Seeking Shelter

by Angel Smits

  She hadn’t realized there were any this close to town. Was that where her daughter was? Was she hurt? Scared? Alive?

  Was that screaming inside or outside her head? Amy lunged toward the gaping hole. Someone grabbed her. She struggled, then realized it was Caryn.

  “Why are they just standing around?” Amy cried. “Katie’s in there.”

  Hank stepped over and pulled Amy roughly into his arms. “Calm down. We don’t know that. We have to make sure she’s there. It might not be safe to go in.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll go in.”

  His grip tightened. “Stop.” He sounded just like when she’d been naughty as a child. Couldn’t he see she was a mother now? A frightened mom.

  Gavin spoke from behind them. “We think Holmes is down there with her.”

  Amy looked past Hank’s shoulder. The sheriff stood with his thumbs hooked in his belt, as if he had all night to sit back and relax. She tried to pull away from Hank, who apparently saw the murder in her eyes.

  “At least he’s doing something,” she said.

  “Yeah, he’s doing something.” Gavin smirked. “How’d he know where she was? That’s what I’d like to find out.”

  “Don’t just stand there.” What was wrong with the jerk? She couldn’t understand it. Was this a nightmare? Please let me wake up.

  Suddenly, sounds came from the direction of the mine opening and Amy turned to watch the deputy and Rick. They were talking in low voices and then, thank God, Rick stepped into the gaping entrance and out of sight. She watched the beam of his flashlight bounce slowly along the rough stone wall, until it, too, was swallowed up.

  Gavin hadn’t moved. Hank’s strong grasp on Amy shifted to a hug. She heard Caryn gasp, and realized belatedly that her friend had a death grip on her arm, as she, too, watched Rick disappear into the old mine.

  * * *

  “I’M HERE.” KATIE’S voice came faintly out of the darkness. “Down here.” Her words wobbled, as if she was crying or struggling.

  “I’m coming, baby,” he called. “It’s me, Jace. Keep talking so I can find you.” He aimed the flashlight into the depths, noting how small the beam was compared to the space. The relatively high ceiling in the tunnel helped ease the churning in his gut. This wasn’t like the low-roofed coal mines back home. He moved forward slowly as the ground sloped away.

  “I’m down here,” Katie said, then stopped talking.

  “Down where?”

  Her voice was still distant and Jace kept angling downward. “Did you fall?”

  “Yeah.” Her voice still wobbled. “It hurts, Jace. Really bad.” He could hear her tears and it broke his heart. He had to get her out of here.

  He’d gone another ten feet before he stopped again. The wall he was following turned, and he closed his eyes. Sweat covered his body despite the cool air, and he clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to run.

  His dad had been in a mine when the roof caved in. And Linc had told Jace about the time he himself was trapped in a mine. His big brother had admitted that the claustrophobia had nearly done him in, before and after the cave-in. Jace wished they’d talked more. Maybe Linc could have given him tips on how to handle it, but how was Jace to know he’d ever need the skills?

  The ground beneath his feet tilted. He focused on the current situation and shut out any more what-ifs. “Katie? Do me a favor. Sing for me.”

  “Sing?” she asked, sounding surprised.

  “Yeah, that song you sang at the diner for Hank last week. Give it a shot.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause I liked the song?”

  “No, you didn’t.” She hiccuped.

  “I’ll find you more easily if I can hear you.” He couldn’t help smiling. He was falling in love with this kid, just as Amy believed Katie had with him.

  “Okay.” She launched into the opening verse about the old lady who ate spiders and other things. Her voice shook but she gave it her all.

  “Good job.”

  He kept moving. Her voice grew stronger, louder—not because she was improving, but because he was getting closer. Thank God.

  The light’s beam led him, and he hurried as fast as he dared and as much as his panic would allow. Her singing stopped. “Katie? Keep going.”

