Dark Nights Part 4

Jubal took one last look at the sky, noting that the clouds that had been floating so lazily overhead were spinning ominously, a gathering of a great force. Mist now shrouded the entire upper half of the mountain, looking for all the world like a great white veil slowly being drawn over the entire towering ma.s.s. They were in the clouds, cut off from below. The mist had gone beneath them as well, searching out the lower fields, covering their descent, the weather turning on them fast.

Resolutely, Jubal pushed into the jagged crack, his chest sc.r.a.ping against the limestone as he forced his larger body into the narrow hall.

Behind him the wind rose in a sudden shriek, lashing at the mountain, while strange, haunting cries echoed off the peaks. Mist swirled around the mountaintop, a mini tornado that s.n.a.t.c.hed the logbook and sent it skittering down the hillside to land in one of the many bogs, where it slowly sank beneath the dark waters.

The mountain groaned, rocks creaking. The floor beneath their feet trembled, shuddered and rippled with sudden life.

"Hold on," Jubal called to his sisters. "Earthquake."

They all reached to grab any hold they could. Joie found a couple of finger pockets to stick her fingers in and hoped that terrible dread filling her stomach didn't mean the pa.s.sage itself would shift and narrow. Gabrielle placed her fist into a tight fist jam with one hand and braced herself with a flat palm with the other, biting her lip, afraid the ceiling would cave in. Jubal had to use an under-cling, praying the floor wouldn't drop from beneath him as the ground shook.

Outside the pa.s.sage, the rocks rolled away from the outcropping, settling into a random pile of innocent-looking stones just at the base of the slowly narrowing crack. The grinding of rock echoed through the cave, a terrible ominous sound that reverberated down the tight pa.s.sage. Darkness settled into the entryway of the cave and the siblings immediately switched on the lights built into their helmets.

Joie moved quickly through the narrow hall, well ahead of her brother and sister. The ceiling dropped with every foot, so she was forced to bend over, eventually crawling on all fours and then sliding on her stomach.

"It's tight here, Jubal," she called back to her brother. The sense of urgency driving her was tempered by the building knots in her stomach. The cave didn't feel right to her.

Normally, caves were a place of absolute wonder. Fascinating, mysterious, the last frontier for those like Joie, who needed to walk where no one else had gone, to discover things and see things no one else had dared to see.

Around her, the coolness of the rock called to her; the steady sound of water streaming from numerous cracks and the sudden chasms plunging into darkness below added to the surreal experience of pushing through a tight crevice on her stomach. She wiggled through until she could feel the cool air coming from a subterranean chamber.

Just up ahead was a perfect tube where powerful, swirling water had blasted through the limestone for hundreds of years, carving an opening. She entered it without hesitation, ignoring the flashing warning sign deep in her stomach. Hard knots coiled tighter, becoming the herald of dark dread. Everything inside her demanded she keep going, even when she had to maneuver her body at odd angles to slither through the tunnel.

"Slow down, Joie," Jubal cautioned. "Stay within sight of us."

"I don't like the way she's acting," Gabrielle whispered. "I've never seen her like this. She always obeys the safety rules, you know that, Jubal. Something is really wrong." She felt sick, her stomach churning, her mind filled with a terrible trepidation. "Something terrible is going to happen if we don't stop her."

Jubal waited, but Gabrielle didn't move; she remained wedged in the narrow hall, blocking him from continuing. "Keep going, Gabrielle," he said. "We'll catch up to her and talk sense to her. She's been caving for years. She's not going to forget everything she's ever learned."

"Ever since she was hurt in Austria, she's been different," Gabrielle pointed out. "Distracted. Driven."

"She's always very focused when she's going into a cave. And this is a big discovery, an unexplored cave. We have no idea what we're going to find. Of course she's excited."

"You know it isn't just that; she's been different this entire trip. Even before that. She's quieter. Joie isn't quiet. Now she seems to be somewhere else half the time. I feel like we're losing her, Jubal-as if something is pulling her into another world where we can't follow."

Jubal sighed loudly. "I wish I could say I don't know what you mean, but that's why I came on this trip. I've been worried about her too." He reached out and pushed at his sister. "Move it. I can't even hear her now."

"I can't move, Jubal." Gabrielle sounded scared. "I really can't."

"Are you stuck?" Jubal was very calm, but inside that insidious dark dread was stealing over him.

"No," Gabrielle whispered. "I just can't move. Have you ever heard the term 'paralyzed with fear'? I think I really am."

"Gabby," Jubal said, his voice very quiet. "What are you afraid of?"

"I don't know. Joie's acting so out of control and ... can't you feel it? The cave doesn't want us in here. Listen to the sound of the water. The cave feels evil, Jubal."

"You're letting your imagination get the better of you, Gabrielle. Just take a breath. You're not claustrophobic and you're not superst.i.tious. If Joie's in trouble, we have to help her. The only way we're going to do that is to stick with her and get her through this."

"I'm trying," Gabrielle said, pushing with her toes in an effort to break the paralysis.

Joie pushed forward as the ceiling lifted, allowing her to walk once again. Eventually the hall opened into a large chamber.

