Читать книгу A Cache of Trouble: A Cassidy Callahan Novel - Kelly Rysten - Страница 10

Chapter 4

It was a simple search, a lost kid. How dangerous can a search for a lost kid be? The trail was fresh, the kid hadn’t gone far. Searchers should have been able to find him but Victor and I had been the only ones available that day on short notice. The boy had been gone five hours and only planned on climbing a hill near his parent’s car at a pullout. He’d climbed up the hill, disappeared down the other side and was still gone. The dad had climbed the hill and circled around. Trevor had to be close. He wasn’t known to just take off. It should have been a quick track over a hill, maybe a short hike down the other side. We were afraid the reason Trevor hadn’t returned was because he was injured somewhere so Victor was along for medical support.

I was glad to have a fresh trail, but set out irritated at being called for something so simple. I followed Trevor’s footprints up one side of the hill and down the other side, and then down a wash to an old shack. I followed his trail in, out and around the old building and then into an abandoned mine. Behind the shack I found creaky timbers supporting the entrance of the old mine.

I hadn’t brought my big pack because the track didn’t look like it warranted it. So I was only prepared for a daylight search.

“Victor, did you bring a headlamp?”

“No,” he said, “but I’ll run back to the car and get one.”

The trunks of the search vehicles were packed with an odd assortment of tools, ropes, weapons, climbing gear and flashlights. We usually found what we needed in there, but had to guess what we would need.

Victor took off and I looked around outside the mine trying to locate a trail leading away from the area. I didn’t find one. Trevor was definitely in the mine somewhere.

I spotted Victor jogging back down the hill when suddenly the earth came alive beneath my feet. There was a rumbling like a heavy train going by. I saw Victor lose his balance and tumble down the hill as I fought to keep myself steady. Earthquake! I heard a startled scream from inside the mine and dashed in. I collided with Trevor, grabbing him to keep from bowling him over. I was going to make a run for the mine entrance, but it started crumbling so I headed deeper inside. There was a deafening roar followed by a cloud of dust which engulfed us and made us cough. Not knowing how much of the mountain would fall, I just kept going until the noise settled down. We were enveloped in pitch-blackness. We couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces.

“Trevor?” I gasped.

“Who are you?” he cried in fear.

“It’s okay, we’ll be okay. I’m Cassidy. Your parents got worried about you and called me to find you.”

“Why’d they call a girl?” he asked.

“They couldn’t find you when they looked for you and they were worried so they called the police. The police called me because I know how to follow tracks.”

“I got lost in the tunnel. It’s cool back there but then it got too dark and I couldn’t find the way back.”

The ground shook again and in fear, Trevor nearly dove for cover. I wondered how stable the mine shaft was but figured it had withstood many earthquakes in the past.

“It’s okay, I know earthquakes can be scary but my search partner is outside. He knows where we are. He’ll call in help and they will dig us out soon.”

“I don’t like this dark.”

“I know, that’s why I sent Victor for a flashlight but he didn’t get back in time. It’s a good thing he’s out there, though, and not in here, or nobody would know where we are.”

My radio crackled.

“What’s that noise?”

“It’s my radio. It’s probably Victor trying to contact me but the signal won’t go through the rock.” I pushed the button on the radio. “Strict? Victor? I found Trevor. We’re in good shape. When can you get us out of here?”

Nothing, maybe a little crackling. They didn’t hear me. Hopefully they at least got a little crackling back so they would know I tried to respond.

“We might as well get comfortable. It’s going to be a long wait.” I took off my pack but kept it in easy reach. “We’ll be all right in here. I have enough food and water in my pack for an over night search so we won’t starve to death. Have you ever eaten back packer food?”

“No.”

“It isn’t the greatest but it will have to do. How old are you?”

“Ten. I’m in fourth grade.”

“Are you from California? Have you ever been in an earthquake before?”

“No, my family was visiting from Texas.”

“So, are you from the tornado part of Texas or the hurricane part?”

“The tornado part.”

“Have you seen a tornado?”

“Only from a distance but my uncle’s house got torn apart by one.”

“So, what’s scarier, earthquakes or tornadoes?”

