Rattled

by Kris Bock

  “I’ve been hit by something,” Drew muttered. Time enough later to figure out exactly what that was. “Look, could we not talk about this now?”

  “Whatever you say.” But Camie’s grin gave Drew the uncomfortable feeling that she saw more than he’d like.

  They made their way down the side canyon and around to the rattlesnake nest. Drew tried to focus on the task at hand. He didn’t need to be distracted while facing rattlesnakes.

  Camie propped her stick against the cliff and pulled the lid off the tub. “Now we just lay this on its side in front of them.”

  “Oh, is that all?”

  “Come on, tough guy, get some balls. They’re just a few little snakes.”

  Drew considered pointing out that a dozen would be more accurate than a few, and though they weren’t large, young ones were actually more dangerous, because they didn’t know how to control their venom yet. They’d release it all in one bite, packing a bigger punch than an adult rattler. But he had a feeling Camie knew that very well and was just baiting him.

  “My balls are fine, thank you very much.” He tried to think of a snappy follow-up but failed.

  The snakes lay piled together in a mass, looking like a tangled garden hose with too many heads. They stayed quiet until Camie and Drew set the tub down in front of the nest and pushed it forward. A few snakes started to move and one shook its rattle. The sound made the hair stand up on the back of Drew’s neck.

  “Now we stir them up,” Camie said.

  Drew stepped back. “Be my guest.” To hell with chivalry. This was her plan.

  Camie grabbed the stick. It was a few inches thick, weathered gray and dry, obviously dead before the storm had knocked it off. She held one end, stuck the other end among the rattlers, and stirred. Almost despite himself, Drew leaned forward to see better. A couple of the snakes headed for the tub right away. Some just curled up tighter. The one that had been rattling coiled into an attack pose and shook its tail harder.

  “They sense heat,” Camie said. “That’s why they’re not bothering to attack the stick.” She made a sweeping motion with the stick and nudged a few more rattlers into the tub. Drew could hear them moving around, slithering against the smooth rubber sides. The hair on the back of his neck felt like it wanted to jump off and flee.

  He saw a slim band of patterned green and brown slither around the edge of the tub and jumped back. “One’s getting away!”

  “Well, poke it back in there.”

  “I’ll leave that to the woman with the stick.”

  Camie chuckled and moved around the tub to prod the escaping snake back. Drew was grateful that Erin couldn’t see this—mainly because Drew had a feeling he looked like a coward next to Camie. He was starting to see what Erin meant about Camie intimidating men. She had more nerve than a whole platoon. It wasn’t that Drew was afraid of rattlesnakes in particular. But growing up on a ranch, you never knew when you might find one snoozing on a hay bale. That dry, rustling sound sent his senses on high alert faster than an air raid siren.

  After a little more poking and prodding, Camie said, “I think that’s all of them.”

  “How about you be sure that’s all of them?”

  “Can’t tell for sure until we move the tub and check under it. I’m going to slide the lid on now. Keep your feet back as we turn over the tub.”

  “Right.”

  Camie slowly slid the top down over the tub and nestled it in place. Then they each leaned forward from the sides and grabbed the handles. Camie counted, “One, two, three,” and they turned the tub right side up. Drew could feel the mass of snakes slide down the side and thump onto the bottom. Their muted rattling didn’t last long before they settled down.

  Camie used the stick to poke around the nest. “Looks like we got them all.” She dragged the tub farther away from the nest. “Let’s head back up and get Erin, our caving gear, and the folding shovel.”

  Drew blew out a long breath. Sweat trickled between his shoulder blades. He tried to tell himself it was warming up again after the storm.

  Camie patted Drew’s arm. “You did very well.”

  “Just tell me one thing,” Drew said. “You don’t drag Erin into stuff like this every day, do you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Good.”

  Camie winked. “I give her every other Tuesday off.”

