by C. L. Bevill
There’s an opening. On the far side of the excavation. I don’t know how far it is but the current might be too strong for me. Water is rushing into the mine from different places, draining down the shafts like rivers.
Go now, Camille urged her. Hurry.
Other voices of reason aided Camille’s. Yes. Hurry. Find a way out. We’ll help you. If you can reach the elevator shaft, there’s a ladder that leads up to the 500-foot level. Help you.
Anna tucked the Aluminum-80 canister in the cowl of the air dam. She shoved it in securely so it wouldn’t budge. There’s another entrance outside, she thought. Gabriel perked up immediately, grasping for straws. By the sign. The big sign when you leave town. It’s in the bushes under the sign. Right under it. If I can get out of the water-filled tunnels… She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen if she didn’t do just that. Then Anna took a dive.
•
“Sign?” repeated Camille. “What sign?”
“The one Alby tried to burn down last year. He said it was scaring him every time he drove by.” Jereme Villian spouted off the answer, pointing with one hand. “I think he must have been très intoxicated on his own moonshine.”
Camille turned to Gabriel but he was already gone. Men were following him. She looked back at the lake and saw the slow rotation that was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The moon above illuminated the waves where the force of nature was causing the water to spin. Phillippe and Pierrot stood beside her, looking out as well. All of them would start helping dig out the mine. If there were any chance they could get to Anna before she died, then they would try everything they could.
Dr. Michel Quenelle was moving among the family who remained, checking injuries, issuing quick instructions to relatives. He had rounded up someone’s SUV, which was being used as an ambulance, when Gabriel took it, letting the back doors fly open as the vehicle scooted through loose dirt and sand. The doctor looked after Gabriel and shook his head. “I need another four-wheel drive!” Michel bellowed. “Truck. SUV. Freight train. I don’t care. Someone get one!”
•
Anna found the Nash Rambler. She found a backpack that wasn’t hers. It had clothing in it and a waterlogged Hustler magazine. She found a tire that was floating. The bumper of another car had found her head and grazed her temple. What she hadn’t found was a regulator or the Dodge truck. Now she sat on top of the Peterbilt once more, with her teeth chattering. It was true that the water wasn’t like being in the deep ocean or in an icy mountain stream, but it was much cooler than her body, and her body was reacting in the only way it could.
She looked resolutely across the rising waters at the opposite side of the hollow. Perhaps there would be an air pocket somewhere up the mineshaft that she could breathe in. Cradling the flashlight under one arm, she judged where she needed to go and tried to brace herself to return to the water.
Somewhere above her Gabriel was doing something intense. He concentrated on it fully, trying to ignore probable outcomes, sure that if he tried hard enough he alone could change them.
Anna jumped into the water. She dog paddled to the far side of the chamber, wincing as she went under the pounding waterfall and touched the distant wall. When she located where some of the explosives had not gone off, she followed the wires with the flashlight. I think I’m in the right spot.
She forced her head down and her feet kicked once at the surface.
•
The sign was large and invited tourists to visit Unknown again soon. Lights had been placed strategically so that it could be seen a half mile away, its huge lettering blasting an advertisement inducing visitors to return to spend their money in this friendly town.
Gabriel screeched to a halt on the road closest to the sign. Rubber from the tires smoked as he stopped. A fire truck from Shreveport roared past him, headed into Unknown. A little thought tickled his brain for a scant second. The tourists at the festival had probably called en masse. Explosions. The lake was bubbling furiously. Now the lake was draining away. Some of them probably thought the apocalypse had come. He rushed out of the SUV, leaving the door wide open and abruptly came to a stop.
The large sign still had its lights on, but they showed that the sign was tilted strangely. It had shifted in its foundations. He frowned and thrust himself down the embankment next to the road. Another fire truck went past, its lights and sirens ablaze. He didn’t look to see where it was from. Two vehicles pulled up behind the borrowed SUV and men got out, following Gabriel.
