Apple-achian Treasure (Auntie Clem's Bakery Book 8)

by P. D. Workman

  Erin looked up at the sky at the crow again. What had he seen up there? Had he been able to feel the vibration that Erin had sensed through her feet? What had caused that?

  “Willie?” Erin went back to the entrance of the mine and called him again. “Willie! Are you down there?”

  No answer.

  No sound from inside.

  Erin looked at the equipment they had left behind. She put on a helmet with a light, picked up a bottle of water, and stepped into the entrance of the mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  T

  he entrance tunnel was broad, easy to walk through. Like a hallway. Erin could still see the light from the outside world. Everything was normal and looked perfectly safe. It wasn’t like the caves where she had to crawl on her belly because of cramped quarters. But Erin knew it wouldn’t be that wide all the way through. Before long, Orson would have figured out that it was too much work to keep cutting that wide of a tunnel through the rock. He only needed to cut it big enough to get himself and his equipment through.

  Erin ignored the nausea and how fast her heart was beating. She couldn’t afford to be sick and scared. Not if something had happened to her friends.

  They hadn’t been in there for long. If Erin moved at a quick pace, she would catch up to them. They would be moving slowly, admiring the tunnel and looking for clues. They would all laugh at how she had gone into the tunnel after all, when everything was perfectly fine.

  Erin tried to call out to them, but she couldn’t get the words out. Her throat was dry and hot and constricted. But she wasn’t going to cry. They were going to be just fine. Willie had said so. Willie had said that the tunnel was perfectly safe.

  She continued to press forward, trying not to think about the tunnel closing in around her. She was able to move and breathe freely. There was nothing to worry about. In a few minutes, if she kept moving at a brisk pace, she would be able to hear them and to call out to them to stop and wait for her. They would laugh at her being such a paranoid wimp, but she would at least know that they were safe, and she could return to the outside even if she couldn’t convince them to return with her.

  But in a couple more minutes, the tunnel ended. Erin looked around, disoriented. She turned a slow circle, letting her light shine in each direction, understanding that she must have missed a branch off into another direction. But the only tunnel she could find was the way she had come in. Erin turned again, studying each wall, looking at the way that it was carved out and the supporting beams were placed. She went suddenly cold, and it wasn’t because she was underground and away from the sun.

  One of the rock walls that she faced was not the same as the others. Rather than being carved out of the mine, it was filled with smaller pieces of rock. Like a giant had taken a handful of rocks and plugged it up.

  Erin grabbed a couple of rocks and pulled them away. She threw them down and attacked the pile of rocks with vigor, calling out her friends’ names. “Vic! Willie! Can you hear me? Jeremy? Are you there? I’m right here, can you hear me?”

  She paused in her removal of the rocks, straining her ears for some sound. She couldn’t hear any answering voices. What if something had happened to them? What if rather than just a cave-in of the tunnel blocking their way back, one of them had been hurt? Buried under the pile of rubble?

  She worked more frantically, moving rock as quickly as she could, but she didn’t seem to be making a dent in it. There could be a mile of debris to pick through, and she hadn’t even made an appreciable dent in the edge she could see.

  “Come on!” Erin tried to make herself move faster. But even as she tried to force herself, she couldn’t help thinking about the logistics of the job. She couldn’t just throw the rocks she cleared to the side. If she was able to move enough of the rock out of the way, she would just end up filling the tunnel behind her with rock They had to be transported out of the tunnel. And that would require equipment, which Erin didn’t have. She stopped and looked at the problem, forcing herself to slow down and really think it through. Just attacking the fallen rocks by herself wasn’t going to do anything for her friends. It was a hopeless venture. She had to get help.

  Even though she hated to leave them behind and to stop the work on the fallen rocks, Erin forced herself to turn around and retreat down the tunnel. She tripped over a couple of the rocks that she had discarded along the way, making herself grimace at the mess she had left.

  She hurried out to the radio equipment. Her eyes teared in the bright sunshine. She wiped away the moisture and picked up the radio mike again.

  “Willie? Are you there? Can you hear me?”

  She released the button and waited for a response. Her whole body was tense as she strained for an answer. She wanted so badly to hear some kind of response. Something to indicate that they were still alive and waiting for her. There was nothing. Erin’s fingers moved of their own accord. She couldn’t remember all of the steps that Willie had shown her, but her fingers changed the frequency to the emergency band and she pressed the button down again.

  “Mayday, mayday. Is anybody listening?” Did people really say ‘mayday’ when they were calling for help? Or was that only boats? Would someone monitoring the frequency just laugh at her or think she was some kid fooling around?

  Erin heard a response and tried to fine tune the frequency to make it clearer.

  “Is somebody there? This is Erin Price.”

  The crackle she got back was clearer the second time. Erin could make out the words “emergency dispatcher.” It had to be the woman who manned the phones back in Bald Eagle Falls, relaying messages to the police officers or volunteer fire department, or who made the decision when to contact emergency services in the city to have them send help.

  “There’s been a cave-in,” Erin explained, tears filling her eyes and choking her throat. “We’re on Orson Cadaver’s old farm. There’s a mine. There’s been a cave-in.”

