She walked to the edge, again staring into the void. Just do it. Do it. Do it. Don't think about it, do it. Please help me decide. Please help me do it.
She took a deep breath. Her light hung around her neck and under her arm, and she could aim it where she needed it. She had become good at that. She would need both her hands for climbing. She would manage. She could do it. It was possible for a human to do this. She remembered a story she'd heard in graduate school about a geology student camped near a volcano. The volcano erupted unexpectedly. It was later calculated that in order to outrun the lava flow to safety he would have to make it in world-class time. He was not even a runner. He made it. Humans can do superhuman things when they have to save their lives. She could do this.
Lindsay turned her back to the void and slowly put her foot on the first rock along the precipice.
Piaquay shone the torch around the entrance and walked out to the passage. He saw neither Diego nor his torchlight. But Diego couldn't have gotten far. Piaquay's torchlight showed dark stains on the ground. The Spaniard was bleeding. Piaquay followed the stains. Roberto and Tesca followed him. They reached the large cavern of a room and saw the glow of a torch behind a pile of rocks.
Roberto saw the silhouette first, the long rod of the harquebus resting on a rock. "Duck!" he shouted and pushed Piaquay just as a blast of light flashed and a deafening sound erupted.
The noise echoed throughout the chamber. Then another sound came like thunder rolling in the distance. First, there was a groan, then a cracking sound, and suddenly rocks, dirt, and boulders were falling from above. Roberto thought he heard a scream, but wasn't sure. He held on to his torch and tried to get as close to the cave wall as he could. The dust choked him and stung his eyes. It seemed like an eternity before the noise stopped. Then there was utter silence. Roberto lifted his torch. Dust hung in the air like a dense fog. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you injured?" asked Piaquay.
"I don't know. I don't think so," answered Roberto.
"Tesca!" shouted Piaquay. He was answered by a groan.
Piaquay picked up his burning torch from the cave floor and followed the sound. Tesca was half buried under large boulders. He had been shot in the chest. Piaquay knelt beside him and held his head. Roberto knelt and crossed himself.
"Go," whispered Tesca. His voice was raspy and weak.
"I won't leave you," said Piaquay.
"Dying.
"I won't leave your body here."
"You have to. You live. Is my wish, my brother. Old coyote got his way ... closed the door on me.... You leave."
"I will not leave you here to die alone." He stroked his brother's brow. Tesca's breathing slowed until each breath seemed like the last. Finally his body went limp.
"Help me pull him out," said Piaquay, laying his torch on a rock and taking his brother under the arms.
"You can't get him out," said Roberto.
"I won't leave him here."
"You must." Roberto laid a hand on Piaquay's shoulder.
Piaquay shook it off. "Take the rocks off him."
"There are too many, and they are too heavy. Please, my friend, honor his last wish."
Piaquay struggled with his brother, then tried to remove the rocks himself. It was an impossible task. Roberto watched helplessly, then tried to get him to stop.
"You will tire yourself and won't be able to get out of the cave."
Piaquay ignored him.
Roberto picked up the torch and went to examine the passage they had used into the cave. He found Diego first. Only his hand was visible from under the pile of rubble.
"Old devil," he whispered.
"We have to get out of here," he shouted, turning and racing back to Piaquay, who stood looking down at his brother's lifeless body. "We have to get out of here. There might be another cave-in. Please, let's find a way out."
Piaquay looked at him a moment as if he did not understand him. "The way is blocked?" he asked at last.
"Yes. "
"I thought there was a wind in here when we entered. There must be two openings. Perhaps there is another way out." Roberto thought that Piaquay seemed very calm. Roberto wanted to scream at him. Piaquay examined the collapsed entrance.
"You are right. We cannot leave by this way. I'll get the other torches," said Piaquay. "There will be another way out."
Piaquay found the sack of torches and slung it over his back with his bow and arrows. He and Roberto examined the chamber. There was another passage. Piaquay took his torch and made a circular pattern of smoke at the opening to the tunnel.
"Why are you marking the passage?" asked Roberto. "Nayahti can't possibly come after us. The way is blocked."