When Gabriel reached the sign, he already knew that the entrance that Anna had somehow located was sealed up. The earth had caused a collapse here as well. He stared at it helplessly.
Maybe it’s only a few dozen feet deep, thought one of the men. The earth isn’t so shaken up here. Perhaps we can find the tunnel after all.
Gabriel went to find something with which to dig. He ignored the feeling of coldness that had begun to seep into his bones, causing his teeth to chatter, knowing full well that Anna was beginning to feel the effects of hypothermia.
•
The flashlight worked under the water. Anna continued to be amazed at its resilience. Positive that this wasn’t part of the manufacturer’s intent, it was almost miraculous that it continued to operate. However, what the silty beam of light revealed wasn’t so encouraging.
Whatever their intent, the Benoits had managed to seal this room. The explosives on one side had gone off and buckled the salt dome into a pile of rubble that concealed the opening to the graveyard. Anna gave it a lingering look and then pushed upward with her feet. A moment later she found the air above and was stunned at how fast the chamber was filling. She pointed the flashlight and discovered she couldn’t see the top of the Peterbilt anymore. She struck out toward the middle of the room, trying to get out from under the rushing water that was coming through the cracks above her.
An idea germinated in Anna’s head. She shined the light up and examined the cracks. They were about a foot in width, enough to let water sluice through, not wide enough for her to escape. If I could only make them bigger.
Explosives, Anna. It was another thought pattern, one she didn’t recognize, all slurred as though the sender was drunk. All the explosives didn’t go off, right?
No, more than half of them didn’t. Sebastien said it was because the det cord must have gotten wet. A vision of a jail appeared in Anna’s head. Bars blocked her view. Someone was snoring behind her. What the-?
Oui, Sebastien was always a poor explosives man. Once he almost blew up his own foot. Never had the respect for the power of the bang. You know I shouldn’t be able to help you like this, but the entire family is broadcasting like a satellite dish, non?
Alby? What are you doing in jail? Anna dog paddled. I don’t have a lot of time for an arbitrary discussion. I got big troubles.
Oui. Oui. I can feel it. But you can use the explosives to blow the cracks bigger. There’s only a little problem with that.
The explosives, Anna sighed with the pleasure of a new doable idea. Excepting that I don’t know jack diddlysquat about explosives.
Alby’s thoughts were dismissively patronizing. Tut. Well, I do.
Alby, tell me what to do quickly. Time is not on my side.
•
Gabriel was peripherally aware of what was happening. He was digging with a small collapsible military shovel that someone had produced out of the back of a truck. It was less than the size of a dessert plate but he was making some progress. Then he froze. The explosives, Anna thought blissfully. Excepting that I don’t know jack diddlysquat about explosives.
Then came Alby’s response. Tut. Well, I do.
Alby, tell me what to do quickly. Time is not on my side.
Non! Gabriel would have screamed it if he could have. Non! Anna, you’ll blow yourself up. Alby, don’t do this!
Someone put a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder and he angrily shook it off. He resumed digging, brushing the dust off his fac
e with a forearm. “Trust Alby,” came Lee Vildibill’s calm voice. “He was an expert in explosives when the mine was closed. He could have worked anywhere in the country, but you know why he didn’t wish to leave the lake.”
The water’s rising, Gabriel. Anna’s thoughts were serene, accepting. Ten more feet and I won’t have any more air. I can try this or I can drown. The opening is blocked by a ton of salt rock. We have to try.
Don’t you die on me, Anna! Gabriel returned, finding a new source of anger from which to draw.
Anna’s thought was amused. I’ll do my best. There was a hesitation. Whistling man. The nickname was meant to be reassuring but came out heartfelt. Tell me what to do, Alby.
Safety cord will burn underwater, Anna, came Alby’s immediate response. For someone who had consumed an amazing quantity of alcohol his thoughts suddenly became remarkably organized. Find some of the safety cord that isn’t ignited, if you can. There will be secondary fuses on the ends of the det cord which did not go off. We’ll use that to blow it up. Did he use dynamite or something else?
