Wild Fire (18 page)

He nodded limply but clung to her leg as she began to run her hands over the rocks and dry brush that covered the canyon walls. As she worked her way toward the falls, Ryan screamed and backed away. She reached for him and tried to pull him close again, but he had wedged himself into a crack in the rock face and refused to budge.

K
ARA GRABBED
R
YAN'S HAND
,
but he shook his head frantically, shut his eyes, and squeezed farther into the crack
.

She took a deep breath and immediately wished she hadn't. The coughing spell almost doubled her over.

“Kara?” She felt his fingers brush her arm. “Kara, you all right?”

His voice broke on a sob. “Don't die, Kara. I'll be good. Please don't die.”

She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.
I'll be good. Don't die
. Just a week ago she'd been feeling guilty that Mom had died. Ryan must be feeling the same. She grabbed him and pulled him with her to sit on the rocky ground. They were both bawling like a couple of babies, and she didn't care.

She held him, rocking back and forth, smoothing his hair, trying to kiss away the hurt like Mom would do. “It's okay, Ry, it's okay.”

His body trembled in her arms, and as she held him tighter she felt an overwhelming sense of love.

She'd been so tied up in her own pain, she hadn't realized how much he was hurting too. He was the youngest. He hadn't even been to school before Mom died. Mom was his world. He must miss her as much, or more, than any of them. Kara knew she couldn't let him go on blaming himself. She had to make him understand.

When he finally grew quiet, she forced him to look at her. “It's not your fault, Ryan. Do you hear me? You didn't do anything wrong.” She took another deep breath. This time her lungs didn't burn as badly. “I don't know why Mom had to leave us, but she's still alive in heaven. I do know God wants you and me to live down here on earth. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here now.

“Look,” she pointed to the break in the cliff where he had been standing. “There's the way out, and you're the one who found it.”

“I'm scared,” he sobbed.

“That's okay. I am too.” She scrambled to her feet and guided his hand to the cliff face where a young tree poked out of a crevice in the rocks. “Hang on to this. I'll go check it out, okay?”

The crack in the rock was just the width of Ryan's shoulders. She bent her head into the opening. Murky light coming from the other end revealed a rough, walled cave. No, it was more like a tunnel than a cave, running straight through the wall of rock.

At the far end of the passageway, she could see nothing but empty sky.

She backed out and studied the area around them more carefully. The river channel acted like a funnel, directing the flow of water, now just a trickle, away from the banks and through the archway in the towering granite wall. Right now this tunnel's floor was dry. If the river ran high, there would be water flowing through here as well, forming a second small waterfall.

She ignored Ryan's whimper as she waded into the water and peered through the archway. Over time, water had eroded the rock. When the water level was higher the river plunged downward, deep into another canyon at the bottom of the falls.

She shivered and moved back toward the tunnel. “I'm going in.” The hole was just wide enough for her to squeeze through. The tunnel opened up a little on the inside, but it still wasn't high enough for her to stand upright. She crawled forward. Stretching her hands in front of her, she felt along the walls. Solid rock. Was this the passageway that would lead them out of the gorge?

The tunnel wasn't more than eight feet long. She reached the light and stopped. Hands still pressed against the walls, she leaned forward and peered through. Something bumped her from behind, and she nearly lost her balance.

“What is it, Kara? What's there?”

She sat back on her heels but couldn't turn around. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. “Ryan Sheridan, don't you ever do that again!”

She could sense him backing away. “Stop. Just hold still, okay? I didn't get a chance to see.” She inched forward one more time. Hands braced against the walls, she leaned into the light.

The edge of the world
.
The legend couldn't have been more true. Her stomach flipped, and the floor of the tunnel came up to meet her spinning head. She crouched in the doorway, facing nothingness, and tried to relax her breathing
.

There's a pathway to the sky
. This time she forced her gaze upwards. The cliff face was in shadow. It looked sheer and smooth, but she really couldn't tell. She scanned the side for a rope or vine. If there had ever been one, it was gone.

Ahead of her was only empty space. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Kara?”

“All right, Ry. Just a minute.” She had to think, but she was so tired her brain felt like mush. They had three choices—up, down, or stay put. Up was out for now. The sun had slipped behind the horizon, and from here the light from the fire was only a faint, hazy glow.

Down was unthinkable for the same reason. And also because there was probably nothing there. If they stayed where they were and the fire spread this far, they'd be trapped like a fox in a hole.

End of choices. They'd have to stay and chance it. “Back up, Ry, and let me turn around.”

“But I thought you said it was a door. Where does it go?”

“I don't know. It's getting too dark to see.” She slid the straps of her backpack off her shoulders. “Take this.” A dull ache spread through her back as he pulled the heavy pack away. She heard it drop to the ground.

Her arms scraped against the rough walls, but without the pack she was able to turn completely around. Ryan stood easily in the passage, his shoulders not even touching the sides. Beyond him the patch of gray shadow that was the entrance told her it was already night.

