Carved in Stone (12 page)

“Don’t be afraid.” He said the words against her lips, and then he kissed her, gently, sweetly, offering comfort the only way he knew.

She moaned softly, leaning into his kiss, raising her hands to touch his shoulders, his hair, the sensitive spot behind his ear. But for all the depth of emotion he offered, the kiss remained chaste, his lips conveying hope and strength, his passion controlled.

He smiled against her lips, ending the kiss and leaning away from her, still locked within her light embrace. “Stay right here.” He touched the end of her nose with the tip of his finger. “I’ll be back in just a second.” He turned away and angled his body to one side, slipping between the narrow cleft and into the shadows beyond.

Within seconds, the sharp glow from the halogen flashlight had disappeared from Alex’s view.

And he still had the penlight in his shirt pocket! She thought of calling him back, fought the panic that battered at the edges of her rational mind, the mind that told her he’d be gone no more than a couple of minutes, but the darkness was absolute. Alex pressed against the solid wall of rock, splaying her fingers to either side to feel more anchored. In the total absence of light, there was no up or down, no sense of distance. Only texture and sound and scent, from the abrasive stone beneath her hands and the musty dampness of rock and dust to her own labored breathing, echoing loudly in the darkness.

She listened for Nate and thought she heard the scrape of his boots against the rough ground. Soon even that brief link was swallowed in silence.

Hours passed, it had to be hours. She was lost in the rasp of her own breathing, the sound a bellows growing louder in the confines of the narrow tunnel.

The sense of isolation should have been complete.

But she wasn’t alone. Someone or something had entered her world. Alex felt a tentative touch, a sense of curiosity, an almost tangible awareness of being. And just as quickly it was gone.

When it left, the fear returned. A sense of mind-numbing isolation, a feeling that she would forever remain here, swallowed up in this dark tomb beneath the mountain. She had been abandoned. By the presence. By Nate.

Vaguely Alex heard the scrape of leather against rock, a rattle of loose stones. A narrow beam of light cast aside the darkness, but it wasn’t enough to lead her back from fear.

Instead, Alex reached out for the presence.
Who are you? Where did you go?
The questions floated unanswered while Alex flattened herself even closer against the rock.

“See, sweetheart, I told you I’d just be a minute.” Nate’s voice came from a great distance.

She hadn’t moved. Her body was absolutely rigid, pressed tightly against the rough wall of the cavern from heels to head. Her hands were at hip level with fingers splayed wide as if she searched for some sort of anchor. He hadn’t been gone more than a couple of minutes, max.

“Alex?” Nate touched her cheek and she flinched, but her eyes remained fixed on nothing. He set the flashlight on the ground and its beam cast light against her legs and shadows on the roughened rock behind her.

“Alex? It’s okay, hon.” He cupped her face in his hands and caressed the firm line of her jaw. He turned her face to his, and seeing the dilated eyes, the blank expression, he gently kissed her, drawing her back to him through the warmth of his lips on hers.

She shuddered, and then she was kissing him desperately, her arms snaking around his waist, holding him close. Hot tears fell from her eyes, but they dampened his cheeks and dripped into the stubble of his beard.

“I thought you weren’t coming back.” She sobbed against his mouth, so upset that her fear was a tangible thing. “I thought you were never coming back.”

“Oh, hon, I wouldn’t leave you. Not ever.” He soothed her, talking as if she were just a child, convincing her, making her believe every word he whispered against her lips. “I only went a few feet, just far enough to see if I could fit through the crevice.”

She held him, but now she wrapped her arms around his neck, tangled her fingers in the long strands of hair that curled past his collar. Even though she knew her panic was unwarranted, she felt the fear of abandonment, the fear of being alone in the darkness, deep within the earth. Except she hadn’t really been alone. Not completely.

“Alex. You’re okay.” Nate’s voice held a stern quality she hadn’t heard before, and it brought her back, returned her to this place and time.

“Oh, God. I was so afraid.” It was almost a question, the way she said it, and it made her angry. She hated this sense of fear, of total vulnerability. Hated anyone seeing her vulnerable and afraid, especially Nathan.

Definitely Nathan.

