“Yes, of course.”
Jenny gave Carl’s arm another pat, then reached over to Emma held her arm comfortingly.
“They’ll be home well before dinner. Standing orders.”
§
It was early evening before Tom made it back. He came in through the front door and set down his travel bag, smiled in Olivia’s direction when she came in from the kitchen.
“Hey, Liv. Sorry I’m late. Hit some traffic.”
They hugged and kissed, then Tom looked around the room. All quiet. Too quiet.
“Did I miss dinner?”
Olivia sighed. “The kids aren’t home yet. I’m starting to get a bit worried.”
“I’m sure they just lost track of the time, Liv. Where were they headed?”
“They said they were going to hike up the creek. Daniel is with them.”
Jenny came into the living room from the kitchen. “Hello, Tom. Welcome home.”
“Hey, Mom.” He looked back to Olivia. “I’m sure they’re all right.”
“But what if they’ve gotten lost.”
Jenny spoke out as she sat at the table. “They know the boundaries, Olivia. Tough to get lost so long as you stay in the boundaries.”
“Not if they’ve gone into the caves, it isn’t.”
“There is that, of course.” Jenny frowned. “Frankly, I’m more concerned that something may have happened to Daniel.”
Tom looked curiously at his mother, then at Olivia.
“Carl and Emma were here earlier,” said Olivia. “Daniel didn’t take his medicine this morning, didn’t take it with him.” She folded her arms, held her elbows with her hands. “I think we should go looking for them. Don’t you?”
“You say they went hiking up the creek?”
“That’s what they said.”
All three were quiet for several moments. Jenny finally placed the palm of one hand firmly down on the table and stood up.
“All right. Let’s see if Mike has seen them. I’ll get changed.” She waved a hand at them. “You too, you too. Go on. You can’t wander about the woods dressed like that.”
§
The sun had set before they reached Mike’s cabin. They knocked and waited, knocked again. When there was still no answer, Jenny opened the door and the others followed her in.
Inside, the room was dark. Jenny reached over to the light switch and turned on the light. Tom stepped into the kitchen area. Everything looked cold.
“He’s been gone all day, at least.”
“Look at this, Tom,” said Olivia. She was standing before the large map on the wall. Tom took the few steps to stand beside her. Jenny spoke up behind them.
“That’s his map of the caves. He’s been working on it for years.”
Olivia studied one specific location on the map. She pointed. “The Christmas Cave.”
“He found it?” Tom asked.
Jenny stepped up beside him, spoke matter-of-factly. “He thinks so. But there was nothing there.”
“Mother?”
“Mike’s been there a couple of times the last few weeks.” She and Mike had talked about it just the other day.
“Tom…” Olivia sounded really worried now. “What if the kids saw this?”
“Of course they’ve seen it.” He stared hard at the map. He nodded at the location Mike had indicated. “That’s where they are.”
“Then I guess that’s where we’re going,” said Jenny.
“Mom… maybe you should wait at the house. In case they show up there.”
“What if they do?”
“They’ll wonder where we are.”
“So.”
“Mom…”
“End of discussion.”
Tom turned away from his mother, gave the hint of a nod and finally stepped over to the desk.
“All right,” he said at last. “Give me a minute. I’ll make a copy of the map.”
Jenny took a last quick glance at the map before starting toward the door.
“I know the way,” she said. She turned and started toward the door. She stopped then, hesitated. She reached out and grasped the door jamb. Facing away from the others, she fought back a grimace of pain.
Tom saw that something was wrong. “Mom?”
The pain slowly subsided.
“I know the way,” she repeated. “Come on. Mike keeps a spare lantern in the shed.”
§
Jack slowed and looked back at the others. The tunnel here was very narrow, was well lit by their flashlights.
Daniel appeared pale, short of breath; fatigued.
Jack stopped. “Let’s take a breather.”
“Good idea,” said Amanda. She studied the features of this narrow stretch of tunnel. “We’ve been here before.”
“No we haven’t,” Jack stated firmly.
Daniel took a deep breath, let it out. He looked forward and back, then at Amanda.
“How can you tell?”
“I can tell.”
Jack was insistent. “We have not been here before.”
Amanda shook her head sadly. “We are so lost.”
“I’m telling you, this is the way out.”
“You said before.”
“And it’s still true.”
“But we’re going down.”
“We have to go down to go up.”
Amanda leaned nearer Daniel, who appeared increasingly pale in the feeble light.
“Hey, you okay?” she asked.
“Sure.” Daniel put on a weak smile. “Just give me a second.”
Amanda turned to her brother. “Jack, we need to go back.”
Jack looked at Daniel, didn’t like what he saw.
“Yeah. Okay,” he said. “I know the way.”
Daniel shook his head sharply and pushed himself forward.
“Not going back. I’m ready. Come on.”
“Amanda’s right, Daniel,” said Jack. “We should go back. We can try again tomorrow.”
Daniel took another halting step, turned then and looked back at the others.
“No. No. You don’t understand. This is it. This is my last adventure. I’m going on. No matter what.” He took a moment to catch his breath. “Alone, if I have to.”
Jack looked once to Amanda, turned slowly again to Daniel.
