Catalyst (10 page)

"Where did you get that?"

"It came down through the new hole they drilled. If
you weren't such a sleepy head, you and old Lem here wouldn't have
missed the fun."

Renee turned; noticed Lem was still asleep and
returned to her young friend. "Okay, what fun?"

"I've been talking to everyone," Courtney said with a
smirk. "Grandma, your dad, Gary and Stephanie. Everyone. You never
told me your father has a real twinkle in his eye."

"Courtney." Renee sounded exasperated. "What are you
babbling on about?"

"Okay but I couldn't help having fun. Here, hold the
camera." Still perplexed, Renee took the instrument while Courtney
disappeared only to reappear seconds later with a laptop in her
hand. She plunked it on a backpack at the end of Renee's sleeping
bag and turned it so the screen could be seen.

"Hi, Sweetheart," said a familiar face from the
screen.

Renee gasped. "Daddy?"

"Courtney was right." Her father chuckled. "You
certainly know how to sleep. I can't see much now, though. Only the
inside of the tent."

Renee grabbed the camera and aimed it at the girl.
"This is public nuisance number one, Dad," she said in a somber
voice. "I guess you've already met her."

"Oh, yes," Jack answered. "She's told me
everything."

"I hope not," Renee whispered with her hand over the
microphone part of the camera and switched her eyes to her
companion. "You didn't..."

Courtney shook her head but continued to smile
mercilessly. "What's it worth to shut up?" she sniggered.

Renee tried to remain tight-lipped but failed
miserably. She broke into a broad smile and grabbed the girl in a
sudden headlock.

"Renee," Courtney screamed. "Stop it. You're
hurting."

****

Lem sprung up in alarm as pandemonium broke out. The
two females were just about knocking the tent over, the younger one
screaming, kicking and flinging her arms, while the other lay
sedately with her broken ankle sticking out from the edge of the
sleeping bag. She had her arms around the bundle of energy trying
to break free. It was his turn to be confused.

"So that was it," a disheveled Courtney explained a
few moments later. "The new hole they drilled is wider than the
original, fifteen inches they told me." Her eyes caught the monitor
and she lost her train of thought. "Oh, my God." She gasped.

"Hi there, honey," Amy said from the screen. "You're
looking well."

Courtney stared at the camera. "Hi, Grandma," she
replied in a humble voice. "You look no different."

"You do too, Honey. You've grown into a beautiful
young woman, I see. I like your hairstyle. Longer hair suits
you."

"Oh, Grandma." The girl seemed pleased at the
attention given to her.

****

Once the levity was over, Gary came on screen with a
report on their situation. "The whole eastern sector of Misty
Depths Catacombs exploded and caused a spontaneous collapse.
There's now a gigantic crater where the caves were."

"What happens now?" Lem asked.

"We've decided to bring tunneling equipment. We'll
dig through the section where you fell in. It could take two or
three days, I'm afraid."

The trio gazed at one another with mixed emotions
before Lem said; "I guess we can hold out but what about Renee's
ankle? She's comfortable with the clamps but the bone beneath
hasn't been set."

"I know," the sergeant replied. "I'm sorry but
there's little else we can do."

"At least we're alive and in good health," Renee
said. "I am curious about something, sergeant."

"What is that, Renee?"

"The gas that exploded. Did you know it was
there?"

"You were sitting right above a grotto of compressed
gas. It could have blown your cavern up at any time."

"You knew?" Lem retorted.

Despite his professional manner, the sergeant looked
uncomfortable. "We never told you earlier because your morale would
have plummeted. Engineers here assure me the risk of another
explosion is minimal."

Amy appeared on the monitor. "We were told of the
risk and it was our decision to keep it from you. That's because we
love you."

Courtney bit her bottom lip. "All those people are
there to help us," she said after the laptop was switched off. "I
never realized Grandma cared." She shrugged. "I never thought about
her over the last few months. Even earlier, she was someone who
visited, said nice things, always gave me a present, and then
disappeared on an airplane. I got on with my life and took her for
granted, I guess."

"It's times like this when we need a family," Renee
replied.

