by C. L. Bevill
Anna shoved away a piece of wood that was thrust into her by the current and groped for the side of the truck.
The water was being drawn through the chamber into the area where the opening to the sinkhole was located. Anna studied it minutely and decided that the sinkhole was sucking up water, causing water to course through the graveyard on its way to lower ground. But it couldn’t be long before the water started to fill it up and overflow backed up into the lower sections of the mine, at least meeting the lake’s level. This place would be one large watery cave, unless the explosives blew first.
Anna grappled with the strong force of the water as it streamed through the bigger hollow of the graveyard. It threatened to yank her legs out from underneath her and pull her down to join those who had gone before her. Dan Cullen. Gautier Debou. Meg Theriot. Gautier’s fateful warning was coming back to plague her.
Perhaps Arette’s husband had had a little of a gift, after all, she thought. A touch of clairvoyance? Anna dismissed the thought and clutched the side of the Dodge. She nearly smiled to herself as she came so close to being successful.
But the explosives above her began to go off in thundering blasts that made the water ripple over her body and sent great shavings of salt plummeting toward her. She would have screamed had her head not been forced under the churning waters.
•
The two men holding his arms yanked Gabriel backward. One of them murmured in French reassuringly. Gabriel stared in stunned disbelief as the building that concealed the opening of the mine crumpled like a tin can under the fist of a colossus. The people around them began to hurry backwards. There was a great whooshing noise as air was sucked into the mineshaft, as pressure from below began to equalize. The single floodlight went out with a great popping noise as it was yanked from its wires. The earth continued to shudder in massive protest of what had been done to it.
Aurore stumbled before them, going to her knees, the closest person to the opening of the mine. Gabriel yelled, “Aurore!” He reached out a hand toward the older woman, the headlights of the cars behind him revealing that the bluff was moving like a monster, about to issue forth an ultimatum of death to all who dared to pass in front of it. There were shrieks of dismay and fear from behind Gabriel, as they perceived what he had.
The mine belched out a great cloud of salty white smoke that enveloped the crowd of people, leaving whiteness behind wherever it touched them. The two men who had been holding his arms moved away, trying to find their way out of the murky impediment. Gabriel fought his stinging eyes, rubbing his fists against them to clear his vision. The earth continued to shake beneath his feet. The ominous shift of the terrain sounded like a low shriek of pain in his ears.
“Look!” someone behind him yelled. The white cloud of salt and sand began to settle, making them all look like pasty ghosts walking around in a pale ocean. “The lake is boiling! C’est vrai! The lake is boiling! What is this?”
Gabriel cast a hurried glimpse over his shoulder. His burning eyes followed the tongue of the bayou out toward the lake and saw what the rest of the family was seeing. In the deepest area the lake was bubbling up, the water began to surge against the shore in large dashing waves, spray splattering upward like black fingers reaching for the bright moon. It was as if water was fighting the air, seeking dominance, but he knew the surface under the lake was undergoing changes. The mine was beginning to fold in on itself and sucking the water down into it.
When Gabriel looked forward again he saw that Aurore was back on her feet. Every inch of her flesh was covered with white dust and she stared puzzledly at the devastated building as if she couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening. Gabriel blinked furiously to clear the salty obstruction from his vision. The earth began to shift again. The large silhouette of the bluff moved visibly behind them, obscuring the stars.
“Aurore!” Gabriel yelled. Aurore turned his head to look at the younger man. Gabriel added, “Come away from there!”
The bluff began to disintegrate into a mass of muddy material and loose sand. Trees and roots aside, it collapsed into an accumulation of loose dirt with nothing left to support it. It rolled downward with nothing to prevent its exodus.
Gabriel saw Aurore move her head back and knew the second the older woman realized her immediate danger. Gabriel spun on his heels. He didn’t pause. He rushed toward safety, yelling, “Run! Run! RUN!” One of his arms picked up a woman who had fallen, and he shoved someone else along.
