Coal Black Blues (18 page)

When a volunteer came around with more donuts, she refused with a polite smile, but she nudged Will. “Do you want a donut?”

He snorted. “No, my stomach hurts now.”

By noon, the crowd had increased, despite the fact many had gone home after confirmation they’d lost their loved one. Media people circulated through those gathered, asking questions, seeking quotations, but both Caroline and Will ignored them. Caroline thought some of the newcomers were nosy, vultures circling to watch the tragic story unfold and when someone put their hand on her shoulder, she whirled, ready to refuse. She gasped, instead.

“Rob!”

Will turned around, eyes wide. “How’d you get here so fast?”

Neil’s brother, unshaven and hollow eyed, answered, “I flew. I caught a flight last evening to New York, had a five-hour layover and flew to Charlotte, North Carolina, then into Reagan National, then to Charleston. I rented a car and drove the rest of the way or I’d been here sooner. You’re both still here so I assume Neil’s still alive.”

“He is, as far as we know,” Will replied. “Eleven others aren’t.”

“I heard and I’m sorry to hear about them,” Rob said. “I may not live here now but my roots are here, same as yours.”

“So I suppose Uncle Jasper and Aunt Mart heard about the mine accident?”
Rob gave his cousin a look that bordered on a glare. “Yeah, of course they did. Ian and his family did too. It’s all over the national news. CNN is running live feeds several times an hour. They wanted to come, but Ian talked them out of it. Mom’s blood pressure has skyrocketed since she heard Neil’s trapped in the mind and I thought Dad was on the verge of a stroke. So I came and I hope I will call them with good news.”

Caroline stood a little taller. She liked his positive attitude. It gave her hope the boost it needed to stay alive. “I’m glad you came, Rob,” she said. “Neil’s going to be glad to see you.”

Will turned on his heel and stalked away to the nearest church member offering coffee.

“What’s his problem?” Rob asked.

“He’s worried sick and scared,” Caroline said. “We’ve been here all day yesterday and all night. We’re tired on top of everything else and Will knew all the ones who died.”

“What about Neil’s PTSD? Do you think the situation will trigger an episode?”

She had wondered the same. “I don’t know. What’s happening now isn’t much like what happened in the Middle East. I hope not. He has enough to handle without a PTSD flare.”

“Ah,” Rob said, with understanding. “I imagine he does. So what do we do now?”

Her sigh rushed into the air, big enough to reach the mountaintops. “We wait,” she said, repeating the process that had kept them going so far. “We wait and hope and pray.”

Rob’s eyes widened, but he nodded. He appeared almost as tired as she felt and Caroline reminded herself he’d flown across the country, making several connections to get here.

“All right, Caroline,” he said. “We wait.”

And so they did, the three of them who were there for Neil McCullough and all the others, through another long day. Nothing changed until the first evening shadows began to fall and then everything did.

Chapter Twenty

Fatigue burned deep within Caroline’s eyes and added to the headache she couldn’t seem to shake. Her knees ached from the cold and her back muscles protested the hours of standing. Twice, she spent time within the offices, but the deep need to know what might happen drew her back outside. She ate a sandwich someone offered her and drank some iced tea, enough to keep going but nothing more. More than once, she swayed, so weary she could almost fall asleep standing up and either Will or Rob steadied her so she didn’t collapse. Both men offered to take her home or to the store, but she refused.

“There’s no way I’m leaving until Neil does,” she told them. She’d lost track of time and she had given up on staying warm. Nothing mattered with everything reduced to the most vital and important. And, they didn’t argue, either of the McCullough men because she knew they would remain on site until Neil came out.

In weak moments, Caroline’s thought dwelled on Neil’s premonition and she replayed Saturday morning until it became torture. She tried too hard to read meaning into his words and gave it up. If she let her guard down, she would despair and she resolved she couldn’t. Even when few of the other waiting families held out much hope, she hung onto her belief Neil remained sound.

Some of the gathered people went away, one or three at a time. The church people packed up their food and water stations. Caroline glanced around. “Why are they leaving? Did we miss some announcement?”

Will answered her. “It’s time for Sunday night church. They’re leaving to go pray for the miners. They’ll still sing and the preachers will give a sermon, but they’ll be praying hard for our men.”

“What time is it?”

“Five thirty or so,” he told her, patient as a parent. “That gives them time to go home, clean up, put on their Sunday best and head out.”

Caroline made a few mental calculations. She heard the blast and headed to the mine entrance more than thirty hours earlier. She had eaten a sparse amount of food, drank just a little more and hadn’t slept at all. Her body ached from spending so much time in the cold and she didn’t feel very good at all, thanks to a combination of weariness and worry. At eight, it would be thirty-six hours by her reckoning and in the morning, forty-eight. Time was running out and for the first time, she realized how bleak things were. If Neil and the others weren’t rescued soon, they would die, and Caroline faced the reality for the first time. He might not come out.

