Midnight's Lair (12 page)

    'Gee, I don't know. I'm sort of like on duty, you know, and I really don't know…'

    'Is something more important,' Chris asked, 'than getting those people out of the cave?'

    'Well, I guess not. But you can't get in. Like I was saying, it's all walled up.'

    'We'd better take some tools along,' Chris said. 'A pick or something.'

    'You'd need lights, too,' Lynn told them. 'Really, you oughta just wait for the fire department. They'll get everybody out.'

    'Eventually,' Chris said. She looked at Hank. 'What do you think?'

    Hank gazed past her at the blazing hotel. The entire east wing was now engulfed, so the area housing the elevators was already being consumed.

    'The fire department isn't even here yet,' he said. 'By the time they get this thing out, there might be a ton of rubble covering the elevator shafts. They'll have to bring in heavy equipment to clear all that away.' He turned to Lynn. 'How far is it through the closed part of the cave to that other wall?'

    'About half a mile. But it's dark and there aren't any walkways or anything. I mean, it'd be the pits, you know? And there's that chasm somebody might fall into like Elizabeth Mordock. I don't think…'

    'We could probably get to them in a couple of hours,' Chris said.

    'Depending on the walls,' said Hank.

    'Really, you two, I don't see what the big hurry is. The fire department can take care of it. They'll get 'em out.'

    it's our daughters down there,' Hank said.

    'But they're safer staying where they are until the fire department can…'

    'How do you know that?' Chris asked her.

    'Well-'

    'What if something's gone wrong down there?'

    Hank felt a sudden tug of fear. 'What do you mean?' Frowning, Chris shook her head. 'Maybe somebody's been hurt. If they don't already know they're trapped, they'll find out pretty soon. People might panic. There might be arguments, fights. God only knows. I just think, the faster they're out of there, the better.'

    'Same here,' Hank said. 'Let's go for it.'

    

    

    'On the bright side,' Greg said, 'we've got light and heat.'

    After the initial confusion, nearly everyone had stood up and approached the blazing remains of the elevators. Darcy stood with the others in a semi-circle, Greg at her side. Some held out their hands as if to warm them at a bonfire.

    A man said, 'Who's got the marshmallows?'

    His little girl frowned up at him. 'You're not funny, Daddy.'

    'How in God's name do we get out of here, now?' a woman asked.

    Darcy didn't care about that. Not at the moment. Staring into the flames, she could only think about her mother.

    Something awful had happened up top. A fire, maybe an explosion. Maybe a nuclear blast like the man had suggested so long ago.

    
Mom's all right,
she told herself.
Please. She has to be.

    Greg put his arm around her. 'Don't worry,' he said.

    'My mother.'

    'I'm sure she's fine. She probably had plenty of time to get away.'

    'What do you mean?'

    'It wasn't anything sudden,' he said. 'Whatever happened, it must have started when the lights went off. It took all this time before the elevators dropped, so the whole place didn't go up at once.'

    Darcy thought about that. Greg was right. Obviously, the entire complex hadn't been destroyed in some terrible cataclysm. The fire must have started a distance away and spread until it consumed the elevator housings. So people had time to get away. Maybe Mom was okay. Maybe she wasn't even in the hotel when it happened.

    Darcy looked at Greg. 'Thanks,' she said.

    He nodded. His broad face was ruddy in the firelight, his eyes shining. Steam was rising off the front of his sweatshirt. Darcy rested her head against his shoulder.

    The heat from the fires was almost too much. She had thought for a time that she would never be warm again. But now her face felt as if it were being seared. Her skin was stinging under the snug heat of her trousers. The touch of the windbreaker against her breasts was painful. Sweat trickled down her sides.

    She turned around, and sighed with relief as the hurt faded and her back began to warm up.

    Someone sidestepped through the fluttering light and moved in front of her. The man in the Peterbilt hat. 'You're supposed to be in charge here,' he said. 'What are you gonna do now?'

    'Just take it easy,' Greg told him.