  “…everyone safe?”

  “No.” Erin swallowed hard and tried to go on. “There are three people trapped. I don’t know if there are any injuries.”

  “Coordinates?”

  “I don’t know.” Erin looked around her for some clue. She pulled out her phone and launched the map app. Would the GPS work when she couldn’t get a phone signal? It looked like the flashing circle was in the right spot on the map, so Erin tapped it and read the coordinates to the dispatcher.

  “Again?”

  Erin read the numbers as slowly and clearly as possible.

  “Once more?”

  Erin read them again, feeling frustrated.

  There was a burst of crackles. “…stay on this channel…”

  Erin wanted to go back into the tunnel and remove more rocks from the caved-in area, but she knew she needed to do what she was told and relay whatever information the emergency responders might need. It would do more good to get the proper help there than it would to try to shift the pile of rocks by herself. But she wanted to do something more active, not to just sit there by the radio waiting for the next question.

  The next voice she heard on the radio was one that sent a warm flush radiating from her heart to the top of her head and the tips of her toes.

  “Erin?”

  “Terry!”

  “…what happened?”

  “They went down the mine to look for the treasure or more clues. There was a noise… I went to look… can’t get them on the radio… there’s rock blocking the tunnel.”

  “Is Willie there?”

  Erin nodded, wiping her nose. She took a minute to try to steady her voice before pressing the button on the mike to answer. “He’s in the mine.”

  Whatever Terry had to say about that, he said offline, not into the radio. Erin didn’t imagine it was anything that could be repeated in polite company.

  Erin knew that Terry liked to call on Willie to help with rescue work or coordinate in an emergency. While it was good that Vic and Jeremy had an expert to he
lp them, Terry could have done with another Willie on the outside to help with the rescue efforts.

  “…on my way…” Terry’s voice was coming from the radio again. “…be there soon…”

  “Okay.” Erin tried to hold the radio mike steady, aware that her hand was shaking. “See you then.”

  Then he was gone. Erin looked at the time on her phone. It would take an hour for Terry to get out to her. Maybe shorter if he used his lights and siren, but he wouldn’t be able to get through the rough trails much faster than Willie had. And Terry wouldn’t have a map showing where the roads were. Unless he had paper maps in the car to find his way around the old country roads. Hopefully, somebody had thought of that.

  Mostly, Erin sat by the radio waiting for any contact from the dispatcher or Terry. Every now and then she went back into the mine to shout at the wall of rock, hoping to get a reply from the other side. How deep was the rock? Was there so much that it blocked out all of the sound, or had her friends been hurt or even killed in the collapse?

  She had known it was too dangerous to go into the mine. Why hadn’t anyone listened to her?

  It seemed like a long time before she heard Terry’s voice over the emergency band again.

  “I’m at Willie’s truck, Erin. Are you okay?”

  Erin looked back toward where the truck was parked. She couldn’t see either vehicle, but didn’t doubt that Terry knew Willie’s truck when he saw it.

  “I’m okay.”

  “I’m going to be a couple of minutes while I unload his emergency gear. Hang tough.”

  “Okay.”

  She was glad to know that he was there. She could feel her heart rate slow and her muscles relax, knowing that the first help had arrived. They were going to need a lot more than just Terry, but at least he was there. It was a start.

  Eventually, she could see Terry heading toward her, laden down with backpacks and bags, K9 at his side. Erin got to her feet to help him.

  “What can I take?”

  He shuffled his load to hand her a couple of first-aid bags. “Here, grab those.”

  The bags were probably the lightest thing he was carrying, but they were still heavy. Erin was glad for the muscle burn. Glad that she was finally doing something to help. They carried everything to the mine entrance and put them down.

  “Has there been any more noise?” Terry asked. “Any more falling rocks?”

  “I haven’t heard anything.”

  “Have you been inside?”

  “A few times. It doesn’t seem like anything else is unstable.”

  “I’ll take a look. Have you heard anything from them?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  Terry looked grim, but didn’t say anything negative. “I’m going to take a look at what we’ve got, and then we’ll try to coordinate the rescue efforts. People in town are getting geared up. Some of them are already on their way.”

  Erin nodded, her throat hot and her eyes tearing up again. Terry gave her a brief hug. “We’ll get them out. Don’t cry.”

  “Why did I ever start this? It’s my fault they’re in there. If I hadn’t started this silly treasure hunt, it never would have happened.”

  “You can’t predict an accident like this. Willie checked it out before going in. If he couldn’t tell there was a danger, no one could have. There is always a risk in a place like this, but he obviously didn’t think there was anything too hazardous, or he wouldn’t have gone in. He certainly never would have taken Vic in with him.”

  “They could be hurt.”

  He squeezed her arm. “I’m going in. I can’t stop to talk about it.”

  Erin nodded. Terry turned on his helmet light and walked into the mine.

  Even though Erin had been in and out several times since the collapse, she was nervous about him entering. What if there was another rockfall and he ended up getting hurt too?