“Afraid of the dark?” He held her against his chest.

She felt the rhythmic thump of his heart beating counterpoint to the erratic tempo of hers. “I’ve always been afraid of the dark. It’s just never been quite so dark before.” She tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob. She cut the sound off as soon as she recognized it. She thought about telling him of the presence, then decided against it. As frightened as she’d been, he’d probably figure she’d conjured up a friendly spirit to keep her company.

“Well, I’m back now.”

Damn him. So he’s back and all’s right with the world? She pulled out of his embrace, embarrassed because she’d lost it so badly.

He didn’t seem to notice. “Alex, wait till you see what I found at the end of this passage.” He was already moving away, pulling her along with him.

She hitched the rope back up on her shoulder. The solid weight steadied her. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, as he dragged her behind him, through the narrow fissure.

“Someplace magical,” was all he said, but his sense of excitement was contagious. Carefully, the two of them maneuvered the tight passageway, inching along like crabs on the shore, sideways, the rock pressing in on them from all sides.

Alex felt the sound before she heard it, a deep roar that kept pace with her pounding heart and heavy breathing. Finally she and Nate popped out of the narrow tunnel like corks from a bottle. They stood on a ledge about four feet wide, over an abyss so broad it was impossible to see in the feeble beam of the flashlight’s dying batteries.

Then even that meager glow disappeared as, with a loud click, Nate turned off the flashlight.

Alex gasped. She shut her eyes and grabbed for his arm in the dark, leaning back against the rock wall, away from the chasm stretching out in front of them.

“What do ya think? Isn’t it beautiful?”

Again, his words were far away, and she had to drag herself back to hear him.

“Alex? Ya gotta open your eyes, hon.”

She heard him chuckle, embarrassed once again that he’d caught her freaking out. “Quit calling me hon,” she snapped, but she opened her eyes.

“What is it?” she whispered when her sight adjusted to the darkness that was no longer as dark.

They stood on a narrow ledge high above a huge cavern. The walls were far enough away that the beam of the flashlight, if it had been on, wouldn’t have reached the opposite side.

But there was no need for artificial light. The ceiling and walls of the huge amphitheater curving above and below were draped with glistening strands of fire, thousands upon thousands of webs of light that glowed in unearthly hues of silver and blue.

And to their right, the source of the roar that had become a part of the rock, a part of the fabric of the world around them, a broad torrent of water falling from the same level they stood on now, shimmering like cascading diamonds in the ethereal light of the cavern as it fell into a sparkling pool below.

“My God, Nate.” She knew she sounded breathless, but it wasn’t fear. Not now, when she was so awed by the beauty, the magnificence of the spectacle before her. “What is it? Where’s the light coming from?” She turned to him and saw that he was just as awestruck as she, his lips parted, his eyes wide open to the astonishing view spread out below.

“I don’t know.” His words came out in a whisper.

She wondered if he felt the same way she did, that to speak aloud would somehow desecrate the sanctity of such an unearthly place. Slowly he turned to Alex and held her close, then gazed back at the unbelievable phenomenon before them.

“The only thing I can think of is glow worms.”

“Glow worms?” She giggled. “As in, glow little glow worm, glimmer, glimmer, etc.?”

“Kind of like that.” He chuckled, the warmth of the sound flowing over her like honey. “Actually, I remember reading about glow worms that live in caves, in Australia, I think. They make long glowing webs to catch insects.”

“Where would the insects come from?” She leaned away from him expectantly, waiting for his answer.

“From somewhere outside, of course,” he said, grinning down at her as the importance of the statement struck home.

“Then I suggest we look for the outside. What do you think, Professor?”

“I think that blasted rope you’ve been hauling with you all this time may finally come in handy.” He reached over and lifted the heavy loops from her shoulder.

“We need to find someplace secure to tie it,” he said, investigating the ledge with their flashlight. The beam glistened off a large stalagmite growing up from the floor of the tunnel behind them. Nate stepped closer to it, putting his full weight against the formation. When it didn’t move, he looped a circle of rope over the top, pulled it tight, and tied it off.

“You go first he said,” handing the rope to Alex. “Tie the end around your waist and I can hold it and lower you down.”

