Shadow Bones (19 page)

“Was that all there was?” He took the dynamite from her. “It's a little damp. I hope it's stable.” Decaying dynamite gave off nitroglycerin and could be dangerous.

“It's all we've got. We could try blowing this hole big enough to get through.”

He thought a minute. Stuck in this small tunnel, it would be dangerous. But at least they'd be dead quickly instead of lingering with starvation and dehydration. “It might work, but it also might seal us in even tighter.” That was the biggest worry.

“What do we have to lose?”

Exactly his thought. “I've got a pocketknife. We might be able to chip away enough of the hole for you to squeeze through. You could go for help.” The thought of being in this coffin alone made it hard to speak, but he had to get Skye to safety.

“We'd be dead before we could chip that much away,” she said. “Let's go together or not at all.”

“Is there a longer fuse in that box?”

“I'll look.” She crouched down again and wedged herself under the opening again. “There's some fuse and matches as well.” She backed out and handed the booty to him.

“We could put as long a fuse on it as possible then get far back. Let's start with just one stick of dynamite.
I don't know much about explosives so we'd better play it safe.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Skye's cheerful voice brought a smile to his face. She could find a silver lining in the darkest cloud. He knew it was a long shot, but there was no reason to discourage her.

“Okay, you hold the light.” He stretched the fuse out and attached it to a stick of the explosive. He put the dynamite in the opening to the other room. “Let's start backing up.”

Skye nodded, and they began to move away from the opening. They reached a bend in the tunnel, but the fuse wouldn't reach around it. “You go around the curve. I'll join you when the fuse is lit.”

“I want to stay with you.”

“I'll be right there. I can move faster if I know you're safe.”

She huffed but did as he said. The area plunged into darkness. Rats, he couldn't see the fuse. He fumbled with the matches but couldn't see well enough to strike one properly.

“Bring the light here a minute,” he said.

Skye moved toward him. “I knew you needed me.” She focused the beam on his hands.

Jake knelt and struck the match against the rock beside him. It flared and died. “I think they're wet.”

“Try again.”

Skye had found only four matches. He swiped the next match on the rock, and it did nothing but fizzle. “Only two more,” he said.

“It will work.”

The fervency in her voice steadied his hand. The third match broke in his hand.

She put her hand over his. “This is our last shot. It has to work. I've been praying.”

Holding the match close to the sulphur so it wouldn't break, he held his breath and struck it against the rock. It flared to life. The flame began to sputter and he quickly held it to the fuse. Just as it died, the fuse caught.

“Thank You, God!” Skye clapped her hands together.

“Get back!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her around the corner and to the ground. They both fell against the hard dirt, and he covered her with his body. “Please, God,” he said softly. He glanced over his shoulder and could see a dim glow as the fire raced along the fuse.

The explosion came in a soft
whumph
that washed over them. Jake could feel the pressure in his ears, then a wind rushed past them. Rubble rattled to the floor, and small stones rained down on them. Jake covered his head with his hands and made sure Skye was protected.

As the dust settled, he lifted his head. The flashlight had gone out, and as he picked it up, he heard the rattle of broken glass. There would be no second chance.

“Are you all right?” He rolled off Skye onto the ground and sat up.

“I'm fine. Are you hurt?”

“I don't think so.” His back stung from the small stones that had struck him, but he would live. At least
for now. He helped her to her feet. “The light is busted. We'll have to find the hole in the dark.”

They rounded the curve in the tunnel. “I think I see it!” Skye moved away from him.

“Wait, it might not be stable.” He caught at her hand and pulled her behind him. “Let me check it out first.” Running his hands over the walls, he made his way to where moonlight cast a glow too weak to see with. It was more an impression of light rather than a real illumination.

As he neared the spot, he could see the hole was larger, at least large enough for Skye to exit through. “We've done it!” He swung her into his arms and hugged her. His throat closed with gratitude to God.

Skye kissed him and turned to peer under the hole. “Let's get out of here.”

“You go first.” He went down on one knee and glanced through the opening.

Skye went to her belly and slithered through the hole. “Plenty of room.”

The thought of going through that tiny hole nearly made him vomit. He had to do this though. He got to his stomach and began to wiggle into the opening. He could feel the rough edges of rock tear at his arms. His skin burned where the stones scraped him raw.

The hole narrowed farther, and panic flared again. He forced himself forward, then his shoulders caught and wedged. Caught, trapped. He fought the vise around his body. It was like being swallowed alive by a python.

“It's got me!” He could see nothing, feel nothing, but the tight embrace of the rock walls.

S
kye heard the panic in Jake's voice and turned to help. She could barely see his face in the dim moonlight that came from the opening to the outside. She touched his clammy forehead. “I'm here. We'll get you out.”

“It's too tight.” He panted and tried to twist free.

“Stop struggling.” She ran her hands across his shoulders and into the hole that held him fast. Maybe there was wiggle room somewhere. “Try to drop your left shoulder.”

He was gasping so hard she didn't see how he could hear her. This had to be a nightmare for him with his fear of tight spaces, though prayer had kept him calmer than she ever dreamed possible. She knelt and placed her palms on each side of his face. “It's okay, Jake. There's room. Drop your left shoulder.”

He nodded and she ran her hands across his shoulders again. “Here, drop your arm a bit so your shoulder moves.” She felt the muscles bunch under her hands
as he tried to do as she said. The left shoulder dropped a couple of inches. “You've got it!” She grabbed his arms and began to tug.

