Please let it be Adriana!
They would not be able to follow their own smudgy footprints on the moist cave floor back to the Balanced Rock because of the shallow floodwaters, and Diego made a mental note of each turn, each tunnel. According to Cutbirth, the Cathedral and a way out of the cave was only half a mile beyond the Balanced Rock, and they would have to return to that spot.
It took Diego and Cutbirth nearly an hour to locate the whistle-blower. It was Emily. Diego’s heart swelled at the sight of her. She was perched at the entrance to a small cave some seven feet or so above the now ankle-deep water, which flowed gently down a long, high corridor. Diego directed the beam from his flashlight up to where Emily sat furiously blowing her whistle.
“Emily!” Diego shouted. “Are you okay? Where’s Adriana?”
“She’s in here, Mr. Sanchez!” Emily called down to him. “She told me to blow my whistle! She’s sick!”
Diego quickly scaled the wall, ducking his head and entering the small cave. The wall was inclined mildly, and Cutbirth made a one-armed, four-fingers climb unaided.
A fire burned from inside this cave-within-a-cave and it was warm. Diego moved quickly over to where Adriana lay on her back beside the fire, her eyes closed. He knelt beside her and stroked her warm face. “Adriana….”
Adriana’s eyelids fluttered, and then opened. “Diego. I’m so...so glad you’re okay.” Her gruff whisper was almost impossible to hear. “I missed you, sweetie. I was afraid you were...” Adriana’s throat rattled and Diego put his ear closer to the light rustling of words. “I was afraid you…you were lost.”
“I’m here, Adriana,” he said, taking her face between his hands.
“Look what I stumbled upon,” she said, nodding her head slightly.
The flickering fire revealed dozens of bones scattered about on the floor. Several human skulls were mixed in with the skeletal remains. One of the skulls was adorned with what had once been an elaborate headdress. The red band of cloth surrounding the skull was in shreds, and the yellow and blue plumage was tattered beyond repair.
“A burial chamber,” Diego observed quietly.
“Quite the…find, yes?”
Diego smiled. “Yes.”
“The dry bones were perfect”—she paused, gasped, then breathed deeply—“for a fire.”
Smoke from the fire vented through a long, jagged crack in the ceiling.
Diego stroked the hair away from her face. “Ingenious.”
Adriana looked at him, her eyes smiling. “Sweetie, did I tell you today how...how much I love you?” Her gravelly words had fought their way over her swollen lips.
“No,” he said, a lump in his throat, “and I missed hearing you say it.”
“I do, you know. Wildly…crazily…madly in love.”
“My dear, sweet Adriana,” Diego said, gagging on the lump.
“Get Emily to a safe place, Diego,” Adriana said. “Promise me….”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Diego said. “I’m so sorry I put you through all this, Adriana. I’m so sorry we—”
She raised her hand and wagged a finger. “Diego, listen to me,” she said softly. “I didn’t find this cave. This cave found me. It’s okay.” A smile lit Adriana’s face.
He took her hand, gently squeezed it, then leaned closer and kissed her lips.
“Remember, sweetie. La vida pasa.” She struggled to draw a breath. “Life…goes…on.” A final surge of air passed over her lips and her eyes fell shut.
“Adriana?”
Cutbirth sat on the far side of the small cave with his back against the wall. He looked at Diego with a bitter frown and said, “Is she…?”
Diego nodded faintly, the strength leaving his body. He touched his wife’s scarred neck, feeling for a pulse.
Her hands at her mouth, Emily choked back a sob.
Diego gazed down upon his wife. Even in death he enjoyed looking at her gaunt face. It was still lovely and it made him ache inside. The lines around her eyes, her lips, her brow—those vague lines of maturity—were softened by the nourishing splash of flames, and for an instant, Adriana appeared to him as a girl of 22, young and vibrant and full of adventure. This would be the last time he would ever look at her delicate face, and he could feel his heart breaking into little pieces. Tears sliding down his whiskered face, he silently thanked Adriana for all the good years and pleasant moments they had shared.
***
Diego, Emily, and Cutbirth were seated around the fire minutes later when they heard the sound, like the low, distant grumble of summertime thunder. The small cave twitched sharply, and then vibrated softly for several long moments. Somewhere in the crevice that formed the chimney to the fire Adriana had built, something shifted, and the flames leaped toward the ceiling and a grander source of oxygen. The sudden burst of fire startled Emily, and she gasped.
In a few seconds it was over.
Cutbirth said, “We need to get the hell out of here. This entire cave is ready to blow.” He began to assemble his gear. He looked at Emily. “Get your things ready, kid. We’re leaving.” She began to gather up her things.