“You’re hurt.” Hadn’t she proved that she was every bit as capable as he was? “You go on down, then I’ll follow. You don’t have to help me, you know.”

He shook his head, laughing at her. Whenever she asserted herself, he made her feel foolish. Why was it okay for Nate to offer to help her, but not for Alex to return the same courtesy?

Finally, though, he seemed to come to some silent conclusion, and without further comment he gripped the rope tightly in both hands and stepped carefully back over the lip of the rock ledge.

Rock crumbled beneath his feet, but he must have found some sort of foothold, because he began to lower himself down the cliff. Alex grabbed the tied-off end of rope and held it against the base of the stalagmite, knowing that if it slipped over the top of the rounded formation she would never be able to hold Nathan’s weight.

Before she had time to panic, he’d reached the bottom and was yelling up to her to tie her equipment to the rope and lower everything down to him.

She quickly stuck new batteries into the flashlight, half expecting the natural glow in the cavern to simply shut off, then did as Nate requested, sending down her fanny pack, water bottles and the flashlight. While Nate untied the bundle, she waited on the ledge, enjoying the silvery half-light from the glow worms’ webs.

Nate pointed the flashlight in her direction, momentarily blinding her. Blinking, she gave him a thumbs-up sign and got a tight grip on the rope.

But she realized that once she was down, they’d have to leave the rope here, and if they came to another precipice like this one, they’d be trapped.

Well, crap. She called down to Nate. “Just a minute. I need to do something up here.”

Before he could respond, she had hauled the rope back up to the ledge, then proceeded to untie the end that was wrapped around the stalagmite. Carefully, she tied one end around her waist, then looped the rope loosely around the large rock formation, preparing to lower herself to the ground.

“Alex, what the hell are you doing up there?” He sounded worried, but she decided she liked that a little. It was nice to know someone cared whether or not you made it down a cliff in one piece.

“I’m fine,” she called back to him, giving a silent prayer to the cave gods that she would make it down without falling. One step at a time, she thought as she started to back over the ledge.
But the first one’s a doozy.

She couldn’t do it. What if she wasn’t strong enough to slow her own descent? She hovered at the edge of the precipice, caught between panic and pride. Finally common sense prevailed. Now probably wasn’t the best time to try and prove a point.

“Nate? Nate, I have a little favor to ask.”

“Yes, Alex?” He was trying to tease her, but she sensed the apprehension in his voice. He probably thought she was completely crazy. Maybe she was.

“What do you want?”

“Out of here,” she joked, but the humor fell flat. “Actually, I want to throw you one end of the rope and have you lower me to the ground. Or at least as close to the ground as it’ll reach.”

“That’s stupid!” he exploded, and even though she couldn’t see him in the gloomy light, she knew how angry he would look.

“No, it’s not. Be reasonable. We might need the rope again.”

He was silent a moment, and Alex wondered what he was up to.

“You’re right,” he said. “I didn’t think of that.”

“What did you say?” She couldn’t help teasing him. “I love it when you agree with me.”

“Well, don’t get used to it,” Nate growled. “Just toss me one end of the rope, but make sure it’s wrapped twice around the stalagmite. I don’t want it to slip over the top.”

Quickly, she looped the rope an extra time, then tossed Nate the other end. She checked the knot around her waist, and this time when she reached the edge of the precipice, she flopped down on her belly and eased herself over the brittle lip.

The ledge crumbled beneath her. Alex was falling, scrabbling for a handhold on the rock and then the abrasive rope in a vain attempt to stop her descent. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to scream. She fell a dozen feet so fast she hardly had time to wonder if Nate was strong enough, with all his injuries, to save her. But then the rope jerked hard under her ribs, tore the skin on her hands, and stopped her fall.

She swung a moment against the face of the cliff, then, swaying gently back and forth like a huge pendulum, she felt Nate begin lowering her steadily to the ground.

He stopped her descent just inches above him and grinned up at her in the ghostly light. The muscles in his chest and arms bulged with the strain of her weight; the cords in his neck stood out like bands of steel. When she finally reached his level, she let go of the rope and grabbed his shoulders.