by Aimée Thurlo
An eternity passed before he eased his hold. “Look after yourself, my heart.”
Marlee watched Lucas continue down the street at a rapid pace. Heat swirled through her, an aftermath of the firestorm he’d created. With a sigh, she looked around the empty street. Since nobody had seen them, at least maybe she’d be spared an editorial in the next issue of the paper about how she was corrupting Lucas. She smiled ruefully.
Marlee glanced at her watch. She would have to hurry, but she could still make it to the bank before it closed. If she was going to be connected to the peddler and blamed for things that were not her fault, then the least she could do for herself was enjoy the carving the peddler had made for her. It was small enough for her to carry around in her pocket if she chose.
Earl was still at home faking illness, apparently. It was Mary Sandoval, the pretty young teller who’d flirted with Lucas not long ago, who accompanied her to the vault, then left her alone, giving her privacy. Marlee took out the carving, placed it in her purse and was on her way home a short time later.
As she recalled the look of suspicion on Mary’s face, Marlee’s heart sank. She’d never felt so utterly alone, so rejected.
Marlee was almost home when she suddenly began to feel ill. Despite the cold weather, she was burning up, and her body ached. She touched her cheek gingerly. Her scar ached like it had right after the accident three years ago.
By the time she reached the boardinghouse, her entire cheek was throbbing painfully. She wondered if perhaps the cold had triggered the pain somehow, but she couldn’t remember ever having that happen before.
Sheltered in the privacy of her living room, she took out the small carving and held it in her hand so she could look at it. Marlee was sure it was her imagination, but a pleasant warmth enfolded her as she held the carving. Within a few minutes, her body quit aching and the scar stopped throbbing.
As she placed the raven on the coffee table to admire it, Marlee became aware again of the aches and pains that had bothered her only minutes before. Refusing to credit superstitions, she went to her medical bag, found the thermometer and took her temperature. It was a little elevated, but not enough to worry about.
Marlee crawled into bed. Maybe if she rested for a while…Placing the carving beneath her pillow, she drifted off to sleep. She never got up for dinner, sleeping all the way through the night. As she slept, jumbled images of Lucas, of the comfort of his love and the despair losing him would eventually bring, haunted her dreams.
LUCAS WOKE UP early the following morning. The sun was barely up, and though he was almost as exhausted as he’d been the evening before, it surprised him that he’d beaten the old alarm clock by his bed.
He’d been quiet when he’d come in last evening so as to not wake Marlee, who’d obviously gone to bed early. Though it had worried him, he’d decided to let her sleep. She’d been through a lot yesterday, and for several days before. If anyone deserved a little extra rest, it was Marlee.
As he walked into the kitchen, he was glad to see Marlee there preparing breakfast. Today it was oatmeal and toast with tea. Coffee had sold out at Rosa’s quickly. He knew Marlee’s supplies were dwindling, just like everyone else’s in town. Even though the road had been cleared, only a few small truckloads had come in because of the weather. That was yet another factor adding to the tensions around town.
“What are your plans for today?” he asked.
“I’m going to have to see about getting the front window fixed,” she said, then explained about the rock, leaving out the part about the note. He had enough to worry about.
Lucas’s eyes blazed with anger. “I saw the damage when I came in. You should have told me about it when it happened.”
“You had a patient to see, and besides, it wouldn’t have made any difference. As long as I keep the curtains closed and the tape secure, I can keep the weather out. The rest I can live with.”
“Darren will probably have to order the glass, and it’s going to take some time before he gets it in. Why don’t you ride with me today while I make my rounds? I could use your help. Something strange is happening.”
“What do you mean?”
“The flu symptoms are disappearing, but now we’ve got a rash of people sick to their stomachs, getting dizzy and complaining that they’re sweating all the time, despite the cold. I’d like you to record all the details for me, so I can enter it into my database.”
When she placed the bowl of oatmeal before him, Lucas saw that the scar on her face seemed darker. “Are you okay?”
He’d always been said to be a gifted diagnostician, but lately his instincts only told him when a patient was in serious trouble. Right now he couldn’t shake the conviction that something was wrong with Marlee. With her, though, he couldn’t trust his intuitions, because his personal feelings for her confused his perceptions, making even the simplest observations suspect.
“I got chilled on the way back home yesterday, and I felt really achy, so I decided to go to bed early.”
“Are you running a fever?” he asked, searching for an answer that would explain the change in her scar.
“Not this morning. I feel fine. I haven’t even needed an aspirin.”
He stood and brushed the hair back from her face, studying her scar, though he knew she’d resent it. “This is getting darker. Any idea why?”
Marlee pulled away quickly. “I don’t know, but there’s no infection, so just leave it alone.”
Lucas reached for her hand and held on to it. “Nobody in this town is perfect, including me. The only difference is that your scar is visible, and the ones most of us carry aren’t.”
He took her into his arms and held her. He wanted to love her, to feel her need for him become as great as his for her. Yet despite his own wishes, he struggled to keep himself under control. He would not betray her by pushing her to give him more than she was prepared to offer freely.
