Authors: C. Cervi
Within seconds Aaron found himself surrounded by several of the much larger prisoners. There dark gazes and clenched fists told him they meant business.
“Mister, keep your voice down,” said a well-muscled man who towered a good three inches above him. “You make trouble and we all suffer and I, for one, have suffered enough.”
The man’s voice was deep and booming, but what drew Aaron’s attention was the giant fist the man held near his face. He was missing his middle and ring finger, and there was a large jagged scar running down his hand and up his sleeve. Keith, having seen the men moving toward his brother, had jumped to his feet and was tense, ready to fight. Aaron might have been willing to oblige him if it hadn’t been for the small hand that came to rest on his arm.
“Please,” whimpered the girl from their table, “they might hear you.”
Aaron looked down into the young girl’s pleading eyes and noticed the other prisoners in the room shifting nervously. Everyone’s eyes were darting around, as if at any moment, expecting some horrible repercussion. He decided in those few seconds that these people were not his enemy, these people were afraid. Afraid of what, he didn’t know, but not wanting to put others in danger, he decided to play along until he could find out more.
He waved Keith close to him. “Okay, what do we do?”
He could feel the men around him begin to relax, and a few of them exhaled loudly.
“Check the board,” one man said, pointing toward the wall.
“I’ll show you,” the girl said softly.
Bringing them over to the board, she pointed out two numbers at the bottom.
“These are your numbers,” she said, pointing out nineteen and twenty. “Your assignment will be written out each morning.”
Aaron read the assignments and found himself pleased that he and Keith had been assigned together. At this point he would not allow Keith to be out of his sight, and for that he would fight.
“So, we’re to work in a mine?” he questioned.
She nodded her head. “I’ll show you the way.”
“Wait,” Aaron said, gently taking her arm, “What’s your name and why are you alone?”
Aaron had noticed that, other than the three large men that had surrounded him a few moments earlier, the young girl seemed to be the only one without a partner. He immediately regretted asking the question when her large blue eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron said, “you don’t have to explain anything to me.”
After a moment the girl looked up, and her eyes were so clear, so deep. For a moment they reminded him of the mother he and Keith had lost so long ago. Aaron felt a wave of protectiveness flow through him toward this young girl.
“Emily,” she said softly. “My father was kill . . . died last week. Now come on, we have to hurry.”
Keith followed his brother closely as Emily led them out of the house into a large rocky yard. Aaron’s countenance was about as dark as the sky as he looked around. As far as he could tell, the enormous house they had just exited was built directly inside the canyon and completely surrounded on three sides by impossibly high rock walls. There was a large iron gate blocking what appeared to be the only exit, and it opened onto a narrow pathway that quickly veered off to the left, making it impossible to see where it led. Other than the fellow prisoners busy at various tasks, and the one they called the Gardener, there appeared to be no one else in the yard.
“Aaron, that gate doesn’t even look like it’s locked,” Keith said.
“No, don’t,” Emily said frantically, snatching at Aaron’s shirt sleeve. “You can’t get out that way. Please, come on. We have to hurry.”
Aaron and Keith exchanged a glance and then both turned away from the lure of freedom to follow Emily. They were heading toward a black gaping hole that had been carved into the side of one the cliffs. Aaron guessed that it was the entrance to the mine.
“Keith,” Aaron said quietly as they made their way across the yard, “how did you end up in the dining room this morning?”
“Oh,” he answered, “well, I woke up in a dark room this morning. All the windows had been boarded up, Tom and his younger brother were in there with me. I have no idea how I got there.”
“Did you have a headache?” Aaron interrupted.
“Sure did,” he answered, “still do, actually. I kind of panicked at first; Tom’s a pretty nice guy though. He calmed me down and told me you had probably already gone down to breakfast. I was just getting ready to go and look for you when you walked in.”
Aaron nodded and then winced as he stepped on a jagged stone. He glanced down and saw that his brother’s boots were also missing. The ground in the yard was hard and littered with stones. Whoever had taken their boots had known that escape wouldn’t be easy in the rocky canyon. As they approached the entrance, the huge man with the missing fingers was there handing out equipment.
Aaron narrowed his eyes as he accepted a shovel. “You a guard?”
“Look, I got nothin’ against you,” the man answered, “I just do what I can to keep everyone alive.”
At those words, Emily winced. The man looked at her and his eyes seemed to soften for a moment.
“I’m not gonna let you or anybody else cause any trouble for the rest of us,” he said, turning back to Aaron. “You can call me Grant. Now, get movin’. Emily will show you what to do.”
“You don’t mean she’s going to work in the mine?” Keith snapped.
“It’s okay,” she said, laying a thin hand on Keith’s arm. “I don’t do anything too hard. Come on.”
With that she entered the mine, seeming to be swallowed up by the darkness. Aaron placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder and nodded his head in Emily’s direction. Then taking a deep breath, they followed.
As they made their way through long, dark tunnels Aaron’s mind was racing. Mostly what he had at this point were questions. If it had been just him, he would have made a break for the main gate without ever looking back, but it wasn’t just him. He had Keith to worry about and now, Emily.