"Hey, you two, it's much better in here. There's a large gallery." She shone her light around the area, noting the fingerlike formations surrounding a large abyss that yawned in the middle of the chamber. "Looks like a cathedral in here. Ice b.a.l.l.s have formed everywhere here and the sculpted ice is fantastic below, layered in blues and greens."

She peered down into the seemingly bottomless abyss, her heart drumming hard, a breathless antic.i.p.ation, half for the discovery of a cave no one had walked in and half about a mythical man who refused to go away.

"Ice stalagmites are in abundance, Gabrielle, they're everywhere on the floor, but that means the temperature here goes above freezing. We're going to have to be careful," she called back over her shoulder, all the while studying the deep hole.

The allure of the unknown was always on her when she came into a cave. The idea that she might be where no one had ever been was a feeling indescribable and she rarely tried putting it in words. She had to explore the unknown. She was driven to do so. She had acquired a good reputation and many countries allowed her permits to explore and map caves. She often brought out samples for researchers. That was Gabrielle's department, not hers, but she a.s.sisted her whenever she could.

"There's a few ice boulders here, scattered around the top. I'm going to dislodge them. We can't have that kind of threat hanging over us when we descend." She used her ice pick to clear away as many of the boulders as she could. Occasionally she could hear the cracks and creaks that told her the ice was weighing itself down and the pressure could send a large piece bursting forth like a rocket, to hurl itself across the empty s.p.a.ce with enough force to kill one of them.

"Hurry up, Jubal," she called. "What's the hold-up?"

"Gabby's having to take a moment. Just relax, Joie. Take a breath while I talk her through it."

She couldn't wait. Every cell in her body screamed at her to hurry. There was little time. The urgency settled deep into the middle of that terrible cloud of dread she couldn't stop. She climbed into her rigging as she struggled to hold on to reality. He needed her. Something was terribly wrong. She had to get to him fast.

"Gabrielle! Jubal! I'm going to begin my descent." Joie tested her harness and glanced back toward the tube. "Gabrielle! Jubal! Are you two okay?"

"Wait for us, Joie," Jubal ordered. "Gabrielle has a bad feeling about this and so do I. I'm thinking we should regroup for a few minutes and talk this over. This could be more trouble than we want."

Joie fought back hysterical laughter that bubbled up out of nowhere. "Talk it over? n.o.body's in more trouble than I am right now, Jubal. I can't turn back. I have to make this descent or go live in a padded cell for the rest of my life. I am not kidding you."

Jubal caught at Gabrielle's leg. "She isn't joking; she sounds on the verge of hysteria."

"I can't," Gabrielle began to cry.

"Move your a.s.s. Right now," he ordered Gabrielle, and then raised his voice to make certain his youngest sister could hear him. "Joie, don't you dare start that descent without us. You stay right where you are until we get there. If you don't listen to me, I'm going to haul your a.s.s back to the surface and take you out of here."

Jubal rarely used that tone with either of his independent sisters, but it had the desired effect. Gabrielle scooted forward, driven by the fact that her brother obviously shared her growing fears for Joie.

Shaken, Joie pulled back from the abyss, shocked at herself that she would have started without Gabrielle and Jubal. She always put safety first. Always. She was an expert climber and caver. It made no sense that she was acting so insane. She was in dangerous territory. An unexplored ice cave was a disaster waiting to happen for anyone not paying attention to what they were doing.

She pressed her fingertips to her eyes, taking in great gulps of air, trying to find a balance. She couldn't risk the lives of her brother and sister. She knew they'd come exploring with her because they were concerned about her. She was just as worried as they were for her sanity.

Joie. You must listen to me. You and your siblings are in mortal danger. There is evil here and you must leave before it is too late.

She drew in her breath sharply. There he was again-her mythical man. His voice was commanding. Firm. His tone held absolute conviction. But it also held pain. He was somewhere down below her suffering. She could feel him close to her. He needed her, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He needed her. She had been on rescue teams many times, even led a few herself, but this was different. Whatever his injuries, they hadn't been sustained in a climbing accident.

His fear for her-for all of them-beat at her, impossible to ignore. Joie sat on the edge of the precipice, staring down into the black abyss. The walls of ice belled outward away from any rope, creating a free rappel. It would be difficult to slow down. They'd have to work to control speed on their descent on an ice-slick rope. Jubal and she both were expert at handling a descent bobbin, but Gabrielle might have a little more trouble. She didn't look up when her brother and sister joined her.

Jubal rested his hands on her shoulders. He took a long slow look around the large chamber, shining his light up along the vaulted ceilings and studying the edges of the abyss to a.s.sess their safety should they choose to make the descent.

"Joie," he said, as gently as possible. "You're going to have to talk to us. We have to know what's going on with you. Exploring caves is something we all enjoy together, we have for a lot of years, since Mom and Dad rigged harnesses for us when we were toddlers. But this isn't fun. It isn't even safe and I think you know that. We're willing to follow you and help you any way we can, but we have to understand what's going on."

Gabrielle sat cautiously beside her and took her hand. "So tell us. We'll help. We always stick together. There's no need to hide anything from us."