"This is for the spirit of my brother. He will recognize the sun and know it is us. He will follow," Piaquay said.
The passage was the same kind of sinuous, pockmarked passage as the ones they had come through. Maybe it will lead to the surface, thought Roberto. He was almost sick with the fear that rose from his belly and stung his throat.
The passageway terminated at a black pit. Piaquay tore off a piece of Roberto's shirt, lit it, and dropped it over the side of the pit. They saw only a flash of light reflected from the rock bottom before the torch went out. Piaquay held out his torch, looking at the edges of the pit. It wasn't wide, and there was a ledge that led to the other side.
"We can go here," he said.
"No," said Roberto. "1 can't."
"You will go or you stay," said Piaquay calmly.
"No, I can't."
"Then stay." Piaquay started to step out onto the ledge.
"Please," Roberto pleaded. "Please don't leave me here. I would cross the ledge if I could, but I'm afraid."
Piaquay looked into Roberto's eyes. Eyes of the enemy, but of one who had saved his life and one who had suffered as much by the hands of his own people as Piaquay had; one who had taught him the language of the Spanish, and one whom he had traveled with for a long time.
"I will not leave you. What is it you fear?"
"Falling. "
"Don't fall. "
Roberto almost laughed. He guessed it was that simple for Piaquay. "A fear does not have to be reasonable. It is just there. I could not work on the masts of ships because I was afraid of the height."
"If I held on to you, would you be afraid?"
"If I fell, so would you."
"Neither of us will fall if you do what I say." Piaquay held out his hand. "The ledge is wide. Don't look down, and ask your God to make you forget that there is a pit. See only a road." Roberto took a deep breath and listened to Pia quay's voice. "It is the only way out. Can you feel a breeze on your face?"
No.
"I can. Come." He took Roberto's hand and stepped out onto the ledge. "Keep your eyes on the passage across the way. Hold the wall with your other hand. Walk behind me."
Piaquay led him as if leading a child. Roberto inched along, shuffling, barely lifting his feet. They reached the passage, but the opening was high, almost out of reach.
"I'm going to let go of your hand," Piaquay said. "Stand there and don't take your eyes off the opening. It's freedom. And don't close your eyes, or you will lose your balance."
Piaquay hopped up to the opening in an easy leap. He turned and held a hand out to Roberto. Roberto eased over to him and took his hand. Piaquay pulled as Roberto climbed up into the passageway. He scrambled away from the opening and collapsed with his back to the wall, breathing heavily.
"See how easy it was?" said Piaquay.
Roberto closed his eyes and fingered his beads. "Ave Marie, gratia plena, Dominus tecum..." he whispered.
"Come," said Piaquay. "We must leave this place."
Roberto followed Piaquay down the passage. He did not feel this breeze that Piaquay felt or understand why he went in the direction he went or follow the passages he did. He wondered briefly if the deaths of Piaquay's family were driving him mad. Perhaps he, Roberto, was a little ma
d, too. He had thought revenge against Calderon would make everything right. Perhaps it would have meant more if Calderon hadn't been insane. But Cristina was still lost to him-lost forever. He realized that now. He could have no life with her. No family. What would she say of his stretched earlobes, his exotic tattoos? What could he do in Spain? He followed along after Piaquay, sad and very lonely. There was nowhere he belonged now. He had no home.
Chapter 14
LINDSAY CLUNG TO the wall of the void, close to panic. She wanted to look back, to go back, but she couldn't maneuver the flashlight. She was committed. No turning back. Thirty feet to the water. Forty to the passage. Thirty feet. Just thirty feet. But she didn't have to go to the water. She had to go to the passage. Yes, the passage. How many feet? More than ten, less than twenty. What is it? Something like sine of alpha equals-equals what-"a" over the hypotenuse. Is that it? So, how far is it? I must be going insane, trying to do higher mathematics while suspended over a void. It doesn't matter how far it is, I have to do it.