“Earthquakes, I think. I’m glad this didn’t happen when I was on the roller coaster yesterday! What do roller coasters do in an earthquake? Do they go flying off the track? I always thought they would fly off the track.”

“No, they don’t fly off the track. If they did, they wouldn’t have roller coasters in California.”

We talked for hours. Trevor was talkative, which was good because it distracted him from being scared. My radio crackled again. I sent a probable crackle back to let them know I could respond.

“What are all those numbers you said?” Trevor asked.

“They are codes that the guys out there understand. You’re our 10-65, our missing person. And you’re 10-45A. That means you’re in good shape, not injured seriously. 10-01 means I don’t have good radio reception.”

“How do you remember all that?”

“If you use it a lot, you remember.”

I wondered what time it was. It was hard to tell without light. I’d set out after Trevor about two in the afternoon. I wondered if it was night yet and if I should cook up a packet of food.

“Trevor, tell me when you get hungry, okay? I don’t want to cook until we need it but I don’t want you to go hungry either. So you let me know, okay?”

“Okay, right now I need to go to the bathroom. How long are they gonna take?”

“Well, don’t wait on a rescue to go to the bathroom. Just go back down the tunnel a little ways and go there.”

“I’m not going with you here!”

“I won’t look when you go if you won’t look when I have to go. I can’t see you anyway.”

“There’s no toilet paper here.”

I fished around in my pack and handed him a half roll.

“Conserve it. That’s all we’ve got.”

Trevor went down the tunnel and in a few minutes he came dashing back.

“There’s a funny noise back there!”

I listened.

“Sit down,” I said, “I think it’s bats. Just stay low. They are used to coming out of this tunnel at night so they aren’t going to be happy that it’s blocked.”

The bats flew overhead to the end of the tunnel.

“What are we gonna do? I don’t like bats. They give me the creeps!”

“Hey, I’m the girl. I’m the one who’s supposed to get creeped out. The bats won’t hurt you if you just stay out of their way. And they will go away soon. This might mean it is nighttime out there, though. I wonder how the bats know it’s night if they live where it’s dark all the time.”

After a while Trevor said that he was tired and hungry, so I located the pack and got out my stove.

“Hey, Trevor, we’ll have a little light while the stove is on. Choose a backpacker meal from the pack.”

I took apart the pots and the stove by feel and set it up. I felt around in the pack for the lighter, pumped up the stove and lit it. I put the lighter in my pocket so it would be easier to find next time. Trevor chose spaghetti. Not my favorite, but they all tend to taste alike after a while anyway. I rationed out just enough water to cook the spaghetti, heated it to the boiling point, and poured it in the pouch. I folded the top over to keep the steam in.

“How do you cook the spaghetti? Doesn’t the plastic melt?”

“It’s cooking right now. It absorbs the hot water and stays hot until it gets done. Then you just eat it.”

I opened the pouch and stirred the spaghetti judging the doneness by the feel. I dug in my pack until I found my only fork and handed it to him.

“Just eat it right out of the pouch. If you do that we don’t have to wash dishes. We don’t want to have to wash anything because we don’t have enough water to waste it.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll finish off whatever you don’t want. If I need to, I’ll cook another packet.” I wouldn’t, but let him think I would. I didn’t want him to skimp on his meals.

Trevor ate most of the spaghetti and pronounced it on the bland side. I agreed with him. That’s what I always thought about backpacker spaghetti. Trevor left me a little spaghetti so I finished it off. Time stretched on. We ran out of things to talk about and eventually we both fell asleep. Trevor was cold as he slept so I dug out the extra clothes I had in my pack and laid them on top of him as he slept. I drifted off again.

“Miss, miss,” Trevor said, trying to wake me without touching me. “Are they ever going to find us? It feels like we’ve been in here forever.”

“Sure they will. We just don’t know how much of the mountain came down in the earthquake so we don’t know how much digging they have to do. They won’t just bring in a tractor to dig because they will worry about hurting us if the rocks buried us. So they are digging carefully, and careful digging takes time. I wish I had a way to tell them we’re safe in the tunnel.”

We got bored so we played car games. We played the old suitcase game to keep us thinking.

“I went on a trip and in my suitcase I packed an apple, beach ball, cat, dingbat, egg, frog, golf ball, headlamp… are we on I or J?”