She was still wet, and her skin began to chill under her cotton shirt and jeans. They'd be better off in the tunnel than outside. Ryan was shivering too. “Why can't we go now? I'm hungry.”

“We're going to camp here for the night, okay? Let's get into some dry clothes, and then we'll have something to eat.”

“Cool.” He emptied his pack between them. “I brought jeans and a sweatshirt. Like you said.”

“Good. Change your socks too. We'll set our shoes by the opening. Maybe they'll be dry by morning.”

While he was changing, she stripped off her own wet clothes. The warmth from her sweatsuit and heavy cotton socks felt like heaven. It was hard to believe only an hour ago she'd been frying in the heat.

They each ate an apple and a pack of raisins, and they shared a bottle of water. When he was done, Ryan dug through his pack and came up with two candy bars. “Want some dessert?”

He was so innocent, so matter-of-fact, she couldn't contain herself. She burst out laughing. “Ryan, you're wonderful.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Hey!” He wiped her kiss away with the back of his hand, but even in the murky light she could see his chocolate grin.

The ground inside the tunnel was smooth but hard. Kara spread their heavy jackets end to end, then stretched out on her side with her back against the wall. She used her backpack for a pillow, and Ryan curled into the curve of her body. In less than a minute his even breathing told her he was asleep.

She expected it to be a long night. The tunnel stayed only semidark with the glow of the fire still lighting up the sky. A frail moon peered briefly through the opening to the west, then vanished quickly behind a veil of smoke.

She thought of Colin and Anne. Had they made it out through the Pine Creek trail? “Dear God,” she whispered, “they belong to you too. Please keep them safe.”

Once she thought she heard the droning of a plane. She rose up on one elbow and listened carefully, but the sound didn't come again. The next time she opened her eyes, both ends of the tunnel were flooded with light.

T
HIS TIME SHE WAS SURE
she heard a plane. She peeled off her socks and squeezed out of the tunnel. The water barely came to her ankles. It was much shallower than last night
.
Above her, patches of blue sky pushed through the haze. The smoke had cleared some at this end of the valley, but huge, white mushroom clouds still hovered in the north
.

She heard the
click, click, whir
of a chopper blade and shielded her eyes to scan the sky. They were too far down, too deep in the canyon. If they couldn't see the helicopter, the helicopter couldn't see them.

Once again she studied the rock face on both sides of the canyon. Too steep. Any ledges were too far up, closer to the top. The granite wall didn't offer a handhold either. At this level, it was worn smooth and slick with moss.

She should go back through the tunnel and explore the other opening, the one on the falls side. Maybe she had missed something last night in the dark. But even the thought made her knees feel weak.

Ryan poked his head out of the tunnel. “What are we going to do, Kara?”

“Maybe we should go back upriver a little ways,” she said. At least they could tell where the fire was, and maybe even find a spot to climb out of the canyon. She knew Dad was looking for them. If they could just get to higher ground.

Ryan's brow wrinkled with worry. “What about the fire?”

“We won't go back that far,” she promised. “If it gets too hot we'll just turn around. Okay?”

He nodded, then held up his hand. “Shh, listen. It's another plane. Dad's coming for us!”

“He'll find us, Ry, but you have to remember there are other planes too. Dropping chemicals and water on the fire.” She tried a smile. “Don't worry, we'll be back home in Lariat by dinnertime.”

Please God, let me be right
.

They ate the last two apples and drank half a bottle of water. “It's going to be hot today. We should save as much water as we can.”

They backtracked for half an hour in the shallow river. A thick layer of ashes made the rocks even more slippery. She tried to stay close to the side, where they could lean on the canyon wall for balance. The gorge had widened, and the uphill slope had lessened the distance to the top, but there was still no way to climb out.

The air grew warmer by the minute. Kara wasn't sure if it was from the sun or the fire. The smoke was getting thicker too. Ryan started coughing, and her throat felt sore again.

“Do you have any candy left?”

“Just these.” He pulled a half-filled bag of butterscotch out of his pack.

“Good. Look, it's getting smoky again, but I think the gorge really opens up once we get around that curve. If we don't run into fire, we should be able to climb out.”

Ryan soaked his bandanna and tied it around his face. “Okay. I'm ready.”

She shivered. He was braver than she was. “Let's go,” she said, “but if I say get back, you turn around and run. Got it?”

He nodded and slipped his hand into hers, his blue eyes wide and solemn above his blue-and-white bandanna.
Trust
. She wanted to hug him, but they were wasting time.

She felt the urge to run, like Lily after she'd been cooped up in her stall. She settled for a slow jog, but the uphill slope made it harder than ever to breathe. They rounded the corner, and her feet slipped as she skidded to a stop. She grabbed hold of a large boulder to steady herself and gaped at the pile of rubble blocking their way. “I don't believe it! This must have happened overnight.”

“Wow! A beaver dam.”

Twenty feet in front of them, a snag of trees and branches jammed tight against the canyon walls. Thicker and higher than any beaver dam, it was much more effective. A trickle of water at the bottom was the only sign of any breach.