  “I can see you,” she squealed, and he knew her bravado was gone. Her sobbing broke the oppressive quiet of the earth.

  “Where are you?” He couldn’t see anything but blackness.

  “Down here,” she whined.

  “Where?”

  He took another step, but just as she started to say something, his boots slid and the edge of a ridge crumbled beneath him.

  He struggled to keep his footing, but there was no hope now. His head struck hard against rocks as he fell. More sharp edges of stone ripped his skin and the flashlight tumbled from his grasp. He heard it smack twice and then disappear. He felt himself falling.

  Cursing, he hit rocks one more time before coming to an abrupt halt. Pain shot from his shoulder and burned through the rest of him. His head spun and all he could see was darkness. Pitch-black darkness.

  “Katie?” he screamed, panic for her nearly destroying him.

  “I can’t see you anymore,” she said, but her voice came from inches away.

  Despite his aches and pains, and the warm dribble along his scalp that he knew was blood, he reached out, slapping at the ground, crawling on his abused knees, trying to find her. “Where are you?”

  A tiny hand touched his elbow. He yanked her into his arms. She cried out, and he hastily loosened his grip, but didn’t dare let go. “Are you hurt?” He sat her down beside him, running his hands over her face. He couldn’t see a thing, but could feel her eyes blinking, felt the gritty tracks down her cheeks that told him she’d been crying. Her hair was matted and crusty in one spot. Was that blood? His stomach turned. She’d probably fallen just as he had.

  “My leg hurts.” Her voice trembled.

  “Okay. How bad?” He slowly moved a few inches, gently running his hands down her hip and over her knee. One gash was deep, and he felt the blood stick to his fingers. When he tried to move her knee, she cried out. Dislocated, if not broken. He gulped. He had enough first aid knowledge to know he needed to stabilize it. But that’s all he knew. What was he supposed to do? How?

  “Is it just your leg?”

  He heard a rustling and could imagine her nodding. “I can’t hear your head rattle, silly.” He hoped it made her smile, and her halfhearted giggle was the greatest reward.

  “My arm hurts, too. But not as bad.”

  He found her arms and ran his hands up and down. No breaks, though the cuts, especially on her forearms, were deep.

  Jace settled beside her, making sure she knew he was right there. “We need to get you out of here.” He had no clue how far down they were, nor how hard it would be to climb back up. There could be handholds or sheer cliffs; he hadn’t seen their location before the light died. “I’m going to look around, but I’ll make sure you can hear me. I won’t leave you. Okay?”

  “’Kay,” she whispered.

  He moved slowly, convinced that at least one of his ribs was cracked, if not broken. But he refused to think about that right now. He tried to imagine what the cavern they were in looked like. He felt around with his battered hands, discovering that the wall was rough, very rough actually. There were more handholds than some of those climbing walls he’d seen.

  He could do this. But how could he get Katie out? He wasn’t leaving her. It could take a long time for the others to find them in the dark. Jace chased away his claustrophobia with anger. He’d be damned if a hole in the ground was going to best him.

  Returning to Katie, he decided he’d rest a bit, then hope someone came looking. And if not, they’d
start climbing. He had to figure out how to carry Katie and how to splint her leg.

  It actually felt good to settle back down beside her, though he nearly lost it when she laid her head against his biceps.

  “I’m so glad you found me.”

  “Me, too.” Jace curled his arm around her shoulders. “Now we have to figure out what to splint your leg with.”

  “Do what?”

  “A splint is something stiff to put along your leg so it can’t move. It won’t hurt as much.”

  “Oh. My book’s hard.”

  “What book?”

  “The book in my backpack.”

  “You have your backpack?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  And she didn’t tell him this sooner because...? She was six, he reminded himself. “Where is it?”

  “Right here.” She dragged something across the dirt.

  By touch, he found the zipper and opened it. He felt around, curious what a six-year-old would pack. “Were you running away?” Jace asked carefully as he pulled out clothes. Two shirts and one pair of jeans. Hmmm...one pair of socks. No other clothes.

