Chapter Thirty-One

Hank led the group into the mine entrance. “Be careful, and watch your footing! Try not to touch any of these old timbers. This ancient shaft has seen better days.” Hank shined his flashlight ahead and noticed some of the timbers swaying as if ready to fall at any minute.

“I think Piper and Cayce should go back, Hank. This is too dangerous. If the mine caves in, no one will be able to find us.”

“I’m in for the duration, Zach, and I know Mom is, too. Are you getting any feelings, Mom?”

“Just cold and damp and an adrenaline rush—same as all of you—and you’re right, Piper. I’m in for the long haul. Besides, the horses are outside. Someone will find them eventually, and Teesh knows where we are, and probably Bill and the sheriff, too, by now.” Cayce walked fast, but glanced at her daughter to try to get a sense of what she was feeling. “What about you, Piper? Any feelings?”

“Yes. Extreme panic, but I don’t know if it’s mine, Billie’s, or…” She glanced at Zach and paused. “The others’.” She moved up beside Zach and took his hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

Hank stopped and listened.

“What is it, Hank?” Cayce moved to stand beside him.

“Just the creaking of these old timbers.” In just seconds, he started again, this time jogging.

****

Charlie moved faster, and Harri panted, trying to catch up. Finally, she stopped, bent over, and rested her hands on her knees.

“Let me…catch…my breath…Charlie,” she was whispering through her huffs. Charlie must have realized she was not behind him and backtracked.

He squatted down beside her, reached over, and touched her hand.

“Harri okay?” he asked in the sweetest deep whisper she had ever heard.

“Yes…just out of shape.” She stood and touched his arm. “Let’s go, but a little slower, please.”

****

Billie was running for her life, their life, and her adrenaline kicked in again. She ran like a blind person, like Grammar, without the aid of a cane or time to pick her footing, and afraid to risk the flashlight. Just when she thought her heart would explode, she saw a glimmer of light, a glimmer of hope, and knew she must be getting close to the mine’s entrance. She hoped and prayed she would not run into any other members of the Fold, especially not the Keeper himself. The light was faint, not enough for her to see her path, but enough to make her go faster as she headed toward it.

And God said, “Let there be light; and God saw the light that it was good.”

The light ahead flickered before going out, but she ran on. Then, the ground dropped from beneath her; her body hurtled through open space, out of control. There was only enough time for one quick scream before she hit bottom, landing on her side.

Excruciating pain shot through her. She wanted her flashlight, but it was hard to move. Finally, she rolled over onto her stomach and willed herself to get to her knees, but she could not pull her legs under her. Her head hurt, and so did the rest of her body. She found it difficult to breathe. When her breath did return, she used her right hand, the only one she could feel, and felt of her stomach. Her baby fluttered, letting her know she or he was still alive. It was then Billie noticed an unbearable stench. She covered her nose and mouth with her right hand and lay a few minutes deciding what to do.

She moved her hand from her face and took short breaths, trying not to take in any more of the smell than she had to, and stretched out her right arm. She felt around and stopped when she touched something partially beneath her, the something that had cushioned her fall. It was hard, but she could also feel something soft like clothing. Having no other choice, she pulled out the Maglite. She had to know where she was and what her options were, assuming there were any, and she had to know if what she had felt beneath and beside her was what she feared it was.

The Maglite gave several weak flickers before dying, but in the quick spurts of light, she saw the most horrific sight of her eighteen years. Deep-socketed eyes set in drying, dark flesh stared at her as if still begging for help, and Billie knew she had found Lisa. She gasped, and her own eyes rolled back in her head as darkness and loss of hope engulfed her.

****

As Harri followed Charlie, he led her around a curve that seemed to be taking them back in the opposite direction.

This must be a side tunnel. I hope Charlie knows where we’re going.

Harri heard cracking and popping and realized the old timbers in the mine were not sturdy in this section. She hoped they would not need to be rescued—or worse, recovered. She trembled and then put her fears out of her mind, ready to concentrate on the young girl, Billie. Charlie slowed, and Harri felt many loose rocks in their path, fallen from the walls of the tunnel.

Soon, she saw a faint light up ahead. Charlie slowed to a creep and put his arms out as if to prevent Harri from running past him, something highly unlikely as she breathed deeply, recovering from Charlie’s speed.

If I get out of here, I’m starting a whole new fitness regime, a tougher one than I did before. I will get back in shape like I was a year ago…or maybe more fit! No more chocolate pie and brownies for you, Harri. Well, maybe just a little piece of pie every once in a while.

Charlie stopped and reached for Harri’s flashlight. She knew the light was for her benefit; Charlie could see like Jezzie with his cat eyes.

He turned the flashlight on and shined it at the ground in front of him, and Harri saw a hole four or five feet in diameter just in front of them. Charlie seemed reluctant to move to the side of the hole, so Harri took the flashlight from his hand and moved to the edge, being careful not to get too close.

“The pit,” she whispered, and Charlie moved carefully to her side, still refusing to look into the hole. Harri turned the beam downward—and wanted to scream, but restrained herself. At the bottom of the deep pit, she could see two bodies—one that was partly skeletal, and the other that looked much fresher, in an early process of decomposition. But what Harri was most intent on was the body lying partially on top of the others. She thought she heard a sound, a soft moan.

“Billie! Billie!” Harri called.

Charlie looked in the hole now and called down. “Billie! Charlie bring friend!”

Slowly, the girl lifted her head and followed the beam of light upward.

“Help…me!” She begged in a soft, weak voice, and then closed her eyes again.

Before Harri had time to figure out how to get to Billie, she heard voices in the tunnel behind them. There was nowhere to run. The hole consumed the passageway. The only way out was back through the tunnel.

“Charlie, you have to get help!” she whispered. “Can you jump across the pit?”

Harri could see Charlie nodding his head. Charlie pushed Harri gently to the side and backed up several feet. Then he took off in a sprint. Harri held the beam where he could see better, or so she could see if he made it.

Harri could not believe how fast the little man’s legs moved. When he reached the pit, he never faltered as he sailed across the opening like a wild buck jumping a fence. Harri held her breath until Charlie cleared the hole, landing on the other side with a foot or two to spare.

“Run, Charlie! Run!” Harri whispered as loud as she dared, and run he did. Harri’s heart was racing, and she turned her flashlight off. She headed back through the tunnel to find an indentation where she might hide, but knew it was a long shot. She held tight to the big, heavy, metal flashlight, her only possible weapon. The voices were close, and her only choice now was to melt herself against the tunnel wall and wait.

I may go down, but I’m taking at least one of them with me with this big flashlight…if I can reach the top of those big monsters, that is.

****

Charlie heard voices ahead, but he did not stop. He hoped the bad people were behind him. But regardless, he had to get to the tunnel entrance he knew was close to the summer cabin where he and his dad had lived until his dad died. The cabin had burned a few years ago when lightning struck a tree nearby, and Charlie only visited the cabin now, living full time up the valley from Bar None in the old log winter cabin his dad had built before Charlie was born.

As Charlie got closer to the voices, he recognized them as more of his friends. His legs moved faster, and he began to call.

“Zach! Hank! Billie need help!”

All four friends heard Charlie’s voice at the same time. Hank and Zach left Cayce and Piper behind as they sprinted in the direction of Charlie’s panic-filled voice.

“Harri and Billie need help!” Charlie yelled as he took off running back the way he’d come.