“J”

“Ice cream cone and jump rope.”

“I went on a trip and in my suitcase I packed….” It went on and on. Trevor did pretty well at it. We played I Don’t Spy because there was nothing to see. We felt more aftershocks and I prayed they didn’t knock more rocks down.

We only ate when necessary, and I measured time by how many times we ate and slept. We’d gone through three backpacker meals, two sleep cycles and had no idea if it was day or night. The tunnel was getting pretty ripe but there was nothing we could do about it. Eat, play mind games, sleep, talk… We were on the sleep part of the routine when I was awakened by noises.

“Hey, Trevor, I think our rescuers are close! I hear noises.”

“Hey!” he yelled, “We’re in here! Hey!”

I heard excited voices, more scrambling and digging.

“Hey, Trevor, when you get out of here be sure and smile real big. You may be on TV. You can tell all your friends back home you went to California and became a TV star.”

All those rescue vehicles within sight of the highway had surely lured in the press. It was usually a pain to work with the press hanging about, but I was willing to bet Trevor was ready for his spot in the limelight.

“Cassidy?”

“I hear you,” I called back.

I started digging from our side, pulling rocks out of the way. I would have been digging all along but I wasn’t sure our food and water would hold out and I didn’t want to push it. A stab of light blinded us and we both stumbled back shielding our eyes.

“Ouch! It hurts my eyes!” Trevor wailed. I covered his eyes with my hands so he could relax. I closed my eyes and turned away from the light. When a large enough sized hole was opened I sent Trevor through first.

“Cover his eyes,” I called out. “He’s been in the dark too long.”

Then I crawled out of the mine. The light hurt even with my eyes closed.

The rush of fresh air was wonderful. I felt firm hands lift me to a standing position and guide me away from the mineshaft, then strong arms enveloped me. Rusty’s worried hug. I’d recognize that hug anywhere whether I could see or not. After burying my face in his shoulder I tried looking around, but quickly hid my eyes again. Hands patted me on the back and jubilant voices filled the air. Rusty clasped me like he’d never let go. His sleeves were rolled up and his shirt was dirty. I peeked out again and realized he’d been digging. Okay, time to tough it out. I placed my hands over my eyes and cracked my fingers. Just a little light at a time.

“Point me at the truck.”

It took him a while to let go but he finally turned me and I started walking, feeling with my feet just like I did in the woods when I was stalking. My toe gently hit a big rock and I felt my way around it. The ground went down and down and down some more and finally leveled off to where all the emergency trucks were parked.

“I swear, Cassidy,” said Landon, “you’re a cat. You have nine lives or something. Let’s check you out.”

“No, Landon, I’m fine. As soon as my eyes adjust I’ll be back to my normal self. We had food, water, nobody got squashed or cold or hot or anything. The worst thing that happened was boredom. And bats. Trevor didn’t like the bats.”

When my eyes adjusted to the light I looked around. I picked out Kelly and Rhonda, all my search team, Lou, Schroeder, Trevor’s parents, and Paul. There were a dozen people in hard hats. I could hear Trevor off in the distance, “And there were bats in there! Real live bats!”

I looked back at the mine. The shack was gone. The wash was gone. Part of the hill was gone. A huge section of the mountain above the mine was gone. How long had we been stuck in there?

“Hey, Cassidy,” Victor said, a big grin on his face, “I’m glad you made it.”

“I’m glad I sent you back for a headlamp!” I replied.

“We didn’t know what to think when you didn’t answer your radio. It looked pretty grim there for a few days. Then we started hearing faint voices when we used a listening device. Everybody got a second wind right about then.”

“A few days? I made a backpacker meal whenever Trevor said he was hungry but we only cooked three or four of them. We couldn’t have been in there two whole days.”

Trevor, his parents and a flock of reporters converged on me.

“This is Cassidy,” Trevor told the TV camera, “she tracked me down to the mine and when the earthquake came she saved me from the mine caving in. We didn’t know the whole mountain fell ‘cause of the earthquake. She’s a good searcher. She brought food and water and a stove. The only thing she forgot was a flashlight. But we did good in there, didn’t we, Cassidy?”

