Page 6

Chapter 6

Rockfall

Calvin

“No? Why not?” is Haley’s response to my telling her she can’t go into the cave.

I shake my head. “Come on, if there’s something in there, like a boar or a snake, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Cool, I don’t want to be hurt. I don’t. I don’t want you hurt, either. I can carry a sharp stick. But there’s no way a boar is up here. Those rocks were loose. If a boar were coming around here, there would be a path. Like on the rest of the island. And we’ve been on the island a long time and haven’t seen a single snake. It’s a beautiful sunny day. Why would a snake be hiding in a cave?”

“She’s got you there,” Zane adds.

“Don’t care. Humor me.” I cross my arms. If Haley gets hurt, fuck, I can’t even think about it.

“I don’t like it, but fine.” She drops her hands to her sides and sits down on the rock.

“Zane and I will go in and check it out.” I have my sharpened walking stick and my knife. Zane has the same. I step in. It’s darker than hell. But we didn’t bring the flashlight with us. Only the flint and our knives. Dante has a bag of jerky, and we all have one water bottle. We’re super careful with them. They’re more precious to us than gold. “Ready?” I ask but head right in. Ten feet in, I stand and wait for my eyes to adjust.

“Damn, this is a big cave,” Zane says. He’s a few feet behind me, and I can still make out his form.

“Yeah.” I can practically hear Zane thinking from here. Maybe we should live here. We sure as hell shouldn’t. He’s almost killed us making our tree house. I’m not moving all our stuff to live in a dark cave. But that’s the thing. I’ve been in caves before. Spelunking is a thing back home. I can see the faintest of light coming from the back of the cave.

“You done exploring? Let’s head back out.”

“No, I’m not done exploring. Do you see the light from the back of the cave? That shouldn’t be there.”

“Nope, I do not. I don’t see anything back there. It’s dark.” Zane’s British accent gets stronger with any emotion, and right now he sounds like something off the BBC soaps my mom likes to watch.

“It should be pitch black. Let’s go.”

“Do you not watch movies? You don’t go to the back of the dark cave and not expect something shitty to happen to you.”

“It’s not dark, so we’re good.”

“No, you’re good. Anything back there is going to be scared of you and that mountain man’s beard growing on your face. Me, I’m like a tasty snack. Come on.” He pivots.

“Zane.”

“Calvin?”

“I’m going back there.” I turn.

“Fucking bloody hell. There is something totally mental about you Americans.”

“You’re not wrong. And you watch too many movies. We’ll be fine.”

“I want to be better than fine. Some do-nothing day this is turning out to be. Can you try not to stab me with your stick or your knife? Or anything else you have.”

I grunt. “No promises.” I feel bad that the machete stabbed his foot. But I’m not going to keep apologizing for it.

“Is there anything in there?” Haley’s standing at the entrance.

“Give us a minute.”

“There’s nothing in here, Haley.” Zane yells over his shoulder.

“Cool, I’m coming in.”

A few seconds later, she walks right into me, her hands extended out in front of herself.

I want to grab her and march her out. But she’s right. If there was something in here, it would already have come out of hiding. “Let your eyes adjust.”

“Okay, what’s back there?” She heads straight for the back of the cave.

“Hold on there, Little Bird. Just give your eyes a chance to adjust.”

I take Haley by the hand. “Can you see anything yet? Just look into the cave, not back outside.”

“Yeah, why isn’t it completely dark back there? There’s light coming in from somewhere.”

“Yup. I was about to go back there when you came in.”

“Let’s do it!” She’s got her pep back. I fucking hate pep. But not from her, which is damn weird.

“Hold on to my waistband. I’ll lead us in.” Step after step, we move in a straight line. The air cools, and the dampening silence hurts my ears. The three of us just naturally stop talking. The cave turns toward the ocean, slanting down. There’s a dim light, just enough I can see my hand in front of my face. Patting the air in front of me, I keep from running into anything. With each step, the walls come closer until I have to duck, and then crouch, but the light gets brighter. Not so bright as to see. We go on and on. I’m crawling. And I stop.

“Can’t you go farther?”

“Do you want to go more?” Haley asks. “Because I sure as hell do. This is the best do-nothing day ever.”

“Right. I bet you I have a different description of what the best ‘do-nothing’ day is,” I say, trying to lighten the mood as we move slowly forward.

“Oh, come on, Calvin,” she retorts playfully. Her fingers wrap around my calf.

“This is fine,” I insist, a little defensively. Damn, I would do anything for this woman.

“Fun, even,” adds Zane from behind, his voice a bit muffled. “I’m having a good time.” His tone changes subtly. “But then again, Haley can make any day better.”

I swallow hard. The truth in his words rings. We inch forward, the atmosphere around us shifting subtly.

There’s a breeze picking up from up ahead, ever so slight yet distinctly noticeable. It smells different, feels different—the air carries more humidity. The bottom of the tunnel even feels more sand-like and less gravelly.

“I think we’re finding something. There’s definitely something up ahead,” I say, more to myself than anyone else. “There’s definitely sky up ahead.”

