by Lisa Daniels
“Over half a mile.”
“What? How could you know that?”
“It’s one of the inherent abilities of my family.”
Cora stopped trying to find him and thought about his words. She had always noticed that neither Silas nor Ryland got lost, but she had assumed that was because they had learned when they were young, the same way she had. Then again, there were plenty of people she knew who could get lost just walking around new towns. Her hands stretched out again, “I think you are right about that, and based on what I know of Silas and Ryland, I think there is more to it than just the average good sense of direction.”
Emery ignored her and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find you.”
“Why?”
“So that I can help. If you’ve broken something, I can help set it.”
There was quiet for a moment. Then Emery responded, “Since when?”
Cora’s hand brushed against something warm. “Since forever.”
“No one ever mentioned that.”
“It isn’t exactly common knowledge, but my parents weren’t about to let their kids be like everyone else. Jason and I get disaster training once every two years, and that includes emergency care.”
“That isn’t the same as setting bones in reality.”
“No, having set Jason’s leg when he broke it the first time we were here counts, though. Or the time that my parents took us to Thailand and we survived an earthquake. My parents sent us to help with some of the wounded.”
“What? When did that happen?”
Cora let out a derisive laugh, “Yeah, you know me so well, you feel like you can just say whatever shit you want to push my buttons.” She felt his leg. “Is it the other one?”
“No, it’s not a broken bone.”
Cora sat back. “Oh, why didn’t you say?”
“Shock.” Emery coughed. “Why doesn’t Silas know about this?”
“Why would he know about it? I know nothing about his excursions when your family gets together. Whatever goes on, he never talks about it.”
“If he tried you wouldn’t believe him.”
“Sure, I’m too stupid to understand.”
“Please stop.” She heard him shift his position a little and groaned as he did. “I am not trying to argue with you, insult you, or make you emotional. Our family is incredibly complicated, and it isn’t something that most people would understand.”
Cora frowned, “Is it like some kind of cult or something?”
From the sarcasm in his voice, she could imagine him rolling his eyes. “I think that anyone is able to understand what a cult is. Clan would be more accurate, but that really doesn't cover what we are.” He shifted again, and she heard a sharp intake of breath.
“What are you doing? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m nearly done.”
“But I am worried about it.”
He was about to argue, but stopped before answering. When he did speak, Emery said, “Without any light, you aren’t going to be able to do anything. If you have a light in your bag, try to dig that out. It will make it easier to keep you from falling again.”
“I’m not going to go running off again, if that is what you are trying to say.”
Emery sighed, “I am saying that I am not going to be able to do much guiding at the moment, so it would be best if you could see. It will impair my vision a bit, but right now it is more important that you be able to see.”
A number of questions went through her head, but the one that spilled out her mouth was, “What do you mean it will impair your vision?”
“I have exceptional night vision.”
“You keep saying stuff like that. It’s not like you and your family are superhuman or something.”
There was a moment of silence. “How would you know that?”
“Because I’ve known Silas forever. If he had any extraordinary power, I would probably be the first person to know.”
“Ah yes. In the same way if you had any extraordinary experiences and medical training, he would know about it.”
“That’s not–” Cora stopped talking, not because she wanted to avoid arguing, but because he was implying that there was something strange about the family. Shaking her head, Cora decided that couldn’t possibly be what he meant. “I get what you are saying–”
“Clearly you don’t, but as I’ve said, you wouldn’t believe any of us if we told you.”
Cora sighed, “Please, it has been a tiring day and I really am not up for any more arguments, so please put that on hold for now. We can argue after I have a chance to nap.”
There was a stifled laugh, followed by a cough and a groan. Emery took a deep breath, “I quite like naps too, but now is not the time. I’m afraid we are going to have to really move it.”
“Oh my God, I have a phone!” Cora felt like an idiot as she stood up and pulled the phone out of her pocket. Pressing one of the buttons, she turned on the light and started to shine it at Emery so she could look him over. A hand reached up and pushed hers down.
“It would be a better idea to find your head light if you have one.”
“I may have left it behind. Jason didn’t exactly give me enough time to make sure I had everything. Not that it would have made much sense to get a cap light anyway. We were supposed to be back on the road by the time the sun set.”
“Please look because carrying a light will be a lot harder.”
“Why don’t you get yours? Or is your night vision so exceptional you don’t have one?”
“You got it.”
Cora sighed, “Whatever. I’ll see if I can find my cap light.” She dug around and finally saw it buried at the bottom. When Cora pulled it out, she realized that it was cracked. “Well, not sure how much good it will do.”
“Broken?”
“It’s cracked, but it may still work.”
“Give it a shot.” He moved with a groan. It was enough to inspire her to move a little faster.
“Stop moving around and let me take a look.”
“It isn’t a broken bone.”
“That’s fine.” A strange noise escaped from Emery and she realized that wasn’t what she had meant to say. “I mean broken bones aren’t the only thing I know how to treat.”