“Hey buddy, we sure did. You were a real trooper. But I’d really like to thank the rest of the team. I’m sure things were a lot worse for everybody on the outside of the mine than it was for me and Trevor. You put your all into the rescue and I want to thank you for that. We’re in good shape here. Trevor can go back to Texas and tell about his exciting trip to California.”

“When is the wedding?” one reporter shouted over the crowd.

“The wedding?” I asked “Yeah, we all saw the invitation. When’s the wedding?”

Someone else shouted, “July twenty seventh. That’s what the card said.” What card?

“Were you scared being buried under tons of rubble?”

“No, I knew the people on the other side, and it was just a matter of time. We were in good shape in there. I wasn’t scared at all.”

“What did you do for three days in the dark?”

“We talked, played games, cooked a backpacker meal when Trevor got hungry and slept when we got tired.”

“I bet your family is relieved to know you are safe. How do you think they will react when you talk to them?”

“They’ll be glad I’m safe. But they are used to my misadventures.”

“What are you going to do next?”

“I’m going to go home and take a hot shower. I’m sure I’m a mess after camping out in a mine all that time.”

“You seem awfully calm considering what you’ve been through.”

“This was nothing compared to the other things I have been through. If you want to know who it was hard for talk to this guy.” I said looking up at Rusty. Then I ducked under this arm and disappeared into the crowd.

“Is she always like this?” a reporter asked Rusty.

“Always. You were lucky to get two minutes. Remember the L.A. bridge story? That was her too. We gotta go.”

“Why did you do that?” I asked him when he caught up. “That’s like tossing one steak into a cage full of lions.”

“It’ll keep them busy. Besides, I thought it was better than telling them you were the one who took down the bank robber at the mall. That’s still an ongoing mystery.”

“And what’s this about an invitation?”

“I’m sorry, Cass, when Strict called me about the avalanche I had just picked up the card you made and I dashed off to the truck with it still in my hand. Then once I got here and the digging had been going on for a while they kicked me out off the site. I went to the Explorer to rest up and I was looking at your card when a reporter spotted me and dragged out some backstory. They really blew up the engagement part of this as a human interest thing. This has been big news nationwide for three days. They’ve been looking for everything they could get their hands on to fill time between digging shots. They cornered Strict, Victor, and Landon. Trevor’s parents were on TV several times. I think Rosco escaped.”

“He would. He’s not a very social person.”

It was late in the evening before we got home again. There were six messages on the answering machine, all from my family. I gave them a quick call back so they could hear for themselves that everything turned out all right. Then I started up the stairs to take a shower.

“Cass, come here first. Please…”

All the worry from the past three days was catching up to him and I hadn’t seen it. I hadn’t spent days worrying about my safety. It was just a dark camping trip to me. I forgot that it was something truly different for him. I walked down the stairs and he embraced me so tightly I couldn’t breathe. He scooped me up and carried me over to the couch and sat down.

“Just a few minutes, babe,” he said and then started crying quietly. I snuggled down into his arms and oozed comfort his way. “Three days… three days I didn’t know if you were alive or crushed. People say all kinds of things about you. Steve says you’re made of rubber. Wilson says you’re a cat, you have nine lives. I can’t buy any of that. You’re human. Things can hurt you. No matter what people say, I know things can hurt you. And I can’t stand even the thought of something hurting you. When I saw all that rock…the only thing that made me feel better was digging, but they wouldn’t let me stay. Everybody else felt the same way. When the guys were told to leave and go rest they would just think about you in there and they’d be right back. Guys came in to help that weren’t called. Off duty officers, firemen, Kelly, Paul…they dug because they cared about you. If guys came by and there were too many people digging they would go away and come back with food for the people who were working.” I let him talk. Something told me he needed to, which was unusual for him. “When I came home I had news for you. June first. We can move June first. I was glad because it seemed like it would work in well with our plans. I was standing here, invitation in hand, admiring your work, happy about the moving day. Strict called and asked if I felt the earthquake. I was at the station when the earthquake hit so I felt it a little bit. Then he told me about the avalanche. All he could say was that he didn’t know. He didn’t know if you’d made it far enough in. Victor thought you had. Victor has a lot of faith in you. He knew your reactions would be right. He trusted you to analyze the situation and respond correctly. But I saw the pile of rubble. The rocks, the trees, and I… all I could do was dig and hope.”