  “Uh...sorta.”

  “Sorta?” He found the book she’d mentioned. One of those huge kid’s books with a hard cover. This she brought to run away?

  It wasn’t the best for a splint—he would’ve preferred a slat of wood—but it would do. He’d have to tear the cover off and make it smaller. He told her what he had planned.

  “But I like that book.” It sounded like her tears were returning.

  “I’ll buy you a new copy, plus another book, okay?” He hadn’t a clue if that was a good parenting idea or not. Jace didn’t much care.

  He felt in the pack again and pulled out a paper bag and two juice boxes. One box was empty. He made her drink the other one.

  “What about you?” Katie tried to offer him some.

  “I’m not thirsty. You drink it all gone.” He sounded like his mother when he said that. He liked the idea that she might be helping him.

  He discovered the bag held Katie’s favorite store-bought cookies. He added that to her menu and ate one himself.

  The next step wasn’t going to be so easy. The book tore easily, the cardboard snapping in half with only a little effort. He sacrificed one of her T-shirts for strips to tie it.

  Splinting her leg was going to hurt. He needed to distract her. “So,” Jace said slowly, “how did you end up in here?” He wasn’t sure Katie would answer.

  “I was looking for you,” she whispered.

  His heart sank. Amy had said Katie’s disappearance was his fault. She’d been right.

  “Why’d you think I was here?” He had never been anywhere near this mine before.

  “I was going to Hank’s house, but I thought I saw you. There was a motorcycle like yours. I thought you’d let me go with you.” Her voice broke.

  Who had she seen out here? Then Jace remembered the people he’d noticed in the cemetery the other day. He’d thought they were preparing for a funeral. Maybe they’d been doing something else. Like digging in this mine?

  “I ran after you.” Now she was really crying. “I thought you were leaving me again.”

  “It wasn’t me. If it had been, I’d have waited for you.” Jace pulled Katie into a hug, careful not to jar her leg.

  “I...Mama and me had a fight. I was mad.” Katie shifted in the dirt. He eased back and waited for her to continue. “I packed my stuff and went to find you. I—I thought maybe you’d take me with you.” Her voice was softer than before.

  “Ah, sweetie.” His gut ached. “I like being with you, but I’ve been busy.” Great. Add the sin of lying to the list.

  “Uh-huh.”

  She wasn’t buying it, he knew. Jace didn’t say any more. They were in enough trouble already.

  “Your mom would really miss you if you left.”

  “I know. I miss Mama.” Obviously she’d had time to reconsider her plans while she’d been down here.

  He felt Katie nod against his shoulder. He was messing up this whole relationship thing. Just like he’d messed it up with Amy. Jace almost laughed.

  The man who’d spent the last ten years on the streets of L.A., who’d run away from home when he was sixteen, who rode a Harley and was more comfortable in a bar, was now wrapped firmly around the finger of a six-year-old.

  Oh, yeah, fate had a wicked sense of humor.

  Jace eased his hand along Katie’s injured leg, trying to pinpoint the best placement for the splint. “I’ll try to be careful, sweetie,” he said softly. “But this might hurt.”

  He had to tie the fabric tight to make sure it didn’t come off. He dreaded this. Rather than warn her and have her fret, he did it quickly. Not quickly enough, however, to avoid causing her pain. At the cry that came from her lips, his heart sank.

  “I’m done.” Curling his big hand around her tiny one, he squeezed gently.

  Her voice trembled. “I’m okay, Mr. Jace.” She squeezed back, surprising him. “I’m tough. Mama says so.”

  That did it. This kid was murder on his heart. Maybe because she was only six, she saw things without all the trappings that a grown-up would.

