“You do hunt treasure.”
“Yes, but I do it on my own time and I don’t let it interfere with my job. And I don’t mug women and collapse mines. That’s an ethical violation.” She gave a wide grin to signal that she was joking.
“But I don’t know that. You could have been involved. I have no way of knowing.”
“No, you don’t,” Beaver agreed.
“Then… I don’t think I’m going to tell you anything else. You don’t need to know the poem or anything else that we found out. You’re on some other case and you just think it may link up to ours. You thought that maybe the two are linked somehow, but you don’t know.”
“Absolutely right,” Beaver agreed.
Erin had expected at least some kind of argument from her. Why didn’t she argue and say that she hadn’t done anything? At least then, Erin would be able to examine whether what she said was true or not. She was thrown off kilter by Beaver’s agreement that all of her conclusions were correct.
“You don’t care?”
“Of course I care. But I also don’t want you getting hurt or killed. It’s better if you don’t go around blabbing about the treasure. It’s better if everybody just thinks that you have given up. That in the face of this disaster, it just doesn’t matter to you anymore.”
“And it doesn’t,” Erin agreed. “I really don’t care how much money the gold is worth. It’s not worth as much as my friends’ lives.”
Beaver nodded. She pulled a pack of gum out of her pocket and popped a couple of new pieces of gum into her mouth. She offered the package to Erin, who declined.
“What would you do if you came into a lot of money?” she asked conversationally.
Erin had determined that she wasn’t going to answer any more questions, but this wasn’t a question about the poem or the treasure. It was just a philosophical question.
“Uh… Well, I don’t know. I’d pay Charley out on the bakery, if she’d let me. How much do you think the treasure would be?”
“It sounds significant from the description. Gold is always good. Hundred-year-old gold is even better. And if there are artifacts… things other than gold coins… then that’s worth even more.”
“Maybe.”
“Of course. It all depends on what you find. Gold isn’t always gold. It could be… oh, a family Bible, and Orson considered the word of God to be golden. Or it could be family relationships. Or a good crop. It could be something painted gold, or something considered valuable, or it could even be fool’s gold, but he hoped it would lead him to a vein of real gold. There’s no way for us to know what it was he really valued. At least, not based on the information you have so far.”
Erin nodded. She had wondered a few times whether gold was really gold or not. It could mean anything valuable. Or it might just be a poem. There might not even be a treasure. Orson could have had his own fortune from somewhere else. Or he could have had nothing, and his wealth was just gossip run rampant. It was impossible to tell.
“Do you think there’s anything hidden in the mine?”
“I think… if there was… It’s probably either buried, or someone got here ahead of you. What are the chances that someone blew up the tunnel without knowing whether there was gold in it or not?”
“You think it was blown up?” A band of muscle tightened around Erin’s chest. She had been thinking it, in the back of her mind. But she hadn’t wanted to actually put it into words.
“Don’t you?” Beaver asked.
“I don’t know. I really don’t. I don’t want to think that anyone could be that… that wicked. Blowing it up intentionally when there are people inside… that’s horrible.”
“Is it more likely that it was an accident?” Beaver asked. “What are the chances of that?”
“We don’t have any evidence that it was intentional. And I didn’t see anyone around.”
Beaver looked around at the woods. “There are plenty of places to hide. Even just going into another tunnel.” She motioned toward the entrance to another mine. “You’d have to be pretty brave to take shelter in one tunnel while you cave in another. You’d have to be pretty confident that it wouldn’t collapse the tunnel you were in as well. But I don’t think it was an accident. These mines have been untouched for a hundred years. Willie wouldn’t have gone inside if he hadn’t thought it was safe. He’s very experienced in the matter. You think he would make a mistake like that?”
Erin wiped her nose. “No.”
“Me neither,” Beaver agreed.
“So you think… someone got here ahead of us and set explosives to blow up when we went in?” Erin shook her head, having a hard time picturing it. “You think that they were watching to blow it up?”
“Who knows. Maybe they never intended to hurt anyone, and you guys were just in the wrong place when the charges had already been set. But I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“That’s what Terry always says.”
“Officer Piper is right. Sometimes there are coincidences, but more often, there really is a link, and not chance.”
Erin covered her face, rubbing her eyes. She couldn’t understand why she was so tired. She didn’t want to do anything but lie down and go to sleep. Even though she knew her friends were trapped or buried in the mine, she couldn’t think about it. Her brain didn’t want to accept it. She just wanted to go to sleep and let everyone else deal with it. Maybe when she woke up, she’d be better able to deal with it.
“Let me get you a drink,” Beaver offered. “Have you had anything?”
“No. I’m not hungry.”
“You need to at least keep up your fluids. You don’t realize how much you might be sweating off because you’re just sitting around. It doesn’t feel like you’re doing any work, but your body still is.” Beaver got up and went over to the table that Cam and Mary Lou were at. She said a few words to them, picking up water bottles and a couple of snacks from the table. She returned and handed one water bottle to Erin and held out a muffin and a granola bar. “Pick.”
