It was a lie, but they all pretended it wasn’t.
“It’ll be tight up there as we dig and, well, no offense…” Jack said, his voice trailing off as he looked at Hassan’s large middle.
“I will work over there,” Hassan said, gesturing to the blocked doorway to the outside. “And do what I can.”
“All right,” Jack said. “Just try not breathe too much.” He looked around their chamber. “We probably don’t have much more than eight or ten hours ourselves.”
Hassan looked up anxiously around the room, as if he could see the air itself disappearing in front of his eyes.
“Everything will be all right,” Hassan said to himself as he dripped wax onto the floor to secure the candle. He pulled two more from his belt and set them down. “Trust in Hassan.”
Jack turned back to Simon, giving him a curt nod. “We’ll get out. Diana knows we’re here. Help will come.”
Simon didn’t remind him that Diana could well be dead already and if she wasn’t, odds were Vale would see to it that she would be. Help would not be coming. Not in time, anyway.
Pushing that thought aside, Simon turned back to the mountain of stone they had to move. The tunnel had to be at least three feet wide, eight feet high and ten feet long. Digging their way to Elizabeth would mean moving tons of rock.
Jack started to reach out for a stone and Simon could see the blood that covered the back of his hand. His wound was bleeding badly.
“We need to tend to that arm first,” Simon said. It took all of his willpower to turn away from the pile of rocks and toward Jack. “You won’t be any help to anyone if you pass out.”
Jack hesitated and then reluctantly nodded.
Simon felt stronger somehow in that moment. Having his good sense back, perhaps. Jack sucked in a painful breath as he slipped off his jacket. Simon tore away his ripped shirtsleeve to create a makeshift bandage. The bullet had passed all the way through, which was good, but he’d already lost a lot of blood.
Simon wrapped the bandage around Jack’s arm and tied if off. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Staring at this man who was giving him his life, who had saved them time and again, Simon struggled. What could he say to a man who was willing to do what Jack was?
It was insufficient and not worthy, but all he had to offer. “Thank you.”
Jack smiled in understanding. “We’re not dead yet.” He looked up at the rocks. “We’ll find a way.”
“You sound like Elizabeth,” Simon said, almost as a reflex.
Jack nodded and Simon could see him swallow his own emotion. “Let’s get to work.”
They made good progress at first, clearing what seemed to be a ton of stone, maybe it was. Large rocks and small, gravel and boulders had to be lifted and shifted away.
With discarded rocks and debris, they’d built up a set of steps so they could climb up high enough to work along the ceiling of the tunnel. They were about two feet in when more rocks collapsed down into the cavern they’d created. Simon barely had time to save his arm from being crushed.
All they could do was start again and again. Time slowly ticked away. The small candles Hassan had brought probably had three hours of burn time each, if they were lucky. The first was more than halfway gone. They’d been digging for nearly two hours, and they were barely three feet in.
If they kept this pace, they’d break through in just over six hours, at the very edge of Elizabeth’s air supply. That was if she’d stayed calm, hadn’t tried to dig herself out.
But he knew his wife. Elizabeth was incapable of sitting by and waiting. If she was alive, and he had to believe she was, she was digging, wasting her air, wasting her energy. Simon’s heart clenched at the thought and he redoubled his efforts. His muscles burned and his hands were raw, but he kept on.
Jack had forced them all to pace themselves, to take breaks. They were short but excruciating. When the last one was over, it was Simon’s turn in the tunnel and he crawled on top of the jagged rocks, and pulled himself forward. Carefully, he picked rocks from darkness and placed those he could into Jack’s discarded jacket. He tied the arms to create a makeshift basket and passed it back to Jack, who emptied and handed it back to repeat the process over and over again.
It was slow and painful, but they made progress. Simon fixated on that. With each inch, he was closer to Elizabeth.
The exchange, though, became more difficult the deeper they went. Simon was fully inside the tunnel now and Jack had to crawl in a bit as well to reach the jacket and larger stones before crawling out backward to dump them.
More debris dislodged as they went, a large stone falling and cutting into the back of Simon’s leg, but he didn’t stop, they didn’t stop.
Hour after hour, they dug and clawed their way closer to Elizabeth.
Simon reached for a large stone, wedged between two others. He pulled and pushed, but couldn’t get it to move. He swore at it, feeling his anger rising, feeling it feed the hopelessness he’d somehow kept hidden. How could they have come so far to be stopped now? He braced his legs against the side of the tunnel and pushed for all he was worth, only stopping when he felt lightheaded from the effort.
“Dammit!”
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked.
“I can’t—” Simon stopped. He thought he heard something.
“You can’t—”
Simon’s heart skipped a beat. “Quiet!”
Simon listened again, but all he could hear was Hassan’s rocks tumbling down to the chamber floor. “Tell him to stop!”
Jack did and Simon closed his eyes and listened again.
“Simon?”
It was faint, barely a whisper, but it was her.
“Elizabeth!”
“You can hear her?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” he said, his heart thrumming wildly in his chest. Alive. She was alive. “Elizabeth, we’re coming!”
