I stared at where the stairway had been. “We had made so much progress. Now we’re buried even more. I just made things worse.”
“We’ll try again. Come one. We can have a cup of wine with our soup. I could use a cup of wine and I think you could too.”
“I don’t like it.” Now I was just being pouty, but I was enjoying it, if it was possible to enjoy anything at the moment.
“Like I said, it is an acquired taste. The more you drink the better it tastes.”
“Yeah. Because the more you drink the more brain cells you kill so the wine starts to taste good.”
“Well, no arguments there. But what are a few dead brain cells when the rest of our bodies will soon follow suit?”
“Good point.” I supposed it was easier to joke than cry about our situation. No point in spending our last few days on earth crying.
I opened the can of creamy potato soup, set it on the wire stand above the can of liquid gel, and lit the wick. As the soup heated, I filled two cups with wine and brought them to Courtland. He sat on the sleeping bag and placed the cups down on the floor, and then I went to get the soup. Pouring equal amounts in each bowl, I brought them back to the sleeping bag and sat next to him.
He picked up the two cups and handed one to me. “Let’s toast.”
I smiled as this small gesture brought pleasant memories of my mom and dad. They used to toast with wine and sometimes me and my brother and sister would join in with milk or juice. “What should we toast to?”
“You and me, of course.”
“Okay, here’s to you and me,” I said and took a sip trying not to wrinkle my nose, but couldn’t help it.
Court laughed and picked up one of the bowls and handed it to me. “Here, have some soup.”
I stuck a spoonful of soup in my mouth and tried another sip of the wine, then another spoonful of soup and another sip of wine. Court was right. It did taste better the more you drank it. After about half the cup of wine, my stomach felt warm and my legs tingled a bit, dulling my senses. The thought of death still lingered somewhere in the back of my mind, though.
“Maybe Max will come back soon with help,” I said.
“I don’t know. He’s been gone for two days, or is it three? I lost track.”
Chapter 21
~~ Adela ~~
After we semi-filled our bellies, Courtland took another stab at the dirt. He took his shirt off when he started to sweat from the exertion. Of course, I had seen other boys without their shirts. We had a swimming pool in our backyard and Max was always over to swim. But sitting there watching Court shovel the dirt with his chest bare prompted a whirling twinge in my stomach, that butterfly fluttering thing again. I’d seen his chest once before, last summer when he worked in the stable with my dad, and I remembered the way my stomach fluttered when he stopped shoveling the hay and stood in front of me glistening with sweat, staring at me. My eyes must have been blinded by my unwarranted devotion to Max. At the time, I didn’t realize just how much the sight of Courtland’s bulging chest, chiseled with muscles and his shimmering six-pack-ribbed abs had stimulated me.
I supposed I could have sat there for the rest of my life watching him shovel dirt. And I would have too, if he hadn’t stopped and come to sit next to me, putting that bare muscular chest within my grasp. I had to look away.
“Good job,” I said, trying my best to sound encouraging as I handed him a cup of water. “This is the last of the water, Court.”
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he nodded and sipped, then set the glass down still full.
Like before, I hopped up and grabbed the shovel. “My turn.”
“You’re so jumpy all of a sudden, you remind me of a kangaroo.”
I ignored that, hoping he wouldn’t ask me why I couldn’t sit still beside him … and his bare chest.
“Keep the shovel low this time.”
I cringed, knowing it was my fault the dirt caved in during the last attempt to dig ourselves out. I stabbed the shovel into the dirt, grabbing as much of the muck as I could, lifting the shovel and dumping dirt behind me in the new pile—a tedious task under the best of conditions. This time I dug until blisters actually formed on the palms of my hands and I could no longer hold onto the shovel. I placed the long metal spade down next to the pile of dirt and went to sit beside Court, sweaty and exhausted.
~~ Courtland ~~
Adela’s face was smeared with dirt; I found an unused piece of gauze and wiped a few of the smudges away.
