Page 39 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

They say that before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes, but as I lay trapped in the suffocating darkness, buried under tonnes of rubble, my mind returned to only one place; the small school room in Cwm Newydd where I’d first met Gwyn.

I could see his smile as we first locked eyes, and the curve of his dimples through his beard when his lips curled. Every detail of him was printed on my mind, and the image replayed in my thoughts as I felt my breathing becoming shallow.

Somewhere through the crushing weight, I could still feel his hand in mine, though it had gone limp and unresponsive to my touch, and I couldn’t tell if he was still holding onto me or if the only thing keeping us together was the fact that we were pinned in place.

Panicked, I tried to call his name to let him know that I was still there with him, but every time I opened my mouth, it filled with dirt, making it even more difficult to breathe.

The longer we lay trapped under the collapsed tip, the more the pain dulled, replaced by a numbness that spread out through my limbs. At first, every inch of crushing debris felt like it stabbed at my body, but eventually, even that feeling faded until the only sensation that I was certain of was the familiar feeling of Gwyn’s hand wrapped around mine.

The thumping in my chest began to slow as a calm drowsiness replaced the panic, and I once again let my mind wander to that day we met in the school. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I was letting go, but it felt more like drifting towards a deep sleep, and I didn’t feel afraid of it.

As the tension finally left my body, the ground around me shifted, and I was snapped back to a conscious awareness of my surroundings once more. The weight that had been pinning me in place began to lighten, and the silence that had filled the darkness was broken by the sound of muffled voices in the distance, offering me a final glimmer of hope.

“I’ve got one,” I heard a voice call out, and as the weight shifted around my head, a light broke through the darkness for the first time in what felt like an eternity. “It’s Tom.”

I could only open one eye, and my vision was blurred, but I was aware of a man looking down at me through a break in the rubble.

“Can you hear me?” he asked, and I blinked at him to let him know that I could. “He’s alive,” he shouted out, then he moved from the gap and pushed his hand through it to clear the muck away from my mouth.

“We’re going to get you out,” another voice called out in the background. “Just hold on.”

The grinding scrape of rocks filled my ears, and as more of the dirt around me was cleared away, I became aware of at least two other men working to free me from the debris. I was overcome with desperation for them to get to Gwyn first, and I tried to call out to them, to beg them to help him, but no sound escaped my sore throat.

When one of the rescuers finally found my hand, he tried to pry it free, but I clung tightly to Gwyn’s, refusing to let go of him.

“It’s ok. We’ve got him, Tom,” a voice called. “You can let go.”

I tried to turn my head to make sure they were telling me the truth, but the pain in my neck was excruciating and I could barely move, so I continued to hold on.

“Tom, they’ve got him,” I heard Mair say, and a second later, she appeared between the two men closest to my face, looking down over me with relief. “He’s alive and they’ve got him.”

I could feel tears begin to streak my cheeks as she clasped her hands together at her chest and smiled down at me, and with her reassurance, I finally let my fingers break free of Gwyn’s.

“Alright, it’s time to get you out,” one of the men said, and Mair moved back as he leaned down and tucked his hands through the muck underneath me.

Through the dust and dirt that clung to his sweat-stained skin, I recognised the face of Gerwyn, who I’d worked with on the farm.

“You’ve got the whole town out here helping,” he said, offering me a reassuring smile as he and another man began to lift me from the ground.

Once I was in his arms, he turned to show me Gwyn being pulled from the dirt. His eyes were closed, and his body was limp, but the rise and fall of his chest filled me with relief, and I finally relaxed my body as Gerwyn turned me away again .

The light from hundreds of lamps cut frantically through the darkness all around us, and the air was filled with the sound of panicked voices that only got louder as he carried me towards the main yard near the offices.

As I looked back to where they’d pulled me out, I could see at least a dozen men still clawing at the ground. They’d found us at the edge of the spoil, where the slurry was fairly shallow, but just a few feet further in, the pile was several feet deep, and they were having more trouble getting through it.

Mair grabbed hold of my hand and walked beside us into the yard. I caught sight of Nellie sitting on the ground near one of the buildings, covered in filth and being tended to by rescuers. Her face was completely void of emotion as she stared idly into the distance, and beside her lay a body covered with a sheet.

“Gethin?” I asked, my voice croaky and hoarse.

Mair pursed her lips together and nodded before dropping her gaze to the floor.

A wave of regret surged through me as I stared over at his body. We hadn’t had the chance to make things right between us, and now we never could, but he’d saved us from Ellis without hesitation, and I’d always be grateful for that. Any differences we’d had were insignificant now.

Mostly, my heart broke for Nellie, and the young girl who’d so excitedly told me about her upcoming wedding when we’d first met. Despite everything that had happened, I knew she loved him deeply.

When Gerwyn finally laid me down on the ground, he placed me next to Tish. She was unconscious, having her leg put into a splint, while Lee held her hand and stroked her hair.

“Tom,” he said, reaching out to me. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there.”

I smiled at him and shook my head, letting him know that I understood, and he leaned over and kissed my forehead as he clasped our hands together.

When he moved away again, a look of anger flashed across his face, and he pushed himself to his feet and stepped over me. “No, not here,” he shouted, pointing off into the distance. “Get him out of my sight.”

“He could have killed us all,” Mair added as she stepped up beside my brother.

As a man crossed my path looking for somewhere to go, I saw the lifeless body of Ellis, battered and bloody, hanging limply in his arms. His eyes remained open, a stark white against his blackened skin, and it sent a shiver down my spine, as though he were still somehow watching me.

I wasn’t sad that he hadn’t survived, but there was no satisfaction in his death, either. He was a deeply troubled man, and I pitied him for that, but the scars he’d left on my life, and the lives of the people I loved, would remain long after he was gone.

I allowed him only a brief moment of my compassion as they carried his body away, before the surrounding chaos pulled me back. The gravel kicked up beside me as more rescuers hurried over, and Mair rushed around me as they laid Gwyn down on the ground.

“Hey,” he whispered weakly, his voice coarse and barely above a whisper .

I couldn’t turn my neck to see him, but the sound of his voice brought calm to the madness around me, and my chest heaved as I cried with relief. His hand reached over and found mine, and he weaved his fingers through my own, connecting us again and holding me firmly.

He didn’t say anything more, and neither did I. We lay in silence while the commotion around us faded into the background, and as the first bursts of dawn began to streak through the night sky, I squeezed his hand, grateful that we’d see another day together.