“No, man,” he said. “Not alone.”
Amanda surrendered to the majority, gave a grudging nod. She saw something then up ahead in the tunnel, beyond Daniel.
She grasped Jack by the arm.
“Hey…” she said, almost a whisper. “You see that?”
Jack and Daniel both looked ahead, tried to see beyond the reach of their flashlights.
“See what?” asked Jack.
Daniel slowly raised his arm and pointed.
“That.” Up ahead, from beyond the bend… a faint light.
“Are we out?” asked Amanda.
“No.” Daniel stated flatly. “Not out.”
He turned off his flashlight. The others followed suit.
The tunnel was dark but for a colorful, flickering glow beyond the bend in the tunnel.
“Wow,” Amanda whispered.
“Yeah wow,” said Jack. “Come on.”
They started forward, cautiously approached the bend. Beyond the bend, they came face to face with Mike, standing tall in the center of the tunnel.
He looked down at them, his lantern held up before him, a dull yellow glow.
“Oh,” Amanda said curtly. “It’s you.”
“Yes. Me,” said Mike. He looked at Daniel. “You okay, kid? You don’t look so good.”
“I always look this way. I don’t get enough sun.”
“I hear ya.” Mike turned forward. “I got something better.”
He turned off his lantern.
Several dozen feet ahead of them, the tunnel glowed in bright, colorful light.
§
Tom, Olivia and Jenny made ready to go into the caves. The sky overhead was gray
and dreary. Night came fast here and it would be dark soon.
There was only one lantern between them, and Tom held it up as Jenny lit it. A hazy glow spread out across the ground. There were a number of footprints.
“They’ve been here, all right,” said Tom.
Jenny saw larger footprints amongst those of the children.
“Mike’s in there,” she said.
“With them, do you think?” Olivia asked hopefully.
“I doubt very much that he would take them into the caves, but he may well have found them.”
Looks like we’re all headed to the same place, thought Tom.
“Are you two ready?” he asked.
“Oh, yes.” Olivia gave her husband the hint of a smile. “Let’s go ground some children.”
Tom gave her a strong affirmative nod, then held the lantern out to his mother.
“Mom?”
Jenny took the lantern and led the way into the caves.
Chapter Six
Jenny turned down the lantern flame till there was only the lightest flicker.
“Well, I’ll be,” she said.
Several dozen feet ahead of them… bright, flickering light of red and blue and green.
She looked back at Tom and Olivia.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “It wasn’t here. I swear, it wasn’t here.”
“Then it must come and go,” said Olivia. “One day it’s here, the next it’s not.”
Jenny looked back at the light. Tom placed an arm on his mother’s shoulders. “That would explain why Mike hasn’t been able to find it until now.”
“After all these years. Bill.” Jenny stared longingly at the shimmering colors in the tunnel ahead of them.
Tom took a moment to allow his mother to take it all in.
“After you, Mother.”
“Yes,” she said. “Thank you, Tom.”
Jenny took a step toward the light, then another…
She stepped out of fractured, flickering light emanating from a wall of solid rock. She found herself standing on a narrow ledge forty feet up a cliff. Tom and Olivia came through the colorful, glittering portal and stood beside her.
The flickering behind them stopped.
The cavern was well lit. Phosphorus in the walls and ceiling created its own light, and the numerous other minerals reflecting the phosphorescent light created their own blue, red and green.
Bright, sparkling Christmas colors…
The cavern was hundreds of yards across. A narrow river ran from left to right, beginning midway up the cliff wall above them on their left, tumbling in a noisy falls. Reaching the cavern floor, it formed a river that ran across to an unseen outlet beneath the distant right wall.
“Oh my,” said Olivia.
“Welcome to the Christmas Cave,” said Jenny.
§
Mike climbed the steep, narrow path up a nearly vertical rock wall, the kids following close behind him. Daniel looked much healthier than he had before entering the cave.
They came out onto a wide landing. On the far side stood a shack with an open door and no roof. Mike took several more steps, enough to allow the kids to step off the path and come up onto the landing beside him.
“Hey.” Jack spoke in a hushed tone. “Somebody lives here.”
“Duh,” said Amanda.
“Bill,” said Daniel.
Amanda stepped out in front. “Who else,” she said, and walked slowly toward the shack.
Bill, a slim man with gray hair and a long beard, came out of the shack. He took a single step and stopped. He wore shorts, shirt and sandals, all made of woven vegetation.
Mike placed a hand on Amanda’s shoulder as he stepped past her.
“Bill?”
Bill looked taken aback at hearing his name spoken. He said nothing, remained fixed to his spot a single step from his shack.
“Bill?” Mike asked again. “Is that you? It’s me. It’s Mike.”
Bill’s gaze sharpened. He leaned his head forward, studied Mike, then ran his gaze to each of the children.
He looked back at Mike.
“Mike?” His lips quivered. His eyes teared up. He began to cry. “Mike?”
“Yeah, man. It’s me.”
“Oh, God. Oh, geez.” He took a stumbling step forward.
“It’s me, Bill.” Now Mike began to cry. He blubbered as he staggered forward. “I found ya. I found ya. I knew I would. Danged if I didn’t.”