Lem nodded and rubbed the girl's hair. "And what else
came down the new hole, my girl?"

"Food, clothes and more newspapers," she replied. "I
almost forgot. There's a hot breakfast waiting. Come and get it
before everything turns cold."

She turned and disappeared outside.

Renee turned and grinned at Lem. "Is it my
imagination or is Courtney becoming quite a character?"

"I think she always was but the tough times she went
through suppressed it."

"And yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your wife didn't turn up," she whispered.

"Good. I don't need her."

"So who do you need?"

"You."

Renee looked up and saw serious, wide eyes gazing
into hers. "You aren't joking are you, Lem?"

"No. Am I being an old fool caught up in this
artificial situation?"

"Lem," Renee's voice was intense. She manipulated
herself up and flung her arms around his neck. Her tongue ran
across the top of her lips, she gave Lem a bruising kiss on the
lips and wriggled in close. They kissed with passion before Renee
pulled back. "Does that answer any doubts you have?" she whispered,
kissed him again and ducked out of the tent.

****

It was late evening and Jack was about to change and
crawl into bed when he heard a knock. His immediate thoughts were
that something must have gone wrong. What other reason would there
be for someone to call at this hour? He rushed to the door and
flung it open.

Amy stood there.

"What happened?" Jack asked.

The woman smiled apprehensively. "Nothing, Jack. It's
just me. Can I come in?"

"Of course." His worried emotion changed to that of
curiosity. "I was finishing off a sketch and time slipped by. I
guess you saw my light."

Amy appeared nervous with her writhing hands but her
lips showed determination. "Will you hear me out? Please,
Jack."

"I thought you enjoyed our evening together."

He shut the door and waved at the spare bed that
acted as a couch.

"I did," Amy whispered as she sat. "But I began to
think about tomorrow."

"The rescue? They're all well, Amy,"

"It's not them." Amy's eyes bored into Jack's. "It's
us."

"What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow they'll be out, no doubt Renee will be
taken to the hospital to have her ankle set but then we'll go
home."

"I guess you're right."

"I am. You'll go to Seattle and I'll return to Grand
Rapids in Michigan." She stopped. "I doubt if Courtney will come
with me." Her eyes turned to Jack and he saw her chin quiver.

"Go on," he said.

"I'm almost sixty, Jack and not good at this."

"At what?"

Her hands reached out to grab his. "My daughter is
thirty-seven, granddaughter eighteen and I've been a widow for
several years. It's just…" She stopped, dropped Jack's hands and
stood. "It doesn't matter. I'll get back to my trailer. Sorry I
interrupted."

Jack grabbed Amy's arm. "There's more. Tell me, what
is it?"

Amy turned with tear-smudged eyes. "I want you to
make love to me. I thought if I didn't tell you tonight, you'd
leave tomorrow and I'd never see you again."

Jack stood rock still as he assimilated the
information but apart from a slight twitch of his left eye, his
reaction was neutral. "I don't know," he replied in a monotone.

Amy gave a gasp and stepped towards the door. "I'm
sorry. I've been a fool. I..."

"You don't understand," Jack blurted out. "My
feelings for you are the same, Amy. If only I'd met you before my
stroke I'd be the proudest man around to... you know. Oh hell." He
groped for words. "I mean, with my disability I don't know if I can
perform the way men should. I've never tried since my stroke."

"But the rest of what I said?"

"Don't go home. Come with Renee and me back to
Washington State." He broke into his twisted smile. "I reckon it
wouldn't take much to persuade your granddaughter to come too. She
seems to be getting on well with Renee."

Amy whispered, "You aren't just feeling sorry for
me?"

Jack sat down as something embarrassing happened in
his groin area. Stirrings never felt for a decade were beginning to
surface. "I'll need to change," he muttered and glanced poignantly
at the double bed. "Did you..."

The sentence was never finished. He could only gap
when Amy slowly removed her blouse and jeans. Beneath she wore
slick pink pajamas that hid nothing. She put her arms around Jack's
waist and kissed him on the lips.

"I'll help, Jack."

