William Dietrich - Blood of the Reich

She sighed. He was right, the battery was dead. “I’m so confused.”

“Jesus, I’m not. Did last night mean nothing?”

“Jake…” she groaned.

“I’m falling for you, Rominy. You’ve got to trust me on this. We’re onto something big, really big. It’s going to make all the difference. Come on, let’s walk back to the shaft we fell down where it’s light, and look at what’s in the satchel.”

She was consumed with doubt. She was falling for him, too, at the same time every instinct told her this was way too sketchy. Hadn’t she been wary the first time she spied him? But now he looked a little wounded, boyish, and she still buzzed inside from the night and the morning. Which instinct was true?

“How did you get that scar?”

“What scar?”

“On your chin. Like you’ve been in a fight.”

He looked at her as if she were a lunatic. “I flipped my bike when I was ten.”

Now she felt foolish. She flushed. If he was some kind of rogue, why was he trapped down here with her?

Deep breaths. One step at a time. Get out of here, and then think. Everything was happening too fast. She needed a day-heck, a month -to decompress. To figure out if anything with this guy was real. She was falling in love with a man she didn’t entirely trust, which wasn’t smart, cubicle girl. Get gone, get focused, get clear.

Meanwhile, the satchel was a treasure trove. Maps, diagrams, diaries, photos-the raw remains of a strange, truncated life. There was a crude drawing of mountains with a bowl-like valley, with coordinates. A diagram drawn in a circle, with arrows and boxes. And a journal with the title page reading, For the heir, only. Jake solemnly handed it to her. “I think he means you.”

She thumbed through it, unable to resist excitement. This was real. The handwriting was surprisingly neat, almost feminine. Well, they did teach penmanship in those days. The diary appeared to be about some kind of journey, fleeing from some terrible thing. But also notes to return there, When the time is right. And underneath it, Wisdom before invention.

Maybe this would explain the whole story.

Her old life seemed so trivial.

Jake was peering at the map. “My God, I think he’s telling exactly where we need to go.”

“Go? I thought we were already here, in a hole in the ground.”

“No, in Tibet, to find what he found.”

“Tibet! That’s the other side of the world.”

“Don’t you see? His death, your relatives’ deaths, the skinheads-it all must come back to this. There’s something wonderful there, something huge, and it’s been waiting for you -the heir to get into this safety deposit box, the heir to find this mine-to go find it again. We’re supposed to go to Tibet and retrace his journey.” His eyes were alight. He’d found his treasure map.

“Jake, we can’t even get out of this mine. We’re going to crumble into bones like poor old Duncan Hale, and some other descendant is going to find this satchel and our stash from Summit Bank.”

He laughed. “We haven’t had time to make a descendant yet.”

“Actually, we have, except I’m on the pill.”

“There you go. But look, if we’re going to Tibet we’d better focus on getting out.” He stood, peering up at the shaft. She didn’t understand his confidence. He didn’t seem like a newspaper nerd, he seemed like a commando.

“I’m not going to Tibet, Jake. I’m going to where there’s a shower.”

“They have showers in Tibet. Listen. I’m going to boost you up and you’re going to grab that ledge and that root. If you can pull yourself up into the chimney you can wedge, back against one side and feet on the other, and inchworm your way up.”

“Then what?”

“Go get help. There’s rope in my truck. You’ll be back for me by tomorrow morning. Unless you were really dissatisfied with my performance.”

“I don’t want to go down the mountain alone!”

“Well, maybe you can throw down a log I can climb out on. First step is to get you up there.”

She sighed. What choice did they have?

He was strong, surprisingly so, and he hoisted her up on his shoulders. “Can you reach?”

“Just barely…”

“Try to pull yourself up. I’ll push your feet.”

It was like her worst memory of gym class. “Jake, I don’t have any upper-body strength…”

“Try, Rominy. We’ve got to get out of here.”

She reached, straining, and he took the soles of her shoes in his hands so she wobbled as she tried to pull herself up into the shaft. It felt like a cheerleader stunt. She got so her waist was even with the bottom of the hole, grabbed a root, and pulled. Her legs thrashed now that she was above his reach, arms shaking. She was hanging helplessly, looking for something higher to grab. Nothing! Then it was as if a pin burst her effort. All strength left her and she fell back into his arms. He sat down hard, with a woof.

“I can’t. Jake, I’m sorry, but I just can’t lift myself.” Her voice shook.

“We’ve got to try.”

“I did try.”

“Can you lift me?”

But that was even more useless. She tried to boost him but he was nearly two hundred pounds of hard muscle, and it was like trying to hoist a piano. They collapsed together, Rominy crying.

They were going to die in this hole.

They lay awhile, panting.

And then there was the baying of some hounds. He sat up. “Listen!”

The baying came closer. There was the sound of thrashing brush, and then frantic barking. There were dogs at the lip of the shaft.

Rominy sat up, too, drying her cheeks as hope filled her. Rescue?

“Thunder! Damnation! What the hell did you find?” It was Delphina Clarkson, her new neighbor!

“Mrs. Clarkson, we’re down here!” Jake called.

“That you? What’d you do with that girl?”

“She’s down here, too. Can you call Search and Rescue?”

“I don’t need no Search and Rescue. Hell, I’d be raccoon meat if I waited for the likes of them. I know this hill like my own La-Z-Boy.” She peered over the lip. “Missy! He treating you right?”

“Yes, Mrs. Clarkson, we fell in accidentally. We need help getting out!”

“Yeah, let me tie a rope to this tree. City folk!”

A line slithered down. Jake boosted her once again and this time, with something firmer to hold on to and the promise of salvation above, she managed to climb. Once she got her feet and legs working in the shaft, it was much easier. Jake was right behind her, hauling himself and boosting her when she needed it, while also carrying both their packs and the satchel.

They crawled out of the hole, dogs sniffing and yipping, and collapsed, the sky a miracle.

“What the devil is down there?” Mrs. Clarkson asked.

“Old gold mine, I think,” Jake said. “We found this depression and wondered what it was and then boom, cave-in. We’re really lucky you came along.”

“I’ll say. What are you doing over here? You’re way off the trail. You know there’s a cliff right there?” She looked at them suspiciously.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The dogs tried to lick Rominy, and she pushed them away.

“I tracked you with my hounds,” Delphina said. “Started with your truck at the trailhead and followed you on up.”

“Thank goodness, but why did you do that?” Rominy asked.

“Because you’re all over the news, Missy. There was a bomb down in Seattle, and nobody knows where the heck you went or who you’re with, be it city slicker here or the Taliban. You got half the cops in the state looking for you. You know that?”

“I had no idea. Everything has been happening so fast…” She realized Jake had never played the truck radio. She couldn’t even remember if it had one.