Erin picked the granola bar. She could eat it later when she really wanted it.
“How are they?” Erin asked, nodding to the Coxes.
“They seem to be handling it just fine,” Beaver said with a shrug. “I don’t think you need to worry.”
“I do worry about my friends. And Mary Lou… she doesn’t have very many friends left in this town. I want her to know that I still support her.”
“I’m sure she knows that.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
T
here was a sudden buzz of excitement. Erin looked around.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Let me find out.” Beaver got up and circulated with the volunteers, asking quick questions. She returned to Erin’s side. “The Search and Rescue team is here. Lots of heavy equipment. Now we’ll get something done.”
“What? What are they going to do? They can’t move the rock much faster than the volunteers have already been doing. You can only take out so much at one time.”
“I’m not sure. But I’m sure we can put them to use.”
Erin turned away from the gossiping volunteers who were straining for the first glimpse of the Search and Rescue team, and watched those who were still carrying rock out of the mine. There was a big pile that had already been removed. Some of the volunteers had no gloves and had bloody fingers. They all looked exhausted. They would continue to work until they dropped.
Terry hurried over from where he had been working in another mine and barely nodded at Erin. He jogged past her with K9 beside him, headed across the woods to where the vehicles were parked.
“Do you think they can do something?” Erin asked, following Terry with her eyes.
“He apparently has a plan.”
They sat, waiting, their thoughts on those who were still trapped inside the mine.
There was a lot of equipment brought in, and Erin waited, wondering how long they would be stu
ck in the cave. What was the limiting factor? Air? Water? Injuries and shock? How long had it already taken and how much longer would it be before they could reach the tunnel? Was it already too late?
Erin held back tears, trying to keep herself under control as they moved the drilling equipment into the tunnel that Terry had picked out. There were engineers who walked around looking at the tunnel and the way that the walls were braced, how the rocks in the collapsed tunnel had fallen, and everything else that their eyes could see that Erin’s couldn’t. It seemed like it was going to take another two weeks before they would be able to decide whether the tunnel was stable enough for drilling. Erin didn’t want to wait. Terry obviously didn’t either, shifting back and forth from foot to foot while he waited for them to finish their inspection.
“If they say not to drill, what are you going to do?” Erin asked.
Terry’s mouth formed a straight line. “They’d better not tell us not to drill.”
“If they say it’s not safe, are you going to chance it anyway?”
He shook his head slowly. Not in an answer of ‘no,’ but thinking it through and unable to make a decision. “I don’t want to lose anyone else. I don’t want to take the chance of another cave-in. I guess… we have to find a safe way in, or we look for something else. We can’t take the chance of hurting someone else.”
Erin had been afraid of that. If she were the one in charge, she would be more likely to tell them where they could stuff their engineering degrees and go ahead anyway. Her friends were in there. The family she had chosen. She needed to get them out.
Finally, the engineers and the Search and Rescue team all huddled together in a little group with Terry and the other officers in the Police Department to discuss their findings and make a decision. Terry turned around and gave Erin a thumbs up. A cheer went up from the volunteers who were waiting for the decision just as intently as Erin was. Erin struggled not to cry. It was such a relief to know that they were doing something. No more sitting around waiting, moving rocks out of the way one at a time.
The drilling started.
Erin had no idea how far they had to drill or how long it would take. She held her breath at first, thinking that it would just be a minute or two and then Vic, Willie, and Jeremy would be free. But it went on and on.
Lights had been set up both inside the tunnels and outside where the volunteers were gathered, and they were needed as darkness fell. Erin nibbled on her granola bar. How could it take so long?
Her body was sore from sitting on the ground for so long. Every joint and muscle hurt. She got up and walked around a little, but that didn’t do much to relieve the pain. Erin paced back and forth, willing them to finish the drilling and break into the next tunnel, as if she could make it go faster with the power of her mind.
There was a shout from someone, and the sound of the drill pulling away from the rock and then winding down. Erin and the others held their breaths. Was that it? Were they through?
There was a lot of talk, and eventually Terry came over to fill Erin in. “They’re moving to hand tools now. If the maps are accurate, or at least close, then we should only be a few inches away from breaking through. But we don’t want to injure anyone on the other side or take the chance of another cave-in if we cause instability in that wall. They’ll drill a few small test holes, see if they can get any response from Vic and Willie and Jeremy and evaluate the best way to cut through the last little bit of rock.”
“We’re so close!” Erin clenched her fists, frustrated. “Can’t we just drill the last bit?”
“We don’t want to hurt them. We have to effect a safe rescue, not a fast one.”
Erin growled and continued her pacing.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
T
hey’re alive!”
Erin gasped with the rest of the volunteers. Then a cheer went up. Tears were racing down Erin’s cheeks. She had never been so relieved in her life. She looked across the glade to Terry, a broad smile across his dust-smeared face. They were alive. She had been trying not to admit to herself that they might not be. They were experienced in cave exploration. They wouldn’t have been caught in the collapsing tunnel. But she knew that there would have been no way for them to predict or avoid it.