    'I'll get us out of here,' Darcy said.

    Those nearby, who heard her over the other voices and the windy noise and snapping sounds of the fire, stepped in closer and looked at her.

    'Gonna get us out, are you? How do you figure that?'

    He spoke to Darcy as if this were all her fault.

    'Cool down, slick.'

    'Butt out,' he snapped.

    The old man's head moved forward on his long neck. His scalp was hairless except for a white fringe over his ears. His eyes were small and squinty, his nose a beak. He looked to Darcy like a bald eagle about to rip off the bastard's face.

    'Don't let him rile you, Calvin,' said the buxom woman at the old man's side - maybe his daughter. She tugged his arm. He pulled it free.

    'Yeah, Calllllvin,' mocked the man in the truck hat. 'Don't want you having a heart attack.'

    'Low-life son of a whore, you best start minding your manners, or…'

    'Or what, Calllllvin?'

    'All right, now!' Greg's voice shot out. 'We've got enough trouble without fighting among ourselves. Darcy said she's going to get us out, so why don't we listen to her?'

    Those nearby gathered in closer. Others, farther off, continued to talk among themselves.

    'LISTEN UP!' It was the fat boy.

    The voices went silent. Darcy stepped past the scowling man, patted the shoulder of his son, and made her way into the cool shadows a distance from the fires. Turning around, she found that Greg had stayed with her. She held up her arms.

    The people faced her, their backs to the blazing elevators.

    'Obviously,' she said in a firm voice, 'it's a lot worse than we thought. The area above us is burning.'

    'Tell us something we don't know.'

    'Would you please hush?' A woman's voice.

    'What'll we do?' Another woman.

    'We're going to die.' More of a whiny squeal than a voice.

    'Nobody's going to die,' Darcy said. 'I still think that rescue is possible from the elevator shafts, but that'll take a lot longer than we imagined. And since we don't know what's going on up there, I think it would be foolish to do nothing but wait. There is another way out.'

    'The natural opening.' It was the fat boy's knowing voice.

    'That's right,' Darcy said. 'Just before the lights went out, I was showing you Ely's Wall and telling about how he closed off the other half of the cavern. There's a pick axe near the dock area. With that, I'm sure we'll be able to break through the wall. From there, it's only about half a mile to the natural opening. We'll take the pick axe with us, and knock out the wall at that end. Then we'll be home free.'

    'Fuck. Should've done that in the first place.'

    'Yeah, we'd be out by now.'

    'Let's do it!'

    Back-lit by the fires, the group seemed to Darcy like a band of villagers eager to begin a foolhardy errand. Movie extras. Faceless dark forms gesturing and mouthing brave words. A hunting party, a lynch mob, peasants working themselves up to go chasing the Frankenstein monster.

    'What're we waiting for?'

    'Let's haul ass!'

    'EVERYBODY SHUT UP!' Darcy shouted.

    The noise faded to mutters.

    'It won't be a picnic. We've got one good flashlight and one that's nearly dead. Beyond Ely's Wall, there will be no walkways. There is also the chasm that Elizabeth Mordock fell into. In other words, the terrain will be rugged and dangerous. If we all try to go trooping through there, most of you will be doing it in darkness.

    'Here's my suggestion. I think that no more than six of us should try to go out that way. One flashlight should be enough for a group that small, and we'd be able to keep track of each other. Everyone else can wait here, where there's warmth and light. Once we're out, we'll make sure the rest of you are rescued as quickly as possible. You'll either be lifted out through the elevator shafts or a rescue party with plenty of good lights will come in from the natural opening and guide you out. Either way, you won't be in here much longer than those who go in the first group with m But you'll be able to leave in a lot more safety.

    'I'll give you a while to think about it. Decide whether you want to stay here or go with the escape party. I recommend you choose to stay here unless you've got a very good reason not to. After you've had a chance to make up your minds, I'll pick my group from those of you who want to leave with me.'

    'Guess that leaves me out,' muttered the Peterbilt man.