He listened again, but there was no sound. For a moment, he wondered if he’d dreamt it, if he needed to hear her so badly he’d imagined hearing her. But he put that aside and believed.
She was alive.
“We’re coming,” he called out and redoubled his effort.
Buoyed by the sound of her voice, he found a reservoir of strength and dislodged the large rock. Slowly, he rolled it back toward Jack. The last few feet were a blur. Every part of his body ached. His head was splitting. His hands were cut. And all he could think of was her.
He reached for a stone and it gave way under his hand. He heard it fall, tumbling down, away from him.
“Elizabeth!”
There was no reply and his heart nearly stopped.
He crawled forward and pushed more rocks. He inched his way to the opening and tried to see in the darkness.
“Elizabeth!”
Nothing. He refused to accept it.
“Elizabeth!”
Nothing. And then…
“Simon.”
His breath caught and he pulled himself forward and nearly fell out of the hole he’d created. He could hear Jack close behind him.
“Where are you?” Simon asked as he tried to make his way out of the tunnel and into her chamber.
“Simon.”
Her voice was faint and weak. But it was. It so gloriously was.
He could hear Jack above him, and then the spark of a match lit the small room. He squinted in the dim light and then he saw her.
Elizabeth slumped against the far wall, just under the spot where they’d found the watch, the chisel he’d dropped earlier resting in her hand.
Simon rushed to her side. She was barely breathing. Her chest rose and fell in short bursts, but she was alive. He let out a sob and pulled her up and into his arms.
Tears stung his eyes as he crushed her to him. Dear God, she was alive.
“I knew you’d come,” she said.
He laughed and eased her away to see her face in the dim light.
“I will always come for you.”
“Come on,” Jack said, as his match burned itself out and he lit another.
Simon helped Elizabeth the short distance to the tunnel. She was nearly too weak to stand and he lifted her up to Jack, who grabbed her with his good arm.
“Jack,” she said, sounding far away.
His voice was raw with effort, but reassuring. “Hey, kid.” He shook the match out. “Let’s get the heck out of here.”
Simon helped Elizabeth up into the tunnel and followed close behind. The pile of rocks shifted beneath him as he climbed up to the hole, but he managed to just get on top of them. He could see Elizabeth’s silhouette at the end of the tunnel as she climbed out, bathed in the glow of the candlelight.
Simon crawled through the tunnel, feeling bits collapse behind him as he went. Just a few more feet…
Whoever the powers that be were, they listened, and he crawled out safely into the chamber. Elizabeth, who had been holding onto Jack for support, took two wobbly steps toward him. Simon caught her and pulled her to him. She was crying now, sobbing into his chest. He held her tightly, dipped his head down and let his own tears come.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
They held each other for a few minutes before Elizabeth sniffled and eased back a little. She could finally breathe again and not just because she had air, but because she had him.
She ran her hands over Simon’s stubbled cheeks and wiped the dirt and tears away. Pushing herself up on tiptoe, she kissed him. He pulled her to him again and held her tightly.
During all the time she’d been trapped, she’d never stopped believing she’d see him again. Her heart never doubted.
When the kiss ended she could see him, really see him for the first time. See the love and the pain in his eyes. Every minute of the agony he’d endured etched on his face.
“Elizabeth.”
The way he said her name always told her everything she needed to know. And this time, she could hear the sorrow in it. She turned and saw Jack and Hassan. The same mix of love and sorrow, triumph and defeat was in their eyes.
And then she realized why.
The passageway to the outside was still filled with rocks. They’d barely made a dent in it and yet they’d moved heaven and earth to get to her. They’d all sacrificed themselves for her.
If only they had the watch. If they had that, they could use her key to escape the same way they did in London, but without it…
She bit her lip to keep more tears from coming, but they came anyway. She slipped from Simon’s arms and hugged Jack.
“Thank you.”
She knelt down and kissed Hassan’s cheek. He smiled weakly at her, barely conscious.
Elizabeth stood up and turned back to look at these three men. These wonderful men and swore that it couldn’t end this way. It wouldn’t.
She turned away from them then and began to dig.
Simon came up behind her and stilled her hands. “It’s too much,” he said.
He, all of them, had used everything they had to get to her. They were beyond exhausted. Jack was injured and Hassan couldn’t even stand.
Simon nodded toward the candle on the ground. “That’s the last one. When it goes out…”
She didn’t need to hear the rest of the sentence to know what it was. When it burns out, so do we.
She refused to accept that. “I haven’t done anything for the last six hours except sit there and wait. I’ll dig.”
“There just isn’t time, Elizabeth” Jack said. “It’s impossible.”
Elizabeth tossed another rock aside. “That’s never stopped us before.”
She would not go out without a fight. If they were too tired to fight anymore, she would do it for them.
Elizabeth grabbed another rock and then another. And then Simon and Jack joined her.
They dug and dug, but every hole they made was filled with falling rock. The tunnel was on a slant and every time they moved something at the bottom, something from the top slid down to fill the gap. But Elizabeth didn’t stop digging, until nearly two hours later when she felt the same shortness of breath she’d felt inside the burial chamber.
The candle’s flame flickered. It was guttering out and so were they.
