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“Get that bag, Billy!” Mitch barked orders as they snuck back down to their hideout deep in the cave. “We’re gonna have to bug out before it gets too hot to get these rocks out.”
“Where are we gonna go, Mitch?”
“My buddy’s dad has an old hunting cabin not far from Kelso,” Mitch said. “We can stay there until things cool off.”
“How are we gonna get there? We ain’t got no truck.”
“No, we’ll have to hike out,” Mitch said. It would take them a couple of days to do that. They’d come in from the south last time they’d hiked in, but Mitch decided it’d be better to avoid the roads, and go east, crossing the roads only when they had to, and hopefully late at night.
“Can I wear my Bigfoot shoes? You know I hike better when I have my Bigfoot shoes on.”
Mitch rolled his eyes at his cousin. “Sure, Billy. Whatever makes you happy. Wear the whole dang monkey suit if you want. Now, come on. We don’t have time to fart around.”
“What are we going to do with all these rocks?” Billy hoisted the heavy knapsack over his shoulder. It was full of the uncut stones. The diamonds were worth more money than he’d ever seem. Mitch couldn’t wait to cash them in. The last load they’d hauled out had brought in more than ten thousand dollars. He was saving up. He had big plans. Plans that required cash, and lots of it.
“You just let me worry about that, Billy. I think they could be really pretty if we polish them up. We can make Indian Jewelry out of them ... sell them to the tourists,” he knew he was lying through his teeth. He didn’t care. Billy wasn’t all that bright. He had suffered a traumatic brain injury while playing football when they were kids. He had no idea what they’d really been doing for these past few months. He just thought they were digging for rocks. Mitch didn’t want him to know what they really were.
“Think we’ll make ten dollars?” Billy’s eyes lit up in the dim lamp light.
Mitch smiled to himself. “Maybe.”
“I could do a lot with ten dollars,” Billy said, waiting for Mitch to finish packing his bag.
“Like what?” Mitch sneered.
“Think I could get me a hooker for ten dollars?”
“What would you do with a hooker, Billy?”
“Well I don’t know. I never had one.” Billy shrugged. “If I found a pretty one, I could take her on a date.”
“A date, huh? Come on, let’s go.”
“What about those people?”
Mitch turned and looked blindly down the dark cavern where they’d left them. There was no way anyone could get out of there in the dark. “We’ll come back for them later,” Mitch said.
“Promise? I wouldn’t like being left down there in the dark.”
Mitch wanted to smack Billy, but his hands were too full. “Can we just get out of here already?”
“Promise we’ll come back?” Billy stood fast and wasn’t about to move.
“I freaking promise, Billy. Now, let’s go!”
* * *
The Ancient One came into the cavern. Lauren was aware of his presence. She could sense he was agitated. His breath rumbled heavily in his chest. She felt her hair prickle on her neck. She lifted her head from Rowan’s shoulder, sitting up as he approached. She hadn’t realized they were alone in the cavern.
“What’s wrong?”
“Danger.” His eyes spoke the words in her head even as the cavern began to tremble and debris began to fall. Lauren threw herself instinctively over Rowan’s body, supporting her weight on her hands and knees. She shielded his head with her arms, sacrificing her own safety for his.
The Bigfoot did the same for her. She could smell the odor of wood smoke and herbs in his fur, along with an earthy, beastly smell. Had she not been so afraid, she might have gagged at the stink. Instead, she buried her face against Rowan’s chest. He didn’t smell April-fresh either, but it was somewhat better. It was a more familiar smell.
A piece of debris hit the top of her hand and rolled close enough for her to see. She’d never seen uncut diamonds loose like that before. But she knew that’s what it was when she saw it. Being the scientist that she was, she wanted to study it. Without second-guessing herself, she reached out and picked it up. It wasn’t until the ground stopped shaking that she had time to question her decision to collect data during an earthquake, but by then it was too late.
“Come.” Tsul’Kalu lifted her up effortlessly by the arm. She suddenly recollected him catching her like that once before. He’d caught her to pull her away from the fake Bigfoot who’d kidnapped her. The memory of the pain echoed in her bones, and she flinched. The Ancient One abruptly sat her down. “Forgive me, Truth Seeker. It is easy to forget how fragile you are. I never meant to harm you.”
“You saved me,” Lauren put a hand on his arm. “I don’t blame you.”
“We must go. It’s not safe here.”
“But, Rowan ...”
The beast scooped him up as if he weighed nothing. Lauren shouldn’t have been surprised. His arms were like tree trunks. Rowan winced. He looked like a child in the Bigfoot’s arms. “Follow me.”
More of the creatures fled through the lava tube, and none too soon. The shaking began again as they entered the tunnel that Lauren presumed would lead them out. She fell against the wall, and was shielded again by the Bigfoot. As soon as the quake subsided, they continued.
The passage twisted through the mountainside, weaving left and right, and Lauren was completely turned around. When it got so dark she couldn’t see, she clutched a handful of fur on the Bigfoot’s arm and let him lead her. It seemed to take forever to get to the surface.
When they broke out of the small entrance of the cave, there were at least a dozen Sasquatch gathered in the dense underbrush. The white Bigfoot tended a wounded Sasquatch’s forehead. She turned to Tsul’Kalu, and Lauren suspected he had communicated with him in a way she couldn’t fathom.
In the distance, a fellow tribesman called to the group. One of their band tipped back its head and returned the call. Lauren trembled, stepping closer to Tsul’Kalu out of reflex. She’d heard these calls in the distant, but never had she been so close. It was a bone-chilling cry. She understood now. It was little more than a simple call. “Over here!” or, “We’re here!”
The Ancient One grunted something and Lauren sensed, rather than heard, him directing them to scatter into the woods and regroup at another location, the name of which Lauren didn’t understand. They did as he ordered; the uninjured aiding the wounded. “We must find your people,” Tsul’Kalu said.
Lauren was so turned around, she had no idea which way to go. It was dark, save for moon glow behind thick clouds. How long had they been underground?
“Longer than you realize,” the beast answered in her head. “Come.” They picked their way down the side of the mountain. He could have traveled much faster alone. Carrying a man and leading a frightened woman was slowing him down.
He led her through the dense trees, over outcroppings of rock and then out across a wide plain of volcanic ash. Nothing grew there. The earth was crunchy beneath their feet. Lauren sensed the beast’s discomfort at being out in the open. Like a doe with fawns entering a meadow at dawn to feed, he was on edge. He moved quicker. “Keep up, little one,” he thought.
“I’m trying,” she answered.
They finally cleared the wide expanse of what had been pyroclastic flow from the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helen’s. Ashen sand made uncomfortable grit in her boots but she had no time to attend to it. At the moment, comfort was less of a priority than safety.