I wouldn’t know dynamite if it bit me on the ass, Alby.
Okay then. Float on over to the ceiling and find some of that stuff what ain’t blown up and I’ll tell you ‘xactly what to do with it.
Anna was following Alby’s directions when the walls began to shudder again. It was a rhythmic thud as if something was beating on a drum. Instantly it reminded her of her first time inside the mines where something huge had stirred in the shadows of the tunnel and caused a great boom of noise as it moved. It was as if it had waited for Anna to come and it had waited for Anna to return.
She hesitated and thought, What the hell is happening up there?
Gabriel didn’t answer right away. The family was waiting, expecting something new to occur, as the earth was going to renew its frantic struggle to overcome man. The earth is shaking again. They say the lake is draining away into a great hole even while the rest of the lake turns in a great swirl. Two news copters from Shreveport are lighting it up with spotlights. Everyone at the festival can see it.
That’s not the earth shaking, Anna thought. Someone’s knocking at the door. She dismissed it even while bits of salt rock rained down upon her head and she worked, holding the flashlight between her shoulder and neck and frantically kicking her legs to keep her afloat.
When she was finished, Alby thought, You’ll have five seconds, Anna. With nothing to light it, I can’t do no better. Sorry gal. Cover your ears after you pull it and kick off. The water will protect you some.
Anna, came Gabriel’s warning thought. Regret floundered there, accompanied by the pain of impending loss.
Don’t, Gabriel. Anna plugged the hole with the same putty she’d pulled out and grabbed the flashlight with her left hand. Don’t have time for regret. She took a deep breath and yanked at the fuse igniter that had been attached to what Alby had told her was C4 in the holes. There was an immediate smell of sulfur but she was already turning away, her feet shoving her away from the wall, her arms speedily pin-wheeling her body as far away as possible. Her feet kicked once and then twice. There was a countdown in her mind. She wasn’t sure if it were Gabriel or Alby or someone else.
Five. She kicked again hard and found something in her path. It was the top of a vehicle that was still floating close to the surface. Four. Anna found the strength to shove herself across the roof of the car. Three. She dipped under the surface of the water. Two.
There wasn’t a one. The C4 blew up.
•
The ground shuddered again and Gabriel stopped moving. The little shovel dropped to the ground and he waited. There were distant screams. The people at the festival were thinking it was some kind of terrorist event and other bombs were going off. They were half correct, anyway. There was an intense pressure that he felt, Anna’s pressure. Something shoved against her body and cart-wheeled her head over heels until she smacked against something else. The flashlight dropped out of her hand, knocked by something she never saw and then utter blackness.
Gabriel dropped to his knees. He closed his eyes and wished for the moment to pass him by so that he would never be in that place again. Then his eyes shot open. He glanced around him, looking at men and women who were frozen in place, waiting, watching him. “Oh, mon Dieu!” he cried out.
•
Anna floundered in the water. There was a terrific force that shoved her body away, thrusting her into something else. The water rippled under the surface. Something knocked against her hand and the flashlight plummeted away. She shot upwards, powerless to stop herself and found a tiny air pocket in the apex of the excavation. Full of salt dust, she choked on the air as she breathed it in. It began to settle after a moment and she blinked several times, trying to adjust to the darkness.
It wasn’t completely dark. Anna blinked again. There was a light that was sporadically filtering through a large hole that she’d created. It fluttered as if someone was casting a light around searching for her from above. It wavered and flickered but stayed bright.
The chamber was full except for Anna’s little pocket of air. Her entire body hurt and she thought her eardrums might have burst, but she was alive and there was a great hole through which light was showing. She took a deep breath, pushed it out, and took another one. A third one, pulling all the air she could into her lungs, and she ducked into the water, headed for the hole, surrounded with a halo of bright white light.
Anna kicked as hard as she could. She exhaled a little as she went up, passing through areas of collapsed mine where the salt had systematically been removed and only salt pillars had remained to hold up the weight. The light became stronger and an inane thought crossed through her mind. Have I been down there all night? Is that sunlight above?
