"What’s wrong?" said Emily.
"I tried getting those rubies for you," Stanley said. "But that bastard Victor destroyed them." He ran his hand through his hair and stared down the street.
"Stanley," Emily said. "Stanley, look at me." She caressed his face with both hands. "Forget about the rubies. I don’t need anything like that. I need you as you are." She kissed his lips. "But first, take a shower."
Stanley smiled and hugged Emily. He stepped into the shower and remained in there for a long time. The hot water dug into his skin and trickled down his body, taking with them the dirt he had accumulated over the day, the dirt that had puffed and seeped through his clothes. He stepped out and dried himself and returned to his room.
Emily was awake in bed and he joined her. Throughout the night, they talked and laughed. Stanley told her what had happened in the tunnels and she told him about how worried Mrs. Roberts was about her husband. Stanley held her close as she fell asleep and he slept shortly after, as he lost himself to his dreams.
FIVE
Emily tightened Stanley’s apron and placed hers over it, then tightened it as well. She poked in a kiss. "I’ll come by when you’re all done. We’ll have our pills outside, together."
"I can’t wait," said Stanley. He kissed her and left.
Stanley walked past the domiciles and into the streets.
An old woman who had followed him for a while scurried up to him and said, "Mr. Barrett, how is the dig developing? I heard you and Victor made good progress yesterday."
"Yes, we’ve dug up far, thanks to the new drills. If we advance at the same rate, we’ll reach the surface in no time," said Stanley. "Honestly speaking, I am excited for the outcome."
The old woman nodded. "I’ve heard the stories, as everyone has, but can you imagine? A world without roofs or walls, to see trees that wither! Oh, it may seem grim, but it adds character."
Stanley nodded.
When Stanley reached the town square, he parted with the old woman and passed through the crowd. The other workers made their way into the broken wall. They waded through the lake that sloshed due to their rough steps. Stanley walked gently through the middle and met Mr. Roberts.
"Ready for the second day?" said Mr. Roberts.
"I am very well excited," Stanley said.
"Well I hope you can manage the dirt from piling up today," said Victor. He approached from the lake.
"My mind has been refreshed," said Stanley. "We should have no trouble today."
"That’s it, a clear mind, the mind of a good man," said Mr. Roberts. "That's what we need."
Victor dried his legs and equipped his gear, Stanley as well. Victor picked up his drill and secured it on his back. He walked over to the tunnel and climbed in.
"Let me go first," said Stanley.
Victor turned and said, "No." He flicked on his light and slowly progressed up the tunnel, with Stanley following patiently behind. After a considerable amount of time, Victor’s helmet tapped against the end of the tunnel. He grabbed his drill and said, "Get ready, I’m starting now." As soon as he flicked the drill’s switch, it spun and dug into the earth, ravenously eating away at it, and regurgitating it almost immediately at Stanley who shuffled to push them down. Victor progressed upward in tremendously efficient time and Stanley matched his pace. The drill did not falter, but soon enough, the men did. Victor’s arms loosened and Stanley’s movements lagged.
"We should take a break," said Victor. He turned the drill off and set it beside him as he rested his head.
Stanley heaved and slid a final massive mound of dirt down the tunnel. "I would appreciate that very much."
"I’ve been holding this thing too long," said Victor, "that my head is still vibrating."
"My arms feel like mush. It’ll be difficult for me to fold my clothes tonight."
"You think the others are having as much trouble as we are?" said Victor. He raised his head and glanced at the end of the tunnel then rested his eyes and scrunched his nose.
"Trouble?" said Stanley. "This isn’t trouble; it’s just a lot of work. We’re making great progress now."
Victor nodded and picked up his drill. He aimed it at the end, but froze and slowly set his drill down. "What is this?" he said. He pulled something from the earth.
"What have you found?" said Stanley.
"I don’t know," said Victor. "It’s flat, smooth, maybe plastic?" He studied it a bit longer before saying, "It has six holes on it. Maybe we put our arms in them." Victor removed his gauntlet and slid his bare arm in.
