Desperate Rescue - Janet Feldman Series

It was getting darker up on the mountainside, and the valley below was already in the shadows of the highest peaks, but Janet was unaware of the passing of time right now as she and Greg moved back through the mountain.

  “Is this a natural tunnel?” she asked finally.

  “Mostly,” he answered. “Someone opened it up a little there at the entrance and built that cabin to conceal it years ago.”

  “Who does this belong to then? You?”

  “Not exactly. Shad and I found it one time while we were out hunting. It looked abandoned, so we cleaned it up and fixed it so we could use it from time to time. Everything is always just as we leave it when we come back, so I don’t think anyone else really knows about it.”

  “Nobody?” Janet asked, stopping.

  “No, I don’t think so. Especially not the tunnel,” he answered then added, “We have to keep moving.”

  “I don’t think I want to.” Janet began taking a step backward.

  Now Greg had stopped. “That wouldn’t be a good idea. It’s dark, and you could stumble and fall or take a wrong turn and find yourself lost at a dead end. It’s better if you follow me.” He walked back toward her.

  She took another step backward. “Please take me back to the cabin.” She was frightened and had no idea how any of this was going to help her find Sally. “I really need to find my friend. She could be hurt. Please,” Janet pleaded, “just take me back.”

  “I can’t do that right now.” He walked back to her and took her arm. “We’ll go later. You have to trust me.”

  “Why? Why should I trust you?” She stiffened. “All you’ve done is haul me up to the top of this mountain and now you are taking me into the depths of it!” She paused. “You don’t answer my questions. You haven’t told me what you do... in these mountains... all year long!”

  “I haven’t always lived in these mountains, and I don’t live here all year long,” he countered.

  “So where did you used to live? What did you used to do then?” She was demanding answers and wasn’t going to move until she got them.

  “Okay. Okay!” he snapped back. “If you must know, I used to be a partner in a law firm.”

  “You? A lawyer? I’ll bet!”

  “Yeah, a lawyer!”

  “And now you live on a mountain. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.” Janet wasn’t buying it.

  “I got fed up with all the stupid issues... people looking to make money through all kinds of litigations...always having to answer to someone else, even though I was a partner...”

  “Yeah, so why not open your own practice? Why come live on a mountain with a dog and drive a dirty jeep?” She challenged him adding, “And dress in grubby clothes?”

  “I needed to get away and clear my head. I needed a change. Satisfied now?”

  “Not entirely. And it still doesn’t explain what we’re doing in a cave!” Her raised voice angrily echoed throughout the cavern.

  “You don’t have to yell!” he yelled back, his voice also echoing. “I will explain, but not here in the tunnel,” he responded in a quieter voice. “There is a larger area up ahead where we can be more comfortable and get warm. You would like to warm up, wouldn’t you?

  Actually she would. “Yes, I want to get warm, but I don’t think I trust you right now any more than those creeps out there,” she said, gesturing emphatically.

  Greg looked at her for a moment then simply said, “We need to keep going.” With that, he turned and continued heading down the passageway.

  Janet hesitated, but as the blackness quickly enveloped her, she hurried to catch up to Greg and his light, not knowing what else she could do at the moment. His reasoning about getting lost was also another incentive since she had no flashlight of her own—and whose idea was that? “Do you have an extra flashlight?”

  “Yes, but not on me. I’ll get you one when we get to the nest.”

  “Nest?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “A nest is for birds.”

  “A nest is for whoever needs one.”

  Greg showed the light on the walls of the tunnel and the random wider openings, revealing interesting colors and patterns, cautioning her to duck here and there to avoid hitting her head on a low-hanging area.

  “It’s hard to believe that nature did all this,” she remarked in a quieter voice.

  “Well, it didn’t happen overnight. Takes thousands of years to make a cavern and tunnel system like this,” he commented as he picked his way along. “This is limestone. Water comes from the surface and trickles down through the ground. Carbon dioxide is dissolved in it and, combined with the water, makes a mild acid solution that eats away at the limestone.”

  “How do you know so much about it?”

  “A friend of mine is a spelunker.”

  “A what?”

  “A spelunker. Someone who likes to explore caves as a hobby.”

  “Oh,” she replied casually, but a few steps farther and around a bend, Janet said oh again but with more expression as she caught her first sight of a large chamber they had just entered. “It’s beautiful!” It was all she could say as Greg shone his light around. Brilliant reds and oranges met her eyes. She was momentarily speechless.

  “These are stalactites,” he said as he played the light on several large cone-shaped rock formations suspended from the ceiling. “And these are call stalagmites,” he continued pointing out the cone shapes that had built up on the floor. Janet was impressed. “Over there is what they call flowstone. See how it looks like a river of rock?”

  “Uh-huh,” Janet replied with her mouth hanging open.

  “Come on, it’s not much farther.” Greg led her a short distance farther, circling the large chamber, along a narrow ledge, then continued deeper into the mountain.

  Eventually, they turned and entered a larger tunnel, but it appeared to be man-made. A few steps more it widened into a room and seemed to dead end. “Who made this?” Janet asked.

  “Not sure, but probably some miners did many years ago.”

  “Miners? Did they find gold in here?”

  “Another question I don’t have an answer to. If we didn’t have a few other things on our minds, we could look for some.” He smiled, trying to lighten the conversation, and turned on a battery-powered lantern, sitting it on top of a plastic crate, adjusting the brightness.

  “No thanks.” She smiled back. “I’d just like to get warm.” She folder her arms across her chest.

  “I can take care of that.” Greg walked over to a footlocker and pulled out a large blanket. “Here you go.” He tossed it in her direction.