Since our water supply was very low, we only took a couple of sips of what we had left. We did, however, drink another cup of wine. Exhaustion and despair zapped our energy and neither one of us could stand, let alone lift that shovel one more time. I feared my prior proclamation that we would die down there would come true.
“Do you think we will ever get out of here?” Adela asked.
“Of course we will.”
She stared at my face. “You don’t believe that. I can see it in your eyes and you have doubt written on your frown lines.”
I smiled. “Well, I hope they’re spelled correctly. Nothing worse than badly-spelled words of doubt in a time of crisis.”
She giggled, which was much better than crying. I never wanted to hear Adela cry again.
“It is comforting to know you can read me so well. I don’t know if we’ll get out of here and as much as I don’t want you to die, I’m glad we’re together.”
Adela curved her lips slightly and sipped her wine. “This isn’t all that bad once you get used to it. Good thing we won’t have the problem of becoming alcoholics.”
“That’s my girl, thinking on the positive side.”
“I’m sorry; I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“No problem.”
Adela picked at the rim of the Styrofoam cup she held and I wondered what she was thinking.
“Adela …” I paused and waited for her to look at me and when she did, I said, “since we will most likely die down here, do you think I could have that fourth kiss now?”
“You already did. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said reflectively. I sighed and tried my damnedest to pout and to my delight, she smiled and leaned into me. I stopped her just inches before her lips touched mine and she frowned.
“What?”
“Let’s put this down first. I want your complete and undivided attention.” I took the cup of wine from her hand and placed it on the cement floor several feet away from us. Then I brushed her cheek with the back of my fingers and traced her lips with my thumb. She smiled and my heart sang.
I wanted to be gentle and make this the best kiss Adela Castielle would ever have. I placed my hand at the nape of her neck and leaned toward her. The moment my lips touched hers I experienced a stirring I couldn’t ignore. Her lips were soft and delicious with the taste of wine still lingering on them. My brain went into overdrive with the thought of what we could do, how soft her skin would feel if I touched her. I slipped my hand just under the bottom of her shirt and felt the silky, smooth skin of her back.
Then, like some invisible guy hit me over the head, I thought of our deaths and my heart tugged with regret that we would never be able to build from this moment. Suddenly, I was overcome with a surge of power and more than anything, I wanted so badly to survive this. I made a promise to myself that I would get us out of that cellar by the next day if it took every last bit of energy I had. I would not stop until I saw the sun trickling in from above the steps.
I finished the kiss with one little peck at the end and tilted her head back from mine. We needed sleep and food to build up our strength. Sleep we could do, food was another story.
“Let’s get some sleep for a while. We can dig some more later.” With the doorway hidden under dirt, there was no sunlight filtering in and we had no idea what time it was, but what did it matter? We were both exhausted.
“Sleep would be good. I think I could sleep for a week,” Adela
agreed.
“That would help our food situation,” I joked and she nodded and yawned.
I scooted my body down into the sleeping bag, Adela came in beside me, and we settled down together. She rested her head on my shoulder and within seconds, was sound asleep. Our sweaty bodies turned cold as night took hold and we huddled together inside the one and only sleeping bag we had since the other one lay buried somewhere under the mountain of dirt.
I tried to remember my promise to myself as doubt re-entered my mind. I hoped the dirt would not cave in again once we got to a certain spot.
I kissed the top of Adela’s head and tried to think on the positive side. At least I would have Adela with me when I died.
~~ Adela ~~
I decided that I really liked kissing Court. He certainly had a lot of skill in that area. I rested my head on his chest, wondering how many girls he’d kissed before. I’d never seen Courtland with a girl, though, and wondered how he became so adept in kissing.