Her legs folded beneath her and she sat down hard on the cold ground. Will bent down over Caroline, saw her face and his expression turned somber. He beckoned Rob.

“Go fetch a chair for her. She cain’t stand no more,” he said.

Rob headed toward the offices and Will put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right, Carrie?”

“I don’t know,” she moaned. “I don’t know. Will, time is going to run out…”

He squatted down beside her. “It ain’t yet. Don’t give up on Neil. You’ve been the one hanging on, hoping and you can’t quit now.”

“But in the morning, it’ll be two days,” Caroline said. “All I can think is it wasn’t that long at Sago or at the Upper Branch Mine and…”

Fire lit his eyes, so like Neil’s. “Don’t say it. You’re right about one thing. If he’s coming out, it needs to be soon, for him and for all of them. But you gotta keep the faith. If you quit believing, it’s done.”

Rob returned with a folding chair. Together the men grasped her hands and lifted her into it. Caroline’s chest burned with unshed sobs, but if she started crying, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop. She trembled from head to foot, close to losing control, so she shut her eyes and tried to focus.

Images of Neil flooded her brain. His slow grin, the one that always touched her heart, the way he laughed when he meant it, head tossed back and with abandon, the slow way his coal-tinged hands caressed her body, and the serious depth of his eyes all haunted her, playing across her mind like a movie. Neil’s quiet voice, the one he used when he was most serious, echoed in her ears and she remembered how he sang along to classic country music when he was relaxed. In all the years of her marriage, Caroline couldn’t count how many times she caught sight of someone in a crowded mall or across a restaurant and for a split second thought it might be Neil. It never had been, but her heart had always lifted in the moment when it might have been. She thought of the way they’d sat close together in his old car, roaring around the curves and taking the hills with speed in their teens.

When she worked to get the store open again, Neil had been at her side, offering a helping hand and unconditional support. Without him, she would have nothing and her life would stretch out as empty as an old highway abandoned in favor of a new interstate. Love swelled within until Caroline thought she’d burst with it and she wanted him,
needed
Neil with a powerful urgency.

I want Neil. I want Christmas with a red cedar tree and a ham on the table. I want Neil with me in the store every day, I want some kids and I want to grow old with him, in my grandparents’ house, in these hills.

The sobs she’d held so long broke free and she buried her face in both hands. Her body shook with the force of her tears. As she wept, Caroline made a low, terrible keening sound, a wail of despair. Someone, maybe Will, put a hand on her back to offer comfort and said, “Hush that, Carrie. Don’t. For the love of Jesus, don’t.”

She wanted to tell him she couldn’t stop, but the words refused to come, blocked by the emotional outburst. He continued to ask her to quiet down, and it was Will, but she couldn’t. His big hand patted her back the way people soothe a baby, but although Caroline marked it, it didn’t help. Her tears might have gone on for much longer if Rob hadn’t shaken her shoulder.

“Something’s happened, Caroline. Stop bawling and take a look.”

Caroline choked back a sob and raised her head. The activity near the mine’s entrance had become a furor, with more people heading to the site. Insistent voices rose to shouts and the ambulances on the road advanced through the crowd with slow precision. Crimson lights contrasted with the darkness, vivid as blood. She forced her voice to work. “What is it?”

Will shook his head. “I don’t know but something’s changed.”

His tone sounded as broken as shattered glass, but he moved forward, his posture straight as a new fence pole, his face unreadable. Caroline scrubbed at her cheeks in an effort to wipe the tear tracks and dug in her pocket for a tissue to blow her clogged nose. Rob offered her a hand.

“I’m going up there to find out what’s going on,” he said. “Do you want to go with me?”

She did and she didn’t. The moment of truth, the knowledge whether or not Neil still lived, had arrived. For a moment, Caroline imagined waiting at the rear of the crowd, not knowing but imagining the worst scenarios. Reality, no matter how bad it might be, had to be better than ignorance. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come.”

Rob grasped her hand and moved forward with Caroline in tow. He murmured polite words as they passed, ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ as they moved through the waiting throng. Journalists also headed for the entrance, cameras at the ready, microphones live. Other family members and a few miners who waited for word advanced too.

Will moved through the crowd with the determination of a bird dog on point. He sidled through gaps and walked with graceful speed until he stood at the mouth of the mine, closer to the entrance than the media and most of the emergency responders. Caroline followed him with her eyes, trying to gauge from his reaction if she should expect tragedy or if any hope remained.

They halted about three rows back, as close to the front as possible. People huddled close around them on all sides, quiet with expectation. If Rob hadn’t kept holding her hand, Caroline thought she might have crumpled with exhaustion and emotion.

For fifteen minutes, no one knew what had happened but something had and expectation hung heavy in the air, thick as smoke but invisible. Caroline watched two rescue workers emerge. Despite their grime-smeared faces and filthy clothing, both were grinning and for the first time, hope flared again in her heart. Will halted one of them and bent his head to ask a question. Whatever he had asked, the man gave him a thumbs up in response. She watched Will’s expression change.