  Chapter 29

  Several hours later, Erin stood in the canyon while Drew finished digging out the hole behind the snake nest. After her long nap, another meal, and a large dose of anti-inflammatory painkillers, she felt surprisingly good. Her muscles ached—all of them—but not much worse than after the first day of the ski season when she hadn’t been in training. She’d probably feel even worse the next day, so she might as well keep going while she could still move. She rolled her shoulders to loosen them and shot a glance at the rubber tub sitting against the canyon wall 10 feet away. She wished they’d drag it farther away, but she felt silly asking and she wasn’t about to touch it herself.

  Camie held out a hard plastic helmet in baby blue. “Here you go.” She had hand-painted her own with flames. Being excessively prepared, she’d even brought backup gear which they could loan to Drew. His helmet was a scuffed and ugly olive, maybe too snug, but serviceable. “You know how to put on the harness?” Camie asked.

  Erin nodded and took it. “I wish we’d had the chance to go practice caving.”

  “You won’t have any trouble. You know how to use the equipment from the climbing we’ve done. This will be easier, most of the time. If we have any large drops, you’ll have to let yourself down, just like we practiced rappelling off the cliff. If we get to something too steep to climb easily you’ll use the ascender. We’ll set that up if the time comes.”

  “Right.” Erin hoped she wasn’t claustrophobic. She didn’t think so but she’d never done anything like this before. From their rock climbing, she felt relatively comfortable in the harness and trusted the ropes to hold her. She just hadn’t done it in the dark, in confined spaces.

  Drew put down the shovel and wiped his forehead, then shrugged into a flannel shirt. The sun had already dropped behind the distant mountains, leaving them in chilly shade. He crouched in front of the waist-high opening and shone a flashlight inside. “We’ll have to crawl. I can’t see very far. Why don’t we check it out first before we deal with all that gear?”

  “The Finder showed a big drop not too far in,” Camie said. “We might as well be prepared.”

  “All right, then help me out here.” Drew stood and held up his loaner harness, a baffling conglomerate of thick webbing loops and strands, with several buckles. “This thing must be older than I am.”

  “Pretty close,” Camie said, “but I checked it for fraying or weakness. And it’s one-size-fits-all, which is your good luck.” Camie took it from him and wrapped it around his waist. “This buckle goes in front. We always double back like this so there’s no chance of it slipping out. Now we fasten the leg loops.” She crouched and reached between Drew’s legs. He jumped as she grabbed the harness hanging down behind him and pulled it through. “Here are the leg loop buckles.” She started fastening one, still crouched with her face a foot from his crotch.

  Drew shot Erin a nervous glance. “Um, I can probably handle it myself.”

  “Hey, some men would pay good money for this.”

  Erin busied herself with her own harness to hide her laughter. She and Camie had modern harnesses with padded, permanent leg loops, designed so you could step into them, fasten the waist belt, and be done. They finished gearing up with gloves, headlamps, and small backpacks to carry water, snacks, first aid supplies, and extra jackets. Camie had a climbing rope strapped to her backpack.

  “Everyone ready?” Camie asked.

  Erin and Drew nodded. Tiger was standing at the tunnel entrance, staring into the darkness, his tail lashing. Camie bent and ran a hand over his back and static electricity sparks crackled in the fad
ing light.

  “I don’t know why I even bother to ask,” Drew said, “but are you really taking the cat into the cave?”

  “He’ll get in trouble if I don’t keep an eye on him. Besides, he could be useful.”

  “Right.” Drew stretched out the word.

  “He’ll let us know if there are any more snakes, for one thing,” Camie said. She dropped to her knees at the tunnel entrance and ran her hand over chisel marks on the wall. “This entrance has been worked. But up ahead it looks natural.”

  “So people have been here.” Erin felt her heart beat faster. “They must have found a natural opening in the rock and expanded it for access.” It was exactly what she might expect to find at the entrance to the lost treasure cave. She told herself not to hope too much, not to get caught up in expectations. But she couldn’t resist a quick, triumphant smile back at Drew before adjusting her headlamp and following Camie and Tiger, with Drew coming behind.

