“I don’t know when, but chances are they’ll find us.”
“Chances are?” she asked, her voice echoing shrilly off the limestone walls.
“Did you tell the Pierces where you were going to hike?”
She groaned. He paused and turned toward her again.
“What?”
“I just remembered—Rill, Katie and the baby went to St. Louis for a doctor’s appointment. They won’t be home until late, and I’m staying at the guest cottage on their property. They won’t realize I’m not in there until tomorrow.”
He said nothing, just continued his exploration of the cave walls. She felt judged by his silence.
“I know it was stupid, going into a prohibited area of the forest without telling anyone. I’m so used to hiking, I never thought twice about it. And I had my cell phone.” She groaned in disappointment. “I still don’t have any signal.”
“You might as well save your battery on that,” he said.
“Isn’t the light from it helping you?”
“No. I can’t see, so the light doesn’t matter.”
It took a moment for his meaning to settle.
“Wait, are you saying—”
“I’m blind.”
Jennifer just stared at him for several seconds in openmouthed shock. Her first reaction was dread that her partner in catastrophe was disabled in any way, but then she glanced around the dim cavern. In a matter of hours it would be pitch black in here. Her cell phone battery would only last for so long. John’s “disability” became an asset when she considered they were stuck in a black hole together.
She turned the light on her cell phone off. Fear immediately rose in her, ready to pounce. She switched the light back on.
“I’ll just send a text message to the Pierces. If there’s a window of opportunity for reception, there’s a chance it will go out and they could call the local authorities.”
“A very small chance, but maybe. Might as well try,” John muttered under his breath. “Tell them we’re trapped about a mile and a half southwest of my cabin in the vicinity of the old mines, just off the path in the direction of the stream.”
She typed out a message and sent it, not feeling very hopeful their plea would escape the earth’s underground trap. She mustered her courage and turned off the light on her phone. Despite the beam of sunshine in the distance, she felt as blind as John Corcoran.
No. Blinder.
She heard the crunch of his boots on some debris and moved after him in the darkness. She put her hands out before her. When she clutched his upper arm, he paused. She waited for a protest, but instead he continued his survey. Relief swept through her. He felt too strong, solid and real to let go of.
“Isn’t it a little dangerous for you to live in these woods alone when you’re blind?” she asked delicately.
“It’s a lot safer for me than for most sighted people who enter this forest,” he said. Jennifer blushed, although she suspected he hadn’t meant his comment to sting. It was just the truth. “Actually, I don’t live here full time. I spent my summers with my dad here as a kid. I inherited his cabin when he died. I’m here for a working vacation.”
“Oh,” she said, absorbing the information. “Hey . . . I just thought of something,” she exclaimed, still holding on to his arm and following him.
“Yeah?” he asked, sounding preoccupied.
“Why don’t you try to lift me up to the hole? I might be able to climb out and go get help.”
“We won’t be able to reach the ledge,” he said.
“You’re very tall.”
“We have to both be nearly ten feet tall to make it to the surface,” he replied drolly.
“We could build up the ground beneath us with some of that tunnel debris.”