“You don’t have to pity me,” Marlee murmured, but she didn’t struggle against him.
He pulled her roughly into the cradle of his thighs, feel-ing the shiver that went up her spine. “This isn’t pity, my heart. What I’m feeling has nothing to do with that.”
Lucas kissed her, driving his tongue deep into her mouth, searching out secrets and making the fire within his veins rage. He almost cried out in triumph as he heard her soft moan. Then, with a tenderness he hadn’t known he possessed, he kissed her again, gently, patiently, drawing out the moment He wanted her more than he ever dreamed possible. But this was not their time.
He released Marlee at long last when he’d reached his breaking point. He had to walk away now while he was still able to do it. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he asked, his breathing jagged.
“You’ve made me feel things I never dreamed were possible,” Marlee whispered, “but we are not meant for each other. Deep down, you know that as well as I do.” She tore her gaze from his, then started down the hall. “Let me change my clothes. I’ll need to wear something warmer if I’m going to make rounds with you.”
Lucas watched her walk away, his body shuddering with needs that would not be sated. He was playing with fire. It was reckless and dangerous, yet he couldn’t force himself to stay away from her.
When Marlee returned to the living room, he noticed that she looked different He studied her face for a second, wondering what had changed, and realized that the color of her scar was now back to normal. He couldn’t decide if it was makeup skilfully applied, or just a change in the lighting.
“Let’s go,” she said, jamming her hands into her pockets and keeping them there.
“Don’t you want gloves? I have an extra pair, if you’ve misplaced yours.”
“I’ve got a pair in my pocket, but this jacket is fleece lined, so it keeps my hands warm anyway.”
She was hiding something from him, but he couldn’t figure out why. He decided to let it pass for now. He had other business to attend to right now.
> Halfway to the home of his first scheduled patient, Lucas received a phone call. He heard the hurried words of a frightened parent, and felt his blood turn to ice. By the time he returned the phone to his pocket, Marlee was watching him intently.
“We have a full-blown emergency. Little Eric James fell down a mine shaft. His father hasn’t been able to reach him. All they know is that he’s hurt his leg, and may have additional injuries.”
“I know Eric. He’s a very active six-year-old. He always comes into town shopping with his mom. It’s hard to get him to stand still long enough to listen.”
“Yes, that’s my recollection, too.” Lucas increased his speed, going as fast as he dared on the snow-packed road. “Hang on. I have a feeling there’s no time to lose.”
They arrived at the James’s farmhouse just outside town ten minutes later, and scrambled out of the vehicle. It didn’t take long to see where the crisis was centered. Across a snow-covered pasture, Josiah James was standing at the base of the boulder-strewed hillside that bordered his land. With a hammer, he was trying to pry loose a board blocking the entrance to an old mine shaft.
“Stop!” Lucas yelled out.
Before the man could react, a rock above the entrance came loose, triggering the collapse of one side of the opening and blocking even more of the tiny entrance to the mine. Delia James screamed, and tried to lift one of the massive stones blocking the way. Her husband pulled her away.
“Lucas, help us!” Delia cried out as she saw them approaching. The massive Great Dane beside her barked furiously, but she held on to him.
“Tell me what you know. Have you seen or been able to talk to Eric?” Lucas asked, pushing the dog away and peering into the darkness beyond the twelve-inch opening that remained.
“Yes, at first. But he hasn’t said a word for the last ten minutes. His voice kept growing weaker,” Delia explained, “but we couldn’t reach him. Every time we try to get inside, more of the entrance caves in!”
Lucas pressed his face to the opening. “Eric!” he called out as loudly as he could, but there was no response. He stepped back, concerned about the air quality in the mine shaft Whatever they did, they’d have to be careful not to attempt anything that would make the passageway any smaller.
“Have you called my brother?” Lucas asked.
“I left a message for him, and I’ve called the fire department, too, but they haven’t responded yet. I think that they were having trouble getting their truck started, or maybe it had stalled, I’m not sure.”
The town’s emergency vehicles were old, and there was no telling when help would get there, though it would eventually arrive even if the volunteers had to walk.
One thing was clear. They couldn’t afford to just sit around and wait for help. The boy’s probable injuries, and the uncertain air quality inside the mine, worried Lucas.
“We have to get in there ourselves. We can’t wait,” he stated.
Marlee stood by the hole. “I can squeeze through. I’m a lot smaller than any of you.”
“No,” Lucas answered. “We can’t jeopardize anyone else, and you’re not trained for this kind of thing.”
“I’m the only chance you’ve got, unless you want to sit around and hope somebody shows up with a better idea.”
Lucas knew she was right, but he had no idea what she’d be getting into, or even if the risk would be worth it. There’d been no recent sign that the boy was even still alive. He crouched and peered into the opening. “How far back does this mine go?”
“I have no idea,” Josiah answered honestly. “I’ve looked inside with a flashlight, nothing more. It never looked safe enough to explore, because it slants downward at a pretty steep angle.”
Delia began crying.
