by Cari Cole
"It's sealed. We'd have to break it or at least break the seal to get it open. We can't open it without Jane. It wouldn't be fair," Lucy said.
"What if there's a clue inside the jar to another hiding place down here?"
Lucy thought about it for a few seconds. "No. What would be the point?" She shook her head. "We've got what we came for and Jane deserves to be included. Besides, we might damage the document if we aren't careful."
"And we need to get back," Mae said.
They'd left Jane nearly an hour and a half ago. "We should make better time on the way back."
They started across the room to the crack of doom and Lucy stopped in her tracks. In the excitement of finding the declaration and seeing the beautiful part of caving she had forgotten about the crack. She started shaking and felt the tears come back to her eyes again.
# # #
"I can't. I can't go back in there."
"What?" Mae didn't seem to remember Lucy's panic attack either.
"That was a one way trip for me. You and Jane are going to have to figure out a system to keep me supplied with food and water. Maybe a sun lamp. Blankets. Clothes. Porta Potty. Some good books. I've been seriously considering a meditation retreat but maybe I won't need to pay for a weekend. I can get plenty of meditation in while I'm living down here."
"Very funny," Mae said. "We have to go. Jane and Belle are counting on us."
Except Lucy wasn't kidding. "I'm not going back in there. I'd rather become a hermit and live down here than crawl back into that hole." She was crying again and she couldn't seem to stop shaking.
Mae, put her arms around Lucy and hugged her hard. "People pay a lot of money for the kind of therapy you just had."
It took a second for her words to register. Lucy pulled back and blinded Mae with her headlamp. "Therapy? Are you crazy? Because I almost was. I think if I'd been in there for another minute I would have had a psychotic break. A real honest to God psychotic break."
"No, I'm not crazy. I've read about this. Therapists take people with phobias and expose them to the things they're afraid of to desensitize them. It's like a magic cure."
"Did you hear me? I almost went insane. I could've hurt you."
"But you didn't," Mae said. "And I bet if you think about it you feel better now."
Did she? Lucy tried to think about going back into the crack.
The opening to the nightmare crawl stared at her with its unblinking black eye. The eye of death, soulless and flat.
Lucy shivered. Belle needed them to pull this off and Jane needed medical help. Getting out of here with Jane and the Declaration was all that mattered. Forward is the way out. "I'll try. Let's pack up this jar."
They spent a few minutes wrapping the jar in one of the remaining blankets and cushioning it as best they could with water bottles and bags of gorp.
Mae gave Lucy an unwavering "you can do this" look before dropping to her stomach and slithering into the hole pulling the packs behind her again.
Lucy wasn't at all sure she could do it. Only the fear that Jane would die of shock or Belle would be hurt by her kidnapper had Lucy even thinking about going back in there.
Of course the bigger likelihood was that she would start crawling, panic, and be no help to anyone--or worse, actually cause a bigger problem.
Decision time. Panting in fear, Lucy didn't try to stop the tears still running out of her eyes. Live people cried.
She reached a hand into the opening. As it disappeared into the shadows, it went numb as though crossing a barrier between life and death.
Lucy pulled her hand back, almost surprised to find it still attached.
Surely Mae would find a way to get Jane help. Then Mae could send the paramedics back to Lucy and they could give her something to knock her out while they pulled her free on her very own stretcher.
And delay getting Jane to the hospital. Not to mention further endangering the rescue team.
Her fear was echoed in her pounding heart. She pushed her hand back into the maw, it tingled and went numb.
This time, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and pulled her body up to her hand. Her scalp crawled, her hair felt alive as though it was reaching out to touch the rock and send alarms to the rest of her body.
She hovered there, arms, head, and shoulders across the threshold of the underworld, the rest of her still in the land of the living.
Focusing her light on the disappearing packs, Lucy inched forward, keeping pace with Mae's jerky slide through the crack. The flush of heat turned into a cold sweat as soon as she was completely encased in the rock. She couldn't catch her breath and her heart strained to feed her oxygen starved body.
Spots danced in front of her eyes and she fought to maintain her focus on the packs and convince herself there was plenty of air.
The panic rolled over her in a tingling wave.
She clenched her fists to her side to keep from beating at the walls and watched Mae's head move farther into the tunnel.
Gasping and wheezing, she knew this time she wouldn't make it through.
"--matter what they say, Jane's gonna want a whole pitcher of margaritas."
Mae's voice penetrated the screaming darkness in Lucy's head but she didn't have the breath to respond.
"Lucy? Are you still back there?"
Forcing her eyes open, Lucy saw Mae's light bounce around the crack as she tried to twist around to get a look at Lucy.
Once again Lucy struggled with the need to raise up to be able to move freely and expand her lungs. Once again the panic won and she fought a losing battle against the rock.
This time the sharp pain that brought her back was in her knee.
Out, she had to get out.
Lucy made a renewed effort to scramble forward and butted her head against the packs which were acting just like a cork in a bottle. Behind her the pressure of Lucy's fear was building again.
Some tiny part of Lucy's brain that hadn't gone feral warned her she was about to hurt her friend.
