fletch and Wilkie have hurt so many people over the years, and “[i]f anyone deserved to be haunted, it [is] these two” (37). He makes himself even bigger and more commanding, and Wilkie begins to cower at the sound of Leo’s voice.

Just then, a loud crash interrupts the trick. Morris is standing in the doorway. The game is over, and a full on fight breaks out between the four boys. When Fletch starts to beat up Morris, Leo turns on Fletch and shoves him away. When Fletch looks back up at Leo, it’s with “the look of a rattlesnake ready to strike” (39). Fletch bounds to his feet and races toward Leo.

The beating never comes, however, because in that moment, the ground begins to shake beneath them. The noise gets louder and louder, and finally Wilkie asks what it is. Morris answers that it’s an earthquake, so they should all get out of there. He grabs Leo’s arm and tries to lead him out of the building.

Leo can’t run away because the shaking is too strong. All around him pieces of plaster fall to the floor and the air fills with dust. When it stops for a few seconds, Leo is able to get to his feet and Fletch darts out the door. It starts again, even stronger this time. Bricks begin to land around him as the chimney begins to collapse. Just as the whole chimney is about to cave in, Morris drags Leo out of the building and into the street. “The ground [gives] one last shake” (43), then everything is still and silent.

The neighborhood is unrecognizable. Leo looks around to see buildings completely demolished, families in the streets as their homes lay in piles of brick, glass, and plaster all around them. As Leo looks at the buildings, he realizes more people are probably stuck inside the buildings, buried alive, or even dead. Leo is suddenly filled with fear. He wonders where he will go now, since “[i]t had been hard enough for him to get by on his own before. How would he survive in this ruined city?” (44). It is hard for him not to worry about being on his own, facing a situation even Grandpop never faced before.

Beside him, Morris makes a comment that the dogs were probably howling because they can sense the vibrations underground before humans feel them. This is one of his facts he learned at the library. Before Leo can comment, another building collapses nearby. Morris tells him that it’s an aftershock, and that there will be more of them over the next few days.

Soon, fires start to break out from the earthquake breaking the gas lines. Morris tells Leo that they have to get out of there now, because the fire will only continue to spread. Leo, who is more afraid of fire than of anything else, obediently follows Morris. They discuss where they can go. Morris’s uncle left days ago to go gamble in another city, and Leo realizes that Morris, too, is really on his own.

Even though he used to find Morris annoying, Leo comes to understand that they have each other to depend on, and that makes Morris an invaluable friend. Morris saved Leo’s life, and is always there for him, which, ultimately, has to count for something. As they pass the saloon where they had been fighting with Fletch and Wilkie just moments ago, something catches Leo’s eye. From under the bricks of the collapsed chimney, something moves: a human hand.

Leo quickly realizes that the hand must belong to Wilkie, since Fletch definitely escaped before Leo and Morris did. Even though just “a few minutes ago he would have prayed for Wilkie Barnes to get buried in a heap of rubble” (49), he and Morris now find themselves pulling bricks off of the bully. Once they remove some of the bricks from him, Leo and Morris see what’s actually keeping Wilkie trapped: two roof beams.

The boys try to lift the beams off of Wilkie, to no avail. Meanwhile, the air is getting smokier and the fire continues to spread. If they don’t get him out from under the beams soon, all three of them will be trapped in the fire. After what feels like forever, Wilkie comes to consciousness and finds the strength to push the beams away from his body. As he stands, woozily, he asks about Fletch. Neither Leo nor Morris want “to say the truth: that Fletch had left Wilkie for dead in the rubble” (52). They don’t have to say this, however. Wilkie figures out what happens and is furious, throwing bricks at the remains of the saloon.

Wilkie explains to Leo and Morris that when he and Fletch had been at a work camp in Seattle, he had been offered the opportunity to play football at a fancy high school there. The coach offered to teach him everything, and it could have led him to more opportunities in the future. Wilkie had turned the coach down because he refused to leave Fletch alone. He laments the years that he spent with Fletch, that he went to jail because of him, and how after everything Fletch still abandoned him.

Leo is speechless after hearing Wilkie’s story, but Morris asks Wilkie to come with them. Wilkie seems shocked by this offer, but takes it. He suggests that they try to get Leo’s gold back from Fletch. He is sure that Fletch still has it, and he knows where to start looking for him.