The Detective Bride

by Sylvia Damsell

  He pocketed the box. “You’re insane, lady.” Turning he made for the other room with the men close behind them. Noah and Susannah followed them and Susannah could see that he was trying his hardest to think how to overpower them.

  But there were six and they were outnumbered, on top of which there were other things to consider. She put her hand in his and held it tightly. He looked at her and she shook her head before calling after Miles.

  “Goodbye, Miles. You need Jesus.”

  He turned for a minute as three of the men went up the ladder and he put his foot on the bottom of it. “What?”

  “Jesus. He loves you so much He died on the cross in punishment for your sins. He understands your resentment and He would comfort you and give you a better way to get back at people, even to make money if you’re short of it.”

  Miles started up the ladder. “You’re crazy, lady. I don’t know why I don’t just shut you up permanently.”

  “Say the word, boss,” one of the men said.

  “They’ll die down here, anyway, because they can’t get out, and nobody will know they’re here because we’ll cover all traces of the entrance. I suggest you stand back if you don’t want to be killed by the ladder.”

  “I have to do something,” Noah muttered.

  “No, you don’t. God will look after us.”

  “I’m supposed to be protecting you.”

  She held his hand tightly and pulled at him. “Come on. We need to get out of the way.”

  “I’ll do something, I promise.”

  “I know you will. Just having you is a comfort.”

  They moved back, the huge ladder toppled to the ground and then there was total silence.

  Chapter 19

  Hazel ran to the door at the sound of a key in the lock, her expression distraught. Seeing her husband pulled down her defences and she virtually threw herself into his arms as he closed the door behind him and locked it.

  “It was my fault.”

  He swayed with her. “What was your fault?”

  “I suggested Susannah go to the field. I knew she wanted to and I thought it would be good to get it over with. What is Benjamin doing?”

  “He’s rounding up a few acting deputy sheriffs and then they’re going to the field. I didn’t want to leave you so I came back here. It’s not your fault.”

  She drew back. “But you want to go with them and I want you to go. It needs everyone available.”

  “I don’t want to leave you.” He walked to the door at the sound of a knock. “That might be Susannah.”

  But it was Benjamin and with him was Arena holding their sleeping baby. “Arena wanted to come so you can accompany us, Bruce. Is that alright with you both?”

  “You need everyone you can get,” Hazel said. “Thank you, Arena.” She looked at Bruce. “Please find her.”

  He put his arms round her and kissed her. “We will.”

  “We’ll pray for you. I haven’t stopped praying for the last couple of hours.”

  “Why don’t you go as well?” Arena asked. “I can hold the fort here.”

  “Thank you.” Hazel looked at the men. “And don’t go without me or I’ll come on my own.”

  Before anyone else could say anything she ran upstairs and was back in minutes. “Go to bed, Arena. Staying up won’t help anything. I just changed the sheets on our bed because if the children want anything they’ll go in that room. Also lock the door. Bruce and I have keys. Thank you so much.”

  She ran outside and Bruce had a horse ready for her, knowing he would never be able to persuade her to stay. They all mounted their horses and within minutes were on their way to the field.

  Noah in the mine was doing his utmost to find a way for them to escape. No ladders, therefore no means of escape, and Miles and his men would have covered the entrance so nobody could see where they were. But he had to find a way to get out and he had to look out for Susannah who already must think him inefficient and totally useless.

  He hadn’t even been able to stop Miles from hitting her and that was the worst, he found. How dare the man! How dare he! But she had been polite throughout it all, well, mostly polite. She had shown dignity and poise. Not once did she show fear. He looked across to where she was rummaging through a pile of assorted articles which stood in a corner.

  “What are you looking for?” he asked, walking over.

  She smiled at him and all he wanted to do was put his arms round her, tell her everything would be alright and reassure her. Except that he wasn’t sure she needed reassurance because she always seemed to be so self controlled and know what she would do. “I’m looking for something that might get us out of here,” she said.

  He began to lift things from the top and set them aside. “If there was a really long piece of rope we might to be able to lasso the bits which held up the ladder.”

  “Yes, but it would have to be really long. How far do you think we are down?”

  “Could be about a hundred feet. This was only a test mine so it’s not as deep as many. It’s just too deep to get out of without a ladder. We need someone above to throw us down rope.”

  “Yes.” Susannah looked at her watch. “It’s just after midnight so probably people have come looking for us or will do so soon. The problem is the grass will be covering the entrance and I’m sure Miles will be very careful about that.”

  “They’ll know how much of the field we had already covered.”

  “Yes, but finding it could take days and they might not realise we’re down here. They’ll probably think we’ve been abducted which will cause them to go in different directions to look for us.”

  “I should have been able to deal with those men,” Noah said.

  Susannah looked at him briefly. “You’re very strong but there were too many of them. We’re just fortunate that Miles didn’t want to kill us. I think he might have if he hadn’t thought of leaving us down here. He’ll just expect us to starve to death, maybe even suffocate.”