“I’m not going,” Diego said.
Cutbirth’s head snapped round. “What?”
“I’ve decided to stay.”
“After all you’ve been through you’re going to quit…now?”
Diego stared into the flames, but said nothing.
“Please don’t stay, Mr. Sanchez,” Emily pleaded sadly. “Please come with us.”
“Neither Emily nor I can get out of this cave without you,” Cutbirth said. “A very large stone covers the exit. I can’t dislodge it without your help.” When Diego didn’t reply Cutbirth said, “I heard what Adriana told you. She asked you to get Emily to a safe place. You said you would. Are you going to ignore your wife’s dying wish? Are you going to—”
“Shut up, Cutbirth. I heard what my wife said.”
“You made a promise to Adriana. I heard you. Emily heard you.”
Diego looked at Emily. Her bottom lip was quivering. She was doing her best not to cry.
In a quiet voice, Cutbirth said, “Life goes on, Ad Man.”
The cave silence was disrupted by the crackle of burning bones.
Diego uttered a worn out sigh, then crawled over and took one of the colorful feathers from the ragged headband that was lying amidst the bones. He inched his way back to where Adriana lay and placed the yellow and blue feather on her chest.
His shoulders sagging, he leaned down and kissed Adriana on her cold lips, and then bid her a final farewell, a sad but peaceful smile pulling the corners of his mouth. Adriana’s suffering was over and the scream inside him, the one that had begged to get out, had vanished unheard.
“La vida pasa,” he whispered.
***
“You sure you remember the route back to the Balanced Rock, Ad Man?” Cutbirth said.
“I have to admit, my mind’s a little fuzzy at the moment.” He grimaced. “This wrist….”
They were standing in the tunnel outside the burial chamber.
“We took two lefts and a right,” Diego said.
“Which means we take—”
“—a left and two rights going back.”
“We need to hurry,” Cutbirth said, a strange panic in his voice, one Diego had not heard until now. “Look.” The beam from Cutbirth’s flashlight fell upon a small pool of water at their feet. The water was doing strange things. It was rippling from the center outward. This was the second time Diego had witnessed this weird occurrence, and this time he understood at once the meaning of the ripples.
“I saw the same thing earlier,” Diego reported.
“Mother Cave is moving below us like a ghost,” Cutbirth said. “You can’t see her. You can’t feel her. But she’s here, shifting ever so slightly.”
Diego took Emily’s hand. “Emily, I want you to hold onto my hand. We’re going to find a way out of this cave. No matter what happens, Emily, you hold ont
o my hand.”
She answered with a nervous nod. “Okay, Mr. Sanchez, but I want to find my mother. She’s not a very good swimmer. I hope she’s okay.”
“Yes, we’ll find your mother, but first we’re going to pass a real scary place in a few minutes,” Diego said, “and I want you to close your eyes. I’ll tell you when.”
“Uh-huh, but I don’t think I want to take any more pictures, Mr. Sanchez. I think I’ll leave my camera in my backpack.”
“Good idea,” Diego said.
They set a fast pace. They took a left and two rights at the three intersections, and were soon moving through the dark passageway that led to the Balanced Rock. As they approached, Diego said, “Close your eyes, Emily. I’ll tell you when to open them.” He was holding her hand. He grasped it tighter.
“Why can’t I see, Mr. Sanchez?” Emily asked, looking up at him. “I’m not afraid. I promise I won’t cry or scream or—”
“Emily!” Diego barked. “Close your eyes!”
“Then can we find my mother?”
“Yes.”
Emily uttered a child’s sigh, and then closed her eyes.
They quietly passed the Balanced Rock and Sissy’s body that lay in rest there. Diego would break the bad news about her mother to Emily later, when they were out of the cave, when they were safe.
“It’s a straight shot to the Cathedral,” Cutbirth said, his headlamp shining on one of the two tunnels exiting the Balanced Rock chamber.
When they were well into the tunnel, Diego said, “You can open your eyes now, Emily.”
“Let’s hurry,” Cutbirth encouraged.
They began to jog through the long passageway, which now curved to the left at a gentle incline. The floor was strewn with rocky slabs that had pulled loose from the ceiling, and they broke stride occasionally to avoid the broken chunks, their shafts of lights spearing the darkness.
Diego heard the rushing water from a distance, and for a brief moment he thought another flash flood was surging down the tunnel behind them. He turned and glanced over his shoulder. The tunnel was deserted.
The hallway made a sharp bend to the right, opening up, and they were there. The Cathedral. The sound Diego had heard was that of a river, which ran down the middle of the huge, domed gallery. Diego stood at the entrance to the Cathedral, not believing his eyes, the beam from his flashlight bringing the wondrous cavern to life. The ceiling was so high in places that the bright shafts from their lights fell away into the darkness.
