Magenta Mine: An Invertary Novella (3 page)

3

Harry should never have listened to Betty. She was evil incarnate. Entertaining evil. But evil nonetheless. His big brain had failed him. Betty had hacked his IQ and uploaded a virus. A virus called hope.

Which was how he’d found himself trapped in an abandoned mine outside of Invertary, waiting to be rescued and praying that the hill wouldn’t collapse on his head.

“You’re a bloody idiot, you know that?” his cousin Matt Donaldson, the sole police presence in Invertary, shouted through the air vent next to the door. The door that Betty had jammed shut.

Yes. He was that much of an idiot. He’d been trapped in a mine by a tartan-clad geriatric. It didn’t get much more stupid than that.

“Are you there, moron?” Matt’s voice echoed through the cavernous room where Harry was currently trapped.

“Where else would I be, dumbass?” Harry called back.

He heard laughter. No doubt Matt had already texted Harry’s older brother Flynn to fill him in. Growing up in the shadow of “the testosterone twins” had been no easy task for a certified geek. The fact the three boys had managed to stay close friends was a miracle. But then, they’d had to unite at an early age to defend themselves against Matt’s younger twin sisters.

“Flynn says I’ve to take pictures,” Matt said.

Harry hung his head. Yep. He wasn’t going to live this down anytime soon.

“Seriously,” Matt said. “You okay in there? Don’t go wandering off. Stay near the door so we know where you are.”

Harry surveyed his surroundings, which were dim in the faint sliver of light that seeped in from around the door. Without his flashlight on, he could make out shadows and shapes for a couple of feet in front of him, then it all turned to inky blackness. At least it wasn’t damp. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall beside the door, his legs stretched out in front of him. According to the clock on his phone, he’d been in the mine about an hour. It felt longer.

“I’m fine. I’m great. I’m waiting on a megaton of rock and dirt to fall on my head and crush my brain like a grape, but apart from that I’m hunky-dory. When are you going to get me out of here?”

At least Betty had called for help after she’d locked him in.

“Hunky-dory? Is that what all the cool kids are saying these days?” Matt was laughing at him. Seven years older than Harry, his cousin found every opportunity he could to call him a kid.

Harry worked to stop grinding his teeth to dust. “When this kid gets out of here, he’s going to kick your backside for taking the piss.”

There was laughter. “You might be good at that fancy martial arts stuff, Harry boy, but I can still take you in a fight.”

Yeah. Right. “What’s happening? What are you doing to get me out of here?”

“Well, here’s the thing.” Matt sounded like he was grinning. “The door is seriously warped. There’s a warning sign on it so that no one will shut it. Its spring-loaded, and about ten inches thick. Every time it slams shut, it shakes things loose above it. We need to make sure it’s possible to open it without causing the entrance to weaken. Last time this happened, it took two days to get it open.”

Harry shot to his feet. “Two days?”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” Matt mocked.

Harry’s super brain calculated the chances of a cave-in. He didn’t like the odds he came up with. The mine was over 150 years old. When was the last time there was a collapse? He needed more data. He reached for his phone, ready to do an internet search, but remembered he had no connection.

“I need more data. When was the last time this mine collapsed?” He tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

“Not since I’ve been the police in town.”

That was what? Seven years. That wasn’t long. Harry wasn’t reassured. He was going to die trapped underground. It was not the way he thought he would go. He assumed he’d die of unrequited love.

Matt’s voice cut through his anxiety. “We’ve got an expert coming to rescue you. They’ll come in from another entrance and lead you back out with them. You should be out of there in a few hours.”

Harry glared in the direction of his cousin’s voice. “You couldn’t have started with that instead of letting me think I’d be in here for days?”

All he heard was laughter. Harry plopped back to the ground.

“It gets better.” Matt’s delight at Harry’s predicament was beyond wearing thin. “Guess who the resident mine expert is?”

There was so much glee in Matt’s voice that Harry knew the answer. He closed his eyes and gave in to the wave of resignation that hit him. “Magenta’s coming to save me.”