  Water dripped down the rock walls and soaked the muddy sand beneath them. The air seemed cooler than outside. Erin wished Camie hadn’t mentioned more snakes. She’d never had anything against them before, but the memory of that rattler coming at her made her chest hurt. She forced herself to breathe and concentrated on the hard ground under her gloved hands. She tried not to think about the tons of rock overhead.

  She couldn’t see any of the tunnel ahead. The light from her headlamp lit up Camie’s backside and Tiger’s twitching tail. Erin realized what Drew’s view must be. Too bad she was wearing Camie’s spare water-resistant jumpsuit over her flattering jeans. Silly to think about it, but better than focusing on the dangers of snakes, rock falls, and mysterious monsters in the dark.

  Once they got past the sandy opening, the ground was packed dirt with patches of hard, exposed rock. A chill seeped through Erin’s gloves and the knees of her jeans. She had to carefully lift and place her right hand so as not to jar her broken finger. The only sound was the loud echo of their mingled breathing. Was it her imagination or was the tunnel getting smaller?

  The darkness seemed to press around her. They’d probably only been going a minute or two, but it seemed oddly permanent, as if this tunnel could last forever. Not hell on earth, exactly, but maybe a form of purgatory, endlessly crawling through the dark. Being between Camie and Drew offered some comfort, but at the same time she was completely boxed in.

  Maybe she was a little claustrophobic after all.

  Camie said, “Hang on, we’re coming up on something.”

  Erin wasn’t sure whether to be concerned that “something” could be dangerous or relieved at the break from the crawling monotony.

  Camie twisted and sat with her back against the tunnel wall. “There’s a drop here. Not straight down, more of a forty-five degree angle. I’m not sure how far. Hold on.” She found a pebble on the ground and tossed it into the opening. It clattered for a second and then the sound stopped. “We should be all right if we can find a way to anchor the rope.” Her headlamp flashed around the roof and walls. “Hey, there’s a metal bolt in the wall!” She tugged on it. “Feels pretty solid, but I’ll find a backup too.” Camie slipped off her backpack and got to work with her anchoring gear.

  Erin turned to sit against the wall. Tiger crawled into her lap, perhaps to get away from Camie’s movement and noise. Drew sat too, his shoulder brushing against hers. Erin squinted as his light flashed in her eyes. He pointed the headlamp straight up so it bounced off the ceiling without blinding her, and Erin did the same.

  Drew took her right hand and held it gently. “How’s the finger?”

  “All right. Just a little numb, like the rest of my hands.” She’d had to put the finger brace on over her gloves, since it wouldn’t fit inside. She wished she could take off her gloves and feel Drew’s hands, but it didn’t seem worth the bother for just a couple of minutes.

  He lifted her hand, pushed the sleeve of her jacket back to expose her wrist, and pressed a kiss there, leaving her skin tingling. He lowered her hand and his breath fluttered against her cheek as she looked into his face. The world seemed to recede, leaving them alone in a dark cocoon. Drew whispered in her ear. “Do you know what we could be doing if we’d gone back to town instead of down this hole?”

  Heat flooded Erin. What did it say about Drew’s power that his suggestion sounded so tempting, even compared to finding the treasure she’d been hunting for over a year? She leaned in until their lips touched. Erin gave a murmur of pleasure. Drew’s hand stroked up her neck and cupped her head. His mouth met hers, hard and hungry. Time spun out endlessly and Erin knew nothing but the kiss.

  Camie’s voice broke through. “Sheesh, will you two get a room?”

  “I tried,” Drew said. “I was overruled.”

  Erin pulled back, still smiling at Drew. “She’s just jealous.”

  “You know it,” Camie muttered. “And I don’t see why you two should sit their necking while I do all the work.”

  “Division of labor,” Drew said. “You want to cuddle, you can have the cat.”

  Camie chuckled. “Anyway, we’re ready to go. Drew, I’m assuming since you were military, you know how to rappel.”

  “Sure.”

  “All right. You go first. Then I’ll help Erin get started and you can help her at the bottom. I’m ninety-five percent sure the rope’s long enough to reach some kind of solid ground, but there’s a knot on the end to stop your descent just in case. It’ll probably be wet down there.”