Marlee put her arms around the other woman. “It’s okay. We’ll get him out.” Then she glared at the men. “Are we going to stand here debating this, or is somebody going to find me a rope and a flashlight? I figure I can carry Eric out if it’s necessary, or tie him on to me. I’ve carried him before, but if I have to climb back out, I’ll need at least one hand free to hold on to the rope.”
Delia ran inside the house, and came back out with a coil of rope and a powerful flashlight
It took several minutes before they had everything ready, including a two-way radio and emergency supplies Lucas brought from the Blazer.
Lucas tied the rope around Marlee’s waist with a bowline. “This will keep your hands free, and the knot won’t slip or tighten. Once you find Eric, check him for injuries and don’t move him until I tell you.”
“Got it.”
Lucas’s hands shook as he checked the knot one last time. He hadn’t wanted her to see that, but it was too late. As he met her gaze, Marlee gave him a hesitant half smile. “It’s okay. This is my choice, and my responsibility.”
He would have given anything to stop her, but knew he could not. Even if he refused to allow it, the parents of the trapped boy would have been on her side. Marlee and the two of them would have proceeded without his approval or help. This was little Eric’s only chance.
“Be careful,” he said at last. He did his best to keep his voice steady.
“I’ll be fine. Now, let’s get started.”
Lucas saw the fear in Marlee’s eyes, and his gut clenched. “You don’t have to go,” he whispered fiercely.
“Yes, I do. This is not just for Eric—it’s for me, too.”
His heart slammed against his ribs while his brain screamed that Marlee was in danger. Anything could happen down in that damp, narrow passage. Drawing strength from within himself, Lucas forced his thoughts onto the situation facing him. Determination and fear held him steady, and he stood his ground. “Find your way back to me soon, my heart,” he whispered.
THE MINE SHAFT WAS nothing more than a steep, narrow tunnel leading down into the bowels of the earth, as far as Marlee could tell. She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering courage, and remembered the way Lucas’s hands had trembled. No words, no caresses, could have ever touched her more deeply than that evidence of his feelings for her. She’d never felt so loved and cared for, though at the moment only danger surrounded her.
“Eric, can you hear me?” she shouted down the shaft. There was no answer.
“How are things in there?” Lucas called on the two-way radio.
“The tunnel gets wider the farther I go, and it looks a little less unstable down here,” she answered.
Stepping carefully down the steep slope, she saw a low side passage branching to the right. It was cluttered with fallen timbers and debris. Shining the flashlight down, she spotted what looked like a tiny footprint. Marlee crouched down and inched her way inside. After covering a dozen feet or so, she heard a soft whimpering noise.
“Eric?” She hurried forward, toward the sound, shining the beam of the flashlight ahead of her until she saw him. Eric lay huddled against the rock wall, holding his leg.
“He’s here and he’s alive,” she called as she went toward him, stepping over fallen beams and around chunks of rock on the floor of the tunnel. “From what I can see, this section of the mine is partially collapsed. There are rocks and wooden supports lying all over the floor of the tunnel.”
“Hey, Eric,” she greeted, crouching down next to the little boy. “Remember me from your visits to town?” She’d mentally prepared herself for the worst, but he seemed more scared than injured.
Eric nodded. “My leg hurts,” he said, pointing to his knee. “Really bad,” he said, his voice shaking. “It won’t bend.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of it.”
There were several small cuts on his face, and his leg appeared broken, from the angle at which he held it.
Marlee tried the radio, but either it wasn’t working, or the signal wasn’t reaching the surface anymore. Since she knew what she should do, she went ahead and did what had to be done.
She winked at Eric. “You ready to go?”
He nodded.
Marlee stepped into the main tunnel, and found the radio worked out there. She quickly filled Lucas in on what she’d done, and announced she was on her way up.
It was a struggle up the incline, which was nearly as steep as a stairway. On that stretch, Eric seemed heavier than she’d thought At least the rope gave her something to hang on to, and Lucas was pulling her along, as well.
As she got closer to the surface, she heard the earth and rocks above her shift as a wooden support cracked. The soft rumble continued as she hastened toward the entrance,
She was close enough to see daylight through the opening when the roof of the mine began collapsing. Fear paralyzed her for a second, but the weight of the boy in her arms gave her the courage she needed. She flattened against the rock wall and waited, protecting the boy with her body. Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the chaos stopped, replaced by silence as dust swirled in the narrow beam of her flashlight.
Lucas called out to her on the radio. Shaking, she set the boy gently down and directed the flashlight around the mine shaft before answering. “We’re okay,” she replied, “but the opening I used to come in is about half the size it was. I can still see light trickling through, though, so we’re still getting air.”
“The overhead supports out here have been sagging,” Lucas radioed back. “We can remove rubble from the bottom, but we’ll need to brace up the wooden beams before we can bring you out. That’ll take us a few moments, so hang tight.”
Marlee gave Eric a smile. “You know, I think you could make it through the crawl space that’s left, even though it’s too small for me.” She pointed the flashlight into the opening leading to the outside.
“My leg won’t bend, but I can pull myself along and make it. That’s how I got in, by crawling,” he said. “I just want to get out of here!”
Marlee called out to Lucas. “Eric says he can make it, and I believe him.”