“This is turning out to be the best laugh I’ve had since Flynn joined the school musical to impress a girl,” Matt said.

Harry resisted the urge to bang his head on the wall as he listened to his cousin laugh at his expense. For the first time since he’d made the decision to relocate to Invertary, Harry wondered at the wisdom of coming home.

4

Magenta arrived at the north-facing entrance of the mine to find a crowd had started to gather. She wasn’t surprised. The folk of Invertary were bred nosey. She dumped her backpack with her spelunking gear at her feet and sighed. This was not how she’d planned to spend her Saturday afternoon.

“Who’s the idiot who ignored the signs?” she asked Matt.

Apart from the huge red one that said,
Danger—do not enter
, there were at least half a dozen that told people not to shut the door.

Invertary’s entire police force grinned. “Listen.”

Magenta frowned but did as she was told. Her heart actually stopped cold in her chest as her jaw fell. A very familiar voice was echoing out of the mine. “Is that Harry?”

Matt nodded. The same stupid grin on his face. “I think he’s calculating the mass above his head and the probability of it falling on him before his rescue. He used to mutter like this when he was a kid. He doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. For years he thought Flynn and I had psychic powers because we knew everything he was thinking.”

Magenta frowned at him. She remembered Harry’s quirk—one of them—she just hadn’t realised that his cousin had used it to tease him. If she’d been younger, if she’d still been Harry’s friend, she would have taken issue with Matt.

“Harry’s too smart to get trapped in there.” She pointed at the old metal door and the many signs around it. “He can read, for a start. What happened?”

Matt cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “That’s what happened.”

She peered around him to find a gleeful Betty. Magenta wasn’t convinced. The woman was under five feet tall, built like a cube and older than dirt. “How did she manage to shut the door? There was a huge rock propping it open.”

Betty flexed her puny white arms. “Thor there isn’t the only one with muscles.”

Matt shrugged his broad shoulders. “Don’t make me get a magnifying glass to verify that claim.”

Betty cackled at him. Magenta sighed. This was exactly what she didn’t need. An afternoon rescuing the man she’d spent the past few weeks avoiding. She narrowed her eyes at Betty. “This was no accident. You planned this.”

The old woman was delighted. “I couldn’t stand his pathetic attempts at getting your attention. So I helped.” She rubbed her hands together. “This should be good.”

Before Magenta could take a step towards the woman, Matt’s hand shot out to stop her. “Get in line. If I let you at her, I have to let everyone else with prior claim get at her too. I don’t have the resources to police that.”

“Fine.” Magenta pointed at Betty. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“Bring it on, lassie. I eat children like you for breakfast.” She turned her back on Magenta, pulled a smartphone out of her pocket and started to text. No doubt spreading the word of entertainment at the mine.

“I’ll go in the northern tunnels,” Magenta told Matt. She pointed up into the hills around the town. “It’s not far, but the route through the mine is winding. It should take me a couple of hours to get to him. Have you called the council surveyor? The whole entrance needs to be checked before we even try to open the door.”

Matt nodded. He ran a hand over his face. “I’m thinking we leave the door shut. The mines aren’t safe. People who want a look around can negotiate with the Andersons and go in through their business. I’m sure they won’t mind as long as it’s not all the time and doesn’t affect mushroom production. The people who know what they’re doing, like you, can go in through the tunnels.”

Magenta shook her head. “I’ve thought about that. I’m worried kids will use the tunnels to get in if the door is sealed. At least at this entrance you can’t get into trouble unless you go deep into the mine. Most of the stuff that’s dangerous has been removed, or blocked off.” She knew that as fact. She was the one who’d cleared the area. “I know this area is safe, but I can’t say the same for any of the other hidden entrances in these hills.”

“I’ll talk to the surveyor. See if we can’t come up with a better way to keep the entrance open.”

“I don’t think it will take much brain power to think of something better than holding the door open with a big rock.”

“Maybe we should look into blocking all the entrances and sealing the mine.”