  “I’ll manage.” Drew squeezed past Erin. She moved farther back to make room near the drop. Drew sat with his legs over the edge of the drop and attached himself to the rope. A minute later, he pushed himself off the ledge and turned to face them.

  “Let us know if you find any cave bears,” Camie said.

  “Cave bears. Right.” But his expression said he wasn’t completely sure she was joking. “See you soon.” He winked at Erin and dropped out of sight.

  Camie leaned over the hole to watch his descent. “He’s doing fine. Oh good, it’s not far. Twenty feet, maybe. We could have made it sliding on our butts, but we’ll want the rope anyway for getting back up.” She called down the hole. “What’s that stuff?”

  Drew’s voice echoed up, sounding ghostly. “Pieces of a rotted old ladder. We’re definitely not the first people to come this way. I’m off the rope.”

  Camie turned to Erin. “Your turn.”

  Erin took a deep breath and nodded. She squeezed up next to Camie and sat at the edge of the hole. She could see Drew’s headlamp flashing around at the bottom. It looked farther than 20 feet to her. She tried to tell herself it was just like being on a playground slide. A really long slide. She started to feel lightheaded, so she stopped looking down and busied herself with her gear.

  “Here’s your rappel device,” Camie said. “Remember, both ends of the rope go through and then through your locking carabiner. Which hand do you want to use for your anchor?”

  Erin winced. “I guess I’d better use the left.” She turned the rappel device so the hanging ends of the rope were on her left side. She hadn’t rappelled left-handed before, but she didn’t want to count on her broken finger when she had to squeeze the rope to control her speed.

  “There you go,” Camie said. “Now we do a safety check. I have two anchors and they are solid. The rope goes directly through this anchor and is attached to this backup with slings. Both sides of the rope go through your rappel device, then through your carabiner. Are you locked?”

  Erin checked that her carabiner lock was closed. “Yes. And my harness is doubled back.” She tapped the buckle on her waist as she made sure it was properly fastened.

  “You’ll keep your hand in the brake position and push off over the edge. Turn to face me before you start lowering, so you can brace your feet against the sloping side.” Camie leaned over the hole. “Drew, you ready with a fireman’s belay?”

  “Ready!”

  Camie looked back at Erin. “He’s holdin
g the ends of the rope. If you start going too fast or feel out of control for any reason, he can pull on the rope and you’ll stop. You’re perfectly safe.”

  Erin nodded. She didn’t quite trust herself to speak. It should be simple enough. It was just the strangeness of being in the dark, underground, that made it seem so odd.

  She clenched her teeth, pressed her feet against the sloping rock wall, and pushed off of her seat until the rope tightened between the anchor and her harness. She wobbled as she turned her body to face back at Camie, but her brake hand’s death grip on the rope kept her in place at the top of the shaft. She was seated in her harness with her legs bent and feet on the sloping wall, positioned as if she were sitting in a chair but really hanging in empty air.

  “Good,” Camie said. “Lower when ready. Remember to breathe.”

  Erin nodded and forced air into her lungs. She told her hand to loosen on the rope, so the rope could slide through her belay device. Her hand refused to obey. Her body felt like a piece of wood, her joints locked in place. Erin scowled. Drew was waiting down there for her, and he was going to think she was an idiot if she couldn’t do a simple thing like rappel a short distance down an easily sloping shaft. He’d gone down in less time than it had taken her to turn around. Heck, she’d done harder things than this in the last 24 hours. What was wrong with her?

  She took a deep breath and forced her hand to loosen on the rope. She still didn’t budge.

  She was pulling the rope straight down from the belay device, which caused enough friction to hold her in place. She had to lift her hand up to the side. At some point the rope would start sliding through the belay device and she could control her speed by the position of her hand. Good. Fine. She lifted her hand slowly, trying not to think about the hole behind her, dropping down into dark underground recesses she couldn’t see.

  The rope jerked through the belay device. Erin gasped as she dropped a couple of inches. She scowled again. The whole point was to go down, so why panic when it actually happened?