He couldn’t help looking back, almost expecting to be turned into a pillar of salt for his transgression. The bluff had become a hulking creature that hunched precariously for a long moment and then began to fall, spreading further and further out, a tidal wave of grit and sand. Gabriel saw the whiteness that was Aurore’s shape, her hands reaching out as if she were entreating God for mercy, and then she was gone, buried under the mass of dirt rolling forward.
Then the heap of sand and dirt swelled toward the lake, with no other course left to it. It was a gush of earth in a fluid movement that streamed downward, a graceful motion that nothing outside of nature could match.
•
The water plunged from the ceiling of the graveyard like an impenetrable wall, dropping from every inch of the cracks made by the detonations. Anna saw the explosives go off in a rush and the water swallowed her whole. She could feel it tugging at her flesh, drawing her into the opening where the sinkhole was sucking the water away, an unimaginably powerful siphon. She tumbled weightlessly, abruptly colliding against an unmovable object. The flashlight cast circles of yellowish light into the swirling murk and a huge chunk of salt slid by Anna’s side, slicing along her arm.
Her head popped up, like a cork in the water and she brought the flashlight out in a wide circle, panting for breath as the coldness seeped into her bones. The huge Peterbilt shifted its position as she fought for purchase, dog paddling in the water, one foot braced on some piece of equipment that hadn’t been budged by the water. Chunks of ceiling, pieces of salt rock that resembled fragments of a mammoth glacier, showered down striking the water all around her.
The water began to rise and the current almost ceased at once. Anna stared upward at the lake water that was gushing into the cavity. She shone the light up and could see that not all the explosives had gone off. It was the reason that she was still alive. The ones on one side had been set off, causing a rippling crack through which water was exiting like a tremendous geyser pointed downward.
The earth continued to undulate and swell and the water around her was a billowing mass of debris that jarred every inch of her body. Anna looked around her frantically but the Dodge, along with its precious cargo, was gone in the frenzied soup. She caught onto the Peterbilt and yanked herself upward, lying across the black hood of the long snout. For an instant, the irony struck her and Anna almost giggled. Dan Cullen’s truck was helping to extend her life for a few minutes.
But then the entire chamber began to shiver and a resonant thud made the waters sway with little waves that knocked everything in their path about. Anna grasped the windshield wipers and hung on with all of her might. The flashlight fell to her chest and she pressed against it, trying to keep it from falling into the roiling waters. She brought her chin down and held it in place, praying for the mine to stop its movement for just a moment.
Water continued falling into the excavation at an amazing rate. The roar of it almost overwhelmed everything else. Anna felt the earth finally stop its movement and it was then that a wretched pressure abruptly applied itself to her head. It was like something had fallen on top of her, something that she couldn’t move. It pressed down inexorably and she almost let go of the truck, to reach up and try to push the invisible force away.
Sebastien, she realized. Sebastien is hurt. I can feel you, Sebastien.
Almost unwillingly, Sebastien’s mind opened up to Anna. The pain contained there pushed against every inch of her body. It heaved against her, compressing her lungs, ca
using her to gasp for air and there was none to be found. The smell of bleach and blood permeated her surroundings, as though she was drowning in it instead of water. The explosives? It was a weak thought as he lay inside an ambulance, the blood in his brain beginning to swell and crush the fragile matter.
Anna wanted to scream at him. He was dying. Sebastien deserved whatever he got. But the anger ebbed away. She could feel that it was too late for him. There was no escape for her father and his mind couldn’t quite grasp it. His thoughts were almost childlike, desperate for a last note of approval. They went off, she answered him. All along one side. Not on top. For some reason those didn’t.
The det cord, he thought. It was weak and pulsed in and out of her mind, as if he didn’t know what to think, trapped in the darkness, alone with his thoughts and with Anna’s. Doesn’t always burn at the same rate. If one side blew earlier than the rest, then it might have gotten the rest wet, and those wouldn’t explode at all. Shoulda thought of that.