She kept kicking. The light became stronger. Then something large moved above her and came between her and the light. For a second, Anna thought it was a piece of debris but the light billowing down from above disclosed its specific shape and its identity. In shock, she opened her mouth for a second and closed it just as fast to prevent her air from leaking away. She floated in space, stunned into motionlessness for a moment.
A dozen feet long, as big around as an elephant’s belly, it obscured everything and paused above her.
Goujon’s yellow eyes burned at her in the blackness of the lake. A leisurely flip of his tail and the light reappeared causing the great fish to vanish into the blackness. Anna forgot to kick. She exhaled a little air, a remnant of her training from that day of resort scuba diving, and resumed her ascent. Looking up at the light so far away, it seemed like it would be forever before she reached the surface.
Then a great shape moved to one side of her and the giant catfish was beside her, one eye upon her rising figure. Anna forgot to kick again. A slimy surface touched her skin as he slowed to a stop beside her. His fantastic whiskers tickled at her flesh. Not at all afraid, one of her hands went out to touch him. As soon as her fingers touched his smoothly scaled skin, he moved, swifter than she would have ever imagined. One second he was at her side, a vast behemoth with eyes the color of a burnished coin, the next he was under her, pushing her upwards.
Helping me, Anna thought curiously. He wanted me to discover the Benoits’ secrets. It was he who pounded on the walls, crumbling the earth away. Her body rushed upward, propelled along with unimaginable force. Her lungs burned with effort. She was almost out of air. Then her head popped out of the water and she took a wondrous gulp of air. It was like manna from heaven.
She looked around her inquisitively and found she was floating in a great crater, sixty feet in diameter and growing. It was the top of the collapsed mine and the bottom of the lake. A new level was forming. Water spilled in over the edges of the crater, a gigantic circular waterfall, gradually filling the crater. It roared around her, the cry of a colossal animal, while she bobbed up and down in the center of it, relatively safe from being pounded by the rushing water.
Anna tried
to look into the water around her, but she already knew that Goujon was gone, exploring the realms of his new kingdom.
Far above her head two helicopters circled, the sources of light that had guided Anna. Their spotlights were focused on the crater and the massive event that was taking place. One spotlight flittered over her, stopped abruptly and swung back to her, fixing squarely on her form. Anna floated in the water, incapable of doing anything else. Suddenly a car seat, made of vinyl and foam, bobbed to the surface beside her. She sighed. It was ragged and looked filthy but it would support her until someone managed to pull her out. She hooked an arm through a hole in the upholstery and let her aching legs rest from their concerted efforts.
Anna?
Still here, Gabriel. Anna’s thoughts were weary. These life-threatening things. I think we need to stop these. They make me very tired. You won’t believe who swam by to give me a hand. She almost chuckled. Not a hand. A fin. No, a tail. The spotlights were blinding her and she blinked for a moment. She waved at the helicopters to let them know that she really needed assistance.
Huh?
Gabriel, there’s a really big hole in the middle of the lake.
Yes, I noticed.
I’m in it. Dog paddling. Get me out. Did I mention that I love you?
I’ll be right there. I know you love me, just the way you know that I love you, too.
Anna sighed again. He could feel her innate relief. He knew that while she was not out of the soup yet, she was out of the depths of the mine and far safer than she had been. He almost felt like whistling. Go ahead, she urged him. Whistle. You have a nice whistle.
Anna. Shut up and dog paddle.
So she did.
Epilogue
Saturday, March 20th
It’s said that a young woman can bring the rain by dipping a twig made of oak in shallow water and sprinkling it over dry land.
“It’s raining again,” said Anna. She stood on Gabriel’s porch and looked out over the lake. In the last month the water had filled up the great depression of the collapsed mine and then to everyone’s surprise it had risen over the crater and the lake had begun to fill again. An early season of rain had helped. In a few more weeks the lake would almost look the same as it had before. Its only difference was that it was hundreds or so feet deeper.