The Cathedral was decorated with all manner of elaborate stalactites, stalagmites, pillars, and intricate flowstone formations, and looked more like a futuristic city than a geological phenomenon in the middle of the Ozark Mountains. Dagger-like stalactites hung above them like some sort of lethal contraptions. A natural bridge formed the architectural centerpiece of the room, joining one-half of the huge chamber with the other. The clamorous river ran beneath the rock bridge.
“The Holy Grail of caves,” Cutbirth said. “But no time to admire. This way.”
Diego and Emily followed Cutbirth across the stone bridge and along the river. They angled away from the river slightly until they reached the base of a towering wall.
“Where’s the exit, Cutbirth?” Diego said, lighting the wall before them.
“Here,” Cutbirth said, moving to his right. A head-high flat rock leaned against a ragged indentation in the wall. “Take a look.” Cutbirth motioned Diego closer.
Diego stepped over to the flat rock and saw a wonderful sight. Daylight leaked around the edges of the door-like stone.
“Is that what I think it is, Cutbirth?” Diego asked, his spirits lifting.
“It is,” Cutbirth confirmed. “That’s U.S.S. of A. sunlight.”
“But we have to find my mother first,” Emily insisted, on the verge of tears.
Cutbirth laid his broken-fingered hand on the rock. “Ad Man, grab the top of the stone with both hands and pull back. It’s not that heavy and will fall right into—”
“Howdy, boys!” The voice came from the shadows. “Going somewhere?”
The three of them wheeled around.
It was Uno. She clicked on her headlamp. She held Big Bertha, which was pointed at them. Her knapsack hung from one shoulder.
Emily gasped, tightened her grip on Diego’s hand, and shrank against him.
“I do believe I have arrived at heaven’s gate. Two rabbits and da man himself, Arnold Cutbirth,” Uno said. “Nice try with the tracking device, Cutbirth. We intercepted it and the log it was stuck to on the way back to your campsite. It was a lame attempt at deception.”
“Where’s your sidekick?” Cutbirth asked.
“If you’re wondering if you could overpower me because I’m alone, I invite you to try,” Uno said. “My brother, Mr. Mustache as you call him, didn’t make it out of that rocky tube. The bullet went into his mouth and out the back of his head, thanks to you, Arnold Cutbirth. I’m more than a little upset by the loss of my brother, as you might imagine.”
Holding tightly to Emily’s hand, Diego could feel the quiver of her little body.
“I know the law for rabbits is dead or alive, but you won’t shoot us,” Cutbirth said confidently. “You’d never get our bodies out.”
Uno snickered darkly, her modified Mossberg shotgun pointed at Cutbirth. “Allow me to update you on the new rules of engagement.” Uno rolled her upper torso and the knapsack slid off her shoulder and onto the cave floor, spilling the contents. The first thing that fell out of her sack was a small handsaw. The second was Yong Kim’s head.
Emily uttered an ear-splitting shriek. Wrapping her arms around Diego, she buried her face into his waist. The shriek echoed in the massive chamber.
“Dear God,” Diego whispered, gazing at the severed head. Yong’s eyes stared up at him.
With a little laugh, Uno said, “As you can see, bodies are no longer required.”
Gray with fear, Cutbirth said, “I’ll make it worth your time not to kill us, Uno. I’ve got over $320,000 stashed in a black bag not far from here. It’s…it’s close and it’s yours.”
Diego knew Cutbirth was lying. His moneybag was long gone, lost in the flood. He was trying to buy them some time.
“Oh, you mean this black bag?” Uno turned and aimed her headlamp beam at the stone bridge 40 yards away. Her light encircled Cutbirth’s black gym bag, which sat at one end of the bridge. “Finders keepers, Cutbirth.” She turned back toward them.
Diego’s stomach sank.
“There’s more where that came from,” Cutbirth said. “I’ve stashed millions in this cave from my earlier trips. The money’s yours, Uno.”
“Nice try, Cutbirth,” Uno said in the calm voice of a killer.
“I swear on my dead mother’s grave.”
“Ain’t buying it,” Uno said in a low, malevolent voice, one that had a certain finality to it. “I didn’t jump that hole and dodge that flood just so you could sweet talk me, Cutbirth. It’s payback time.”
Diego laid his hand on the outside of his coveralls pocket. He could feel the butt of the pistol through the wet fabric. His heart was beginning to accelerate and the muscles in his arms and legs tightened. Feeling the tension in Diego’s body, Emily tightened her embrace.
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