  Great. He’d started out trying to comfort her. Now who was comforting whom? “You do that often?” he whispered.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He didn’t have time to explain; he needed to get them out of here. Amy had to be a basket case by now. The sooner he got Katie back to her, the better, and the sooner a doc looked at Katie’s leg, the more likely she was to start healing.

  All that sounded great. If he didn’t know he had a heck of a climb ahead of him—with her fifty pounds on his back.

  “You ready for this?” He’d already explained what they were going to do. He pulled off his denim shirt, shivering in his thin T-shirt. He was going to tie the long-sleeved shirt around her to help her hold on. But it was only fabric. She needed to be able to hold on and not let go.

  “Yeah.”

  It took only a few minutes to get her up on his back and tied securely, her arms around his neck. “Hold on, sweetie. Hold on as tight as you can.”

  “I will,” she whispered, and laid her head between his shoulder blades. Jace closed his eyes and said a brief prayer. It wasn’t as if there was a long list of things to ask for right now.

  He started the climb. “Talk to me, kiddo. I need to know you’re still awake.” God forbid she’d pass out on him and fall. He prayed harder. Just get her out of here!

  “What do you want me to talk about?”

  “School?” He reached up for the first handhold he could find.

  “Yuck. School.”

  “Okay, then maybe answer my earlier question. Why do you want a dad?” He pulled them both up the short distance. This was going to take forever but he reached up again. “Come on,” he prodded her.

  “Well, I think it would be fun.”

  Maybe that was part of it. But it wasn’t a good enough reason to make her run away from home. “And?”

  “And?”

  She was silent, and for an instant, Jace thought he felt a tiny bit of dampness against his shoulder. Was she crying? Not good. “Keep talking,” he said a little sternly, to help her understand how important it was.

  “You had a mom and a dad, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah.” Damn. Katie was going to hit every nerve he had, wasn’t she? Oh, well, if he had to bare his soul to keep her from being afraid, he’d do it. “Until I was twelve. That’s when my dad died.”

  “Oh.” She fell silent again. And this time he couldn’t come up with anything else to ask her. Then she said, “Jace?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t want Mama to be all alone anymore.”
>
  Rattled, Jace lost his hold. A sharp edge of rock ripped open his palm as his hands scraped across the jagged surface. He managed to reestablish his grip and, clinging to the wall, took several breaths. Enough with the emotional stuff. He started again.

  He didn’t know how far he climbed, or how many asinine questions he asked Katie, but finally, he felt a difference in the air. It seemed warmer. Moving.

  Finally, he reached up and found instead of another handhold, empty space. They were at the top.

  “We made it, kiddo,” he cried, knowing they weren’t done yet. Not by a long shot.

  “I wanna go home,” Katie whimpered near his ear.

  “I know. We’re almost there.” Jace felt around, his fingers groping through the dust. He had to find something to grab, to pull them up. Minutes, hours, ages passed as he tried to locate something solid to hold on to, while he mentally scrambled to figure out how to get her off his back and over the ledge. His strength was fading and he couldn’t see a thing. His focus wavered; his hold threatened to slip.

  Then bright light exploded around them and he heard voices. An instant later, a hand appeared before his face and Jace took it, not caring whose it was, only that they were getting out of there.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AMY PACED IN FRONT OF the mine, just yards from the search and rescue team that had recently arrived. The only reason she was free from Hank’s grasp was that she’d managed to convince him she wouldn’t go dashing inside.

  But if they didn’t do something soon, she wouldn’t wait. The only thing keeping her sane right now was the hope that Jace was in there looking for Katie. That double-edged sword of worry and hope frayed her nerves.

  Noise surrounded her—the voices of the crew deciding what to do next, bystanders mumbling as they watched, the hard beat of her heart....

  Why wasn’t anyone doing anything? If a six-year-old girl could go into the mine, what was wrong with ten adults trying?

  Caryn was oddly silent, though she hadn’t gone off guard duty. In her shoes, Amy wouldn’t have, either. Caryn obviously knew her better than Hank did.