Her mother had seen horrible things happen to her best friend and so found herself lost in the darkest passages of her mind. But her heart had eventually guided her out. Her dad had more heart than anyone she knew. But there was that one moment in the cave when he’d lost his spirit and then, with her mother’s help, regained it. That incident seemed to have made him stronger and yet more tender and attentive than he had ever been before.
Cricket smiled and held the stone up to the warm light of the moon. She marveled at how the spider veins of black crystal caught the moonlight, made it stronger, made it flash and sparkle like a mountain stream.
Then she clasped the rock to her breast, thinking how a piece of the moon and the events inside Labyrinth Cave had somehow transmuted her from a girl to a woman, someone who had learned that the invisible power of the heart could give her the means to survive anything life might throw at her.
If only she let herself feel its gravitational pull at every turn.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THIS BOOK COULD NOT have been written without Roger Brucker, author, founding director of the Cave Research Foundation, and one of the world’s greatest explorers of the underground. He took me under his wing introduced me to the remarkable world of deep caves, and patiently read drafts of the manuscript, offering his suggestions and insight. For all that, his humor, and his friendship I am forever grateful.
My deepest gratitude goes also to the other endurance cavers who helped me through the tight spots, especially Lynn Brucker, Kathryn Burgess, C. Philip Henry, Marty Brown, Douglas Alderman, John Armstrong, Rich Kline, John Logsdon, Anne Wesley, and Jeanne Guerney. Any mistakes concerning the technical aspects of deep caves and the methods of endurance cavers are mine alone.
What little I know of North American vertical rope techniques, I learned from Bruce Smith and Allen Padgett. Thank you.
Thanks also to Dr. Lawrence A. Taylor of the Department of Geological Science at the University of Tennessee for patiently explaining to me the composition of rocks from the Descartes Highlands, including moon rock 66095; and to Dr. Carlton Allen, Astro-materials Curator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston; and to Andrew L Chaikrn, author of A Man on the Moon, an amazing account of the Apollo voyages. Forgive me for altering history.
I am likewise indebted to Barry Bannister, deputy warden at the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville, for his patience in showing and explaining the intricacies of maximum security segregation units and medical transfer procedures. I take responsibility for any dramatic licenses.
My thanks as well to Ellen Wolf, Harold Miner, and Todd Harrington, who helped me understand post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of claustrophobia. I hope I got it right.
I owe a huge debt to Alexandra “Pandi” Sullivan, for helping me understand the fears, aspirations, and longings of a fourteen-year-old girl.
Fellow writers Damian Slattery, Joseph Finder, and Daniel Silva kept me going through the tough times with their unfailing support
Linda Chester and Joanna Pulcini, my friends and tenacious agents, patiently read and reread the various drafts of the manuscript. It’s a privilege and a joy to be associated with them. And finally, my thanks to the team at Atria Books, including Judith Curr, Tracy Behar, and Mitchell Ivers, my editor. Few authors have the luck to work with such professionals.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 2002 by Suspense, Inc.
cover design by Heather Kern
978-1-4532-6879-7
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