Last Resort

by Hannah Alexander

  “Would you t-two stop talking about me like I’m a little kid?” Carissa snapped. “I mean it. I’m almost thirt-t-teen.”

  “Yes, and you’re injured and half-drowned. Give us a break. We’re doing the best we can.” Noelle felt Carissa’s face for herself.

  “So why have we stopped?” Carissa asked.

  Noelle sighed and pointed to the light coming down through the opening of the sinkhole. “Because that’s the way out, and our rope is missing.”

  What have I done? They’re buried down in that cave unless they can find their way to the other end of the cave system, and I don’t think that’ll happen. No one knows about the new collapse since that little earthquake we had this summer.

  What about the search dogs? They’re new. They sure can’t seem to find Carissa’s scent, but they could get lucky. I wonder if there’s some way to confuse them…maybe to scatter Carissa’s scent and Noelle’s and Nathan’s.

  I can’t grieve. This is the way it has to be. If they knew about me, they could lock me away forever.

  Got to be strong. I can’t let myself doubt now.

  I have to believe this is the right thing to do or I couldn’t live with the past.

  Chapter Ten

  Noelle climbed onto a ledge above Nathan’s head and aimed the beam of her flashlight toward an intimidating wall of boulders, trying unsuccessfully to push away her memories. This was the rockslide that had killed her mom.

  “Noelle, what are you doing?” Nathan objected. “I told you I’d do the climbing.”

  No time for memories. “Come up and give me a boost, Nathan, and I’ll see if we can get through this way.”

  “I thought you were afraid of heights.”

  “I’m more afraid of what’s going to happen to Carissa if we don’t get out of here quickly. She’s already in danger of aspiration pneumonia, and that lump on her skull worries me.”

  He joined Noelle on the ledge. “Then let me do the climbing. Give me the flashlight and—”

  “No macho stuff, okay? Use that common sense you were bragging about earlier. I’m lighter.” She took a step up without his help, reminding herself not to look down. If she could just focus on this pile of boulders…

  “At least give me your flashlight and I’ll hold it for you,” Nathan said. “You need both hands to climb or—”

  “You are not getting this flashlight. I need it to see where I’m going.” She took another step up, then another, then stopped and aimed her light past the pile of rocks. More rocks. She groaned.

  “Let me guess. Can’t get out?”

  Noelle grimaced at the “I told you so” inflection in his voice. “That’s right. It also means no one came in this way.”

  “We knew that,” he drawled. “The seal at the mouth of the cave made it obvious.”

  “Yes, of course, but I thought if we could just reach the mouth, we might be able to knock enough boards away to get through from this direction. I mean, think about it, Nathan—twenty-nine years ago the collapse didn’t block the entrance completely. This was the way they carried…carried Mom out.”

  “So it looks as if there’s been another collapse since then.”

  “Yeah. Maybe it happened when the condominium came down in town this summer. This is just another breakdown cavern now. But like I said, there’s got to be another entrance, or Carissa wouldn’t be here.”

  “She could have been lowered through the sinkhole.”

  “Did you see any disturbance around the sinkhole when we arrived?”

  “No, but—”

  “Exactly. We would have noticed something.”

  “Okay,” he conceded with obvious reluctance. “Unless he went to a lot of trouble to cover it up.”

  “How do we know it’s a he?” She aimed the beam of her light against the opposite wall in search of some evidence of another entrance, then played the beam to the left. Nothing. She started to turn and climb down when a rock dislodged beneath her foot. She stumbled and lost her balance, flying headlong at Nathan, with a shriek that echoed from the walls around them. He caught her, then stumbled and fell beneath her on the ledge with a loud grunt of expelled air.

  “Noelle!” Carissa cried from the darkness.

  Noelle scrambled to her feet, unintentionally gouging Nathan in the ribs with her elbow. He grunted again.

  “Yeah, Cis, we’re okay,” she called. “Nathan, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

  “No, I’m fine,” he drawled. “Women are always finding new ways to throw themselves at me.” He swung his legs over the side of the ledge and jumped down, then reached up to help her.

