Shadow Cave (44 page)

I snuck up behind the little girl and clapped a hand over her mouth.

“
Shhh.
I
’
m not going to hurt you.
Please don
’
t scream.
You shouldn
’
t be out here.
You see those men over there?
”

She nodded.

“
They are very bad men and we have to get out of here.
Do you understand?
Good.
Now I want you to take that path and go back to your home, on the other side of the fence.
”

I took my hand away from her mouth and she turned around to face me.

“
Come on.
”
She held her hand out to me.

“
No, honey, you go.
I have to go and save that man on the ground over there.
He
’
s my brother.
Follow the path and go home, ok
ay
?
”

The child
’
s bottom lip quivered.
“
Please don
’
t leave me here with the bad men.
”

“
Shush, now.
You let me worry about the bad men.
You just go on home now.
”

“
But I don
’
t have a home.
”

“
Shit.
”
I peered around the trees.
The guards were walking off into the woods.
They carried spears and from what I could make out, they were going hunting.
I knew that I would likely never get a better chance to rescue Mike.
“
Ok
ay
,
”
I told the little girl.
“
Go onto that path there and stay hidden in the bushes.
I
’
ll be back to get you in five minutes.
”

“
Do you promise?
”

“
Promise.
”
I ruffled her hair and gave her a gentle push towards the path.

Even though the guards were gone for the moment, I stayed low to the ground when I approached the camp.

“
Mike!
”
I hissed.

My brother raised his head and closed his eyes in relief when he spotted me.
I came up behind him and hugged him.
“
Mike I can
’
t believe I found you.
You have no idea!
”

“
Mmmmhh.
”
He mumbled around the gag.

“
Oh, right.
Sorry.
”
I untied the gag and then went to work on the knots that bound his arms and legs.

“
Claire, how did you find me?
”

“
Luck, Michael.
A whole lot of luck.
And a whole lot of help too.
”

“
Hurry, we have to get out of here.
The guards are looking for you.
Kahn is looking for you.
”

“
I know.
Let
’
s go.
”
I helped him to his feet and we raced toward the path.
I stopped only to retrieve the little girl.

“
Where are we going to take her?
”
Mike questioned.
“
It
’
s not safe for her to be trave
l
ling with us.
”

“
I know that, but we can
’
t leave her.
I
’
m going to take you both to the people who have been helping me.
We will all be safe there and we can figure out everything when we get there.
It
’
s a three hour drive, though.
”

“
Wait.
”

“
Oh, no, don
’
t even say
‘
wait
’
like that.
Do you know what I have been through trying to find you?
And now we are both finally safe and you
’
re saying wait with that look in your eyes.
”

“
I know but
—
”

“
And speaking of
—
just what the hell were you thinking?
”
I shouted.

“
Claire, I don
’
t think that now is the time to be having this discussion.
We have to get to the woods by Lerna.
”

“
Where we came in at?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Right now?
But we can
’
t leave yet
—
”

“
That
’
s fine
,
but I buried my half of the key there.
”

“
You did what?
”

“
I buried the key.
We have to go and get it.
”

“
Crap.
Ok
ay
, let
’
s go.
”

We drove to the edge of the forest
in Lerna
and hopped the gate.
The little girl insisted on coming with me and I had no intention of letting Mike out of my sights for, oh, the next ten years or so.
So we all crept through the woods and huddled on the ground to help dig.

“
Here it is!
”
He exclaimed.
“
Let
’
s get back to the car now.
”

“
There they are!
Both of them!
”

“
Stop!
”

We jumped to our feet as the guards began shouting.
They were approaching quickly and they had us surrounded on all sides.

“
Mike?
”

“
We
’
ve been set up, Claire.
”

“
We have to get out of here!
”

“
Put your key in the dirt, now!
We have to go back!
”

“
But
—
”

“
They
’
ve got us surrounded.
It
’
s the only way.
Put your key in the dirt next to mine and hold on to the girl!
”

There really was no other choice.
We put the two halves together and held on.

Home Port

We were back in the cave.
I peered down through the darkness and was relieved to find the little girl peering right back up at me.
Granted, she looked wide
-
eyed and terrified, but the important thing was she had come through the portal with us
; and
although she was scared, she did not appear to be injured.
I knelt down until I was eye level with her and framed her small face with my hands.

“
Are you all right, sweetheart?
”

Her chin quivered and she did not speak.

“
Are you still scared?
”
I asked gently.

She nodded and I hugged her close to me before getting to my feet.
“
Just hold onto my hand for now, ok
ay
?

“
Are you ready to do this?
”
I spoke quietly and directed the question to Mike.

He nodded grimly and took a step forward.
“
How many were there when you came through the first time?
”

“
I don
’
t know.
I killed
—
ah
—
took care of one.
But I don
’
t know how many were coming behind him.
I think I heard three other voices.
But they could have more people with them now.
It
’
s been weeks.
”

“
They might be gone, too, especially with John out of the picture.
But we can
’
t afford to assume anything.
Give me the knife, Claire, and stay behind me.
”

“
Whoa, wait just a damn minute.
”

“
What?
”
Mike turned back to me.
He looked like the poster child for impatient men and
I
suppressed a grin.

“
Why do you get to take MY knife and go first?
”

“
Because, Claire,
”
he
spoke slowly
.
“
I am more experienced with a knife.
”

I snorted.
“
No, you
’
re not.
”

“
Well, I
’
m a man.
I
’
m bigger than you are.
”

“
That is why I need the knife more than you need it.
”

“
Just hang onto the little girl.
”

“
And do what with her after you walk through that door and get killed?
”

“
I am not going to get killed.
”
He cleared his throat and glanced down at the child.

“
But you could.
I should be first.
If anything happens, you will have a better chance of escaping with her.
”

“
That is funny Claire.
You are damn sure not going first.
I am not hiding behind you.
”

“
It is not hiding.
It
’
s sensible.
We need to spread our strengths out evenly.
Me with the knife and you with your larger size makes us more evenly matched and thus harder to take down.
”

He swore and grabbed the knife out of my hands.

“
Jackass
,
”
I muttered.
The little girl began to whimper beside me.

“
Nice job, Claire.
You scared her.
”

“
I did not
...
oh
,
forget it.
”
I looked down at the child and smiled.
“
Remember what I said about holding my hand
?
We are going to go someplace safe now, all right?
”

She nodded and clutched my hand surprisingly hard for such a small child.
I tapped my brother
’
s shoulder and told him we were ready.

“
One. Two. Three…now!
”
he
counted quietly.

We burst through the trap door hidden in the rock and stopped.
Silence greeted us.
We were alone in the cave.
The only thing left in the room to attest to the violence that had taken place was the dark stain on the floor near the exit.

“
Was that where you, ah, took care of him?
”
Mike asked quietly.

“
That
’
s the spot, yes.
”
I looked away, uncomfortable at finding both Mike and the little girl regarding me with open sympathy.
I had done what I had been forced to do and that was that.
End of story.
I sure as hell didn
’
t need pity because of it.
I knew even as
I
thought the words that I was being too hard on my companions.
But the truth was, it was still too fresh in my mind.
A lot of things were still much too raw and exposed for me right then.