He cupped his hands together and shouted, “They broke through the cave-in and they found the miners, all of them. Some are hurt but they’re alive and they’re coming out.”

Some of the women screamed. A ragged cheer burst out of multiple throats and one Pentecostal woman in long skirts and beehive hairdo babbled in tongues. She danced in a circle, arms outspread to the sky. Caroline heard prayers uplifted and people weeping with joy. She didn’t realize she cried, too, until she tasted the salt of her tears. Will beckoned them to come forward so she and Rob advanced. At the same time, two deputies shouted for the crowds to move back.

“Make way for the miners,” one of them shouted, his voice loud enough there was no need for a bullhorn. “Let the paramedics through and move back.”

Neither Caroline nor Rob obeyed. They joined Will who stood less than five feet to the right of the entrance. Tear tracks cut through the dirt on his face as he hugged her like a brother would and released her.

“He should be here pretty quick.”

She nodded, her voice blocked by the knot of tears in her throat. The television station illuminated the scene until it seemed as bright as day. Their bright lights cast tall shadows and gave everything an odd, nightmarish appearance, but at least they could see.

A few minutes later, the first of the twelve staggered out of the mine. The Adcock brothers, both barely out of their teens, came first, supporting each other. Their mother rushed toward them and followed as paramedics walked them to the closest ambulance. The other miners followed, some in tandem, others alone. Several were carried out on stretchers held by rescue workers, but most appeared to be conscious and aware. Caroline counted them, one, three, six, seven, and ten. The eleventh man emerged, supported by three emergency responders.

Her heart came to a halt. Caroline’s lungs forgot to breathe. Her chest tightened so much it hurt. The world narrowed to a tight tunnel. She stood at one end and the entrance was at the opposite side. Although people talked all around her, she heard nothing, focused only on Neil and nothing else.

After the last man, there came a pause. Maybe no one else had counted, but they were short a man. Neil. Beside her, Will stiffened and Rob released her hand. Caroline stared at the doorway and she moved forward.
If he doesn’t come out, I’m going in and I’m not coming out until I find him.

She took another step and then stopped. A silhouette appeared in the opening, his face in shadow, but Caroline knew and she cried out. Neil moved toward her, his gait slow, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. He wore a grimace of pain, but his lips curved upward in his familiar grin. Coal dust and grime coated his skin and clothes. His hands were battered and bleeding, but she ran toward him without hesitation. He advanced and when she had almost reached him, Neil flung his arms open wide and she threw herself into his embrace. He caught her and held her tight as a vise. Pressed against his chest, Caroline heard his labored breathing. Her fingers clutched his shirt and then she lifted one hand to his cheek. Two days unshaved stubble rasped beneath her touch and his skin seemed warm to her cold hand. He had no color in his face, stark white against his dark beard.

“I made it out,” he said, in a hoarse voice. “Carrie, I did.”

“Oh, Neil, you did. I love you, Neil. I was so afraid…”

His body went limp and he dropped to his knees. “I … love … you.” He gasped. Caroline went to the same level, holding him. Will kneeled on the ground beside her. “He needs oxygen, now. Let the paramedics get to him.”

She didn’t want to let go, but she allowed Rob to pull her up by one hand. Caroline stepped back as EMTs surrounded Neil. Within moments, he wore an oxygen mask and in a few short minutes, they had strapped him to a gurney. Will stood toe to toe with them, asking questions and then nodded. He returned to where Caroline waited with Rob.

“They’re taking him to the hospital in Charleston.”

“General or Memorial or St. Francis?” she asked.

“CAMC General, because they have a trauma center,” Will told her. “If you want to go, I’ll take you because I’m going. Rob? Are you coming with us or what?”

“I can’t leave the rental car here. I’ll meet you there.”

“I’m going, Will, but what about my car?”

Will cussed under his breath and then said, “I’ll get somebody to drive it down to the store. Let’s go.”

Several ambulances departed, with lights streaking the darkness and the sirens engaged. The sharp wail echoed from the mountains. “Do you think he’s okay?”

She knew it was a dumb question. Will didn’t know any more than she did, but she sought comfort. He drew a deep breath and then exhaled hard. “I think he will be, most likely, Carrie, but let’s go see. Give me your keys.”

On the way to his truck, he stopped someone she didn’t know and handed him her car keys. “He’ll drop the car off. Let’s see if we can get out of this mess.”

They had to wait to make way for other ambulances, and then Will pulled his truck out of a tight spot and maneuvered onto the blacktop road. With a burst of speed, he careened around the curves until they rolled through Coaltown and past the store. Someone, probably Alexander, had put ‘Pray For Our Miners’ on the sign out front and she blessed him silently. Will saw where she looked. “Did you need something from the store? We can stop if it’s quick.”