With a moan, Lucy forced herself to stop, go limp and just breathe. She managed to croak, "Go."
Mae seemed to get the message because the packs moved away from Lucy's head.
"Just keep moving and try to breathe," Mae said. "We're almost there."
Lucy didn't respond. She was using every bit of her available rational brain to keep herself moving forward.
###
"Okay," Mae called back. "Hands and knees. Just a little longer."
Lucy slithered for all she was worth. Hands and knees! What the hell was she doing in a place where crawling on her hands and knees was cause for celebration?
When she reached the spot and crawled back over the obstruction she collapsed and sucked in deep lungfuls of air. A few more minutes and she'd be able to stand up. She hauled herself up to her hands and knees and scurried as fast as she could.
Popping out of the hellish crack behind Mae was like Christmas, New Years and the Fourth of July all rolled into one.
She bolted to her feet and this time did a little dance of joy. "If we make it out of here alive, I don't think I'll ever so much as go into a basement again." She grabbed Mae's shoulders in her excitement and practically shouted in Mae's face. "Above ground. I'm going to live the rest of my life above ground."
Mae chuckled and nodded. "Okay. Sounds like a plan. Now let's keep moving."
"The rest is cake," Lucy said. "We'll be back to Jane in no time."
They made it back in record time and without any further scares.
Final Exam
Lucy dropped back into the passage where they'd left Jane. "We found the--"
Jane turned to Lucy with dull, pain-glazed eyes.
"Oh my God." Lucy rushed over to her, her own problems forgotten.
Behind her, she heard Mae unclipping from the rope.
"What's wrong?" Mae asked.
"She's not doing well."
Mae rushed over to see for herself.
J
ane managed a wan smile. "I'll have you know I'm doing okay. I was just finishing a little nap."
Lucy put a hand to Jane's forehead. She felt cold and a little clammy.
"I'm going right now to get some help," Mae said.
Jane gave her head a weak negative shake. "No. You can't go alone. I've been thinking about getting out of here. Had lots of time to think about it."
Lucy rolled her eyes. Jane was either delirious or delusional. "I can't wait to hear this."
"I'll tell you in a minute but first show me what you found."
"We don't have time for that right now."
Jane pushed herself more upright with her good arm and winced at the movement. "Of course we do. Can't you see I'm better now that I'm more awake?"
No, Lucy didn't really see that. She glanced at Mae.
Mae wasn't convinced either.
"Really, I promise. I think I'm still making those natural painkillers. Show me," Jane said.
"It's just an old jar," Lucy said. "If the document's in there we shouldn't open it until we get someplace clean and safe."
"We can open it once your arm is taken care of and Belle is safe. We'll have a party. With alcohol," Mae said.
I'm going to drink myself blind tonight," Jane said.
"I just want to get you out of here," Lucy said.
"Party pooper," Jane said.
"We can fight later," Mae said. "Right now, I'm going for help."
"I have a better idea," Jane said. "I told you I've been thinking about how to handle this."
"I can't wait to hear this," Lucy said.
"I know I can get all the way back to the first shaft. With a little help." Jane held up her good hand when Lucy started to protest. "No, hear me out."
Lucy nodded. Why not let her talk?
"The first section we have to navigate is a short, walking bent section. I know I can do that. Same with that little bit of wading. The next climb will be a little tricky but if you all help me through the tough parts with a rope I can make it."
Lucy wasn't convinced, but she made an encouraging noise.
"Okay then comes the nightmare crawl."
"We only thought that was a nightmare. Mae and I found the real nightmare," Lucy shuddered then shook it off. "But I see your point. There's no way you can pull yourself through there."
"What happened?" Jane asked.
Lucy waved off the question. "Later. What about that first scary tunnel?"
"If we use one of the space blankets as a sort of stretcher one of you can pull while the other pushes me through. All I'll have to do is lay there. And then an almost easy stroll back to the base of the first shaft."
Lucy wondered if it was possible. Could she and Mae really maneuver Jane through that crawling section?
As for the rest, with room to maneuver they could probably get her through. But it was dangerous.
"I still think we should let help come to you," Lucy finally said.
Jane shook her head. "I have to at least try. I'm feeling pretty tough right now."
Lucy hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was to make things worse.
"What's your vote, Mae?" Jane asked.
Mae shrugged. "I don't know."
Jane looked at them with pleading eyes. "I have to try. I don't want to lay here like some helpless ninny."
Lucy looked at Mae.
Mae nodded. "Let's try. I don't like the idea of our splitting up. What if something happens to me on my way out? I think we have to at least let her try."
"First we need to do a better job of immobilizing that arm. The less jarring it gets the better," Lucy said. "And you have to promise to let us know right away if the pain gets to be too much."
"I swear. But I really think there's some sort of chemical thing going on to anesthetize the arm."
Lucy had her doubts, but every foot closer to the entrance would be a good thing. "Let's do it."
Mae and Lucy did what they could to bind Jane's arm to the front of her body with more of the space blanket. The trick was to get it tight enough to hold it still without putting so much pressure on the break that it caused more pain.
Once they were satisfied, they helped her to her feet.
