Chapter 11

Chapter 11

M attie stared into the tunnel long after Jeb’s body disappeared into the darkness. Her rational side knew that she’d made the right decision, but the frightened little girl who had watched her mother walk away was not so sure. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, even though it was a comfortable temperature inside the cavern.

He left me.

The words echoed in her head as time dragged on, and she desperately tried to think of something — anything — other than being abandoned. Her body still ached from the frantic escape and although the water from the lichen had eased her thirst, it had made her more conscious of her empty stomach, but even her bodily discomfort paled into insignificance next to her fear.

Unable to remain in one place any longer, she rose to her feet and started exploring the cavern. She was too distracted to notice much but the movement helped calm her ragged nerves. She was on her second circuit when something flickered against the far wall. Her heart skipped a beat before she realized it was that strange mineral vein, moving beneath the lichen. It seemed to take on a new shape as she watched it—one with outspread wings, like the figure from her dreams.

She started to move closer to study it in more detail, but then a small yellow figure darted into the cavern and she gave a grateful sob.

“Sylvester! You’re all right. How did you find me?”

He landed on her outstretched hand, chirping anxiously as he studied her with those large mechanical eyes. She’d always assumed he couldn’t see in the dark, but maybe his optics were more sophisticated than she’d realized. Somehow he’d managed to find his way to her through the pitch-dark tunnels.

She cradled him against her chest with another sob, but she already felt better. She wasn’t alone any more.

“I wonder…” She raised her hand so she could look at him again. “Did you come through the main lava tube? Or did you find another way in?”

If he had, then hopefully Jeb could as well. She started to sit down again, then remembered the figure she thought she’d seen sketched into the far wall. But when she looked again, it was no longer there—if she hadn’t just imagined it to begin with. She sighed and settled back against the wall, talking to Sylvester as they waited for Jeb to return.

A faint scrape in the tunnel made her heart pound, but then he emerged from the darkness. She jumped to her feet and ran to him, sighing with relief as his arms closed around her.

“Thank goodness you’re back. Did you find anything?”

She drew back to look up at him and read the answer on his face even before he shook his head.

“I’m afraid not. There are hundreds of different tunnels and I only searched a fraction of them. I think we’re going to have to take a chance on the main entrance.”

He sounded tired and defeated and she gave him a quick hug before smiling up at him.

“Maybe not. Look who showed up.”

She held out her hand and Sylvester flew over to her, chirping merrily at Jeb.

“How the hell did he get here?”

“I have no idea, but if he found the way in, maybe he can find the way back out.”

“Maybe. Or maybe he came through the main entrance and no one noticed him. Or maybe there’s no one there at all.”

“Then maybe we should find out,” she said firmly.

She was probably being unduly optimistic but now that he’d returned and Sylvester was with them, she was certain that everything was going to work out. Jeb didn’t look convinced but he nodded reluctantly.

“I suppose it makes sense to investigate. I don’t suppose you want to wait here?”

“No. Sylvester and I are coming with you.”

He didn’t argue. He swallowed a few handfuls of water and then they set off again. He had his light so low she could barely see, but he kept his arm around her, guiding her through the darkness. Sylvester perched on her shoulders, unusually silent.

A darker patch to one side indicated a branch and she gave it a curious look.

“Did you try that one?”

“Yes, and the ones that branched off of it. I thought it made sense to start close to the cavern but maybe I should have tried further up.”

“Let’s see how far we get this way.”

They climbed steadily higher and then he suddenly froze, pulling her against the wall as he switched off the light completely. A moment later she heard voices and saw the distant glow of a lantern from around a bend in the tunnel.

“I don’t like these fucking tunnels,” a man complained.

“Neither do I. I don’t care what Bob says, I think we should wait — they have to come back up sooner or later.”

“Hell, yes. I say we give it another twenty-four hours before we follow these tracks any deeper.”

Tracks?

Jeb tensed as she shot him an inquiring look.

“I don’t see why it matters anyway,” the first man whined. “He’s probably going to die. And if we left now we’d be long gone if he did survive.”

“Don’t you want some cash out of this shit show? It’s not like there was anything here worth stealing.”

This time she tensed, glaring into the darkness.

“Bob says he knows someone who’s paying good money for mining claims, with a bonus if it holds what they’re looking for. All we need to do is force the woman to sign over the claim.”

“What if she doesn’t want to sign?”

“I hope she doesn’t. I could use a little fun.”