  She hesitated. “You’re sure? I hit you pretty hard.”

  “Would you come down from there before you fall again?”

  She leaned toward his outstretched hands and allowed him to lower her to level ground. His hands were gentle and his grip strong. For a moment, all she wanted was to remain within the reassuring circle of that grasp.

  Reluctantly, she stepped away. “Now what do we do?”

  “We find another way out of here.” He brushed himself off. “Remember when we played here as kids? We turned out our flashlights and sat in the darkness, waiting for our eyes to adjust so we could see if any light came in.”

  “I remember,” she said. “We saw light reflecting around the whirlpool, but we never found any opening big enough for us to fit through.”

  “If there’s been a shift major enough to cause another rockslide, it might have affected other parts of the cave system, but we don’t have time to go spelunking in a major way. We could encounter fifty dead ends before we found anything worthwhile.”

  They skirted a limestone column to find Carissa still bundled up in the quilted jacket and the thick chamois shirt Noelle had been wearing over her T-shirt. The fact that the usually inquisitive, active child hadn’t moved since they’d left her attested to her misery. She needed more medical care than Noelle could give her in these conditions.

  Nathan sank down beside Carissa on the slab of stone and patted the spot beside him for Noelle. “I know we were kids when we were here last, so things might look different to us now. The whirlpool seems a lot broader than it was years ago. It looks like it may have undergone a lot of erosion.”

  “That makes sense.” Carissa leaned against Nathan and tugged at his arm until he got the message and wrapped it around her. “I overheard Dad saying we’ve had more flooding in Cedar Hollow in the past ten years than he’d seen since he was a kid. That would cause the erosion.”

  Noelle leaned against Nathan’s other side for warmth. “Cis, you’re sure you can’t remember which way you came through the darkness to the whirlpool?”

  Carissa shook her head. “I can’t remember because I couldn’t see anything. The only time I did was when that whisperer came looking for me.”

  Nathan wrapped his other arm around Noelle. “When I was searching for Carissa in the water, I wouldn’t have found her if not for the light coming from the other side of the cave wall. It looks like that might be a way out.”

  “I am not going back in that water,” Carissa said.

  “You wouldn’t have to,” Nathan said. “Only one of us would. Face it, you two, I’m the only one who saw the light.”

  Noelle snorted at the bad joke. “Bad idea. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Can you think of a better way to get us out of here?”

  Noelle looked into Carissa’s eyes. “I wish I’d thought to pack a thermometer in my kit.”

  “It’s no big deal, okay?” Carissa said.

  “You could develop pneumonia from inhaling the water,” Nathan said. “Noelle, are either of these flashlights waterproof?”

  Noelle glanced down at the flashlights that she and Carissa were holding, then frowned at Nathan, feeling fresh alarm. Plunging beneath that whirlpool a second time would be a dangerous move. But what other options did they have? Eventually, the others would realize they, too, were missing, but that could ta
ke hours. Carissa needed medical help soon.

  She held out the red flashlight in her hand. “This one’s waterproof.”

  He took it. “Thanks.”

  “You’re really going to do it?” Carissa asked. “You’re going to try to get out that way?”

  He stood. “The water must flow from this cave into the creek, and there was enough light for me to see you clearly, even though it’s cloudy out. So maybe I can fit through the opening and double back—”

  “Are you forgetting the waterfall?” Noelle asked.

  “And are you forgetting our dilemma?” Nathan countered quietly. “Willow Creek is deep, and you know it, because we swam in it plenty of times.”

  “Sure it’s deep and it’s cold and—”

  “If I can just get through that opening—”

  “What happens to Carissa and me if you drown?” Noelle asked.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  Noelle sighed, wrapping her arms around Carissa’s shoulders, drawing comfort from the contact. “I don’t like this.”

  “Me neither,” Carissa said.

  “Have a little faith, will you?” he said.

