Page 28 of Riches Beyond Measure (Golden State Treasure #3)

Twenty-One

The earth shook. Brody instantly remembered the last quake. It was the first one he’d experienced, and now here came another one already. He wasted no time in swinging down from the saddle, with everyone around him doing the same.

“If the ground collapses, it’ll wipe out the tracks.” Leading his horse now, Josh hurried forward, his eyes fixed on the trail ahead.

Brody rushed to Ellie’s side. “Are you all right? Is this too much for you and the baby?”

Ellie caught his hand and squeezed it tight. “I’m fine. C’mon. Let’s follow Josh.”

Brody, his jaw tight, nodded. Tilda had gone after her husband. They were deep in a woodland, the ground covered with leaves and fallen branches. It wasn’t much of a trail.

Brody had no idea how Josh was able to track anything in the rugged landscape, but he was definitely following something. Grasping Ellie’s hand, Brody did his best to keep up with him.

The earth shook harder. Josh staggered but kept pushing forward through the woods. Ellie stopped and braced her legs. Brody imitated her stance. The fierce shaking went on and on, yet no ruptures opened in the ground.

Suddenly Ellie stumbled, but thankfully Brody was right there to catch her. He gently lowered her to the ground and said, “We should wait here till the shaking stops. A fall could hurt both you and the baby.”

Nodding, Ellie settled herself on the forest floor amid the scrub brush and decaying leaves. Brody prayed for her and their baby, he prayed for the ones they were tracking, and he prayed for God to give divine wisdom to Josh as he forged onward.

As the shaking carried on, Brody heard a loud snap split the air behind them. He spun around to see a huge tree falling straight for them.

Cord broke loose from his dirt prison like a cork popping out of a bottle. He flew backward and landed on his family.

The four of them huddled together on the dirt floor, which was shaking.

“Everyone watch your head,” Annie warned.

The immovable cellar door overhead was made of heavy beams, something they’d learned while trying to chisel through it. If one of those beams came crashing down...

“Let’s quick move to where the roof slopes toward the floor,” she added. “If the beams come down, they won’t fall with as much force there.”

Cord and the boys followed Annie’s advice and started for the place in the cellar she’d pointed out. As they did, the ground trembled more violently, sending everyone but Cord backward, then forward like a shot until they reached the end with the low roof.

As for Cord, he’d gone down hard, then quickly got to his feet only to be knocked down again. Glancing up, he saw dirt sifting down from between the beams of the door. He rolled onto his hands and knees and started crawling toward Annie and the boys as fast as he could.

He knew that if the cellar did cave in, it was likely they’d all be crushed to death.

Brody threw himself on Ellie in hopes the falling tree wouldn’t kill all three of them. Maybe he’d be struck on the back by the tree, but Ellie and the baby would be all right.

The impact never came. He looked over his shoulder and saw the tree suspended only a few feet overhead, its top snagged by other trees all around it.

“Let’s move!” Ellie said. “That tree could still come down on us.” She yanked on Brody’s arm to get him to move and maybe because he was crushing her.

They tried to crawl forward, but the shaking ground made it hard to do so.

Brody peered ahead and saw that Josh was still upright and leading his horse, amazingly. Tilda had fallen and lay on the ground, her reins still in hand.

Brody didn’t see his horse anywhere, nor Ellie’s. He wasn’t sure if the horses would come back to them, especially in unfamiliar territory, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

The shaking seemed to double in intensity, forcing Brody flat on his belly. Ellie sprawled out beside him. He looked overhead and around, afraid of another tree coming down.

Tilda cried out, and he saw her horse dragging her. She’d kept a firm grip on the reins, maybe even gotten her arm tangled in them, and couldn’t get herself free.

Josh whipped his head around at Tilda’s scream. He ran to her side and dropped to his knees, unwinding the reins from around her wrist while keeping the panicked horse from darting off.

There would be no more attempts at following the trail, not while the ground shook like this. They might lose their only chance to find his brothers, Annie, and Cord ... if it wasn’t already too late.

A heavy timber cracked in half overhead, and Cord dragged all three of his family close to him, covering them with his own body as it dropped.

The beam glanced off his shoulder, and he fell forward. Please save them , Lord , he prayed.

Dirt rained down afterward, small stones pelting his head and back. Before he could get up, the weight of one beam, a second, and finally a third came to rest on him, followed by a jumble of stones.

As Cord lay there groaning under all the rubble, barely able to breathe, all he could think was that he’d failed his family.

“Cord, are you alive?” Annie’s muffled voice wavered like that of a ghost.