    'That's right,' Darcy said. Raising her voice, she announced. 'You've got five minutes.'

    

    

    'I absolutely must be one of the six,' Helen said to Carol.

    'I'll stick with you.'

    Helen shook her head. The lenses of her glasses reflected fire. She lifted a hand to Carol's cheek. 'You're so sweet. But there's no need for you to risk life and limb. Besides, look how you're dressed.'

    'I know how I'm dressed,' Carol said. The heat from the burning elevators felt wonderful, and she knew she would regret leaving the warmth. 'Hell, the fires aren't going to last forever.'

    'I'll leave you my sweater.'

    'I'm going with you. If they'll let me.'

    'Stay. I'd stay, myself, if it weren't for this damned diabetes. I just can't take the risk of waiting any longer than necessary. The hotel must have burnt.' She shook her head, 'I'll have to go into town, I suppose.'

    'We'll both go, Helen.'

    it might be terribly dangerous. You heard what the guide said. There won't be a walkway. And that chasm. It sounds just horrendous. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you came along on my account and… something happened to you.'

    'Nothing will happen. Besides, what makes you think I'd want to stay behind? I don't know any of these people. You're my best friend. Even if you are a pain in the ass sometimes.'

    Helen made a sound that was more like a sob than a laugh, and embraced her.

    

    

    'I'd sure like to see what's on the other side of that wall,' Wayne said.

    'Don't be ridiculous,' Jean told him. it wouldn't be any different than what's on this side.'

    'Except it's been closed up for about sixty years. And it's where Elizabeth Mordock died.'

    'Daddy, don't be so disgusting.'

    'Might be haunted,' he said.

    'There's no such things as ghosts,' Katie told him. 'Who says so?'

    She slapped his arm.

    'You hit me one more time, young lady, I'll knock your block off.'

    'Mommy.'

    'Don't speak to her that way, Wayne. It's not funny.'

    'That's right.'

    'She shouldn't go around hitting me all the time.'

    'You shouldn't tease her about ghosts.'

    'Who's teasing?'

    'If you really thought Elizabeth Mordock's ghost might be lurking in the other side of the cave, they couldn't drag you there. You're the biggest chicken I know.'

    Wayne laughed. She was right, of course. 'Well,' he said, 'it's quite obvious that I can't go with the first group and leave you two alone. Weil get to see the other end of the cave sooner or later, anyway.'

    'I don't want to,' Katie said.

    'It's either that, or we'll have to be lifted out with ropes or something. Personally, I'd rather take my chances with Elizabeth's ghost than get dropped.'

    'Goddamn it, Wayne!'

    

    

    'I reckon you'd rather stay here by the fire,' Calvin said, smiling and patting Mavis's considerable backside. 'Don't tell me you want to go.'

    'I don't aim to leave you behind, that's for sure. Minute I'm gone, old slick'd take it into his head to give your ass a poking.'

    'Calvin!'

    He laughed.

    'It's not at all funny.'

    'Don't fret. It ain't about to happen. I'll be right here and see to it. 'Sides, I reckon his pecker's so teeny he'd never find it in the dark.'

    'Why don't you quit harping about him? Honestly, Calvin, you act like such a baby sometimes.'

    'Which is it, a baby or a chauvinist?'

    'Both.'

    'You sure do take pleasure in insulting a man. Not that I hold it against you. It's just the way you gals are. No sooner you get married than you turn into a shrew.' He saw the corners of her mouth turn down. Now I've gone and done it, he thought. 'Shitfire,' he said, 'don't take it personal.'

    'How am I supposed to take it? You as much as said you wished you hadn't married me.'

    'I said no such thing, May. You're just fine, you're just fine.'

    'You called me a shrew.'

    'Well, you are a shrew. But like I say, it ain't your fault. You're just a woman, and that's a natural part of the equipment. It comes with the wedding band.'

    Now, she was weeping. In the firelight, Calvin saw shiny tears rolling down her cheeks.