Энн Маккефри - Dragon’s Kin

“Well, yes,” Cristov admitted reluctantly.

“Did you ever try the closet on the second floor?” Kindan asked.

“I knew there had to be another entrance!” Cristov exclaimed. “But the closet?”

Kindan enjoyed Cristov’s look of amazement as they made their way up to the second-floor landing, but his own jaw dropped when they topped the stairs.

“Toldur!”

The big miner grinned down at them. “You’re late,” he said, hefting an axe to his shoulder. “I thought I was going to have to come find you myself.”

He nodded to Kindan. “I figured you were your father’s son. I knew you’d try again.” He caught sight of Nuella and frowned; his frown deepened when Renna reached the top of the stairs.

“This is Natalon’s daughter, Nuella,” Zenor said, stepping forward deliberately. “She’s going to rescue her father.”

“And I’m helping,” Renna added in a voice that brooked no argument.

“There are enough hard hats for all of us through that door,” Nuella said, pointing beyond Toldur’s back.

The big miner grinned. “Don’t I know it? Who do you think checks on ’em to make sure they’re still safe? How do you think I found out about you, anyway? Although I’d always thought the blond hair was Dalor’s.”

“My brother,” Nuella admitted.

“Can we go now?” Renna asked.

Toldur nodded. “Just let me get some glows.”

“No time,” Nuella said brusquely. “I’ll lead. I know this passageway like the back of my hand.”

“You can’t see the back of your hand,” Zenor muttered.

Nuella’s hand shot out, super-quick, and accurately whacked Zenor on the side of his head with the back of her hand.

“Who said anything about seeing it?” she asked sweetly. She walked into the closet and quickly slid open the secret door at the back.

“That’s got to hurt,” Renna added with no trace of sympathy for her brother.

Zenor grinned at her, still clutching his wounded head. “At least she’s not sulking anymore.”

“I heard that,” Nuella shouted back from the darkness.

Inside the passageway, they quickly picked up hard hats and put them on. Nuella led the way, with Kisk and Kindan close behind. Toldur brought up the rear, grumbling under his breath about missing glows.

“Shut the door,” Nuella called over her shoulder. “Kisk sees best in the dark.” After she heard the door close, she asked Kindan, “Do you remember how many paces it was to the new mine shaft?”

“One hundred and forty-three after the first turn,” Kindan replied without thinking.

“You lead then,” Nuella ordered, bracing herself against the wall to let him and Kisk pass.

“Why this passage?” Renna asked. “Who built it and why?”

Toldur answered her. “We did—Natalon, your father, Kindan’s father, and myself when we first came into this valley, half a Turn before the rest of you. Natalon wanted to be sure that the rock was strong enough for a hold. We used all the rocks we excavated to build Natalon’s hold, the Harper’s hold, and the bridge over the river.

“It took us nearly two months,” he added. “But it was worth it because we learned a lot about digging through this sort of rock. It really helped when we sank the main shaft.”

“How long would it take to dig through from this passageway to the new shaft?” Nuella asked as she started forward again.

“Three, maybe four hours,” Toldur replied at once.

“That’s too long,” Zenor muttered.

“Could Kisk help?” Kindan wondered. “If we broke through in a couple of places, could she push hard enough?”

“It’s solid stone, Kindan,” Toldur objected.

“Is that for a full-grown man?” Renna asked. “Because I’m not full-grown; so maybe I could get through sooner.”

“We have to get Kisk down there, too,” Nuella pointed out.

“Here’s the turn,” Kindan called. He started counting his paces, trying not to let his pounding heart interfere.

“We could carve out a crawlway,” Cristov suggested.

“In an hour, maybe less,” Toldur agreed. “I’ll start.”

“You’d better be right about the position of that shaft,” Nuella muttered softly to Kindan.

Kindan took a ragged breath and nodded in the darkness. One twenty. One twenty-one.

“Are we there yet?” Renna called from the rear.

“Nearly,” Kindan called back. One thirty. “About ten more paces.”

He counted the final paces and stopped. “Right here.” He marked the spot with his hand. “Nuella, find my hand and put yours there,” he said. “I’m going to measure off the far side.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said. “Toldur, can you find my hand?”

In a few moments the big miner had marked out a crawlway with a few taps of his pickaxe.

“Okay, everyone put your fingers in your ears,” Toldur warned them. “This is going to get mighty loud.”

The big miner swung fifty times at his spot and then inspected his work. “Cristov, come here,” he called. Toldur got Cristov oriented and then the young miner went to work for another fifty blows. Zenor took over after that, then Kindan.

“My turn,” Renna declared when Kindan had counted fifty.

“This is not the time to learn to swing an axe,” Zenor swore at her.

“There’ll be plenty of work later,” Toldur promised, relieving Kindan of the axe.

“All right,” Renna allowed grudgingly.

A short while later, Toldur broke through. “How long did that take us?” he asked the group.

“Nineteen minutes,” Nuella responded promptly, “I timed it in my head.”

“Good,” Toldur said enthusiastically. “Let’s see if we can get a crawlspace done in the next twenty.”

In the end it took them twenty-three more minutes to clear a space wide enough for Kisk.

With Kindan’s encouragement, the small watch-wher poked her head through the opening. “Where are we, Kisk?” he asked her. The others waited silently.

Nuella felt for Kisk’s response. “We’re right behind the pumps,” she said.

“How’d you know?” Kindan asked, just about ready to say the same thing.

“I’ve gotten a lot better at feeling watch-wher’s thoughts,” she told him.

“Come on, let’s get going,” Renna urged from the back of the group.

“Let’s go, Kisk,” Kindan said to the watch-wher, giving her a push.

“Everyone be quiet,” Toldur whispered.

“Quiet?” Zenor repeated incredulously. “After all our digging?”

“That might not be noticed over the noise of the cave-in settling,” Toldur explained. “But voices will.”

The group crept silently around the unused pumps and over to the new shaft’s lifts.

“Two groups,” Kindan whispered over his shoulder. Nuella passed his message on. Kindan, Kisk, and Nuella climbed onto the lift at the top of the shaft. Kindan and Nuella worked as a team from months of practice.

“Shards, it’s noisy,” Kindan hissed as the thick ropes creaked and the pulley at the top of the shaft squealed.

“Don’t go too fast,” Toldur whispered from above.

“Don’t go too slow,” Nuella hissed at Kindan.

She fidgeted nervously while they waited at the bottom of the shaft for the others to lower themselves down.

“We weren’t that loud,” she whispered to Kindan.

“How do you know? We were too busy trying to be quiet to listen,” Kindan countered.

Finally, just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the noise stopped. The others joined them.

“There won’t be anyone at the bottom of the old shaft, will there?” Zenor wondered aloud.

“No,” Toldur replied. “It’s too risky for anyone to stay down here.”

After a moment, Nuella said, “Kisk could see anyone before they could see her, anyway.”