He was baffled at the willingness of the other prisoners to work with, seemingly, no external motivation. He hadn’t missed the bruises on the faces of some of the prisoners, or the way their clothes hung loosely on their undernourished bodies. Still, someone was providing food, if you could call what he’d seen food, and someone was writing out assignments. There was also the fact that somehow, someone had transported both he and Keith here.
Ghosts, that’s what one of the men in town had told Keith. Emily had called them spirits. So far, the only ones he had seen to be worried about were the other prisoners.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Emily stopped. He had noticed as they walked along that about every five feet or so there was mound of dirt piled off to the side of the path. As they reached what looked to be the last one, Emily knelt down beside it on the cold, dirt floor. Tenderly, she smoothed her hand over the mound. Keith knelt down next to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Your father?” he asked.
Emily nodded her head and wiped a dirty sleeve across her eyes. The next moment, she jumped up and hurried off down the tunnel, and as the two brothers raced to catch up with her, Aaron grew more concerned for this young girl, alone.
The trio continued to weave through the winding tunnels for what seemed like ages. Small candles placed every so often in hollowed out nooks in the wall provided the only illumination, causing their moving forms to cast long and frightening shadows in front of them. Sagging boards creaked and groaned under the weight of the dirt above them. The continuous cracks and groans made Aaron flinch, and after a while, even the sound of their own footsteps caused him to cringe.
Seeming to sense his apprehension, Emily spoke. “We’re almost there.”
As they rounded yet another corner, Aaron could just make out some faint clinking sounds coming from up ahead and then, finally, the tunnel opened up into a wide chamber. This chamber was more brightly lit than the narrow tunnels had been and Aaron counted four men, Tom, and his brother among them, mining, if you could call it that. Aaron had spent some time one summer as a runner for one of his father’s friends in a mine, and he had seen the men at work—had even tried it himself on occasion. But it was clear that these men in front of him had no experience with mining. He watched for a moment as they gouged huge chucks of rocks out of the walls with old, rusty picks, and shovels.
“You ever mine before?” Tom asked, shaking dirt from his hair as he walked over to them.
“A little,” Aaron answered. “I’m somewhat familiar with the process.”
“Good,” Tom said, looking mostly at Keith. “Look, I know you’re new, and that none of this is making any sense, but we have to work fast and we have to work hard. We have a quota that needs to be filled every day and . . .” he paused for a moment, then glancing at Emily, lowered his voice a little, “we’re a good man short.”
“Well,” Aaron said, trying to lighten the mood, “my brother here may seem puny, but he does pretty good work when he puts his mind to it.”
Keith gave a half-hearted grin in response. Tom just turned and pointed to a section of rock near an old metal cart.
“You two can start over there,” he said. “You know what gold looks like?”
I’ve seen it a time or two,” Aaron responded.
“Well, holler if you find any,” Tom said. “I assume that’s what we’re supposed to be looking for.”
Ignoring Aaron’s puzzled expression Tom turned and went back to work near his own brother.
“Oh yeah,” Tom called back over his shoulder. “Watch your toes.”
Aaron looked down at his bare feet and grimaced. They were going to have to be very careful.
“Okay, kid,” Aaron said, turning to Keith. “I guess we’d better get started.”
He didn’t miss the signs of panic in his gaze. Aaron worked to keep his tone light. His younger brother had a hard time keeping his temper under control even under the best of circumstances and, from what he’d observed so far, an outburst wouldn’t do any of them any good. To his relief Keith offered no protest. Instead, taking his pickaxe, he threw himself into his work. Aaron knew what his younger brother must be feeling at the moment and, he took more than just a little pride in seeing how courageously he stepped up to the situation.
The two brothers labored side by side for an interminable amount of time. Trying hard to follow the example of the two other sets of prisoners in the chamber, Aaron felt he had never worked so hard in all his life. They were deep inside the mine and the heat was almost unbearable. Both he and Keith had removed their shirts long ago and glistening sweat now poured off their bodies, dripping down into eyes that were already swollen from the dirt and dust.
“Keith,” Aaron said, “you doing okay?”
“Yeah,” Keith stopped for a minute and, picking up his shirt, used it to wipe the sweat from his eyes. “Sure could use something to drink though.”
“It should be here soon,” Tom called over to them. “Emily delivers all the water and food. Ours should be here any minute.”
Aaron had noticed that Emily had left the chamber shortly after they’d begun working. He was glad that at least she wasn’t expected to do any hard labor.
About fifteen minutes later, Emily appeared carrying two large buckets. Aaron hurried over and took the heavier of the two. It was filled with wonderfully cool water, the other with some tin cups and some small wrapped bundles. There was plenty of water, and the men all drank their fill as Emily went around the room and handed each person one of the bundles. Upon unwrapping it, Aaron and Keith made quick work of the two biscuits, boiled egg, and a small amount of some kind of dried meat.
“I could sure go for another couple of those bundles.” Keith grinned in Emily’s direction.
The girl dropped her eyes and shook her head.
“That’s all there is,” she said softly. “I’ll bring more water as soon as I can. You’re really lucky you know.”