  Noelle glared at him.

  “You two stay here by the sinkhole, because that’s where I’ll come to as soon as I can find a way to pull you out of here.” He stuck the flashlight into his pocket. “Relax, Noelle, I made it back to the surface with Carissa a while ago—I can make it back alone if I can’t get through. I’ll see you in a few minutes, one way or the other.”

  “Promise?” Noelle asked.

  “Cross my heart and hope to—”

  “Don’t say it. Just get back here.”

  “I’ll be okay.”

  This time the depths of the pool looked different. The water numbed Nathan’s arms and legs more quickly as he forced his way down through the tunnel where he had found Carissa. The current grabbed at him, wedging him between two outjutting elbows of limestone before he could fight his way around them. He pushed against the rock and freed himself, then returned to the surface to catch his breath before making another attempt.

  He was quickly chilled, and his movements were awkward. He wouldn’t be able to withstand the cold much longer before he lost the ability to propel himself forward. But he had to get Noelle and Carissa out of this cave.

  He plunged once more into the depths of the pool and under the ledge where Noelle had crouched, insisting Carissa was beneath her. This was the way, wasn’t it? He couldn’t afford to get turned around. If he did, he could drown before finding his way to the surface.

  His confidence waned as he swam several more yards without a glimpse of light. Should he try to turn around and go back? He was running out of air. Quickly.

  He peered hard into the darkness and followed the current forward a few more feet. Then he saw the reflection of daylight ahead, the light brightening as he kicked his way toward it, shoving hard with his hands against the rough surface of the underwater tunnel.

  The sides of the tunnel drew in closer around him. He caught a glimpse of blue sky and kicked hard, pushing himself forward. Something caught his shirt, holding him fast. He tried to jerk away. His lungs begged for air. He looked down and saw a sharp rock poking through the sleeve of his shirt. He ripped free and propelled himself forward only to feel the stones converge around him, hugging his shoulders tightly in their grip.

  His lungs screaming for oxygen, he grabbed at the largest rock and wrenched at it until it loosened and gave way. The force of the water behind him swept him forward, wedging him even more tightly in the mouth of the cave. Thankfully, his face broke surface. He sucked in several deep lungfuls of air.

  Spluttering and choking, he wrenched at another rock until it, too, gave way. The force of water behind him shot him forward, up and out into nothingness for a few heart-stopping milliseconds. Then his body bounced and splashed painfully down the waterfall on the hillside until he plunged into a shoulder-deep pool.

  Coughing, gasping for precious air, he crawled onto the brush-covered bank of Willow Creek and collapsed, feeling the warm spatter of raindrops against his icy skin.

  But there wasn’t time to rest. He had to get Noelle and Carissa out of the cave, fast. Could he do it alone?

  He dragged himself to his feet and crashed through the brush toward the road. It would take him at least twenty minutes to climb back up to the sinkhole and look for the rope that probably wasn’t even there, and he couldn’t afford an extra twenty minutes. Cutting across the hollow and getting a rope from his truck would be faster.

  He glanced back up the hill to memorize the location of the opening, then broke into a jog.

  A decayed old military green backpack leaned against a boulder in a dark, secluded corner of the cavern beneath the sinkhole. Noelle felt a chill scatter across her shoulders and down her arms as the beam of the flashlight danced over the familiar pack. She picked it up and carried it back to the natural shelf of limestone where Carissa sat, her hunched silhouette visible in the light coming through the opening above her head.

  “What’s that?” Carissa asked as Noelle sank down beside her.

  “It was my grandfather’s backpack when he was in World War Two.”

  “My great-grandfather?”

  “No, this belonged to my mother’s dad.” Noelle felt Carissa’s face and neck. Her temperature was rising with disturbing swiftness, and her breathing sounded slightly labored. She needed medical attention as soon as possible.

  “What’s it doing down here?” Carissa asked.

  “My mother used to bring it when she took Nathan and me on hikes. How are you feeling?”