I hoped we did make it out of the cellar, although I knew our chances were slim. Kissing Court made me realize all the things I would miss if I died. I wanted to have a chance to experience all the other stuff that people did as they built their lives. I wanted to find out what it would be like to get married and have children, to have a family of my own. There were a lot of girls in school that had already had sex. They bragged about it in the girl’s restroom. I tried to pretend I knew what they’d experienced. Kissing Court felt right and so I decided not to waste any more time wondering what it would be like to kiss Max. I closed my eyes and fell asleep thinking about Courtland’s soft lips.
I awoke with my head still on Court’s shoulder and glanced up to see him still sleeping. My eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, but without windows, it was still impossible to tell what time it was. I stayed very still as his chest rose with each smooth breath. As I lay there beside him, I heard him groan and looked up, surprised to see him awake and frowning.
“The burns again?”
“Just a little. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Did you get enough rest?”
“Yeah.” I unzipped the sleeping bag, sat up, poured the cup a third full of water and offered it to him.
He shook his head. “You first.”
God, he always said that. I should just take the first sip and then give him the cup, but I enjoyed hearing him say, “You first.”
I took a sip and handed the cup to him. After he drank, he got up and went straight to the shovel, picked it up and began shoveling dirt from the steps. We had made a little progress the day before and the first four steps actually looked like steps. Dirt covered steps, but steps, with only six more to go if I remembered correctly.
Court dug with such a vengeance, I feared the dirt would cave in again as he got up higher, but I didn’t mention it. I didn’t want to jinx anything.
I gathered up two of the discarded cans and began scooping as much dirt as I could. Courtland dug so fast and with such determination, sweat beaded on his forehead. I was afraid he would pass out. His blistered burns still needed water, but we were almost out and he didn’t want me to use anymore to wet strips of gauze. We needed it for drinking.
I glanced up at Court as he emptied another shovel full of dirt behind him and then sank down on his knees, lowering his head. I bolted to him and grabbed him by his shoulders. He looked at me and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Adela, I am so exhausted. I can’t lift that shovel one more time. I wish Max stayed for you.” He glanced at me as I started to protest. “Don’t deny it. You know you’d rather have Max here.”
Had my stupid, naïve affections for Max shown that much? Then I remembered telling Court not to say anything bad about Max because he helped me get home. Now that I thought back, though, did he help me or did I help him?
I took Court’s face in my hands and looked into his eyes. “Max left me, remember? He left me here. I don’t think … no, I know you would never leave me. You are different. It was you who saved me, twice, not Max. Besides, you love me. Right?”
“I do. I do love you, Adela. You stood there in the lunch line looking lost.” He brushed a wild strand of hair from my cheek with his finger. “I would never leave you. I do love you. I would die to save you.”
I blinked. I wasn’t certain exactly how I felt about Court. I knew it was more than like but my feelings for him were all so new to me. I did enjoy kissing him. “I … I don’t know if I love you. But I care about you and I do know that I would do anything for you.”
“I guess that’s as close to a love declaration as I’m going to get. I’ll just have to accept that. At least it’s close. Let me hold you in my arms while I rest. Then I’ll get back up and do some more shoveling.”
Chapter 22
~~ Courtland ~~
My dad’s voice bellowed deep and loud, along with the sound of the pounding on my bedroom door. “Courtland, get up. You’ll be late for school. Don’t forget to go by the Castielle place. I heard they need help with those horses and we need the money.”
He was relentless, shaking my shoulders to wake me. “Stop, leave me alone. I’m too tired.” I rolled onto my side to try to go back to sleep but the shaking continued.
“Court, wake up. Someone is up there. Wake up.” Not my father’s voice. I opened my eyes to Adela’s beautiful golden ones.
“Max! Adela! Are you down there?”
I bolted up. “What’s going on?”
“Someone’s here to rescue us. We’re gonna get out!” She jumped up and went closer to the stairs and I followed.
“We’re here! We’re down here,” Adela yelled.
“Adela? Are you all right?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
“Cooper Murdock? Is that you?” I yelled.