Don't think about falling. Don't think about being tired. Think of the method. Shine the light to look for afoot hold for the left foot. Try it carefully. Lift yourself up. Feel for a hold for the right foot. Try it carefully. Reach up to find the handholds. Move diagonally up toward the passage. Move on the hypotenuse. a2+b2=c2. That's it. She could do that in her head. What is the square root of 2500? She placed her foot on a narrow jutting rock. It slipped. The surge of fear was like an electric shock. She groped for another foothold and held tightly to the rocks with her hands and fingers. Pay attention. She found a firm toehold and slowly lifted herself. Her muscles strained. Her hands hurt. This was hard; too hard. Fifty feet-the hypotenuse is fifty feet. Pay attention or you will die. Left foot, right foot, left hand, right hand. Do it, do it. Wait. She stopped her climb. The water was loud and distracting. What if the stones were slippery near the water? Feel the holds before you commit, she told herself. You can do this.
Despite Lindsay's efforts to climb in a diagonal toward the passage, she climbed more or less up. She reached to find a hold with her left hand. It slipped, scraping her nails and the tips of her fingers. Her hand hurt. She shook it and reached again for another hold. She climbed up two more feet. She was almost level with the passage. Adrenaline rushed through her body. She put a foot on a rock and put her weight on it. It slipped. Her body banged against the wall, almost knocking the breath out of her. She hung by both hands, sick with fear, trying to catch her breath, searching for footholds. Her fingers were numb.
She found a solid place for her left foot, then her right, and just stayed there, afraid to move. It's not that far now. What if the passage is a dead end? No. Don't think about that. Just climb. She searched for hand- and footholds to the left of her toward the passage, inching her way, straining her muscles.
There it was, almost within reach. She reached for the ledge of the passage, groping for precious footholds. Don't go too fast now, she chided herself. Don't make a mistake now; you are almost there. She pulled herself up to the ledge and hung by her elbows and forearms as she pushed with her toes. The rocks were slippery. She pulled herself and climbed and finally crawled into the passage. Relief came like a drugged high. She lay in the passage, catching her breath. Slowly she stood and shone her light down the passage. It was open. Small, but open. She thought she would faint from the joy.
Water. Now for the water. She had had an idea while she was perched out on the wall above the water. A clever idea. She fashioned a cup from a piece of aluminum foil. She fished in her pocket for her handkerchief. Great Aunt Maggie thought all well-bred women should carry handkerchiefs, not tissue, and she kept Lindsay well supplied. Lindsay thought it quaint and rarely used them, but often carried one in her pocket anyway. She took fishing line from the backpack and tied it to the handkerchief. She lay on her stomach at the edge of the opening and lowered the handkerchief down into the running water, then hauled it up and wrung the water into the foil cup. Clever, she thought. She sipped the water, holding it in her dry mouth, delighting in its sheer wetness. It was cool, tasteless, and refreshing-the way water should be. It was heavenly. She lowered the handkerchief several times until she collected a cupful, took out a nutri-bar, and ate half of it while sipping water. A feast. A reward.
Lindsay leaned back against the stone wall of the passage and closed her eyes.
Piaquay and Roberto came to two tunnels. The choices were not good. Both were small and littered with rubble.
"This way," said Piaquay.
"Are you sure we can get through?" said Roberto.
"Yes. Come." Piaquay marked the passage.
Roberto felt sorry for Piaquay. He knew the loss of his brother must hurt him deeply. The marking of the tunnels to show the way for his dead brother's spirit seemed so melancholy. Roberto wanted to comfort Piaquay, show him his deep appreciation for not leaving him in the cave to die. Roberto had seen the compassion in Piaquay's eyes, a sight he would never have thought possible. But other than convincing his countrymen to go home and telling the French and the English to stay away-that the land across the ocean belonged to another people-Roberto could do nothing for him. So he followed in silence.
The way was difficult. The passage was a narrow tunnel. It had a steep incline and was strewn with loose rock that shifted with every step. In some locations they could only move forward on their bellies.
"There's an opening ahead," said Piaquay.
He hurried through and dropped to the floor in a large cavern. Just then the rocks began to shift and fall.
Roberto screamed. "I'm stuck!" he yelled.