The rocks were almost too heavy to move now, or she was too weak to move them.
She laid her head down on her arm to rest.
“Elizabeth,” Simon said from behind her.
She lifted her head up, her mind getting fuzzy. She tried to grab another stone, but couldn’t.
“Just a short break,” she said and Simon helped her climb down from her perch inside the tunnel. Slowly, they moved over to the wall where Jack and Hassan sat leaning and joined them.
Her chest rose and fell quickly. She could only get shallow breaths now. Simon put his arm around her and she leaned into his side. Reaching out with her hand, she felt Jack’s and held it.
“Just a few minutes,” she said between catching breaths. Her eyes felt heavier and heavier, until she couldn’t keep them open anymore.
Then she was in a dream. She and Simon were sitting at home on the sofa. She was in his arms and a fire crackled in the fireplace. In her dream, she closed her eyes content to drift off and then, suddenly, there were voices and noises and lights.
And then someone slapped her. She barely felt it until it came again. The sting in her cheeks roused her and she opened her eyes.
“Dieu merci.”
Henri smiled down at her. “Are you all right?”
In a rush, the last day came back to her. “Am I dead?”
He laughed and shook his head, before slapping Simon’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Réveillez!”
Simon’s head lolled to the side and for a split second Elizabeth thought he was dead.
“Simon?” She gripped his shirt and shook him.
Henri slapped him again, harder.
Her heart leapt into her throat until, finally, he groaned. With a relieved sob, Elizabeth put her hand on his chest and felt its rise and fall. Even before he was fully conscious his hand sought hers.
The room was a blur of activity. Diana was kneeling in front of Jack and Hassan. Men, maybe a half a dozen, worked like mad on the tunnel entrance, shifting rocks quickly and efficiently. She could hear the voices of even more men in the tunnel.
“Thought that crazy woman…had killed you,” Jack said to Diana.
Diana grinned and put her hand to his cheek. “Oh, she tried. But Alexi and his men. Let’s just say I owe them one.”
“It seems,” Simon said, finding his breath. “We owe you…one.”
Did they ever, Elizabeth thought. She meant to say it out loud, but she didn’t have the energy and could only nod in agreement.
Diana’s smile broadened. “Sorry we cut it so close.”
“I had no idea anything like this… “ Henri said and shook his head.
Elizabeth managed a weak smile for him.
Diana barked some order at the men before turning back to them. “We’ll have you out in a jiff.”
A man brought them two goat skins of water. He helped Hassan drink some before handing it to Jack. Elizabeth took a few sips before passing hers to Simon.
“I came back to the hotel,” Diana said. “And when you weren’t there, I knew something was wrong. I thought you sneaked back, so I came here and saw the cave-in.”
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said.
“Thank Henri,” Diana said. “I went back for help. I don’t know how he found all of these men, but without them…”
Elizabeth knew there was no way she could ever thank or repay any of these people enough.
Simon took his arm from around Elizabeth and held out his hand to Henri. “Thank you. Both of you. Merci.”
Jouvet smiled as he shook Simon’s hand. Instead of letting go though, he stood and helped Simon to stand.
“What about Christina?” Elizabeth asked, wobbling a bit
and grateful for Simon’s help. “Is she all right?”
Diana cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
Elizabeth glanced over at Simon. They both looked over at Jack and Hassan, both of whom were unsteady on their feet and in dire need of a doctor.
“We’ll explain it on the way,” Simon said. “And hope we’re not too late.”
~ ~ ~
The morning sun was painfully bright and Elizabeth shielded her eyes as she watched Hassan being put on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital. She’d made Henri promise to look after him. Still fresh with guilt, he gladly obliged and swore that Hassan would be well taken care of. He would see to it himself.
“You’ll all need a doctor,” Diana said, her brow wrinkled in concern. “Inhaling all that dust alone—”
She was probably right, Elizabeth realized, but there wasn’t time to waste. She expected Simon to agree with Diana, but he cut her off instead with a weary hand.
“We’ll be fine. Hassan and Jack, perhaps, but Elizabeth and you and I have more important things to worry about.”
“My arm can wait,” Jack said. “Let’s get going.”
As they raced back to the hotel, they explained to Diana what had happened. Exhausted, but pushed on by worry for Christina, they hurried up to the Whiteside’s room as soon as they reached the Winter Palace.
Diana knocked loudly on the door. “Arthur?”
The door opened almost instantly. Whiteside’s eyes were wide with fear and hope. “Diana! Is she with you?” He moved her aside to see for himself.
“No, Arthur,” Diana said as she put an arm around Whiteside. “I’m afraid she’s not.”
“She must have run off with that boy,” Whiteside said angrily as he strode back into his suite. “When I get my hands on him…”
Hope flared in Elizabeth’s heart. She hadn’t thought of that. Maybe they had run off together before Vale got to her.
“Did you try Ahmed’s room?” Elizabeth asked as they followed Whiteside into his suite.
“Of course, I did,” Whiteside bit out and then turned back and shook his head in apology, but it died on his lips as he took in their appearances. “What in the name of God happened to you lot?”
Sands of Time (Out of Time #6) Page 27