Sebastien, she thought desperately. Dying. You’re dying. Something’s wrong with your head. Pray for absolution, Sebastien. The Peterbilt was beginning to fill with water and it began to sink, bubbles escaping from the windows at the sides. The water started to climb over her shoulders. Anna could feel the pressure in her head starting to ease. She let go of one of the wiper blades and grasped the flashlight again. Groaning with Sebastien’s pain, she scrambled on top of the semi-truck, her feet slipping over the slick surface. Moving the flashlight around, she was amazed that it was still working; she could see the graveyard was half full and the water was rapidly mounting.
Somewhere far above her and a distance away Sebastien’s heart was beating its last beats. For a moment, Anna closed her eyes. His were closed and a tunnel of white light appeared before him. She didn’t know what was on the other side, but she urged him. Sebastien, pray before it’s too late.
Heavenly Father, he thought, struggling for one last breath. Please forgive… And he died.
Anna watched the water swirling around the Peterbilt. God have mercy on his soul. Something in her suddenly let go and all psychic walls dropped away. She reached out, seeking something, seeking someone special.
Anna? It was another thought pattern that reached out to her. Not available before, Aurore’s thoughts had blocked hers, and then she had blocked her own, not willing to have Gabriel risk his life. But she caught the full-force of his vast relief. Anna! Oh thank God.
•
The tide of dirt and sand knocked Gabriel from his feet and pushed him along for a dozen feet before coming to a rolling stop. The woman under his arm crawled out and wiped mud from her face. A dozen voices could be heard in his head, asking if anyone was hurt. Camille was prying Mathieu out from under a pine tree but both had escaped with only scratches. Someone else, Gabriel couldn’t tell who, had a broken arm, and was reassuring his wife. The remainder was helping those who needed it. Some were looking at half-buried cars and Gabriel noticed that the dirt slide had put out the fire in his truck by simply enveloping it in earth.
Gabriel climbed to his feet. The slide had chased them all to the edge of the bayou, but the bayou was gone. The water had been sucked out into the lake and his eyes grew wide as he saw the slow circular spin of the water. Even with only the moonlight he could see the lake turning in a counter-clockwise motion, like a giant drain with its plug pulled. The nearest cypress appeared like huge plants that had been pulled out of their pots. The two flat-bottomed boats sat on muddy earth, sadly beached. The water trickled away in a hurry to be elsewhere.
“Maman!” cried Raoul Benoit. Gabriel turned to see the youngest Benoit digging at the mudslide with frantic hands. There was a residual feeling of pressure in Gabriel’s chest, as if he could feel the woman who had been crushed by the earth and buried alive. Gabriel looked around him, knowing that Anna was still inside the mine, cut off from him, cut off from all of the family, but she was still alive. Why, Gabriel wasn’t sure, but he could feel her.
Others began to help him, using their hands and sticks to dig.
It was a long minute later that Raoul stopped digging with his bare hands and cried out with his pain. Aurore had died. The people around Raoul grasped him and comforted him as best they could. At that moment Gabriel knew that he could reach her again. Anna? Anna, oh thank God.
But then Gabriel realized she was cold and wet, and had no place to go. She wasn’t dead yet. But it wouldn’t be long.
•
Gabriel. Anna looked around her. The water was climbing the sides of the Peterbilt. She could stand on the roof of the cab or on the air dam that covered the sleeper of the truck. Sebastien, she almost choked aloud, looking at debris floating around her. Sebastien and Aurore. Gaspard is dead. Oh God, they killed all of these people. And the mine…
Where are you? There was a tinge of desperation in his thoughts.
You can’t help me, Gabriel. Anna panned the flashlight up. The water still poured in. It wouldn’t stop until the chamber was full and then it would move up the tunnels until the level of the water in the mine equaled the level of the lake.