The light went out and they crawled between the
sheets. Jack discovered his fears were unfounded. Moments later, he
proved his capabilities and made desperate love to the passionate,
moaning woman beneath him. Afterwards, they sat up, cuddled,
kissed, fondled and talked. Finally, Jack fell asleep and his
dreams were of pleasant things, hope, happiness and a chubby woman
near him.

Morning arrived and the sun streamed in the cabin
window. Amy, fully dressed and smiling, held a steaming mug of
coffee. He took the coffee, placed in on the table and reached out
to squeeze her arm.

"God, I'm glad you came last night. I would never
have scraped up the nerve. You know how conservative our generation
is?"

"Yes. The two stiff whiskies I took gave me courage,"
she replied and bit her lip as if her confidence had gone. "Jack,
if the offer is still on, I would like to go back to Seattle with
you, for a little while, anyway. Things have happened so
quickly."

"I know. The offer still stands but there's no hurry
now, is there? We can take one day at a time."

"Yes, we certainly can."

****

When the rescue team arrived, Renee and the others
had already packed up and were waiting near the spot where they had
originally fallen in. Five people dressed in bright protective
clothing appeared and descended down ropes to meet them.
Introductions were given and she was strapped onto a stretcher. She
smiled at her friends of the last few days and was pulled up to a
ledge. Once there, she could see a well-lit corrugated iron
cylinder twisting back through the collapsed area.

"You know," she said to Lem as she was jostled along
by the four people holding the stretcher. "Last time I was here,
you were just a stranger walking along behind me, offering advice
every now and then."

"Yes," he replied. "And I remember wondering how I
could possibly keep up with that dynamic woman in front of me." He
glanced at Courtney who held one side of Renee's stretcher. "And
stay ahead of the keen young lady breathing down my neck."

Cameras, reporters and spectators vied for positions
when they appeared at the surface. Jack's tanned face had a wide
grin and he had an arm around Amy, who appeared shorter in real
life than on the monitor.

"Grandma," Courtney yelled. "I'm here, Grandma."

"Oh, Courtney," Amy replied and burst into tears when
Courtney let a medic take over her corner of the stretcher and
rushed to her. It was hugs and tears with Amy gushing the way
grandmothers do.

Renee turned and saw her father a few feet away.
""Daddy, thank you for being here the whole time to support me."
She reached up, kissed her father on the cheek and squeezed his
good hand.

"That's what fathers are for, Sweetheart."

Renee glanced to where Lem had stepped back. "I want
you to meet Lem, Dad. Lem, meet my Dad."

Jack turned and gave the younger man an enthusiastic
handshake. "So you're the reason my daughter has a twinkle in her
eye, Lad."

Lem smiled. "I guess so, Jack. We all pulled together
pretty well down there."

"So I gathered." Jack chuckled and winked at Renee.
It was as if he knew everything that had happened.

Their conversation was interrupted by an over
enthusiastic television reporter who brazenly pushed in and began
asking questions. After answering a barrage of them for a few
moments Renee switched her eyes to Lem and noticed his expression
had changed into an annoyed frown. He gazed over her father's
shoulders.

"What is it, Lem?" she asked with alarm in her
voice.

"Why did she have to come?"

"Who?" She wanted to sit but was held in place by the
stretcher straps.

"Nikki, my wife, is here," Lem muttered. "She's
pushed her way past the security guards and is heading this
way."

****

CHAPTER
10

"Courtney," Renee hissed. "Will you undo these damn
stretcher straps. I want to sit up."

The girl glanced at her, over to Lem and at the woman
striding towards them.

"Sure, Renee," she whispered. "But you aren't going
to like what you see."

She undid two leather straps and helped Renee to a
sitting position. "If it's any comfort, I don't think Lem is
pleased his wife has turned up. I've never seen him looking so
annoyed."

Renee nodded and saw the reason for Courtney's
comments. Nikki Erksberg was a slim brunette, probably no older
than herself, with long shoulder-length hair that tumbled down on a
crisp navy blue business suit. She wore a frilly lemon-colored
blouse and a tight skirt. As the woman walked closer, Renee could
see a well made-up but pouting face that changed to a smile when
the woman noticed herself under scrutiny. The smile never reached
the cold, determined eyes.