Authors: C. Cervi
“I’m here, Keith.”
“The cart’s not exactly full, but I needed to come get you. Emily brought the food. She said she’ll be back with the water soon, and that Grant is coming with her to help us finish. I guess we’re falling too far behind schedule.”
Aaron tucked the book away, and did his best to help Keith empty the cart. He was worn out again by the time they got back to the cavern, but for some reason, the fact that Grant was coming to help made him angry, and he forced himself to at least stay on his feet. Grant appeared a few minutes later with Emily and the water. Aaron tried to make the younger boys drink first, but Philip ignored him, bringing a cup of water to his brother instead. Tom moaned and thrashed his head when Philip tried to get him to drink, and Aaron went to him in concern. He reached out, and could feel the heat radiating from Tom’s body even before he touched his forehead.
“He’s burning up,” Aaron said to Grant.
Grant sighed and ran his scarred hand through his thick hair.
“There’s nothing we can do for him right now,” he said, then picked up a shovel and headed for the area Keith had last been working in.
Aaron looked to Emily—she had gotten medicine before. As if she knew what was on his mind, her eyes grew wide with fright. Aaron lingered a moment more over the water bucket.
“He needs medicine,” he said softly to Emily.
She shook her head slightly and turned to leave. Aaron grabbed her arm to stop her, and she whirled in fright. He instantly released her.
“I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to scare you. Can you at least tell me where it is, and I’ll try to get it?”
Emily’s eyes darted from Grant’s back, to Tom lying on the ground, then back to Aaron.
“They’ll know it was me,” she whispered, and tears filled her eyes.
Aaron rested his forehead on his fist. She was right—they would know, and her life had already been threatened. He turned again to Tom. The man was in pain, and he was helpless to do anything about it. He nodded his head slowly and laid a hand on Emily’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry I asked you,” he said.
She was about to speak when a loud explosion sounded from the tunnel behind her, followed by the deafening crash of rocks and a thick billow of dust.
Dirt and rocks continued to fall until Aaron thought for sure they would all be buried alive. When the deafening noise finally did stop, it was almost as sudden as it had begun. The candles had been blown out, and they found themselves surrounded by darkness.
Aaron immediately began calling for Keith, who answered that he was unharmed. Philip also called out, and the sounds of Emily’s sobbing let them know that she was also alive.
“Philip, check your brother,” Aaron called to him. “Grant . . . Grant !”
Aaron moved carefully in Grant’s direction, feeling around the rocks and boulders that had fallen to the ground. He could hear Philip talking softly to Tom, and the sounds of Keith scurrying around the cavern.
Emily was close to being hysterical, and Aaron called to her.
“Emily, I need you to see if you can find the water bucket. Can you do that?”
She didn’t answer, but her cries softened, and he could hear her beginning to move around. A moment later he ran into something soft, and got down on his hands and knees to feel. It was definitely Grant. Aaron moved his hands along the prone body, checking for injuries. He was able to feel the large man’s chest rising and falling, although quite a bit slower than he would have liked.
“Aaron!” Philip’s panicked voice suddenly filled the cavern.
When the boy started screaming his name, Aaron scrambled toward him as fast as he could manage.
“Philip, I’m coming.”
He banged his knee against a large rock, and cursed the darkness.
“Keith, I can’t see. I’ve got to light a candle,” he called to his brother above the young boys shrieks.
“Go ahead, I’m almost to him.”
Aaron stopped and quickly untied his belt. He cursed again when the contents fell to the ground, and he felt around carefully for the matches. His hand fell across a single match and he grabbed it, striking it against a rock. He found two candles stubs, lit them, then hurried over to Tom. Keith pulled Philip off his brother so that Aaron could get a closer look. The man’s still body was half buried under a pile of rocks, and it didn’t take Aaron long to determine that Tom’s sufferings had ended. He lifted his head slowly to the boy.
“I’m so sorry.”
“No!” Philip screamed and, ripping himself from Keith’s grasp, he clawed at the rocks surrounding his brother’s body.
“Don’t leave me . . . you can’t leave me . . . you promised!” He sobbed.
Aaron fought to keep control over his own emotions in the face of the boy’s grief. He reached out to pull him away, but it took him and Keith working together to force Philip to stop his digging. Still the boy continued to struggle and scream. Finally, Aaron took his shoulders.
“Philip, stop! He’s gone,” he said, giving the boy a firm shake.
Philip looked at him in shock for a moment and, as slow realization came over him, he crumpled to the ground. Aaron reached out to comfort the boy, but he pulled away, scooting himself as far into the wall as possible. Aaron looked to Keith, but he had turned away from the scene—his own body shaking in silent sympathy. Emily appeared quietly beside them—the water bucket in her hand having somehow survived the cave in unharmed. She fell to her knees in front of Philip, tears streaming from her eyes. She said nothing, but laid her small hand on his arm. He looked up for just a moment, and then with a mournful cry, fell into her arms. She held him, stroking his head gently, and Aaron was grateful for her presence as she spoke soft words of comfort to the weeping boy.