They reached each other, wrapped their arms around each other.
Jack, Amanda and Daniel didn’t move. They couldn’t move. Their eyes welled up. They worked hard at holding back the tears.
“I’d say this was a good day,” said Amanda.
“Yeah,” Daniel just managed to get out.
“S’pose it is,” said Jack.
§
Tom, Olivia and Jenny approached the Rainbow Bridge, a V-shaped roped bridge that spanned the river, crossing to a landing on the opposite cliff wall. Hundreds of brightly colored stones were woven into the rope.
Tom appeared uneasy. He reached a hand out to the rope.
“It looks strong enough,” he said.
Jenny grinned. “Ya’ nervous, son?”
“I’m fine, Mother.” He took a step. He looked at Olivia, then pointedly at Jenny. “You wait here until I get to the other side.”
“Sure,” said Jenny.
“I mean it, Mom.” He started out, took it slow but steady.
He was midway across when Jenny leaned toward Olivia.
“Did Tom ever tell you about the rope bridge at Thornberry Creek?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh, you’d remember,” said Jenny. “Thing stood for thirty years. Tom couldn’t a been more’n six or seven years old. We were picnicking at the creek, the boy decides to cross the bridge. First time. Never crossed it before. He marches bravely out onto the bridge, we’re all watching.”
Jenny nodded in Tom’s direction.
“He’s about where he is now. Anchors pull out of the bank, bridge drops into the water.”
“Oh, my. How terrible.”
“Kid was as light as a small dog. Never would’ve imagined such a thing. I went in after him, pulled him to shore.” A shadow seemed to brush across her face. “Darnedest thing…”
Tom reached the other side, turned and rested his hands on the supports.
“All right,” he said. “Good and solid. Come on across.”
“Thank you, son.” Jenny called out. She looked side-glance at Olivia and gave her a wink and started out.
She stopped midway along the bridge, her hands grasping the hand ropes. She closed her eyes, smiled contentedly. Taking in the soothing sound and sweet smell of the river below, the aura of the enclosing cavern hovering above them.
“Mom?” Tom called out worriedly. “Mom?”
“Be quiet, dear,” said Jenny, She kept her eyes closed, kept her contented smile.
Tom continued to look worried, but did as he was told. He kept quiet.
Jenny took in a calm, healthy breath, slowly opened her eyes. She looked… refreshed.
She started forward again.
§
Mike and Bill were alone in Bill’s shack; four walls of twigs and bamboo-like stalks and hand-wound twine. There was no ceiling other than thin rope that ran from wall to wall every two feet to hold the structure together. One open arch served as the doorway.
Bill sat on a narrow cot, Mike in one of two chairs. There was a small table in one corner. The furniture was made of the same material as that of the walls.
“Interesting place you have here, Bill,” said Mike.
“It’s not much, but I call it home.”
“I can’t help but notice. Two chairs?”
“I could say I was expecting company,” Bill said, smiling.
“Were you?”
“Nah. Gave up on that a long time ago.”
“I am sorry,” said Mike. “I tri
ed. I’ve been trying my whole life.”
“Hey, you’re here. That’s amazing.”
Their conversation grew less awkward as they slowly became reacquainted.
Meantime, Jack stood on a small ledge above Bill’s shack landing, looking out across the cavern. He called down to Amanda and Daniel, who stood outside the shack below.
“The river comes right out of the wall, over by where we came in.” He hopped down in three short steps and came up beside them. They all looked down to the floor of the cavern. “It runs right below us, disappears under that far wall over there.”
“Suppose there’s fish in it?” asked Daniel.
“Maybe. Bill’s been eatin’ something all these years.”
“You lookin’ to go fishing?” asked Amanda.
Daniel looked almost eager. “Might just do that.”
Something below drew Jack’s attention. He leaned farther forward.
“Uh oh,” he said.
“What is it?” asked Daniel.
“I think we’re in trouble.”
“What?” Amanda felt a tightness in her chest. “Jack?”
“It’s Mom.”
Chapter Seven
In the shack, Bill gazed off into the distant past.
“That was the Old Man’s chair,” he said quietly.
“I thought you were alone?”
“I am. Long time, now.” Another moment’s drift to another time. “He was here when I got here. Crazier ‘n a bug, I thought at the time. He must’a been here years a’fore I showed up. Livin’ here all by himself.”
“Did he come through the way we did?”
“I guess so,” Bill shrugged.
“Where was he from?”
“Don’t know. He didn’t speak English.” From the expression on Bill’s face, he seemed to enjoy those nostalgic moments, those journeys to the past. “I mean, after a few months we were able to understand each other, at least a little. He talked some about the village he came from, but it didn’t sound nothin’ like any place near the mountain.”
“He came here from a different cave?” asked Mike. If the old man came in through a different portal, that could be important.
“I suppose it was a cave. We didn’t talk much about outside. Mostly he talked to me about how things work, how to get food, how to make stuff.”
So… what happened to him?’
“Died.” Another shrug. This time, it was somehow sad. “Went to sleep one night, didn’t wake up.”
The Christmas Cave Page 4