"Let me see," said Stanley.
Victor slipped and thudded onto his chest, dropping his drill. "Oh damn," he said.
Stanley lunged aside and grabbed the drill. "What’s wrong?" he said as he set the drill into a ledge.
"Oh no," said Victor. "Stanley, help!"
Stanley hurried and climbed up on the ledges. "What? What?" he said. He squeezed beside Victor, but Victor’s elbow flailed and blunted Stanley’s nose. He rubbed it, but it only tickled it and incited a sneeze. He looked up and said, "What happened? Tell me."
Victor held before him a white sheet with holes. He waved it and said, "Did you not see what it has done to me? It's a torture device!"
"Let me see that," said Stanley. He grabbed the sheet and observed it. It was thin and had six holes that were only slightly smaller than his fist. But the material was smooth and extendable, enough room for him to pull his hand out. "How exactly did this hurt you?"
Victor motioned at his exposed arm that had a slightly red outline on it. "Can you not see what is before you?" Victor snatched the sheet and fluttered it. "Pay attention. I am risking my life to reenact that terrible moment." Victor brought the sheet right between him and Stanley. He brought his fist before one of the holes and breathed in deeply. He opened and closed his hand and rolled his fingers and pursed his lips. He closed his hand and pointed to one of the holes as if to punch it. But then he extended his fingers forward to create a beak--like shape. He poked and his hand ran through the hole. He pulled the sheet closer to and it gradually climbed his arm until it stopped. In a panic, he opened his hand and dragged the sheet away from him, but it did not tear. It only tightened farther around his arm.
"Stanley," Victor called. "Help me!"
Stanley stood still.
"You cannot just stay there while I am engulfed by this heinous trap!" cried Victor. "I did this for you!" Stanley opened his side pouch and fumbled around the tools within. He clumsily brought out a pair of scissors and turned to Victor. He tried inserting an edge between Victor and the sheet, but could not, for it had tightened too much. Amidst Victor's trembling, Stanley's grip on the scissors jerked and sliced a line on Victor's arm.
"Ah, Stanley, you fool!" Victor wailed as his blood trickled down the tunnel.
"I cannot do it!" said Stanley.
"No!" cried Victor. "I am sorry I lashed out at you. It is the doing of this foul thing! You mustn't give up!"
Stanley's eyes darted from his scissors to Victor's arm. Stanley's head was trembling when Victor said, "You can do this. I believe you can."
Stanley said, "Help me by keeping your arm still."
Victor held his arm on top of a rock and it calmed. "Do it fast," he said. "I cannot hold it for long."
Stanley brought an edge of the scissor between Victor and the sheet again.
"Now snap it," said Victor.
Stanley used both hands to clip the plastic sheet which then fell off of Victor's arm.
"Gah," said Victor. He brought his arm to his chest. "You did it." He grabbed his digger and flicked a switch. He aimed it at the sheet and pressed a button. A ray of fire spouted from the tip of the drill and engulfed the sheet. The sheet burned all over and shriveled into a black crisp.
Victor lowered his drill and said, "That thing will never harm another man again."
"Your arm’s bleeding," Stanley said. "We should go down and get you some medicine."
"Rig
ht," said Victor.
"Are you going to slide down?"
"I’ll try," said Victor. He handed Stanley the drill.
Stanley clutched the drill and slid down. Victor grabbed his gauntlet and slid behind, taking his time and using his legs to maintain his pace as he went down.
When Stanley reached the bottom of the tunnel, he was met by two men, their arms outstretched and dirtied.
"We had to stop," Stanley said to them.
Mr. Roberts walked over. "What’s the matter?" he said.
"Victor is bleeding. He needs pills immediately."
Victor slid down and jumped out of the hole. His hand was forced on top of his wound, but blood still seeped through his fingers.
"Move away," Victor said. He pushed past the others and cut through the lake, gear still on.
Stanley and Mr. Roberts hurriedly removed their boots and followed Victor. They followed a trail of blood and reached the town square where a crowd had gathered to watch Victor limp toward them.