The laughter that followed made her shiver, and Jeb made an abortive movement, before his hand tightened around hers.

“With our luck she’s already dead. There’s a lot of blood.”

“If she’s dead then the claim is free for the taking — although we have to have some proof. But there’s no rush and I’m tired of stumbling around in the dark. Come on. Might as well wait until tomorrow. We can always try again if they haven’t come out by then.”

The voices and the light disappeared but they remained against the wall until Jeb finally relaxed.

“They’re gone,” he said softly. “I can’t believe it never occurred to me that they could follow the trail of my blood straight to us. Thank God they’re lazy bastards.”

She nodded a fervent agreement, shuddering to think what might have happened if they’d found her before Jeb returned.

“What do you think we should do?”

“We know they were heading back to the entrance, which means the tunnel should be clear,” he said slowly. “Why don’t we go a little further and see if Sylvester shows any indication that he might have come in a different way?”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” she agreed, and they continued on their way.

Sylvester chirped quietly a short time later and she looked around eagerly for any sign of daylight. Instead, they were at the entrance to one of the smaller caves that opened off the main tunnel.

“Wait a minute,” she whispered and Jeb paused, brightening the light a little so she could see the entire cave.

Nothing. She gave a disappointed sigh, but before they could resume their journey, Sylvester darted past her, then disappeared.

“Where did he go?” she asked frantically, but Jeb urged her into the cave as he examined the walls.

“Look. This isn’t a solid wall, even though it looks like one from the entrance.”

The rock jutting out from one corner of the cave concealed a narrow passage and he shook his head.

“I never would have found this. I was focused on tunnels, not caves.”

Sylvester flew back towards them and gave an impatient chirp. She laughed, excitement bubbling to the surface.

“I think he wants us to follow him.”

“Let’s give it a try. And hope that passage doesn’t get any narrower,” he added grimly.

It did, but it never became impassable, even for him, although he had to turn sideways several times to scrape through the narrower places.

At first she didn’t even realize that they’d reached the end of the tunnel but then the icy wind hit her and she shivered. They were in a small ravine, still surrounded by rock walls, but she could see the stars overhead.

“I can’t believe it’s already dark. We were down there all day?”

“Yes, love.” He pulled her close as she shivered again, surrounding her with his warmth. “And we may have to go back. We’re not prepared to spend the night outside.”

He urged her back into the mouth of the passageway, which at least helped to block the wind. She leaned against him, glad for the extra warmth, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“What should we do?”

“I think we’ll have to wait for the morning,” he said quietly, his hand on his broken weapon, and she could tell how much it cost him to say the words. “Unless they’re complete idiots, they’ll have someone standing guard and with the weapons they carry, they’d have us in seconds. Our best chance is to catch them by surprise, in the light of day.”

She bit her lips, considering their options.

“Maybe not. What about luring them underground? With your enhanced senses, you have an advantage over them in the tunnels.”

“Yes, but fighting in a confined space is always tricky.”

“I wasn’t thinking of a fight — I was thinking of a trap.”

The golden flecks in his eyes reflected the dim glow from his light as he gave her a questioning look.

“What kind of trap?”

She grinned at him.

“Ranger J-418, I am officially requesting permission to set off an explosion. In accordance with government regulations.”

“An explosion?”

“Yes. We know that those two are planning to follow the tracks deeper underground. I propose we have a surprise waiting for them.” She swallowed regretfully. “I think we need to set it up fairly close to the cavern. That way if the explosion doesn’t catch them, they still won’t have any way to escape.”

“Are you sure? It means we wouldn’t be able to return to the cavern.”

“I know, but our lives are more important than my scientific curiosity.”

He gave her a sympathetic hug, but he was clearly turning over the idea in his head.

“I think it’s worth trying. With any luck we would eliminate both of them. If it’s the gang I heard about, that would only leave two more men and I should be able to deal with them. Where are the explosives?”

“There’s a cache of them in one of the caves off of the lava tube,” she admitted. “I was hiding them.”

“So you could violate government regulations?”

“Possibly.”

His chest vibrated with laughter.

“I suppose it’s just as well you’re a rebel. Let’s go back down below and get you out of this cold. Then I’ll retrieve the explosives and we can set our trap.”

Sylvester landed on her shoulder with an inquisitive chirp, and she stroked his small head.

“Sorry, sweetie. We’re going back inside for a while. We’ll use your tunnel to escape tomorrow.”

He gave another chirp, then settled down on her shoulder as they returned to the mine.