The doorbell rang.

“It’s probably Kelly,” Rusty said.

“Should I let him in?”

“Yeah, he knows, he understands.”

I got up and answered the door. Kelly looked at me seriously, which was unusual for Kelly. Kelly Green. Green Lite was what he’d told Jesse when they met. But tonight he was struggling. Rhonda stood behind him but he wrapped me in a hug anyway. Embarrassed, I gave Rhonda a hug too. They came in and I returned to the couch, sitting beside Rusty. He shook his head, held out his arms.

“Rusty!” I said, embarrassed.

“It’s okay, I just need you close. It’s okay.”

I climbed back into Rusty’s lap. Kelly looked worried.

“I think it’s going to be a tough night,” I said.

“Cassidy, what did I tell you the first day we met?” Kelly said, finding a seat on the other side of the L-shaped couch.

“You said lots of things,” I answered. “You told me about your family. You said you were going to kill Rusty for letting me go out there alone…”

“And I told you that Rusty needed you. Do you remember? Not just any girl, I said, he needs you.”

“I remember.”

“I’m glad I was right.”

“I saw you at the mine. Thank you, both of you. Whether you were there for Rusty or for me, thank you.”

“We were there because we needed to be there. They couldn’t have driven us away.” Kelly spoke while Rhonda nodded in agreement. I looked forward to knowing this couple better. I could use a few friends like them.

I could feel Rusty withdrawing. He needed alone time or a distraction.

“Did Rusty tell you he found a house? We’re moving in June, so we can have the wedding there in July. Tell them about the house, Rusty.”

He shook his head no. He was still struggling. “You tell them, the more I hear you talk the more alive you feel to me.”

I started describing the house to them and Rhonda began asking questions. What style was I going to decorate in? What colors? As the talk flowed back and forth Rusty gradually relaxed.

“What do you like best about the house?” Rusty asked.

I blushed, “I’ll tell you later.”

This got a curious look from everybody. Oh gee, I should have just made something up. The kitchen tile. The open space for an agility course. The fact that deer visit there…anything. Rusty looked at me, waiting for an answer. Oh, okay…

I whispered in his ear, “The shower.”

Another curious look. “What’s so special about the shower?” he whispered.

“It’s… different, you didn’t notice?”

“I barely even glanced at the bathroom.”

Kelly and Rhonda were really curious now.

“Then I’m not going to tell you. I’ll save it as a surprise for June first.”

“Cass…”

“You have to see it for yourself.”

He gave up with a defeated sigh, but at least he wasn’t thinking about the mine any more.

“You two staying for dinner?” Rusty asked.

“Nah,” Kelly answered, “I think you two need some time. We were just checking up on you.”

After Kelly and Rhonda drove away I led Rusty up the stairs.

“Now, why did you have to go and remind me about that shower? I can’t think about that shower without seeing both of us in it. And I really need a shower before dinner.”

“So, tell me about this shower. I must have missed something.”

I started stripping down.

“It’s big enough for two.” I dropped my filthy clothes in a pile. “It’s got big clear glass doors, so you can see everything.” I unbuttoned his top two buttons. “It’s got this big bench across it.” A couple more buttons.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

I unbuckled his belt.

“It’s got two shower heads. A regular one and a handheld one.”

He dropped his pants and followed me into the bathroom. I reached for a second bar of soap from under the counter and handed him the big bar.

“I couldn’t help it. When I saw that shower I saw both of us in it. Finding interesting ways to use that bench. Giving soapy, steamy massages. Trying out different positions…”

I stepped into the water and rolled the smaller bar of soap around in my hands until they were slick and sudsy. He stepped in and I moved over so he could get under the water too.

“This shower will do for now. But June first... June first I want to try the other shower.” His soapy hands found my body, caressing and teasing, washing away three days of dirt and grime with shivery, delicate touches. And my hands found him and eased away the cares of the past. Two bodies slipping and sliding. Kisses, lots of kisses. Deep passionate kisses. Delicate playful kisses. A celebration of another day together.

Later, as we were lying lazily in bed he asked quietly, “Can I just take you away? Can we just go somewhere for a few days? Would you come to San Diego with me?”

“You know I will.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”