Then the earth began to shudder again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Saturday, February 21st – Sunday, February 22nd
The Lake People say that seeing Goujon at dusk always brings luck, seeing him at dawn foretells ruin, but seen at night means that he watches over you and good fortune will rain down upon your head.
Anna wasn’t afraid, although she should have been. The crack on the far side of the chamber was letting water pour into the graveyard like a broken faucet. The only source of light she had was a simple flashlight that had been submerged numerous times and been on constantly for what seemed like hours. There wasn’t a perceivable way out of the ordeal. But Gabriel was alive, somewhere far above her, and apparently healthy. She propped herself against the air dam of the truck and worked to keep her balance as the big truck shifted ominously under her. Somehow, somewhere, she’d regained her ability to work through even the toughest circumstances.
Anna, dammit. Gabriel was so incensed and worried that it was difficult for her to get what he was thinking. It was a garble of thoughts that shot at her like a weapon.
Not now, Gabriel. I’ve got a little situation.
There was nothing for a moment. Then he must have concluded that honesty would help her most and his thought came through clearly to her. The mine opening’s collapsed up here. The bluff fell in on it.
Oh? I think Sebastien and Aurore would have appreciated the irony. Thinking of irony, you’ll never believe whose truck is saving my ass right now.
Gabriel was slowly garnering control over his emotions. Anna thought she could feel Camille’s subtle influence aiding him, both Camille’s and others beside. They stood as one, more of a family than ever. Anna, goddammit. Where are you?
An air tank bobbed by and Anna made a noise. She let go of the air dam with one hand and reached out to snag it. It was a standard Aluminum-80, designed to hold slightly less than 80 cubic feet of air. She couldn’t remember how long 80 cubic feet of air would last her and it wouldn’t do her much good unless she found a regulator. She was going to have dive down and see if she could locate one.
The graveyard, Anna answered Gabriel.
There was a roar of muted emotion that was her response. Others’ thoughts sought to calm him.
Anna felt instant remorse for having let that nickname go to him. She concentrated for a moment, trying to reassure him. It’s not exactly a real graveyard. Just old trucks. New trucks. Junk from the mine.
And more. You can’t hide it from me, Anna. The Benoits deposited the vehicles and belongings of the people who vanished there, before they…got rid of their bodies in a sinkhole. Oh Dieu. You’re on top of that bastard trucker’s tractor trailer!
And I thought you wouldn’t be able to guess. Anna gauged her location in the chamber. Beggars can’t be choosers, whistling man. The Peterbilt had been close to the
Dodge. However, there was no guarantee that anything was remaining in the back of the truck. The water was sure to have washed some or all of it away, down into the sinkhole or to any number of places inside the graveyard.
Men are going for tractors, Anna. Gabriel’s mind was almost chaotic. Digging equipment. We can clear the opening. And your arm is stinging. What’s wrong?
Anna glanced down and remembered the falling piece of rock salt that had gashed open her arm. Blood was spilling down her flesh and the salty content of the water was making the wound burn. She ripped a piece of T-shirt off and bound it quickly. Gabriel, she thought, trying not to let what she already knew get out to him. He was yelling at the family, urging them to hurry. Oh Gabriel.
The chamber’s filling with water, he thought, realizing what she was trying to keep from him. So quickly, you’re going to drown far before any of us will be able to reach you.
I’m so sorry, Gabriel. It called to me. Something wanted me to expose this secret. It’s been going on far too long and it was escalating. Aurore had lost her mind and taken her family with her. Anna searched for the right words. It’s like some other force wanted me, no needed me desperately, to bring this out into the open. I didn’t intend to be killed in the process. I’d never do that to you.
Gabriel’s thoughts were a jumble of feelings. Anger and rage mixed with fear and longing. Desperation coursed in his mind combined with a hope for the extreme reversal of her circumstances. He had lost the ability to think coherently for a moment.
Camille’s soft thoughts came to Anna. Anna, is there any way out for you?