“Good luck with finding them all.” Magenta shook her head. “No. It needs to be obvious, safe and policed. That’s the only way to stop the curious and the stupid from getting hurt.”

Matt opened his mouth to reply, but something behind her caught his attention. His shoulders slumped. “Hell no,” he muttered.

Magenta turned to find her twin best friends, Matt’s younger sisters, coming up the path. Megan was carrying two folding chairs and Claire held a large picnic basket.

“We brought snacks,” Claire called.

“This isn’t a party. Go home.” Matt glared at the twins.

“Don’t tell us what to do, Don Don,” Megan said.

“Don’t call me Don Don,” Matt said through clenched teeth.

Megan was unfazed. “It’s your name. Donald Matthew Donaldson. Suck it up.”

Matt muttered something that Magenta couldn’t quite catch, but was pretty sure was illegal.

Megan set the chairs up facing the entrance. “Who’s trapped, anyway? Anybody we know?”

Magenta took a deep breath. She knew exactly what reaction the news would get. “Harry,” she said on a sigh.

Two identical faces shared a secret look. Magenta was one of the few people who could tell the blondes apart. When she wanted to wind them up, she pretended she couldn’t. If she really wanted to annoy them, she called them Barbie One and Barbie Two. They gave her identical mischievous smiles.

“You’re going to rescue Harry? Now isn’t that interesting,” Claire said. “Especially seeing as he’s been so keen to get you alone since he came back to town.”

Magenta glared at them, wishing she had the armour of her usual black Goth outfits to hide behind. Unfortunately, there was no place for mini-dresses and platform boots in the mine.

“Mmm, Harry and Magenta locked together in a tight, dark place,” Megan said. “I wonder what could happen?” She turned to her sister. “Bodies rubbing against each other. Whispers in the dark. Good job Magenta is immune to Harry’s charms, isn’t it?” She turned back to Magenta. “You are immune, aren’t you?” She sat back in her chair and opened a bag of freshly made popcorn.

“You”—Magenta pointed at her—“are supposed to be my friend.”

“And you”—Megan pointed back—“need to wake up to what’s under your nose. He might be our annoying cousin, but even we can see that he’s prime man meat. And he’s been following you around with his tongue hanging out. Maybe if you put him out of his misery and did the dirty deed, you’d both be in a much better mood.”

“Yuck!” Matt covered his ears. “Don’t talk like that. It gives me nightmares. He’s your cousin and she’s your best friend. You shouldn’t be encouraging them. You shouldn’t know about anything even remotely connected to dirty deeds. You’re both too young to know these things. If I had my way, you two would never go near a man. Ever.”

“Yeah, you made that clear when we were growing up,” Megan said. “But we’re twenty-one, and trust me, we know all about dirty deeds.”

“La, la, la,” Matt sang as he covered his ears. “I can’t hear you. I don’t want to hear you. You’re making me want to run away screaming.”

“Oh, get a grip,” Megan said. “You should be thankful we’re so normal. After dealing with you, Harry and Flynn, it’s a miracle we’re still attracted to the opposite sex.”

“Exactly.” Claire flicked a piece of popcorn at him. “I’m still traumatised over the magazines you kept under your bed.”

Matt’s head went so red that Magenta thought it might explode. She smothered a grin as she picked up her backpack. “I need to get going. Harry is reciting the periodic table.”

She knew for a fact that he only did that when he was really nervous. She started to walk up the path to where the tunnel entrances were hidden.

“Good luck,” Megan called after her. “Don’t forget to kiss his boo-boos better.”

Magenta shook her head and kept on walking.

5

Being underground was something Harry’s brain couldn’t comprehend. Sure, he’d known he was going into the old tin mine to see Magenta, but he’d figured it would be like visiting a cave. A nice, open-plan cave. One that had been there for millions of years. A perfectly safe natural occurrence. The reality was far from the fantasy. He was trapped in a space the size of his bedroom, with very little natural light and evidence all around that this was far from nature’s doing. Someone had hacked this mine out of the hill. They’d shored it up with timber. Old timber. Timber that was probably rotting, or being eroded by mites. He was stuck in an old, badly made hole in the ground. Just the thought of it made his palms clammy and his throat close.