  Carissa shrugged with typical adolescent nonchalance. “Fine. Is this the cave where your mother was…where she died?” she asked gently.

  “That’s right. There was a rockslide, and—”

  “I remember. You told me about it, and I’ve put it in my family history report for school.” Her voice sounded hoarse, and she paused to catch her breath. “I found a police report on the accident up in the attic of your old house. It said a fault line runs through this place.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Is that like the San Andreas Fault in California that causes earthquakes?”

  “Yes.”

  “The report said that the geologist who investigated didn’t think the accident was caused by a shift.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know what he was talking about.” Noelle heard the sharpness of her words. Oh, Mom, if we’d only known.

  “So what do you think caused the rockslide if it wasn’t the fault line?” Carissa asked.

  “No one ever said for sure. My dad thought it was just a freak occurrence, and he refused to discuss it.”

  “Why?”

  “My father wasn’t much of a talker. He loved Mom very much, and I don’t think he ever got over her death. He was a typical Cooper male, a strong, silent leader of the family.”

  “Like Dad.” Carissa sighed and leaned against Noelle.

  Noelle placed an arm around the girl and hugged her close. “I heard about your mother’s phone call yesterday.”

  “Melva nearly had a cow.”

  Noelle grinned at the vernacular that Carissa had obviously picked up from Jill. “I also heard you were upset about it.”

  “Wouldn’t you be? I mean, she’s my mother, and I don’t think anyone has a right to keep a kid from seeing her mother.”

  “Put yourself in Melva’s place. You know how much she loves you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Carissa said. “Melva loves me and all that.” She fell silent.

  “Carissa?”

  “Um-hmm?”

  “The person who chased you…”

  Noelle felt Carissa’s body stiffen with wariness. “Yeah?”

  “You still can’t remember what was familiar about this person?”

  “No.”

  There was a long silence, then Carissa pulled Noelle’s arm even more tightly around
her. “I’m scared.”

  Noelle wrapped both arms around her. “I know.” So am I.

  At that moment, there was a distant shout, a familiar voice. Nathan had made it through.

  Chapter Eleven

  This can’t be happening! How did they get out? No one knows about the other entrance—no one! And there was no way they could’ve climbed out through that sinkhole.

  I’ve got to settle down—can’t panic or someone will notice, especially now.

  They’ll tell. The sheriff will be nosing around all over the place. This is bad.

  Dr. Gideon has called Dr. Fletcher at the clinic, and they’re ready for Carissa. No one in the family wants her to go to the hospital if they can keep her near home. She’ll have good care here. Dr. Gideon was an ER doctor before she came to Hideaway, and Dr. Fletcher has proven herself several times since she arrived to work at the clinic in June.

  I can’t tell if I’m more relieved or scared. I can’t afford to feel anything. Emotions always lead to danger. I love Carissa, but she’s more of a problem than ever. Problems have to be solved. Better late than never.

  And now…Noelle. She’s watching. That light of knowledge is back in her eyes. That makes her more dangerous than Carissa.

  It was one thing for Carissa to go digging in the old attic. Those old records just need to be buried or burned. But Noelle doesn’t need those records to know what she knows.

  Noelle stood with family and friends beneath the shelter of the porch and watched through the rain while Jill and Cheyenne Gideon loaded Carissa into Taylor Jackson’s Jeep. Cecil and Melva squeezed into the back seat. Melva was jubilant, and although Cecil’s response was more understated, Noelle could tell he was deeply relieved. Jill was ecstatic, and Pearl was going around thanking all the neighbors and friends who had gathered to search, hugging and congratulating them on their efforts and reminding them that they were heroes.

  Could one of those people just be playing a part?

  Everyone had been told only that Carissa had fallen in the sawmill last night and awakened alone in the cave this morning. The girl had begged Noelle and Nathan not to say anything else yet. Noelle agreed. There would be questions later, but for now the relief was so great to have the baby of the Cooper family safely home that answers could wait. Soon, the truth would have to be told.