"Somebody get me a medicine pill," Victor said. A young man brought him a pill and a cup of water. Victor grabbed the pill and stuffed it in his mouth. He emptied the water down his throat and crushed the cup within his seizing hand. The dirt in his gash cleared away and fell to the floor as the clean blood receded. The torn skin reconnected. Victor released a coarse, long--drawn sigh and patted his arm.
A burly, bald man, Buckner approached and said, "What happened, Victor?"
"I ran into a menace," Victor said. "It was a thin sheet with holes that clutched and strained my arm." He waved his arm around and patted it again. "At first, I was deceived by its simple form, but it activated when I foolishly brought it close to me."
Buckner stepped forward and said, "Did it cause your cut?"
"Yes," Victor said.
"No, it was not really the sheet," Stanley said. "I accidently slashed him with scissors, while I was trying to get it off of him."
"But it was because the thing had clung on to me that we had such a scuffle," said Victor.
"Where did you leave it?" cried a voice.
"We burnt it in the tunnel and left it there to die," said Victor.
"Are you completely sure that it is no longer a threat?" said Buckner.
"We saw it burn and shrivel before us," Victor said. "It shrunk into a single twisted, black strand. It will never pose the same threat it has before."
The crowd of people lightly clapped and smiled at Victor and Stanley. One man even cheered.
"You two have experienced much today," said Mr. Roberts. "Go to your domiciles, get some rest. Give me your gear. I’ll return it."
"Thank you," said Victor. He removed his gear and handed it over. "Keep a close eye on the others. They may encounter their own dangers." Victor rubbed the dirt off from his clothes and strode away to the domiciles.
Stanley handed his own gear to Mr. Roberts and then walked toward the crowd.
Emily ran to him, her face grim.
"Stanley, I’m so glad you’re safe," she said. "Victor came out drenched in his own blood. Imagine if that had happened to you."
"I don’t know if it would have," said Stanley. "He was exasperated, and made too big a deal of it."
"I’m just glad that you’re fine," Emily said. She handed him a pill and a cup of water.
"Thank you," Stanley said and swallowed the pill and drank the water before Emily had hers. "I needed that."
Stanley started down the row of domiciles and Emily trailed behind. She brushed the dirt off of Stanley’s clothes and rubbed it off of his face and neck. She ran up ahead and opened the door for Stanley.
"I’m going to wash," Stanley said. He stepped into the shower and dried himself off. When he emerged from the bathroom, Emily was sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Come sit with me," she said.
Stanley sat beside her.
"I'm more worried for you," she said, "after seeing Victor like that."
"He overreacted to the situation," Stanley said. "I hardly think that thing was meant to be a trap or even a weapon."
"But you heard Victor. He said he was deceived by it."
"He was. He saw it as something more than what it truly was," said Stanley. "And so, he overreacted."
"I just want you to be careful in there," said Emily. "Keep your safety first. Everything else is secondary." She peered into Stanley’s eyes. "You’re not trying to get those rubies, are you?"
"Victor destroyed the vein, along with my hopes of getting them for you.
"That’s good," Emily said. "That really is."
Stanley chuckled and looked down at Emily’s hands and held them. "Thank you," he said.
Stanley and Emily changed into their sleepwear and jumped into bed. They spoke for a while before falling asleep.
SIX
"Be safe honey," Emily said.
Stanley leaned in and kissed her. "I’ll see you tonight," he said.
Stanley walked past the row of domiciles, through the streets to the town square. The crowd was larger that day, and Stanley had trouble pushing through them. He received sad looks from the men and women in the crowd and sometimes, the occasional pat on the back, a cheer, or a word of encouragement. One woman even said, "Oh please, do be careful in there."
Stanley went into the cave and walked across the lake. He was met by Mr. Roberts.
"I got a lot of worried looks from the crowd," Stanley said. "I suppose word of Victor’s incident has gotten out."
"It has spread to every ear in that short time," said Mr. Roberts. "I’ve received countless appeals to end this project and countless more praising my efforts."