  “A blanket?” she asked dryly. “That’s it? I was hoping for another kind of heat.”

  “I know, but that will have to do for now. Sorry,” he apologized. “In the meantime, I’m going to go back and listen to the radio. I want to know what’s happening now.” He gathered up the flashlight and his bag. “You don’t mind waiting here, do you?”

  “Wait? Here? Alone?”

  “I won’t be long.”

  “Why can’t I come too?” She started toward him.

  “I won’t be long. Shad can stay with you.” He called to his dog, “You stay here, boy. Just stay. Good boy.” With that Greg hurried back into the tunnel and disappeared into the darkness. Janet stood watching Greg, and his light disappear down the shorter tunnel and into the main one. She listened until she couldn’t hear his footsteps crunch-crunch on the graveled walkway any longer. The quiet was deafening.

  Shad whimpered a little. Janet stroked his head and called to him to follow her back inside the room. He hesitated, still watching the passageway, obviously anxious to run after his master. Janet called to him again. Finally, he walked over to her and sat down as she picked up the blanket and wrapped it around her. Finding an extra crate, she put it next to Shad and sat down too. Together they huddled, Janet gently stroking his h
ead and telling him repeatedly what a good boy he was. At the same time, she took stock of her surroundings and began wondering why Greg would have put so much stuff back in this room if he hadn’t planned on using it. There were several crates of items, some with cooking items, others with food packets and cans. A case of bottled water was sitting on top of another crate.

  “So, Shad,” she quietly addressed the dog, “what does your master really do? Hmm?”

  Shad looked up at her after hearing his name. Janet smiled at him and continued to stroke his head but decided to continue to keep up her guard, if that were possible. She shook her head in a measure of disbelief as she wondered how she ever got into such a precarious situation.

  “How did I let myself get stuck in a mountain cave with a dog and a strange man?” she wondered out loud.

  Time passed slowly for Janet and Shad as they waited for Greg to return. She had no idea what time it actually was or even how much time had passed without a watch or her cell phone. Her cell phone. Where was it? She dug around in the bag of stuff Greg had collected from her car, but couldn't find it anywhere.

  Now she worried again and it seemed like Greg was taking far too much time getting back. Shad had lain down but kept his eyes on the opening to the tunnel. Every once in a while, he’d rise up and cock his head to listen then lie down again. Janet became aware of a steady drip-drip that could be heard faintly out in the darkness. It made a hollow, echoing sound. Nature was still carving out the cavern—drip by drip. During this time she had more time to think about her circumstances. She kept wondering who those three men had been and if, by any chance, they were the same three guys that had taken Sally. But why follow her? If they were so worried about her showing up in that little town, why not just grab her? They had opportunity, she thought. Three guys against one woman.

  “I’m, hungry,” Janet said aloud. Shad lifted his head and watched Janet. “You hungry too, boy?” She stood up and walked over to the other plastic crates and began rummaging through them. He stood up too, then turned around and walked back over to the opening, cocking his head, and listening.

  Janet straightened up and looked over at him. “You hear something, Shad?”

  He looked back at her and whimpered a little, then stared back into the darkness. Janet walked over and squatted down next to him, listening as well.

  “I don’t hear anything,” she whispered to him.

  He whimpered again and gave a little throaty growl.

  Janet was suddenly frightened. “Come on back in here, Shad,” she urged him, stepping back into the room, but he wouldn’t budge, still letting out a quiet, low growl, now and then. “Shad!” she whispered more sternly. Finally, Janet picked up the lantern and walked back over to Shad, squatting down again to listen. He was still alert to something that she could not hear. Impulsively, Janet turned down the lantern until it was just a dim glow, ready to turn it off altogether, if necessary, to conceal her whereabouts. She just hoped Shad didn’t start barking!

  He continued to whimper now and again and occasionally twitched as if ready to take off in an instant. Janet took hold of his collar to keep him from doing just that. Even so, she was afraid that his whimpering might be heard. And there were absolutely no guarantees that it would only be Greg coming back.

  “Ssshh,” she whispered gently next to his ear and stroked his head again, trying to keep him calm. The steady drip-drip of water out in the cavern seemed to grow louder, although she knew it was just her imagination. She strained to hear whatever it was Shad was hearing, still stroking his head. He twitched again and shifted his hindquarters slightly. Janet held tightly to his collar, but Shad seemed to be getting more excited and nervous. She continued to listen with each drip-drip echoing its rhythmic beat.

  Shad suddenly stood up and was completely alert. He didn’t whimper, but Janet could feel his muscles twitch, and she expected him to take off at any moment, except he couldn’t see any better than she could in the inky darkness. She did, however, think he could already hear something that she couldn’t. He started to sniff the air but remained completely alert and ready to run, pounce, lunge, or whatever he was planning to do.

  Janet waited and watched the dark passageway. She thought she heard something herself. If it were possible to listen harder, she did her best. Then again, something. Footsteps? She kept listening, then yes. Yes! Footsteps! It must be Greg coming back at last. As the sound grew closer, she was certain it must be Greg. His footsteps sounded different than before when he had left, but then most of the sounds she had heard in here sounded strange. The steady crunch-crunch grew louder, and Shad grew more excited. He whimpered some more and looked at Janet, almost as if to say, “He’s coming! He’s coming!”

  Janet kept stroking Shad’s head and whispered, “I know. Just wait.”

  At last they could see a faint glow growing brighter. With relief, Janet blew out a breath of air and stood up, becoming just as excited as Shad to see Greg again. The wait had been nearly unbearable. The light and footsteps paused for a moment then continued, as someone headed straight for them.

  Chapter 9