“Brody, did you hear that?” Ellie shouted. “It’s Annie! She’s close by. We have to get to her. Now!”

He turned to her, a confused look on his face. “What? Did you say you heard Annie?”

“Cord, please, speak to me.” It was Annie again. Her voice sounded weak, desperate.

Brody said, “I heard her, too!”

Josh and Tilda approached, each leading a horse.

“Did you hear her, Josh?”

He looked at Brody and shook his head. “No, I hear nothing but the rumble of the earthquake.”

“Me too,” said Tilda.

“Cord! Wake up!” Annie was terrified. Something terrible must have happened.

“I heard her that time!” said Josh, and Tilda nodded, her eyes wide.

They all rushed toward the sound of Annie’s voice and came upon the ruins of an old stone house. On one side was a barn, and between the two buildings a root cellar, collapsing even as Annie yelled.

Ellie ran forward, Brody right on her heels. When they reached the caved-in spot, Brody saw a man’s arm half buried in rubble.

“Annie, it’s Ellie! We’re right here. We’ll get you out.”

“ Ellie? Oh, thank the Lord...”

Josh turned to his horse and removed a shovel he had tied to the saddle. Then the ground shook again, causing him to stumble and drop the shovel.

“Annie, we see Cord’s arm!” Ellie shouted.

“He’s on top of me and—” Her words were cut off by coughing.

“No need to talk, Annie. You’re probably inhaling grit and dirt. Work on breathing instead.” Brody used his doctor’s voice. “We see you. Are Thayne and Lock with you?”

“Yes ... we’re all here.”

“All right, no more talking now. We’ll dig you out. Hang on.”

Josh snatched up the shovel and was tossing dirt aside like a madman when a sudden tremor caved in what was left of a sloped wooden roof tucked up beside the stone cabin.

The new cave-in dropped dirt into the cellar, pushing it away from Cord.

“I’ve got him!” Josh yelled. “Help me pull him out, Brody.”

Together, the two men tugged Cord from his grave.

Brody winced at the rough handling of Cord’s body, not knowing which bones might be broken or what internal injuries he might have suffered.

As Josh and Brody dragged Cord to the surface, they saw Annie and the MacKenzie boys below, waving up at them. They looked unhurt.

Just minutes later, everyone had been pulled to the surface. They all hugged one another, breaking into sobs and thanking God for His help in rescuing them in time. Cord, Annie, Thayne, and Lock were all very weak, dazed from their hunger and thirst.

Annie threw her arms around Ellie. “You came. Thank God. Thank you all...”

Brody had Cord stretched out on his back on the ground. Blood trickled through a coating of dirt on his face. Another trickle came from a cut somewhere toward the top of his head. Brody felt for a pulse, and it was strong. Cord’s breathing was steady.

“Ellie, bring water. And grab my bag.” Brody looked up, and his eyes landed on his brothers. In a less steady voice, he said, “I’m so glad you’re all right.” Both boys looked pale and near to collapsing.

At last, the ground quit shaking. Another answer to prayer.

Ellie brought Brody his canteen and medical bag. When she did, she told him all the horses had returned to their owners. Yet another answer to prayer. Ellie smiled. “God is good.”

Annie hugged Tilda, then Josh, quietly saying “thank you” over and over again. Then she turned to Cord and dropped to her knees, ready to help however she could.

Brody worked on Cord’s injuries as his patient slept. “His heart is steady and strong, but I’ve found a couple goose eggs on his head. He’s taken quite a beating.”

“He saved us. You saved us. God saved us.” Annie seemed overwhelmed, overjoyed to be out of that dark cellar. She reached for the canteen again. It seemed she couldn’t get enough water in her.

Soon each of the escaped prisoners had a canteen in their hands and beef jerky to chew on. They sat Cord up enough to pour a bit of water into his mouth. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when he swallowed it.

Food and water kept them busy for a time. Ellie got a fire started with Josh’s help. The MacKenzie boys pitched in, though they moved slowly. Before long, Brody smelled something cooking while he checked the cut on Cord’s head. Annie bathed his face, then pressed a cool cloth to his forehead.

Ellie was the first to ask the question that had been on Brody’s mind ever since they’d come upon the abandoned claim.

“What happened out here?”

The boys ran through what they knew. Annie turned around to add her part of the story.

“Hardy and Rombauer must be behind this. What did you find at the dig site?”

“They were gone, along with the horses. We didn’t bother to follow them, but we saw tracks leading away from your campsite back toward Cornerstone. So we knew they took you this way.”