Shadow Cave (21 page)

Shouting for help was starting to look like a great plan.
I was pretty far from Lerna
’
s border
,
yet not so far that passer
s
by could not hear me if I screamed repeatedly.
That was assuming anyone was willing to cross the fence to come to my aid.
Judging by Faiths reaction, decent people did not come here.
Then there was the chance that my screaming would attract the attention of the guards. The more I thought about
the grim scenario, the
more likely
it seemed
than finding some he-man rescuer.

I started to quietly dig. I had to make quick work of the task since I knew it would be dark soon.
The last thing I wanted was to spend the night in a hole.
Actually, the last thing I wanted was to turn the hole into a bathroom
,
which would definitely happen if I were forced to sleep there.
I shuddered and ripped out a large handful of soil.
The only thing that would be more fun than sleeping in my own waste would be having someone walk by in the dark and fall on me.

The sun was still high overhead when I took a break for a cup of coffee.
I wished I had thought to pack some water.
A sandwich would have been nice too
—
or at least a couple of biscuits.
I was embarrassed to admit that I had not given it so much as a passing thought.

“
I guess starvation isn
’
t an empty threat
,
”
I
grumbled while I leaned against the cool dirt and sipped my coffee
from
the thermos lid.

I sighed and tried to think positive thoughts.
The situation was not really so bad
;
once a few more foot holes were dug and their resilience tested, the climb would begin and with a little luck,
freedom would be mine
within the hour.
My brother would be located
, we would go home that night, and John would do five to ten.

I was still thinking positive when the first head popped up above me.
To my credit,
I did not scream.
Maybe it was the
Welcome Wagon
?
When five more stern faces peered down at me, I ditched the power of positive thinking and went for my gun.

“
Don
’
t move!
”

“
Ok
ay
. Ok
ay
.
”
I very slowly put my hands up.
When nobody spoke, I assumed they were waiting for an explanation.

“
I fell down this hole.
”
Way to go Claire
, I thought lamely.
I stared back at the small group.
The first thing I noticed was that they were all female.
Amazons?
I took a chance and extended my hand.

“
Would you please get me out of here?
”

The five women glanced at me briefly before conferring amongst themselves.
Finally, they nodded.
Three of them leaned over and pulled me up.
The job was made considerably easier when I braced my feet in the holes I had dug into the wall.
The other two stood by a cluster of trees fifteen feet away.
They were both armed
with
a bow and arrow.

I stretched and took a deep breath while I took stock of my rescuers.
I had been right.
All five of them were women
, but
Amazons they were not.
They were all muscular
,
but on the short side and basically slender.
The two holding the weapons were a bit smaller than the other three.
Th
e women
all had black hair
,
wore minimal clothing
and
were very pretty.
I thought back to the notebooks and scanned my memory.
Finally I smiled.

“
You
’
re the Sprites, aren
’
t you?
”
I looked them over once more and was certain they had to be.
One of the books had an old black and white drawing of them that was nearly a perfect likeness.

I took an eager step forward.
The Sprites were not supposed to be violent.
“
You are, aren
’
t you?
”

“
Stop!
”
This from the largest of the group.
The other women looked at me with open suspicion
,
and the two by the trees now had their weapons drawn.
The one who had spoken wore a green jewel in her hair and another on her belt.
I assumed she was the leader and chose to address only her for the moment.

“
My name is Claire Roberts and I have just come from Lerna.
I am on a journey to find my brother.
I mean you no harm.
Can you help me?
”

“
How do you know of us, stranger?
Are you with the guards?
Have they sent you here?
”

“
The guards? No. I
’
m just a woman trave
l
ling alone.
”

“
Women are not wise to do such things.
”

I shrugged.
“
You are.
”

She said nothing, but for a moment she seemed to relax a bit.

“
Can you help me find my brother?
”

She cocked her head and seemed to assess me before nodding.

“
First give me your bag.
”
She thrust out her hand and I took an involuntary
step
back.

“
No.
I need it.
”

“
I mean to search it
, not
keep it
,
”
she
said impatiently.

“
Oh. Ok
ay
. Here.
”
I stepped forward and held the bag out to her.
She had long fingernails that scraped lightly against my hand when she retrieved the bag.

“
Be careful.
”
The woman standing to her left warned.
“
She could still be one of the guards.
”
I noticed that she never took her eyes off of me.
She
’
s scared
, I realized in shock.

“
She
’
s no scout.
She speaks the truth.
”
The one who had taken my bag had finished her search and handed it back to me with a meaningful look.
Too bad I didn
’
t know what it meant.
“
She is not with the guards.
”
Her eyes held mine before she turned and gestured to the rest of the group.
They seemed to relax and gathered around me in a loose circle.

“
My name is Sephora.
I am Queen of the wood Sprites.
This is Megalia, Annora, Lesha, and Kaila.
”

“
Pleased to meet you, Queen.
”
I wondered if I should bow.
I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other instead.
Yeah, that will wow them
, I smirked to myself.

“
Sephora will do fine.
No need to add the
‘
queen
’
every time you address me.
”

“
Thank you.
”

“
Tell me about your brother
,
”
she
insisted with a toss of her dark hair.

“
His name is Mike.
Michael, really, but no one has ever called him that.
He is 5
’
10
”
with blue eyes
and
brown hair.
It
’
s light, like mine.
He
’
s of average build.
Picture me, only as a man with lighter eyes.
”
My eyes were brown and he was a lot bigger than me, but other than that, we could have been twins.
“
He would have been here close to six months ago, I think.
”

“
He was.
”

My eyes went wide and I had to restrain myself from grabbing Sephora
’
s shoulders.
Somehow, I didn
’
t think she was used to being manhandled.

“
You saw him?
He was here?
”

“
He was here four months ago.
He carried a bag similar to yours.
”

The key and the gun.
That was
what
she had meant before
when she had given me the look
.

“
Where did he go?
What did he say?
Is he ok
ay
?
”
I asked in a rush.

“
The last we saw he was unharmed.
I cannot speak for now.
”

“
What do you mean?
What happened?
Where is he?
”

“
We don
’
t know where he is now.
This land is not always safe.
”
Annora interrupted gently.

“
We took him to the rainforest.
”

“
And after that?
”

“
He continued alone.
”

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.
Of course he did.

“
Did he say where he was going?
”

“
No.
”

“
How far is the rainforest?
”

“
It is not far.
Come, we will show you.
”

“
Thank you.
”

Sephora turned toward the path.

“
Wait!
”
I protested.

She stopped and raised her eyebrows in question.

“
There might be more traps.
Maybe we shouldn
’
t take the path.
”

“
The path will be fine.
”

“
But
....
”
I thought fast.
“
You dug the holes, didn
’
t you?
”

All five women smiled.

“
We don
’
t like outsiders
,
”
Lesha said simply

“
Most of them anyways; now follow me
,
”
Sephora commanded.

We stopped an hour later to rest
,
and Sephora took us off the path and led us to a small creek.

“
The water here is very clean.
Drink and rest for a moment.
We are near the border.
”

“
We are near the rainforest?
”

“
Yes.
Now rest.
”

I knelt before the creek and dipped my hands into the water that was rushing past me.
Sephora was right
—
it was clean.
It was also icy cold.
I could see fat white rocks lining the creek bed a few feet below the surface.

I cupped my hands and drank four handfuls of the cool liquid.
It tasted wonderful.
I used a bit of the water to wash the dust from my face and neck.
I had already brushed most of the dirt off of my jeans and top, so I didn
’
t bother with them.
Besides, I would have only made mud if I had tried.
They were not that dirty anyways.
I still had the dress in my bag, too, if I needed to change clothes.