“Yeah. Courtland? Glad you’re okay.”
“We’re trapped. The dirt caved in during the last aftershock and blocked the entire exit.”
“I’ll get you out. Sit tight, kids. It’ll take a little while but Willy and I will get you out. How’s your water?”
I glanced at Adela and she held up the bottle. “We have about a half a cup left.”
“Sounds like I’m just in time.”
“You got that right,” I said.
“Where’s Max?” Cooper yelled down.
“Max took off to find food and some other people.” I glanced at Adela; her lips tightened and she lowered her eyes as if she hated the reminder of Max leaving. Max taking off the way he had really hurt her. I figured the mere mention of his name only added to her pain and I wanted to take back the words.
“Okay, I’ll work as fast as I can.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll wait.”
“Roger that.”
As I walked away, I thought I heard a chuckle then Cooper’s muffled voice said, “Stay back, I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I start.”
Adela and I sat on the sleeping bag and waited. I took her hand in mine as we listened to Cooper digging and giving instructions to Willy to pull.
“I wonder what Willy is pulling away,” Adela said.
I shrugged. “Could be anything. Maybe a tree trunk or something.”
I was glad Adela wanted to sit so close to me, holding my hand while we waited for Cooper to clear the exit. About half an hour later, Cooper yelled down. “Okay, I got most of the debris hauled away from the door. Do you have any tools to dig with?”
“Yeah, we have a shovel. We’ve been trying to dig our way out for two days, but it all caved in again on top of our efforts.”
“Okay, start digging again if you can. With you digging on your end and me digging up here, we’ll have you out in no time.”
I grabbed the shovel and went to work. Adela used the cans again and we dug.
“I see light!” I said, pointing up at the top of the pile of dirt. “Adela, I see light.”
She put down the containers and ran to where I stood looking up at the sliver of light. We embrace
d and I twirled her around in a circle, laughing.
I set her down and picked up the shovel. Fueled by adrenalin, I dug and pulled enough dirt away so we could crawl out.
When the opening became large enough, I turned to Adela. “You first.”
“Wait. Let’s take these with us,” she said, gathering up the matches and the little container of canned heat. “You never know when we might need them.”
“Good call. Now up you go,” I said, taking her by the arm and helping her up. When my hands pressed against her bottom, she turned to stare at me. “Sorry, I thought you might want a little push.” She rolled her eyes at me as Cooper took hold of her arms and pulled her up the rest of the way.
“Okay, Court. Your turn,” Cooper yelled down.
I rolled up the sleeping bag and held it under my arm while I searched the floor until I spotted the picture of my mom and dad. I snatched it up and stuffed it inside my shirt. I took a last look around at our prison and smiled. I would never forget the place where I first kissed Adela Castielle. Her very first kiss and I gave it to her. I stepped up the mound of dirt and blinked, shielding my eyes from the blaring sun. I grabbed onto Cooper’s outstretched arm, and he hoisted me up. Cooper’s quirky smile reached from ear to ear as he patted me on the back.
“You sure you’re okay, son? I heard you had some nasty burns and a sprained ankle. Want me to take a peek?”
I sat down on a rock by the pile of debris, my eyes still adjusting to the brightness. I squinted around the area, taking in all the rubble and destruction as the reality of the situation once again hit me like a lead demolition ball. “I’m okay. They’re healing. The blisters are almost gone. What was blocking the door?”
“Tree trunk. The quake snapped that tree in half,” Cooper pointed to the half still standing to his right, “and this part,” he gestured to the one on the ground, “fell right over the mound of dirt filling the cellar entrance. If it hadn’t been for the rain we had making all this mud and packing down this dirt, you would have been okay. Let me take you back to my place. I managed to get some of the debris cleared from my kitchen, salvaged some of the food, dry goods mostly, and I have water. Court you’re looking a little peaked. How about you hop on top of Old Willy here and let him give you a ride.”
ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK Page 17