“Magenta’s on her way.” Matt’s voice cut through his rising panic. “Couple of hours and she’ll get to you. She’ll lead you back out through the mine. Don’t worry. You’re in good hands.”

All Harry heard were the words
back through the mine
. No. No way. Not going to happen. “Call her back. She’s wasting her time.” His voice sounded kind of tinny. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m walking out of that door.”

“Don’t be a drama queen.” His cousin sounded tense. “Magenta knows this mine like the back of her hand.”

Harry looked at his hand. How well did anyone know the back of their hand? If he closed his eyes he couldn’t bring up an accurate image of his, and he saw it millions of times a day. Matt’s words were not reassuring.

“I’ve done the calculations,” he told his cousin. “If this comes down on me, there won’t be a body for you to recover. I’ll be pulverised.”

There was a pause. He could almost see Matt rubbing his jaw and muttering for extra strength. “You got any alcohol in that picnic basket Betty made you pack?”

“Wine.” Red, white and sparkling. He didn’t know what Magenta drank, so he’d covered the bases. He also had bottled water and a set of miniature cans of juice and soda. The damn basket was almost as big as a car. Harry had been pleased that years of workouts meant he could carry the thing.

“Good,” Matt said. “Pop the cork on a bottle and start drinking. It would make us all a lot more comfortable if your super brain was fuzzy.”

“You’re worried what I might do in here, aren’t you?”

“Harry.” Matt sounded resigned. “You reprogrammed a car when you were six years old. We didn’t even know a car could be programmed.”

If Harry had been outside the mine, he would have smacked his cousin upside his head. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Matt, but there are no cars in here.”

“Yeah, I know that, moron, but I’m worried you’ll hatch a plan to dig your way out. Or set about reorganising your surroundings to make escape more efficient. I don’t want you involved. I want you to let the problem go. We’re dealing with it. Your job is to be the damsel in distress. Sit back, look pretty and wait to be rescued.”

Harry decided he’d deal with the “damsel in distress” dig when he didn’t have a hill hanging over his head. “I’m not drinking the wine. I read up on caving before I came in here. It said don’t go caving while drunk.”

He could practically hear Matt roll his eyes. “You’re not caving. You’re stuck behind a door, in a room, in a hill. Think of it as a Hobbit house. Imagine you’re visiting with Bilbo. Hanging out, having a glass of wine. See? Easy. The Hobbits live in hills, and they’re fine.”

“You know Hobbits aren’t real, right?”

“You’re forgetting about Betty.” There was a thud, then a yelp. “You hit me again, old woman, and I’m arresting you for assaulting an officer.”

Betty’s cackle was loud and clear.

“Drink the wine,” Matt said. “One glass won’t hurt.”

Harry thought about it. “Okay. Maybe one glass. But you need to keep me informed about what’s happening out there. I don’t even have cell phone coverage in here. I can’t get internet access to do any research.”

“I swear your mother plugged your toes into a socket when you were born. It’s the only reason I can come up with for your obsession with all things electrical. Your head won’t explode if you don’t have access to a computer for a few hours. Drink your wine and wait for Magenta to get you out.”

“I’m not going back through the mine. I’m waiting here until that door opens.”

“Whatever,” Matt said. “You can work that out with Magenta. I’m sure she’ll be very understanding.”

Harry thumped back onto the dusty floor, pulled the basket towards him and uncorked a bottle of white wine. He didn’t care what kind or colour it was. It all tasted the same to him anyway. Like alcoholic fruit juice, or worse, vinegar. He didn’t bother with a glass; instead he brought the bottle to his lips and wished he’d thought to bring beer. In between mouthfuls he recited the periodic table, then rattled off his favourite equations. It didn’t help. So he worked on his latest programming code instead—speaking it out into the silence. Hoping the noise would fight back the anxiety he knew waited for him in the dark spaces his eyes couldn’t penetrate.

