Ruled By Fear (15 page)

    
“He hated this place,” the boy continued, turning back to his brother’s body.  “Every day we stayed here killed part of him.  When they took him that last time, and they.  .  . When he came back.  I could see it in his face, and hear it in his voice . . . he’d given up.”

    
Philip turned again to Aaron—his face twisted in pain and confusion.

    
“Why would he do that?”

    
Aaron sighed deeply, sending out a prayer for the right words to comfort this boy.  Slowly, he placed his arm over Philip’s shoulders, and was relieved when he didn’t pull away.

    
“Philip, what happened here was an accident.  Your brother didn’t crawl into a hole and die because he was feeling sorry for himself; he was killed because of a cave-in.  Your brother was beaten down and tired, but I think you and I both know that, given time, he would have come around again.”

    
Aaron could feel the boy’s shoulders quivering beneath his arm.

    
“I miss him.  I don’t know what to do without him.”

    
“You keep on living.”  Aaron found himself repeating the words his father had spoken to him all those years ago.

    
“But it hurts so much,” the boy whispered.

    
“You can use that pain, Philip.”  Aaron turned to meet his eyes.  “Learning to carry on in spite of it will make you a stronger person in the end.”

    
Philip sniffed and Aaron gave his arm one last squeeze before getting up to rejoin Grant and his brother.

    
“We could use your help . . . whenever you feel up to it,” Aaron said turning to go.

    
He breathed a sigh of relief when a moment later, he heard Philip’s soft footsteps beside him.

    
Emily managed to find one shovel that had survived with only a broken handle, and between the five of them they were beginning to make good progress.  Aaron guessed that in another couple of hours they would break through.

    
“I think we should stop for now,” Grant said, and Aaron turned to him in surprise.

    
“What do you mean?” asked Keith.  “We’re just starting to make some headway.”

    
“I know,” Grant answered.  “That’s exactly why we should stop.  If my guess is correct, its way past the normal quitting time, and I don’t have to tell you what these tunnels are like at night.  We’ll be safer to just wait in here until morning.”

    
Aaron was about to protest when suddenly, a low growl rumbled through the rock barrier.  The sound was unmistakable, and Aaron had to shake off the idea that the animal had been listening to their conversation.

    
“What is that?” Emily whimpered, grabbing hold of Aaron’s arm.

    
“It’s a puma,” Grant answered.

    
“What?” Keith challenged him.  “I’ve hunted cougars dozens of times back home, and I’ve never seen one like that.”

    
“I’ll agree with you there,” Grant answered.  “But it’s a cougar all right.  Black as night and the biggest cat I’ve ever seen.”

    
The group listened in silent fascination as he continued.

    
“I told you I was trapped in these tunnels once.  I got about as close to it as any man can get, and still live to tell about it.  That’s how I lost these.”  Grant held up his hand with the gaping hole where his fingers should have been.

    
“Is . . . is it what keeps us here?” Emily asked.  “Is it a spirit?”

    
Just then, the animal gave a high-pitched scream, and Emily covered her ears, trembling.  Even Philip took a step nearer Aaron.

    
“Don’t worry,” Grant said.  “It can’t get us in here.”

    
From the look on Grant’s face, Aaron wondered if even he believed what he’d just said.  The group moved as far away from the entrance as possible, and in an effort to save what little light they had left, they blew out the candles.  The animal seemed to be enraged by the fact that it couldn’t get to its prey, and continued to screech and growl, sending cold chills down their spines.  Emily and Grant had just about crushed themselves into Aaron’s side, and he worked to come up with a way to take their minds off the enemy behind the rocks.

    
“Emily, where are you from?” he asked.

    
“I . . .” she paused as the animal let out a vicious roar.

    
“Go on,” he encouraged.

    
“Well, my father and I . . . we were heading to Sacramento.  He was a doctor, and there was a man there that had asked him to be his partner.  My mother died a few years ago, and my father wanted to leave Chicago.  He said it reminded him too much of her.”

    
Emily started to shift uncomfortably, so Aaron turned to Philip.

    
“How about you?” he asked.  “Where were you and Tom headed?”

    
Aaron wasn’t sure if mentioning Tom would be too much for the boy, and was relieved when, after a moment, he answered.

    
“We’re from Oregon.  It’s just me, Ma, and . . . just me and Ma.”

    
Philip grew quiet, so Aaron decided to take a turn.

    
“Well, Keith and I are from Utah territory, up in the mountains.  We have a ranch there where we raise cattle and horses.  There’s a particular spot I like to go to, high above our home.  The view from there is . . . well, it just takes your breath away.  There are tall pine trees as far as the eye can see, sweeping up from sort of a canyon, and at the end, on either side are two separate foothills that come together.  Right in between them you can see one of the most glorious lakes on the face of this earth.  Its waters are clear as glass, and if you go out on a boat—from just about anywhere, you can see all the way to the bottom.  I would spend hours up in that spot, just looking, waiting for the sun to set.  Sometimes, if the lighting was just right, it almost seemed as if the sun would touch the water and you could watch it turn to gold.”

    
“It sounds wonderful,” Emily sighed.

    
“It is, and -”

    
Aaron startled when Grant suddenly grabbed his arm.

    
“Do you hear that?” he whispered sharply.

    
Aaron froze—listening.