  “There must be air coming in from somewhere,” Noah said. He hadn’t thought of that, nor had he remembered with everything going on around him that he was claustrophobic. While the hatch was open he knew air could come through. Now he didn’t. “Musn’t there?”

  “I don’t know. It does smell a bit musty. However, it’s a huge place so there should be plenty of air.”

  “Yes.”

  He continued to search through the pile of articles but his hands had begun to shake and he was finding it hard to concentrate. Air. They needed air and not just him but Susannah also. He tried to stop the shaking with no success and all he wanted to do was lie in a ball on the ground and panic.

  Susannah looked at him sideways, her face creased in a frown. Did she know why his hands were shaking and wasn’t she afraid of the air running out? He sat on the ground as he felt his body covered in a cold sweat and she fell on her knees beside him.

  “Noah. Are you ill? Did they do something when they hit you? Maybe you’ve got a concussion or something. You’re shivering.” She took off her jacket and wrapped it round his shoulders. “Lie flat. I could lie on top of you if you like to keep you warm. I’m not cold.”

  He lay on his back and pulled her on top of him, desperate for comfort and desperate for her. Desperate for her not to think what an ineffectual coward he was. Claustrophobia and usually he managed to avoid being shut in anywhere because he knew what would happen. Shut doors he didn’t mind but he always had a window open a bit to let in the air.

  But there were no windows here and they were underground. The air would run out and probably sooner than later. He clutched onto Susannah and tried to draw comfort from her warmth.

  It was wonderful holding her but at this moment his predominant thought was the situation they were in. The air rapidly disappearing. No way to escape. Desperately wanting to explain to Susannah how he felt but sure she would either laugh at him or think him ridiculous.

  “Do you feel a bit warmer?”
she asked, putting her arms under him to hold him tightly.

  She was going to find out, anyway, but it was a shame that her final few hours had to be spent with a coward. Maybe even final few minutes. He held her equally as tight and wound his legs round hers.

  “I’m not sick,” he said.

  She lifted her head to look at him and he couldn’t bear what her expression would be when he told her. “You’re shivering. You must be sick.”

  “I’m claustrophobic. Being shut in terrifies me.”

  She lay her head on his shoulder. “I have a fear of drowning. A cousin of mine pushed my head under the water and wouldn’t let me come up for ages. Well, it felt like ages. Now I won’t go very deep in the water, only at the very edge, and I’ve never learnt to swim.”

  “You have a reason. My fear is irrational. Well, the doctor told my mother that when I was a child. He said she should just shut me in a room until I got over it.”

  “She didn’t, did she?”

  “She punched him and he sued her for violence.”

  He expected her to laugh but she didn’t, much to his relief. “Good for her. I’d have done the same. If you and I were on a raft with no way of being rescued how would you deal with the situation if I started panicking.”

  “We’d work out a way to get to shore and I would protect you through thick and thin. It wouldn’t matter that you can’t swim because I would hold you up or you could put your arms round me and that would keep you afloat. I’m quite a good swimmer.”

  “That’s nice. I hope we’re never in that situation but it is you I would want to be with.”

  “But not now. You must think me a total failure.”

  “I think you’re beautiful. Would you talk to me all the time while we were on the raft?”

  “I wouldn’t draw breath.”

  “I thought so and I’m not going to draw breath until you tell me to shut up. We’re going to find a way to get out and we’re going to tell each other Bible verses. I don’t know many but you will. I did learn Psalm 23 though and that’s a comforting thought.”

  “It talks about the valley of the shadow of death.”

  “I mentioned that to Linda and she said the verse is not in the future so it doesn’t mean death itself. David was talking about his present. She said she’s sure it has comforted people who are dying from incurable diseases but it means the present. It means when we’re going through a difficult situation, which we are now. It’s like walking through a ravine which almost meets overhead, something like the one we saw the other day near here.”

  “I will fear no evil,” Noah said. “For Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”

  “Linda said that for sheep a rod and a staff is a comfort because it guides them in the right direction so they’re safe.” She reached sideways to dim her lamp a bit. “I’ll just put it down so it lasts longer.”

  No light? He started to shiver again and she held him tighter. “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t mind the dark,” he said. “It’s just because we’re shut in.”

  “I know and I really am sorry.”

  “It’s thoughtful of you to think of it. You don’t have to be sorry.” He couldn’t resist kissing her nose as she lifted her head to look down at him then swung himself up with her. “Now come on and stop wasting time. We have to find a way to get out.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I do....” He paused. Love you so much is what he wanted to say. Instead he continued. “Think there has to be a way out. We just have to use our brains. If I was a bit taller you could stand on my shoulders and push up the hatch.”

  “Nearly a hundred feet?”

  “Yes. I’m just short of that.”

  “You should have grown a few more inches. Could you try to do that?”

  He stretched and was distracted. “Sorry. I can’t quite make it.”

  “Maybe there’s some rope under this pile of stuff.”