  The radio was squawking when Erin got back to it. She couldn’t sort out all of the voices. It sounded like the volunteers were being organized, but it wasn’t clear enough on Erin’s end to be sure how many people were involved or what they were planning to do when they got there.

  How were they going to move all of that rock?

  Terry was out a few minutes later. He nodded at Erin.

  “We’re definitely going to need a hand in there. Do you have maps of the mining tunnels?”

  “I do, but they’re hard to follow. I don’t think they’re drawn to scale very well, and the landmarks are hard to see or have changed.”

  She got out the maps and she and Terry bent over them, following the faint lines.

  “So, this is where we are?” Terry pointed.

  Erin nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I want to know if there are any other tunnels that lead through to here,” he tapped the map, indicating the area hopefully beyond the rockslide. If Willie, Vic, and Jeremy had been safely on the other side of the affected area, they might be uninjured, but their exit would be blocked until they found a way to get all of the rock out of there. There was so much of it, Erin was afraid they would be looking at weeks rather than hours or even days. How would they survive that long even if they were uninjured?

  Erin looked for some sign of another way in. The lines were so faint, it was nearly impossible to tell where a tunnel ended and where the ink was just faded. There were a couple of tunnels that might have fed into the one that her friends were in, but she couldn’t be sure.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  T

  erry had gone to scout around with K9 to see how the other mine entrances looked before making any kind of decision as to how they were going to effect a rescue. If the other tunnels looked unstable, they would need engineers and heavy equipment before they could start anything. Erin was crossing her fingers and hoping that the other tunnels would look fine and they could try to get closer to Vic, Willie, and Jeremy from another direction. She sat babysitting the radio and answering questions whenever she could. Looking up, she saw Beaver coming through the woods toward her. She had a long, fluid walk that made Erin think of a wolf loping across the prairie. Erin gave her a little wave. Beaver looked surprised to see Erin there.

  “Hey, how’s it going, Erin?”

  Erin looked at her. “Well, not so great.”

  Beaver’s eyebrows went up. “What’s up? I saw Officer Piper’s truck go by, and it’s parked down there. I thought I would find the two of you together, where did he go?”

  “To see how the other mine entrances look.” Erin motioned to the nearest entrance.

  “Is he helping with the treasure hunting, then?”

  Erin cleared her throat. She searched Beaver’s expression for some sign that she knew what was going on, but Beaver’s expression, as usual, was pleasant and amused. The emergency radio crackled to life, and Erin tried to understand what was being said. They were just confirming that they had called for help from the heavy equipment team in the city. Erin looked back at Beaver.

  “There was a cave-in,” she explained. “I guess you haven’t heard.”

  “A cave-in,” Beaver repeated. She blinked at Erin, then looked at the entrance to the mine. “Are you talking about right here? Now? Or back when the treasure was hidden…?”

  “Now. Just through there.” Erin pointed.

  “Was there anyone in there?”

  “Vic, Willie, and…” Erin had a hard time getting the painful news out. “Jeremy.”

  Beaver’s face was pale. “Are they okay?”

  “We haven’t been able to get them. I don’t know if it’s just because of the rock or whether they were injured and can’t answer.”

  Beaver folded to the ground beside Erin. “They’re still in there? And you don’t know whether or not they are hurt?”

  Erin nodded. “Yeah.”

  Beaver sat there, staring at the entrance to the mine, her face pale and drawn. The usual smile was gone. She still chewed on her gum, but it was slow and uncertain instead of her usual chompi
ng. Erin wondered whether a doctor had prescribed the chewing gum, worried that she’d chew through her fingernails or something else. Beaver was normally a bundle of nervous energy, but usually she was upbeat. Worrying about what had happened to Jeremy and everybody else, the wind had gone from her sails and she just looked anxious.

  “They’ll be okay,” Erin comforted, reassuring Beaver with what she herself wasn’t sure of. “Everything will turn out okay. Terry is seeing if he can find another way in, and the town is sending all kinds of volunteers and equipment. I’ve seen the way they work together. They’ll find Jeremy and the others and get them out.”

  Beaver rubbed her face with her fingertips and shook her head. “Who else? Who is there with him?”

  “Vic and Willie.”

  Beaver nodded. “Willie is good. He knows a lot about what to do in an emergency.”

  Erin agreed.

  Someone else came through the woods toward them. Erin stared at the figure, trying to think of who it might be. As he got closer, she saw that it was a young man, an older teenager or man in his early twenties, slender, not yet filled in after his final growth spurt. His face looked familiar, but she couldn’t think of who he was.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Erin frowned at him and opened her mouth to ask him his name. She figured he must belong to one of the nearby farms and had seen the unexpected vehicles or heard on the radio that something was wrong.

  “Erin, do you know Cam?” Beaver asked.

  Erin stared at Cam, her mouth open.

  “Campbell Cox,” the boy said. “You’re Erin, right? You know my mom.”

  Erin nodded. “Mary Lou, yes,” she agreed breathlessly. She looked at Beaver. “What’s he doing here? You said that you knew him… I wondered…”

  “We can’t get into that,” Beaver said. “But he can be trusted.”