At first he seemed to be wedged tighter than ever, then she felt a little movement and he began to move forward. Moments later, he was lying on the floor panting. Drawing in great lungfuls of air, he rolled to his back. Moonlight touched his face, and she saw he was as pale as the white light coming through the opening.

She held out her hand. “Let's get out of here.”

He grabbed her hand and she helped him to his feet. They went through the final opening into the light. Fresh air had never tasted so sweet. She drew in a deep breath tinged with pine from the thick hemlock forest all around them.

“Where is this place? Does it look familiar?” Jake slipped his arm around her.

“Not really.” The hemlocks hemmed them in, and she couldn't see much of the terrain in the faint glimmer of moonlight.

Jake glanced at the sky. “There's the North Star. I'd say the road is this way.” He took her hand and led her toward an opening in the trees.

Half an hour later, they stumbled out of the trees and onto the road. “I know where we are now!” She pointed to a road sign. “About five miles down there is where Sheriff Mitchell lives.”

“He won't be pleased to have us pounding on his door at—” He stopped and peered at his watch. “Four in the morning.”

“Who cares?” She felt like dancing in the road. This nightmare was almost over. Except for confronting Peter and telling her mother what he'd done. Her jubilation faded.

Jake seemed to sense her disquiet because he paused and pulled her into his arms. “It will be okay,” he whispered. “Peter can't hurt you anymore.”

“He already has.” She rubbed her fists against her eyes. “I can't bear to tell Mother what he's done.”

“At least you know what happened to your father. You'll have closure on that—your mother, too.”

She nodded. “I suppose I always knew he was never coming back. Deep down where I didn't bring it out to admit it.”

He kissed her and the caress held all the promise of the future they'd almost been deprived of. “Let's get out of here. We have a wedding to plan.”

“You've never even proposed.”

“I'll remedy that right now.” He dropped to his knees in the middle of the road and took her hand. “I'm not going anywhere until you say yes.”

“Someone will run over you there.” She giggled, her fear and sorrow dropping away.

“As long as you say yes, I'll die happy.” He smiled up at her. The moonlight highlighted the face she had come to love against her will.

“Yes.” She cupped his face in her palms and leaned down to kiss him. “Now let's get out of here.”

He stood and dug his pocketknife out. He flipped a blade out and cut a small twig from the baby hemlock
tree just off the road. Coiling it into a circle, he slipped it onto her finger. “This will have to do until I can buy you a proper ring.”

She closed her hand around the makeshift ring. “I might not let you take it back.” A burgeoning happiness threatened to overwhelm her with tears. She'd heard about people crying from happiness, and now she knew how that felt.

He embraced her again. “Wynne will be smug and self-satisfied,” he said. “She predicted you were going to batter down my defenses.”

“It was the other way around.” She pulled away and slipped her arm into his as they proceeded down the road.

 

Skye stood behind the sheriff as he pounded on her mother's door. She wouldn't be able to go through with the accusation if Jake weren't right here with her. How did she tell her mother her husband was a murderer?

Peter opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw her and Jake standing behind Sheriff Mitchell. “You!” He took a step back and turned to run.

“Peter Metis, you're under arrest for the murder of Harry Blackbird.” The sheriff stepped through the door and clapped handcuffs on Peter.

“No, you've got it all wrong.” Tears came to Peter's eyes.

“Peter? What's wrong?” Skye's mother came down the hall in her terry housecoat and slippers. Her face went white when she saw her husband in handcuffs. “What's going on?”

“It's a long story, Mother.” Skye stepped around the sheriff and led her mother into the living room.

It was nearly an hour later before her mother was calm enough to drink the coffee Jake brought in. “I always knew Peter was jealous of Harry. They fought over me like wolverines in high school. He masked his real nature well.” Her mother rubbed her eyes.

Skye patted her mother's hand. She didn't know what to say. Peter's treachery was beyond belief.

Her mother's gaze went from her to Jake. “You two finally got things settled, didn't you?” She gave a slight smile.

Jake's dark eyes slid to Skye's face, and she smiled to see the love and possessiveness there. “Yes, we did. See my ring?” She held out her evergreen ring.

Her mother's eyes filled with tears. “It's going to be hard planning a wedding with this hanging over our heads. But maybe it will give me something else to think about.”

“We'll get through it, Mother.” Skye squeezed her mother's hand. She glanced at her watch. “We need to tell Jake's family what's happened, too. They're probably at breakfast now.”

“Go along, I'll be fine.” Her mother dabbed at her eyes.

Skye hated to leave her, but she kissed her mother's soft cheek and rose. “Get some rest. I'll check back later.”

Her mother nodded. “I'll try to lie down, but I'll never sleep.” Her lips trembled.

Skye bit her lip and followed Jake outside. “It seems awful to be so happy when things are going to be so hard for my mother.”

“Would you rather we put the wedding off for a while?”

She laughed. “I can tell by the way you said it, you don't want that.”

“I don't. But I want you happy.”

“I'm happy.” She smiled to drive home her statement. “I don't want to wait. I feel I've been waiting for you all my life.”

“I know I've been waiting for you.” He drew her into his arms under the canopy of five dreamcatchers on the porch above their heads. “You've been the one who has haunted my dreams all my life. Now that I've caught you, I'm never letting go.”

“I wouldn't have it any other way,” she said, bringing his lips down to meet hers.