  “I’ll kick it all apart so we can examine it quicker.”

  He kicked and they sorted through everything but with no success. They walked round each chamber of the mine looking for footholds and at one point Noah managed to climb about twenty feet. But there the holes stopped and it was impossible to go further. If he had an axe with him he could have banged footholds, he said, but the men had taken everything.

  The time passed slowly but it seemed to be faster when the one lamp faded and they knew the other wouldn’t last long. Susannah suggested they put it out for a while but the fear in Noah’s eyes ate her up and she quickly added that she didn’t really want to do that. At five in the morning it finally faded and now the blackness was total.

  Susannah put her hand in Noah’s and could feel the shaking of his body. What could she do? How could she comfort him? She felt so helpless, which was something she rarely, if ever, had felt. He was afraid, not of people but of being shut in. What could she say to remove that fear?

  Nothing but she could suggest practical things. “We know the rough direction of everything,” she said. “Why don’t we wander round and see if we can see any light coming in. If we can we know there’s air at least.” She held tightly onto his hand then put hers through his arm and linked fingers with him. “We’ll test each step as we go.”

  “I’ve heard of people walking in circles trying to find the way,” he said. “A friend of mine said he thinks it’s something to do with our brains.”

  “Then let’s find the wall and touch that as we go.”

  “Good idea.” He put his arm round her shoulders. “Can you hold me round my waist?”

  “Yes, of course. It will make it easier.”

  They started to walk, their eyes everywhere as they looked for light. They went into the furthest chamber, testing each step which stopped them from tripping over things. Walking on they started back and by the time they reached the ladder down which they had come Susannah wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea. Now they knew there was no light which denoted no air though it could be coming from somewhere.

  They stopped and Noah had begun to shiver again. They had to come up with something, Susannah thought, not necessarily for survival at this moment though she didn’t know how long it would take to starve to death. They could do without food for a long time but not water. She turned towards Noah, put her arms round him and held him tightly.

  “I was a singer for a short time,” she said. “I was even famous. Do you remember that?”

  She could not see the faint smile above her as he also held her. “I have a vague recollection.”

  “Was my voice powerful? I think it is but you were listening.”

  “It was powerful,” he said. “It has a resonance which causes it to travel far.”

  “Resonance. That’s a nice thought. I never associated it with my voice. There was a microphone though it’s not that effective.”

  “You sing powerfully.” He held her tighter.

  “I am now going to sing and you are going to play the drums. There were some quite hefty pieces of ladder I saw which had broken off. I think they’re the rungs. Let’s find them.”

  “Don’t let me go,” he said.

  “Don’t let me go either. I would be terrified without you, but I have perfect confidence in you. I also know God is with us and He will work something out. Let’s sing onward Christian soldiers. The words were written by Sabine Baring Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. I read that somewhere. Will you sing with me and play the drums against the wall? If you can find four rungs I can as well.”

  Noah crouched and she went down with him. They scrabbled round with one hand while holding hands with the other and found two rungs. Two and that was better than nothing. Susannah began by humming the tune and then started to sing, her powerful and tuneful voice filing the chamber where they stood and echoing round the sides. Noah banged with his drums and was totally sidetracked from his fear.

  She finished the song and t
hought desperately. They could shout, of course, but she rather felt that would add to Noah’s fear and she wanted to distract him. He joined in with the words while he banged with all his might, close to her but not hanging on in the way he had before. The song finished and she began on the Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah.

  “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” Once again the sound filled the chamber where they stood and echoed around it, making it even louder. She could sing this over and over again, she thought, and they could start again after she gave her voice a bit of a rest. She sang for about twenty minutes before reaching out to touch Noah.

  “I’ll just give my voice a bit of time to recover, then we’ll do the two songs again. We could also sing amazing grace. You’re really good with the drums. I’ll suggest to Linda that you play them on Sunday.”

  “And you could sing.” He put his arms round her again.

  “I can sing. I need practise for when Mirelle Noir returns for another concert tour. We could do San Francisco, Los Angeles and definitely the Pines.”

  Noah held her as closely as he could. “I’ll play the drums.”

  “I’m depending on it. Maybe you could invent a better and more powerful microphone.”

  “The singing echoes in here,” he said. “That makes it much louder.”

  “It does.”

  But her throat was dry and she desperately needed a drink. She managed to fill her mouth with spit, swilled it round and leant down to pick up the ladder rungs. “Intermission over, sir. Let’s have no prevaricating.”

  “I do....” He paused. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do what?”

  “Think you are amazing.” He banged the wall a few times. “Sing, Mirelle, and stop slacking or I’ll cut down your wages.”

  “Then I’ll work for someone else. Play or I’ll dismiss you from being the chief drummer.”

  “Onward, Christian soldiers.” The song rang triumphantly through the huge chamber once again and Susannah felt as if she was almost in Heaven. Maybe they would be soon but for now she wanted to feel the Presence of God. The song progressed and suddenly there was a noise from above.