The tunnel we’re in continues forward, narrowing even further. Now I’m army crawling, leading the way. I might not be the best person for this, but I’d never let Haley take the lead. If anyone’s going to tumble into an unknown crevasse, it’ll be me, not her. Not that I’m planning on falling into the ocean today.

My knees are raw from the rugged ground, my palms speckled with little bits of gravel embedded in the skin. But I can still feel Haley’s fingers brushing against my calves every so often, gently propelling me forward.

The tunnel shifts yet again, veering to the left. Now it’s a little brighter, and I’m slithering like a snake. I can finally see my hands in front of my face.

“We’re getting there,” I call out, my voice echoing slightly. There are flashes of sunlight. It fucking hurts my eyes.

“Good, good,” Zane replies, though his voice sounds far away. Given the length of our elongated bodies in this narrow space, he’s probably not even around the last bend yet. He definitely wants this adventure over, but he, like me, would do anything for Haley.

Crawling forward, I come up to a section where a boulder has wedged itself, leaving a tiny sliver of daylight shining between it and the rest of the ceiling. I cock my head sideways, closing one eye to get a clearer view.

It’s the ocean. Haley was right—this tunnel cuts through to the ocean. I can see waves crashing below. Curiously, I cock my head to the left, closing my right eye and using just my left.

And then I see something unexpected out there. “What the fuck is that?” I exclaim, my voice a mix of wonder and apprehension.

“What is it?”

“A fucking boat.” Just the aft is all I can see. I think.

“You’re kidding me?” Her voice rises. “You’re not kidding. What kind of boat?”

I turn my head to the left, closing my right eye again. But all I can see is the aft. “It’s got a swim platform.” I turn my head the other way. But I can’t see anything but the other side of the damn swim platform. And it’s pissing me off.

“Is it the Rock Candy?” Her words come out in heady breaths.

“I... fuck if I know.” Maybe. Probably.

“What other yacht would be sitting on the same island as us?”

I’m both hopeful and fucking fearful. Sam is my friend. I’ve worked with him for years, and honestly, he’s more than my captain. I could have moved on a long time ago. But I didn’t. He’s good people. And we’re all fucking Haley. He can’t have her back. I’ll fight him for what’s ours. Is he alive, even? Damn, I hope so. I don’t like a lot of people, but I like Sam, and his damn dog too.

I have no idea what really happened to the Rock Candy. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, tumbling it over and over with no evidence. How the hell could I ever get a real answer?

I can’t. Left eye closed. The same view. Right eye closed. Same.

“I want to see.” Haley’s tugging on my calf.

“Hold on. Back up a bit. I want to push on this rock. Maybe I can get a better view.” They do. And I push. And no matter how much I strain against it, I can’t make it budge. It’s just a small sliver.

“Yeah, well, that’s going to be hard. Back it on up.” It takes a minute for us to get to a spot where we can switch positions. Do I want her going in first? Fuck no. The rock didn’t move for me, but that doesn’t mean they can’t move.

“What did you see exactly?” Haley asks.

“The aft of a super yacht. But only this much.” I hold my finger up. We’re still lying on the ground.

Zane’s nod is a dark blur. “Right. Let Haley go first. Her head isn’t as swollen as yours.” He laughs.

Haley climbs over me. And yes, I very much enjoy the process. And hold on to her a little as she does.

I roll back onto all fours and army crawl behind her. When she gets to the edge of the rocks, I have one hand around each of her ankles.

“Ease up a little there, Captain America. I need a couple more inches to see.”

“What do you see, Haley?” Zane calls behind me.

“The swim platform. But when I squish my head up to the top of the cave, I can see a little green on the back. Like a... I don’t know.”

“A golf turf.” Zane calls from behind me. “Like you might use to let a dog go wee?”

“Yes. Ow, fucking hell, that hurts,” I say. I’ve got a nice scrape on my ear now.

“Come out, Haley. Let’s try something else.” We get to the place where Haley climbed over me last time, and as much as I liked it, I’m not doing it again. “A little more, Zane.” We back up far enough to lie side by side. “I want to go back in and push with my legs. Zane can hold on to my hands.”

“Fuck no. I’ve seen this movie too. I’m strong, but not strong enough to hold up your fat ass like some swinging trapeze artist. Or a cartoon.”

“I’m not going to fall out.”

“No.” Haley and Zane say together.

I grunt.

“I can’t see his face, but he’s doing it, isn’t he?” Haley says.

“Absolutely. Fucking yes, he is.” Zane replies.

“He’s not going to listen to us, is he?”

“Nope.” Zane sighs.

“Fuck,” Haley breathes.

We’re back in position. This time my legs are on the rock. My back is to the ground. Zane’s holding on to my arms, and Haley’s gone outside telling the others. What a shithead I am. Like they don’t already know. “Tell me again how you think pushing that thing out isn’t going to make this tunnel collapse?” Zane asks.

I tilt my head in the sand. “No. One, two, three.” And I push.