“Honestly, I would rather you not deal with this one.”
“You said you are bleeding. That means we need to stop it.”
“Yeah, I already thought of that and have done everything I can to stop it. The best thing we can do now is to get out of here.”
Instead of arguing, Cora finished fixing the light to her cap and put it on. She directed the light at Emery, who put a hand up over his eyes.
“Warn me before you do that, please.”
Cora ignored his obvious discomfort at the light and tried to get her eyes to focus. His hands were on his side by the time she could really see. “What is it?”
“A wound.” He stood up. “Good, it works.” The light flickered. “Good, it sort of works. Come on.”
“Are you sure you are in any condition to walk?”
He turned and gave her an incredulous look. “I think that getting out of here is the biggest priority we have right now.” He started to walk away.
“At least let me check for a concussion.”
Emery turned and with a sigh, he leaned over. “Alright, go ahead.”
Cora drew near and reached up to look into his eyes. After a second, he said, “Could you step up right there, please? I don’t think I should be leaning over.”
Cora looked at him, then followed where he was pointing. She stepped up on a rock and was able to easily see into his eyes. After giving them a close examination, she said, “You look alright.”
“Thank you.”
“If you are being sarcastic–”
“I’m not. I’m being sincere. I had not even thought about the potential damage to my head since it i
sn’t causing me the most pain.”
“You aren’t going to let me look, are you?”
“Not a chance. Now come on. We both need to get out of here.”
Cora looked around and noticed how dank and dark the place was. “Yeah, I have to agree with that. I should probably call the others to let them know. They are going to start panicking when we don’t come back.”
“You won’t be able to call them.”
“We won’t know until I try.” She started punching buttons on her phone when Emery snatched it out of her hands.
“If they have found the poachers, you are going to give them away.”
“Oh,” Cora looked up at him. It had completely slipped her mind that they had stepped into potential danger. From where they were, there would be no way to check in on the other three, or to call for help if anything were to happen.
“Splitting up was a terrible idea,” Cora muttered.
“No one expected us to fall into a cavern.”
Cora gave him a look, “We could just have easily fallen while climbing. It would have been better to have everyone there in case.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
“Why did Ryland have to go check it out? And don’t give me one of those vague responses that don’t really mean anything.”
“I tell you what, if the situation arises, you will see why.”
“That is not a better answer.”
“Right now it’s the only one I have. Now, if you don’t mind, I really need to get out of here and get some medical attention.”
Cora wanted to argue with him, to say that she could do it, but she also knew that she didn’t have all of the supplies she would need for a serious injury. Judging by the way he kept grimacing and groaning, she knew that the injury he was hiding from her was serious. Deciding it was better to lead him out than to argue, she turned to try to find a way out. “I don’t remember seeing anything like a cave on the way up, but there must be something somewhere. I can’t imagine climbing up from here.”
“I hope you are right. Up really isn’t an option.” Cora looked at him and noticed Emery looking up. Her eyes followed his for a second, but she already knew that there wasn’t anything but a thin sliver of light a long way up. Half a mile didn’t sound like much until you were underground.
“Okay, let’s get you out of here whatever way we can find.”
Chapter 5
Wading Through the Aftermath
The pair walked in silence for a while, both focused on their thoughts as they cautiously sought an escape. Cora kept her attention on trying to find a way out so that her guilt about their current situation wouldn’t get any worse. Occasionally, she would let her eyes dart toward Emery, and a new wave of shame would crash over her. Once again, Cora had been directly responsible for something terrible happening – and this time it was far worse. She knew exactly how everyone would react, and it was almost too much to take. It was getting to be too difficult to pretend that everything was alright, or that everything would be alright. A part of her wanted to just stay there and let it all be over. The problem was that if she gave up, it would be pretty much a death sentence for Emery. As much of an ass as he had been, Cora didn’t want to be responsible for him dying.
Fortunately, this wasn’t her first time dealing with a crisis, not by a long shot. While Cora had never been trapped underground before, she had been trapped in buildings on two separate occasions. Once the building was crumbling after a mud slide, and the second while it was on fire. It was true that she had never been alone trying to help others – one of her parents or Jason was always around, but there was no point in dwelling on what she lacked because she couldn’t change it. Making do with what you have was one of the most important things to keep in mind when dealing with an emergency – something that she suspected Emery already knew. That was all the more obvious with each of her stolen looks at him. Cora had noticed that he kept holding onto his side and grimacing when they had to step up or down, but he kept it quiet so that she wouldn’t know he was hurting. He was clearly trying to minimize her problems so that she could focus on getting them out. That was all the more concerning if he had the kind of night vision he claimed to have. How much faster could they go if he weren’t so badly injured? Her concern kept growing, but she had to come up with a way to convince him that she could help before something worse happened. She hadn’t gotten a good look at Emery’s injury because he had been very adept at hiding it. Cora’s greatest concern was that she had seen a good amount of blood, and the covering that he had put over it didn’t seem to be nearly as tight as was needed to keep him from bleeding to death. She had no way to do a transfusion, and no way to know if their blood was compatible if she did. Still, Cora was already trying to come up with some way to do just that if the need arose. She carefully picked their path and tried to think of a way to finally get him to let her do something to help.