Erin pushed her way through the volunteers to reach Terry, her legs quaking. Everyone else was trying to crowd closer as well, asking urgent questions, wanting more details. Terry tried to hold them off, using his strong cop’s voice to make them back off and let Erin through. Eventually, she reached him.
“Tell me what you know! They’re all alive? They’re okay?”
Terry put his arm around her to pull her close, but spoke over her to the rest of the crowd. “They’re all alive. They have injuries. We have paramedics standing by for when we get through the last few inches so that they can be treated and transported to the hospital right away. Now that we can communicate with them, we can be sure that they are far enough away from the wall for us to drill the rest of the way through. The engineers believe that we can get through the wall without destabilizing it, but we’re still going to go slowly and make the smallest possible access hole to get them out. It will take few more minutes.”
“Who’s hurt? How badly?” people asked urgently.
“We won’t know the full extent of their injuries until we get them out.”
Erin looked at Terry, knowing that he was avoiding the question. If they were able to talk to the explorers, then they would have a pretty good idea of how badly they were hurt. Whether the injuries were serious or just minor. But he wasn’t revealing anything to the public about how extensive those injuries might be.
Terry answered a few more questions. He gave Erin a squeeze and let her go. “It will be just a few more minutes,” he promised. He returned to the tunnel.
The ambulances that had been waiting back where the rest of the vehicles were parked made their way slowly through the trees so that they would be right outside the entrance to the second tunnel as soon as everyone was brought out. Erin watched them get their equipment ready with a sick feeling in her stomach. Gurneys, IV bags, big cases of medical supplies. They kept their voices low and didn’t answer any questions. Tom Banks and the sheriff kept the crowds back so that the paramedics wouldn’t have to deal with them.
Then there was movement from the tunnel again. Not Terry returning to give them more news, but one of the Search and Rescue workers supporting Jeremy as he walked out. The young man was holding on to the worker, obviously weak, but he was walking under his own power.
A huge cheer went up from the crowd. Jeremy raised his head slightly to look at them, giving a vague nod. The Search and Rescue worker took him directly to the paramedics, who had him lie down on one of the gurneys and began to talk to him and ask him questions. Erin’s attention was split between Jeremy and the entrance to the tunnel, waiting for the next person. Eventually, it was Vic she saw, supported on either side. Upright, but not exactly walking under her own power as Jeremy had. Her face was white in the harsh lights.
They waited. It seemed like a very long time before they saw movement from the mine entrance again. Then two burly Search and Rescue workers struggled out, carrying Willie by the arms and ankles, stretched out between them.
A murmur went through the crowd, then another cheer. Everyone was out. They were all alive.
The crowd was surging forward, everyone wanting a better look at how the three friends were. They wanted to talk with them and get their stories. The Police Department and the Search and Rescue workers held everyone back, trying to keep a perimeter around the paramedics and the victims. Erin stayed where she was, watching every move of the paramedics, trying to figure out from their movements just how badly injured her friends were. They didn’t move quickly, in a panic. But they were trained to stay calm and deliberate.
Willie appeared to be the most badly injured of the three, but the way the paramedics kept leaning over him, he was asking them ques
tions and making demands regarding his treatment. The paramedics working over Vic and Jeremy touched them frequently to get their attention and ask them questions. All three had IVs in quick order.
Erin saw Tom letting Beaver past the perimeter to go to see Jeremy. Beaver looked back over the crowd and pointed at Erin, then motioned for her to come forward as well. Erin was encouraged by the volunteers and spectators to move forward.
“Go talk to them. See how they are,” Mary Lou murmured to Erin as she helped to make space for Erin to get through. Erin’s knees were shaking so badly, she didn’t know if she could walk that far, but then in a minute she was there, looking back and forth between Willie and Vic, unsure which one to go to.
“Erin. Here. Come here.” Willie had spotted her and was motioning impatiently for her to go see him. Erin obeyed, approaching the gurney and looking him over, a lump in her throat. He looked as he always did, grubby, skin darkened by his mining and processing work, but this time there was rock dust streaked with sweat and tears, his mouth a moist red slash across his face.
“Hey, Willie. How are you?”
“Busted my leg,” Willie said tightly, motioning toward his right leg.
Erin ventured a glance toward it, worried that she would see white bone sticking out from a mess of bloody, broken skin, but Willie’s pants had been cut away and an inflated air splint was in place. There luckily wasn’t any obvious blood or gore.
Erin could only imagine how frustrated Willie would have been to be limited in his mobility when he wanted to be taking care of everyone else. He would not have liked relying on the others to move him around and not to be able to get up and assess the situation and try to get them out of there.
“They’ll have you fixed up in no time,” she reassured him. “They’ll get a cast on that at the hospital and you’ll be menacing everyone with your crutches for a few weeks.”
Apple-achian Treasure (Auntie Clem's Bakery Book 8) Page 17