Victor emerged from the lake and said, "Do you have thoughts of ending this?"
"It is only our third day and we are bound to run into a few accidents," said Mr. Roberts.
Stanley nodded. He went over to the base of his tunnel and equipped his gear. Victor was already there with his gear on, having his pill.
Victor grabbed the drill and fastened it to his back. He climbed into the tunnel and made his way up, followed by Stanley. The distance up was long, but Victor had learned to climb faster, by sort of propelling his feet from each ledge. But when they reached the top, Victor was drained of energy. He sat down and panted.
"Let me rest a while," said Victor. "I am tired by the time I get up here. Now I have to hold the drill up for hours."
"Well you won't trust me with it, so bear that in mind," said Stanley, who was also panting. "It’s kind of hard to get air in this place, isn't it?"
Victor ceased his panting and looked up. "Tell me," he said. "What was your real intention? When you voted to dig up, were you really hoping to reach the surface? Or was it for the rubies?"
"It was the rubies," said Stanley.
Victor raised his hands and smacked them on his legs. "I knew it," he said.
"It is fine," said Stanley. "Other council members have voted to dig as well."
"It’s not fine," said Victor. "You had the power to prevent this project from ever happening. Haven’t you seen the things we dug up? They’ve all been weapons. You and I have both been injured by them. It won’t be long until the same happens to the others."
"I do worry about that," Stanley said. "But we are undertaking a bold task. It would be abnormal if we ran into nothing."
Victor did not reply. He grabbed his drill, aimed at the tunnel, and dug. Stanley stayed behind and diligently pushed the mounds of brown dirt down. They continued for a good long time. They had climbed about fifty ledges when the dirt seemed different, as in having a slightly reflective tinge to them. They ran through Stanley’s hands and fingers, and at one point, large chunks of silvery dirt ran down.
"Wait," Stanley said. "Wait, Victor stop."
Victor stopped his drill and looked down. "What?" he said.
Stanley pointed at the dirt and said, "Have a look at this."
Victor glanced at the dirt, but didn’t react. He set his visor aside and focused his
eyes and his mouth drew open. "What is this?" he said. He dug his hand into the dirt and grabbed a fistful of it. Specks of silvery metal glistened under his helmet light.
Stanley looked past Victor and pointed. "Look."
Victor turned and faced the wall where he had previously dug. Scattered along the dirt were silver sticks that were either cut by the drill or pushed in.
Victor shuffled up and ran his finger along one of them. It was embedded deep within the dirt, so he dug his finger in and picked it out. It fell, along with the dirt around it. Victor picked it up and held it before him and glanced at it. His eyes zoomed in and widened as he carefully looked at all sides of it.
"Show me," said Stanley.
Victor slowly turned and brought it before Stanley. Stanley poked his head closely in, but Victor shook it and said, "No, just take it."
Stanley took it with both hands and observed it. It was an old metal stick, silver in color, and smooth in texture. It was flat and thin, and it curved at the tip and divided into three separate points.
Victor raised his drill and kept it off. With it, he stabbed the dirt, and chunks fell off, along with the silver sticks. Stanley collected them before they could slide down.
"Careful," Victor said. He set his drill down and picked up some of the sticks. "Look at this one." He handed another one to Stanley.
It was similar to the one Stanley saw before, but about three quarters up, it menacingly curved outward. There were multiple sharply cut ridges in the curved part. Stanley scratched it against the tip of his gauntlet and left a cut mark. He looked up. "What are these?"
Victor continued scanning his handful of sticks. "I don’t know," he said. "But it’s a miracle that we found them now."
"How is that so?"
"It is better that experienced people ran into this," Victor said. "We’ve dug enough today. We should return below and show the others."
Stanley nodded and took the drill. "Collect the sticks, as many as you can," he said.
Victor gathered a bundle of the metal sticks and said, "I have enough."
Stanley slid down, and Victor followed him. Ailey met them.
Like Veins of Red Rubies (Most Precious Book 1) Page 3