“It’s all right,” she said. “You’re not alone.”
A groan from the other side of the cavern drew Aaron’s attention away. He handed Keith one of the candle stubs and then, taking the water bucket, made his way slowly back to Grant. With the light from the candle, he was able to determine that Grant had a large bump just above his hairline but, thankfully, it didn’t seem to be bleeding. Grant shifted slightly and opened his eyes.
“The others?” he asked, bringing his hand up to his forehead.
“Tom didn’t make it,” Aaron answered. “The others are fine.”
Grant closed his eyes again, and was still for so long that Aaron wondered if he had lost consciousness again. He jerked when Grant’s fist slammed onto the ground beside him.
“How’s the boy?” he asked, and Aaron was surprised to hear something akin to compassion in his voice.
Aaron sighed. “He’s not too good.”
“Are we trapped in here?” Grant reached out a hand for Aaron to help him up.
“I haven’t gotten that far yet.” Aaron grunted, as he pulled the larger man into a sitting position. “Will you be all right for a minute if I have a look around?”
Grant nodded as he leaned his head against the wall. “Go on.”
Aaron worked his way back to where he had dropped his belt. The box of matches had broken open and, scanning the ground, he was only able find five of them. Stepping just outside of the light, he quickly re-attached the belt. He still didn’t know what to make of Grant. After seeing him talk to the delivery man the other night, it was obvious that there was more to him than just being one of the prisoners.
He heard the sliding of rocks, and turning, saw that Keith, along with Emily and Philip, were working to get Tom’s body out from underneath the rubble. Philip’s broken sobs pulled at Aaron’s heart and, without even consciously making the decision, he knew Philip was now his responsibility. He continued to weave his way around the maze of rocks until he arrived at the entrance to their cavern. Very carefully, he set the candle stub on a large rock, and noted that its flame flickered slightly. The entrance was almost completely buried, but there was a small opening at the top, letting in air. In the shape they were all in, it would take a while to dig themselves out.
“Let’s hope this is the only tunnel that suffered damage.” Aaron startled when Grant spoke beside him. He hadn’t even heard him approach.
“Should you be up?” he asked.
“Luckily for you, I got hit in the head,” Grant answered. “I’m a little dizzy, but I’ve still got my strength.”
He stood back as the man demonstrated by rolling aside a heavy stone. Aaron worked beside him for a while but, to his utter frustration, his aching body forced him to move slowly.
“Need some help?” Aaron looked up to see Keith and Emily standing beside him—he lifted his gaze across the cavern, in the direction of Tom. Philip sat near the body—his head resting on his bony knees he had pulled to his chest.
“He doesn’t want to leave him,” Emily explained softly.
Aaron nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Why don’t you sit with him?” he asked her. “Between the three of us, we should be all right.”
Emily gave him the closest thing to a smile she could manage before she walked away.
“Not doing such a good job, am I?” Grant asked softly, as he watched Emily re-join Philip.
“What do you mean by that?” Aaron asked, turning to face him.
Grant sighed and gingerly rubbed his sore head.
“Nothing . . . forget it . . . come on, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Aaron watched as Grant turned and continued his digging. He had so much going through his mind at the moment that he couldn’t get it to settle on any one thing. Question after question whirled around his brain. What had caused the explosion? Would they make it out alive? Just who was Grant? He brought his hands to his head, as if he were trying to keep it from falling apart.
“One thing at a time, son.” His father’s voice cut through chaos in his mind.
“One thing,” he repeated under his breath, and working to place his weariness aside, he turned to the greatest obstacle in their path.
“First, we have to get out.”
C
hapter 13
The work was hard and, due to their injuries, painstakingly slow. Aaron managed to keep on by, literally, taking one step at a time. Pick up a rock, move it, go back, do it again. The pattern seemed to continue endlessly, and he’d lost all track of time.
Occasionally, one of them thought they might have heard voices coming from the other side, but after listening carefully awhile, they would eventually just shrug it off as wishful thinking. The already warm room was becoming almost unbearable with the entrance blocked, but the only time the three men would allow themselves to stop would be to take a small sip of water. Aaron wished they hadn’t been so liberal with it earlier, now there was no telling how long it would be until they could get more, and it had to be rationed carefully.
Despite Aaron’s attempts to spare Emily, she eventually joined their efforts.
“I want to get out of here,” she told him. “It’s not safe at night.”
It’s not very safe during the day either.
“Why don’t you see if you can find any tools? We had a pick and two shovels—they sure would come in handy.”
As Emily complied, Aaron made his way over to Philip. The boy had barely moved, and he quietly sat down beside him. For a while, he didn’t say anything, and sitting beside the grieving boy brought him back to his own childhood when his mother had been killed—to the night when he’d sat like this with his father next to him, waiting silently, patiently.
Finally, Philip looked up at him.
“He was dying you know?”
Aaron drew his brows together in puzzlement as he waited for an explanation.