    
“It’s digging.”

     Grant jumped to his feet, grabbing the shovel.  Emily began to whimper and Keith quickly pushed the girl behind him while Aaron scrambled to light a candle.  As soon as he had one lit, he scanned the ground, looking for a weapon.

    
“Hurry,” Grant urged him.  “We have to get to it before it breaks through.”

    
Aaron picked up a jagged rock, and he and Grant moved quickly toward the entrance.

    
“Wait,” Keith called, getting up to follow.

    
“No,” Aaron shouted.  “You stay with them.  Be ready, just in case this thing gets past us.”

    
As they approached the entrance, Aaron took one side, while Grant took the other.  The frenzied digging continued, and Aaron figured it would only be a few more minutes before the animal could get through.  He knew their best chance would be to kill the beast on its way inside, and he stood poised—ready to strike.  His stomach dropped as rocks and dirt tumbled around his feet, then a large stone fell, and he felt a rush of air enter the stuffy chamber.

    
Don’t miss.

    
There was a scrambling noise and then he saw a flash of black hair.  With a guttural cry, he brought the rock down hard, only to be stopped by Grant’s strong grip.

    
“Just a minute,” the man shouted.

    
Aaron looked down wide-eyed, his heart beating furiously, and was shocked when the black hair turned slowly, to reveal a face.

    
“Meri?” he gasped.

    
“That was a close one,” the man replied, eyeing the sharp rock Aaron still held up in defense.

    
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked as he and Grant hauled the young man inside.

    
“We’re getting you out,” Meri answered.

    
“We?” Grant questioned.

    
“Me and Annie,” he continued.  “This whole place just about collapsed after the explosion.  Some of the prisoners were killed.  We accounted for everyone but you, so . . .”

    
“We came back for you,” Annie finished for him, crawling through the hole.

    
“What about the cougar?” Aaron asked.  “How did you get past it?”

    
“What are you talking about?  There’s nothing out there,” Annie answered, looking puzzled.  “But we’d better hurry before there is.  This place isn’t safe . . .”

    
“At night,” Aaron interrupted.  “Yeah, I know.”

    
Something about the whole situation just didn’t sit right with him, and he eyed the brother and sister skeptically.  He did agree that they needed to move quickly, however, and called to Keith.

    
“Keith, why don’t you go through first with the light, and then we’ll follow?” Aaron said when he was near.

    
“We’ve got a torch on the other side,” Meri said, and Aaron felt the warning voice in the back of his mind growing louder.

    
“Where did you get a torch?” he asked.

    
“Found it in one of the tunnels.”  Annie shrugged.

    
Aaron didn’t question any further, but he knew of only one place where he remembered seeing torches, and it was a long way away from this chamber.  The memory of the chains and blood in that room caused him to shiver slightly and, for just a moment, he almost thought he heard his name being whispered.

    
“Did you say something?” he asked Meri, who was getting ready to follow his sister through the tunnel.  The man shook his head, before sliding through the opening.  Keith and Emily followed close behind Meri, and Aaron turned to Philip.  The boy was reluctant to leave his brother’s body, but Aaron assured him that Tom would want him to make his own safety a priority.  Despite his feelings of unease, the group made it safely through the narrowly dug tunnel and found themselves outside the chamber.  Sure enough, there was no sign of the vicious predator that had haunted them for the last hour.  As they hurried through the mine, Grant asked the question they had all been wondering.

    
“Which of the prisoners were killed?”

    
The brother and sister didn’t slow down, but Meri did turn for just a moment to look at Grant.

    
“Dave and Jacob,” he replied.

    
Aaron recognized the names as belonging to the two large men that seemed to accompany Grant just about everywhere he went.  He had an idea that both men being killed right after Grant had left them was no coincidence, and he watched the man’s face carefully to see his reaction.  Grant didn’t comment, but his features suddenly became hard, and Aaron could almost feel the anger radiating off of him.

    
“Where is everyone?” Keith asked.

    
“Back at the house,” Annie answered.  “Grant sent Dave and Jacob to work with us.  Your chamber and ours had the most damage.  By the time we got out, everyone was already at the house.  The Gardener had supper all ready, just as though nothing had happened.”

    
Everyone seemed to breathe easier when a few minutes later they rounded the corner, and felt a cool breeze coming from the mine exit.

    
“We’re almost there,” Emily whispered, taking Aaron’s hand.

    
As the group exited the mine they were greeted by soft moonlight, and if Aaron hadn’t been so tired he might have appreciated the cool spring night.

     He had thought he would feel some sort of relief once they made it back to the house, but the dim light inserting itself through the cracks in the walls only served to remind him how empty and foreboding their prison was.  He knew that as long as they remained here, there would never truly be any comfort.  None of them wasted any time in climbing the stairs up to their rooms.  They all needed water, sleep . . . hope.  Aaron was about to enter his room when  the sound of sniffling stopped him.  He didn’t have to turn to know it was Philip.  The boy was stopped in front of the door to the room that he had shared with his brother for so long.  Aaron walked over to him and gently put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

    
“Go get some sleep, Philip,” he said.  “Just go to sleep.”

    
The boy nodded, and Keith helped his roommate through the door.  Aaron wanted to stay—sit with Philip—offer him comfort, but he didn’t feel he could hold himself up for much longer.