Jane gasped once on the way up and swayed a little. "Wow. That was a little more exciting than I would have liked."
"You want to sit back down?" Mae asked.
"No. I want to get the hell out of here."
The first section they had to retrace was wide enough for two people--if they were friends--even though it required walking bent over.
"Will it help if one of us walks next to you?" Lucy asked.
"I don't think so," Jane said. "I won't really be able to lean on you."
"Stay close behind me and put your hand on my back," Mae said. "That should give you a little support and help keep you steady."
And off they went, moving slowly.
As the walls closed around them, the tune to "Three Blind Mice" got stuck in Lucy's brain and she started humming.
Mae joined in, and by the time they'd shuffled back to the edge of the pool, they were singing like drunken sailors.
Not that they had an easy time.
Jane stopped frequently to suck in big gulps of air. Each time Jane stopped, Mae waited and Lucy leant what support she could from behind.
"So, do we get naked again?" Mae asked as they stopped at the edge of the pool.
"No. But we should take off our boots and socks and roll up our pants," Lucy said.
Jane looked pained.
"Do you need to rest? Ready to stop?" Lucy said.
"No." Jane made her way to a large rock and sat down. "Just get my boots off."
Lucy took off Jane's boots and socks and rolled up Jane's pants before dealing with her own. "This time you lean on me," she said.
"No problem." Jane put her good hand on Lucy's shoulder and used it as a crutch to help her through the pool.
Mae walked behind them and they all made it across without mishap.
They sat down to put their boots back on.
Lucy helped Jane with hers and tried to judge how she was feeling.
Jane was trying to look brave but casting apprehensive glances in the direction of the rope disappearing into the corkscrew climb.
"You can stop here," Lucy said.
Jane shook her head. "No. I know I can do this. Just clip me in."
"Not so fast," Lucy said. "We need to figure out the best way to do this."
"I think you should go first," Mae said. "You can help her up with the rope when she needs it. I'll climb without the rope and help from behind when I can."
"The first part sounds good," Lucy said. "But I don't like the idea of you climbing without being clipped in. What if you fall?
"I'll be very careful. We're going to have to take some risks if we're going to make this work," Mae said.
"Fine," Lucy said. She clipped onto the rope. "Come on. If Jane can be tough, we can be tough."
"Jane's still here," Jane said. "And yes, I am still feeling tough."
The climb that had seemed so easy on the way down, didn't look that way as Lucy went back up. She tried to do as much of it one-armed as she could, just to get an idea if Jane should even attempt it.
There were two spots where she thought Jane would have to trust to the rope completely. Two places where Lucy was going to have to prove she was tough and pull Jane up a few feet with very little help.
At the top, Lucy found a spot where she could sit facing the hole with her feet braced on a large rock and rigged the rope for belaying.
The idea was for Lucy to use her Petzl ascender to take up the rope as Jane climbed, locking her in place on the way. As long as Lucy didn't go ass over tea kettle into the hole herself, Jane couldn't fall.
"Ready!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs when she finished setting up. Sound did strange things down here and she wanted to make sure they heard her.
She gave the rope a little shake for g
ood measure.
Within a few seconds, the rope went tight. Lucy braced harder, leaning back and doing her best to let the equipment do the work pulling the rope through the ascender at a steady pace to keep up with the slack.
Lucy shuddered to think what kind of pain Jane was in. No matter how careful she tried to be she had to be bumping her arm against the rock from time to time on the way up.
The first time Jane gave her weight to the rope Lucy came within a hair's breadth of smacking her head against the rock in front of her. She had the rope positioned too high across her back and the sudden weight bent her forward hard.
Lucy grunted like a weightlifter, pushed her feet harder into the rock and leaned backward for all she was worth. All she had to do was keep from getting pulled over for a few seconds until Jane found the next hold with a little boost from Mae.
Five seconds seemed more like five minutes as Lucy grimaced and strained, clenching her jaw, waiting for the slack.
When it came, she thanked God she'd had her back braced against the wall or she would have smacked the back of her head instead of the front. She readjusted the rope lower on her back and waited for the next one.
Lucy's estimate that she'd have to hold Jane's weight twice was wrong. Apparently just pretending to have a bad arm and actually having one are two different things. The final total was five.
Five times Lucy held Jane's weight for a few brief seconds and hoped she wouldn't fail. She didn't.
Jane flopped out of the hole onto her back with a high-pitched sound of pain.
Mae appeared a few seconds later. She locked eyes with Lucy and gave a slight shake of her head.
"Don't shake your head," Jane said. "I made it didn't I?"
"You did indeed," Lucy said. She was in awe of Jane whether she made it another foot or not.
"You might be making your arm worse," Mae said.
"Nothing is worse than being down here one second longer than I have to be. Every step I take brings me closer to a hospital and controlled substances."
Lucy could think of something worse.
"I've been thinking," Mae said. "I don't think either of us can pull Jane through this first narrow part while we're crawling. I think we should attach a rope to the blanket stretcher then I'll crawl through with the rope and pull her through when I get to the taller part. You can come through with Jane to ease any rough spots."
