Page 27 of Riches Beyond Measure (Golden State Treasure #3)
Twenty
“There’s just not enough wood chips to get a decent fire going,” Annie said. “They’re shredded enough they should catch like kindling, and we’ve gotten sparks from the stones. I’ve even torn strips off my riding skirt and gotten that to burn a little, but the wood is damp and won’t burn properly.”
While Annie worked on getting a fire started, Cord was busy chiseling more chips from the wooden door overhead to add to the fire.
She well understood the theory behind creating fire: strike sparks with two rocks, hold something flammable near where you get the sparks to fly, and then stack bits of wood near the easily flammable thing to make the fire grow.
Nevertheless, they were getting nowhere with the fire idea.
Thayne, meanwhile, had dug his way up to his waist and hit rock. Lock had dug on the other side, hoping to make some headway from that angle. Their plan was to dig up a ways, then turn to dig toward the cellar roof. In doing so, they’d find the outside world and freedom.
They were reminded yet again that the cellar was surrounded by stone on all sides, at least that was how it seemed.
How could Rombauer have found such a dependable prison? It had to be luck. They couldn’t have scouted out a place before they rode out here. They hadn’t even known where exactly they were headed. Well, he’d found this blasted cellar somehow, and now here they were.
The sun was setting again. They’d all taken turns peering through the narrow slit of light, breathing in the clear air while ignoring their dry throats and empty bellies.
Annie couldn’t reach her hand through the crack of light outside—it wasn’t big enough—but she could see that the light was growing dim.
Please , God , help us.
Her stomach growled, and she pressed a hand against it.
Please , God...
She knew a person could live quite a while without food. But a body could only live a few days without water. And they had no idea how long they’d been in the cellar. More than a day for sure.
Please , God , give us inspiration. Give Josh direction. Give me courage.
“Looks as though they rode up this slope, but it’s solid rock.” Josh swung down off his horse. “Everyone hold back for a bit. I’ll do some scouting beyond the rock to see where their horses came out.”
“Why would they head this direction?” Ellie asked. “There’s nothing up here.”
Josh knelt by the last track visible before the trail turned to pure rock. He pivoted on his toes to look at Ellie.
Brody saw the urgency in his expression. No doubt they were both thinking of Annie. Brody turned toward Ellie, his pregnant wife, as she went to dismount. But she got to the ground faster than he could get there to help her.
Ellie handed him the reins. “I’m going ahead to help Josh.”
Brody nodded grimly. They’d been at this for hours. His hope was fading with every passing minute.
Up ahead on the trail, Ellie approached Josh. “I’ll walk to the end of this rocky stretch and go left. You go right. Depending on the ground, I should be able to cut your time in half.”
Though a tad concerned about his wife’s safety, Brody clamped his mouth shut.
The truth was, Ellie was doing fine. And she was a better tracker than he was, and they needed every bit of her skill to help save his brothers, Cord, and Annie.
He knew being active was good for an expectant mother.
Even so, he’d feel much better if she was wrapped in cotton wool and kept to her bed.
Josh straightened and scanned the area around them. “The tracks seem to turn and head straight north, but I haven’t been across the rock to see what it’s like over there.”
“Well, let’s go find out,” said Ellie.
Brody hung back and helped Tilda down from her horse. He talked quietly to her. Hiding that he was a frantic big brother, worried about his wife and left with no way to help.
Ellie and Josh strode about twenty feet before the solid rock ended.
“No tracks here.” Ellie stared at the ground. “And it’s loose dirt. All right, you go left. We’ll find where they came out.” She looked at Josh and nodded.
Moments later, Josh called to the others, “This way! Bring the horses.”
Carefully, Brody and Tilda led their horses across the rocky stretch, where, along with the others, they mounted up.
“Follow me,” Josh said. “Ellie and I believe we found the trail again.”
Pressing forward, they moved on in single file.
Annie woke up with an idea. She lay on her side on the hard dirt floor, Cord’s arm around her waist. Was he still sleeping? Hunger and thirst returned to her with a vengeance. Had they slept all night? How many more hours could they go without water? How long had they been locked up in the cellar?
The same questions repeated themselves in her thoughts until she wanted to punch herself in the head.
“Are you awake?” Cord whispered.
“Yes.”
“I felt your breathing speed up, your heart start to pound. Are you scared?”
“I’m trying not to be, Cord.” She patted the arm he had wrapped around her. “I think we should dig forward and keep at it.”
“Forward?” Cord sat up slowly, then helped her to sit. She didn’t need the help but thought he liked touching her, holding her. And she liked letting him.
“Yes, let’s try digging straight forward a few feet, but widen the area more. If we carve out a big enough hole, one of us can climb in it, turn, and start digging up where there’s no stone to block the way.”
The boys had stirred by now and were sitting up, rubbing their eyes. Thayne said, “That’s a good idea, Annie. Let’s dig forward, make a big hole, then go up from there.”
“Worth a try,” said Lock as he slowly got to his feet, staggered a little, but then caught himself.
In the faint light, Lock looked gaunt and weak. Annie wanted to hug him and apologize for his suffering and rant about that low-down Professor Hardy. Instead, she got up and grabbed her knife, praying silently for this new plan to work.
The four of them took turns digging forward with the knives. They managed to avoid hitting any stone, enlarging the hollowed-out space inch by inch as time wore on. They were nearing the end of their strength.
Finally, Cord called a halt to the digging. “I think it’s big enough—I can get in there now and start digging up.” He twisted so that he was facing up, shoved himself into the cavity about to his mid-back, and began hacking away at the dirt.
Lock and Thayne backed away and sank to the floor.
Exhausted, Annie leaned against the wall, but her knees buckled before long, and she sat.
All she could think to do was to quote Scripture out loud.
She thought of a verse from the book of 2Corinthians she’d memorized not long ago: “‘For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.’”
Her voice was hoarse, but the words were like water springing forth in a desert, soaking into the dry, cracked ground. Then an old hymn came to mind, and she sang as best she could, “‘Come, thou Fount of every blessing...’”
A fount, that was water. The image helped to soothe her frightened heart.
“‘Tune my heart to sing thy grace...’”
They all needed to rely upon God’s grace, now more than ever.
“‘Streams of mercy, never ceasing...’”
Streams of mercy. More water.
Cord’s voice joined with hers. He had a beautiful voice, and it gave her the strength she needed to continue singing.
“‘Call for songs of loudest praise...’”
To praise God in the midst of their being trapped down here, songs of loudest praise. She could do that.
She and Cord kept on singing the hymn while he dug upward.
“‘He to rescue me from danger...’”
Please , God , rescue us from danger.
The ground began shaking.
“Cord, get out of there! Now!” Annie could see the hole collapsing on him.
Quickly, Cord started backing out of the cavity, but in his hurry, his hands slipped, causing him to stop momentarily. Dirt from above crumbled and broke away, falling and filling in the space around him.
Annie grabbed Cord’s feet. “Thayne, Lock, help me!”
The two boys rushed to lend a hand.
But even if they got Cord free, the cellar’s structure had weakened and might just cave in on top of them.
They could be buried here once and for all.