Magenta felt the calming peace of darkness enfold her as she entered the old mine. She loved everything about it, from the musty smell of untouched years to the close intimacy of the spaces she had to shimmy through. The silence of the place was an embrace for her senses, soothing her tension and easing her fears. Here, in this private world, she could relax completely. There was no one watching her. No standards to fall short of. There was no pressure to perform, or conform, or reform her personality. She could just be.

She heard Harry before she saw him. He was speaking code. Something he’d always done, his own private language. When she was a child, his soft chatter would make her feel secure, the meaningless words kind of like the babble of a brook that washed over her. Now it had the opposite effect. Harry’s deep, husky tones made her insides tingle and her skin vibrate. A disconcerting effect he’d had since he’d ridden back into town. And one she tried to ignore.

He was concentrating so hard that it took him a minute to realise the light from her hardhat had landed on him. The silence was suddenly deafening as he blinked in her direction. Magenta knew better than to shine her light in someone’s eyes, but she couldn’t move from the sight of him.

He sat propped against the wall, all lean muscle and long limbs. He wore his usual faded jeans and geek T-shirt. This one said:
Physicists do it at the speed of light.
She gnawed her bottom lip to stop from telling him that doing “it” at the speed of light was not an attractive prospect for most women.

“Magenta?” He sounded unsure.

“Who else would it be, Harry?” She pulled a bottle of water from her pack and gulped down half of it. “Were you expecting the dwarves? Thinking they’d come back to reclaim their mine?”

He gave her a dazzling smile. “Lord of the Rings reference. I’m impressed.”

Magenta smiled back, because she knew that Harry couldn’t see her. He lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the light.

“Think you can stop blinding me now?”

She switched off the light. It took a minute for her eyes to get used to the darkness. There was a faint glow coming in from a couple of cracks beside the door. It gave off enough illumination to make out shapes.

“Get on your feet,” she ordered, hoping that the faster she could get him out of there, the faster she could escape him. “We need to get going.”

He smiled, and her stomach fluttered. Harry’s smile was devastating. Sweet and sexily confident at the same time. He’d lost the guileless look of youth. Now he seemed to know things. Secret things that only a man would know.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here until they open that door.” He pointed at the door, in case she was confused.

Magenta worked to ignore the power of his smile. She folded her arms over her black T-shirt and black hooded jacket. “Stop messing around, Harry. Get up. We need to go.”

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head, his floppy honey-brown hair falling into his eyes.

“I’m getting annoyed.” She tapped the toe of her black hiking boot. “I came in here to get you out. To do that, you need to come with me.”

Even in the dim light she could see Harry’s penetrating stare. His pale grey eyes were like a beacon in the darkness. “I’m sorry you made a wasted trip. I’m not going through the mine.”

She glared at him, even though she was sure he couldn’t see it. “Why the hell not?” She infused the words with every bit of aggravation she felt.

“Because”—Harry lowered his voice, making it rumble through her body—“I’ve done the calculations and there isn’t enough air in the mine. There’s more air here.” He pointed at the cracks where light seeped in. “See, you can see it getting in. I’m staying where the air is.”

Magenta took a deep breath of Harry’s precious air and crouched down in front of him. “Harry, that isn’t your brain talking. It’s fear. You’re not being rational. The mine is full of air vents. We won’t be going too deep; there will be plenty of air. I’ve done this a lot. I know what I’m talking about. You don’t have to worry.”

He stared at her for a moment. Magenta found herself leaning towards him, as though he somehow magically pulled her closer. “It’s more logical to stay here.”

“That’s great, Mr. Spock, but we’re heading out. I’m telling you, Harry, there’s plenty of air in the tunnels and I’ll make sure you get out safely. I’ve checked these tunnels myself. They aren’t in any danger of collapse. Have I ever lied to you?”

His silver eyes met hers in a challenge. “Yeah, you lied to me. You told me I could always count on you. What was that if it wasn’t a lie?”