Emery focused on not passing out from the pain. He managed to keep his discomfort quiet as it was obvious that Cora felt bad enough for the turn of events. Not that he felt any better about his role. He had been far too harsh for all the wrong reasons. Based on the information that Silas and Ryland had given him, Emery had formed an incomplete picture of Cora that turned out to be missing several huge chunks. Her optimism and cheerful nature had taken on a completely different meaning knowing what she had been through, at least a couple of key experiences that colored her disposition in a completely new light. As complicated as his family was, it was nothing compared to what she had been through with hers.
Well, not nothing. But I grossly underestimated her. The thoughts went through his head, giving him something else to think about (other than the excruciating pain) as they worked their way through the middle of the mountain. Serves me right for being so smug in my assessment of her. Just how much is she hiding and why? That last question kept coming back to him because it made no sense that Cora would hide that kind of experience from Silas, not if they were as close as Silas seemed to believe. There was a reason to hide it, a reason why she acted so happy, and he was now incredibly curious why.
He watched the woman walking slightly in front of him and couldn’t help but feel admiration. As much as he, Ryland, and Silas had been through for the family, only Ryland was faced with a crushing sense of responsibility. Ryland’s parents hadn’t expected him to end up leading, so he wasn’t really properly prepared for the job he found himself in, but at least he had been an adult when it happened. His parents had protected him from the kind of life most child stars lived, ensuring that Ryland always knew better than his peers – that made it so that he could assist Alaric. Still, it had been a pampered life. Obviously Cora never had that as her parents expected her and her brother to be useful from an early age. How old was she when she first had to deal with a crisis? And here I thought neglect was the worst of her history. From the way Jason had protected her, Emery had thought maybe she had attempted suicide, that feelings of abandonment by her parents and then grandparents had made her feel compelled to act happy so that others wouldn’t leave her. The idea of her attempting suicide seemed ridiculous now, at least for the reasons he had originally expected. It was true she wasn’t particularly careful, but he no longer believed it to be because she was actively trying to get herself killed. He suspected that it was much more likely that she had simply learned not to fear death.
Cora stopped and held out a hand. “Wait a minute.”
Emery pulled his attention back to the present situation and squinted. His voice was low as he asked, “What is it?”
“I thought I heard something. It sounded a bit like… I’m not sure, but it wasn’t the same as the oppressive silence we’ve experienced so far.”
Emery listened for a moment. “It’s water. There must be an underground creek or stream nearby.”
Cora gave him a look. “How can you possibly tell?”
Emery shrugged, “Experience.”
“Do you o
ften get lost in caves?”
“No. Usually I’m not lost when wandering around them.”
Cora frowned, “So you go spelunking?”
“Not at all.”
“You aren’t going to say, are you?”
He simply looked at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the cave. “My family likes to go out camping, and they favor caves.”
“As opposed to campers and tents?” Cora looked incredulous.
“It makes more sense for us.” His eyes searched around the darkness to their right. “We can go check it out to see if the water is clean. I seriously doubt it, given our location, but it won’t hurt to see.”
“It might lead us out, too.”
Emery shook his head, “No, it leads down and there is a really steep drop-off. I seriously doubt there will be any way for us to follow it.”
“You have got to be making things up.”
“Come on.” He waved her to a path that she had missed with her light. “I will lead us, but please turn off your light.”
Cora’s initial reaction was to argue with him, but she fought the urge and reached up to switch it off. Almost as soon as she did, Cora’s foot struck something and she stumbled.
“Oh, right, sorry.” Emery’s voice was close by as she kept herself from falling down. “Um, here.” Cora felt a hand wrap around hers and she pulled away at first. “I’m not in any state to do anything to you. I’m just trying to speed us up a bit.” He took her hand again, and this time she let him pull her forward. “It would be a good idea for both of us to get something to drink since we didn’t touch our water bottles on the last ledge.”
“We could just drink from them now.”
“We could, but we don’t know how far in we are or how long it will take to get out. If we end up trapped down here for a few days, we are going to want to make the water last as long as possible.”
“I don’t have anything to purify water. Or anything to make a fire, for that matter.”
“Don't worry about it. I can take care of both if we need it. It would be best to be careful in case, but for now I’m going to think that we will make it out today. If we don’t…” his voice trailed off, but to Cora it didn’t sound like he was hinting at anything. In the darkness, she watched as he seemed to slump over for a second before moving forward. He did it so quickly she almost didn’t notice that they stopped walking.