Piaquay leaned the lit torch by the wall and climbed back into the passage. He grabbed Roberto by the arms and pulled hard while scrambling backward. Roberto yelled, partly from fear, partly from being pulled over the jagged rocks. He tumbled out onto the floor of the cave.
"Thank you, my friend. That is the second time you saved me. I will say a special prayer for you. "
Roberto hurt from head to foot. He saw that Piaquay, who was mostly naked, was cut and bleeding. He wondered if any of the cuts were on the elaborate tattoos, then wondered why that came to his mind at a time like this.
"Are you injured?" asked Piaquay.
"Yes. No. I don't know. Let's keep going. I can walk, and I want to get out of this place," he said.
The torch was burning low, and Piaquay lit another one. It was the last. They continued onward.
Roberto saw the filtered light first and yelled, ran toward it, and fell on his knees in the daylight outside the cave.
"You have done it, mi amigo," he said. "You found the way out."
Piaquay looked at the crystal he held in his hand. "It was the powerful scale of the Uktena," he said softly.
"What? What was?" Roberto looked at him, puzzled.
"This is the scale of the Uktena. Not as powerful as the crest, but the crest could only be used by the owner. The scales, however . . ." He dropped the crystal into a pouch.
"You mean you were following that damn crystal to get us out of the cave?" Roberto stood facing Piaquay, balling his hand into a fist.
"Of course. How else could we know the way?"
"I thought you knew where you were going! I followed you because I thought you knew what you were doing!"
"I have never been in the cave. How could I know the way out?"
"I don't know. I thought it was a talent that Indians have, like your ability to track."
"We learn how to track from our mothers' brothers. They don't teach us how to travel through caves."
"But a crystal! We might not have gotten out! We could still be wandering around in that cave!"
"But we are not. We are here. And now we must find Nayahti and Kinua. We are finished with Calderon. I can go home."
Roberto raised his eyes to heaven as he and Piaquay went in search of their comrades-Nayahti the trader, and Kinua the apprentice warrior, and the braves Quanche and Minque. They had to walk two hours
to find them, taking a trail to the village and backtracking to the cave.
"We are relieved," said Nayahti when he saw them. "Kinua and I heard the thunder in the mountain. We went in the cave to look for you and the way was blocked. Where is Tesca?" Piaquay gave Nayahti and Kinua a long narration of the events in the cave. Roberto shifted impatiently throughout the story, understanding it mostly because he knew what had happened.
"So the devils are dead?" said Nayahti.
"They are dead, and the others are retreating back to their village on the coast, but I learn as I talk to Roberto that the devils across the water have many clans that fight over what the others have. I fear that more will come."
Piaquay turned to Roberto. "You are welcome to come and live with us."
Roberto looked at him, wondering if the Indian had some sense that allowed him to see his doubts about returning to his people in Spain.
"I'll walk with you for a ways, if I may, and decide what to do on the journey. Right now I'm very tired."
Lindsay jerked awake. She felt panic, but didn't know why at first. Then she saw her flashlight. It was on. She had been asleep. Oh, God, how long have I been asleep? Please don't let the batteries be dying. She lit a candle from her bag and turned off the flashlight. How could I do that when I've been through so much? How could I leave the flashlight burning?
In the glow of the candlelight and with trembling hands she made preparations to continue her journey. There was no way she could carry water. The best she could do was wet the handkerchief again and carefully wrap it in the aluminum foil, creasing the edges tight. She put it gently in one of the side pockets of her backpack.
The way through the tunnel was tight. She had to crawl on her hands and knees most of the way. Her legs cramped as she tried to stoop and walk and keep her knees off the rocky floor of the cave. The passage was narrowing the farther along she went. She tried not to worry about that. She tried to keep focused on going forward. The passage made a sharp incline upward. Although it was hard traveling, it gave Lindsay a sense of optimism. Abruptly, with the next step, her head peeked out into a chamber and, like a little mouse, she scrambled out a small hole onto the floor of a large room. The hole she emerged from was next to a wall cluttered with breakdown.
LC 02 - Questionable Remains Page 18
