Catalyst (29 page)

"Renee's too much of a good cook."

"Why?" Linda asked.

Lem grimaced. "I must have put on a bit of weight
over the last year. I seem to be stuck."

Stephanie took charge. She wedged herself past the
teenager and squatted by Lem.

"Try going back," she suggested.

Lem grinned and wriggled his shoulders. For a second
his shoulders lifted and dust made a thousand pinpoints of floating
flakes in the flashlight beams. His lips pursed in effort and
pieces of loam crushed in a pile by his shoulders and slid to the
ground. He continued different maneuvers before he heaved and
collapsed onto his stomach.

"It's no good," he said and glanced up with an
embarrassed smile. "My arms are pinned in by the walls and I can
get no grip with my feet. I'm really wedged in, I'm afraid."

****

When the jeep smashed through the safety rail,
Courtney bounced against the roll bar. She would have been crushed
beneath the vehicle as it rolled but she was pulled back by her
seat belt.

Her head ached but she realized the car had left the
road. She could see Kathleen holding the wheel of the Honda but
where were Sada and Brigitte?

"Sada! Brigitte!" she screamed. There were red
flashing lights and the stink of hot oil and blood everywhere. Warm
blood. Her own!

A flashlight shone in her eyes and screaming filled
her ears. It sounded like Kathleen. She struggled to move but
throbbing pain cut through her mind. Lights flashed outside and she
found it difficult to breathe.

"Hello, there young lady," said a kind voice. "Just
lie still. We'll get you out soon. The seat belt saved you." The
highway patrol officer's head turned. "We need help here. There's a
lot of blood."

The teenager lost consciousness.

She awoke to find her eyes firmly closed. Where were
the flashing lights? And the policeman? God, her head ached. She
passed a hand across her face and it came away sticky. She could
smell something burning. Something hot was shining on her. She
forced her eyes open to find it wasn't dark. The sun was blazing
down. No, it was gone. Instead there was a cloud of black smoke
across her vision. She could smell the stench of hot flames but
they were not burning. It was such a strange sensation.

"Courtney!" A voice from a million miles away pierced
her brain. She focused but it wasn't Kathleen staring at her.
Someone else was there, a person she should know… a kind face…
someone with red hair and bright blue eyes. This was a friend, she
realized that but she couldn't attach a name to the image.
"Courtney," her friend said. "Can you hear me?"

She could smell other things now...fir trees. That
lovely aroma of Christmas trees flooded her mind. She could see the
blue sky and that concerned face, normally confident and happy but
now her friend looked worried. What was there to worry about?

God her face stung. Courtney shut her eyes and
without warning, her memory flooded back. She opened her eyes and
smiled.

"Hi Renee," she croaked. "Chuck was damn well right,
wasn't he?"

****

After more frantic maneuvers, all Lem seemed able to
manage was to wedge himself in tighter. He was good- humored about
his predicament and listened as Stephanie shouted suggestions to
Ken behind him.

Linda watched but felt redundant.

"Shall I go ahead and check what's there?" she
asked.

"You can," Stephanie said. "But be careful. As far as
I know the tunnel will become blocked or drop into the cavern
below. Don't take any risks."

"It won't be blocked," Linda replied. "Otherwise
there would be no air movement. There's a distinct breeze coming
towards us."

"That's a good point," Stephanie commented and
switched her attention back to Lem. "Can you turn sideways, Lem. If
you could do that... " Her voice drifted on but Linda had stopped
listening.

She took a few steps forward, noticed the area widen
slightly and the roof disappear into darkness. She turned, could
see the other flashlights, so walked to a bend ahead. Darkness
closed behind her. She shivered, more in anticipation than from the
cold and decided to return. It was deadly quiet but the soft breeze
hit her cheeks.

"Three more bends, Linda," she said to herself. There
were no side tunnels so she wouldn't get lost.

With thumping heart and one hand running along the
wall for reassurance, she moved forward around another bend, the
second and finally the third. Without her flashlight, it would be
pitch black. No, this wasn't right. Linda reached up and clicked
her flashlight off. Claustrophobic darkness enveloped her and she
was about to switch it on again when her expanding pupils noticed a
gray haze.

Though fearful, Linda was curious. She edged forward
and around the next corner.

She gasped and stopped dead still.

The tunnel disappeared into blackness and she could
feel the breeze again but it was coming from between her legs. She
could feel the wall on her right and reached in the opposite
direction with her left hand. Yes, the opposite wall was there.

A sound made her leap in fright. Voices. The faint
rumble of voices appeared to float with the breeze from below.

And there were lights. Millions of blue dots, like
stars on a clear summer's night, spread in a tremendous dome above
her. Of course, she was in a cavern and they were glowworms.

Dozens of feet below, three flashlights shone and the
voices returned. Fascinated now, rather than scared, Linda sat and
edged herself forward a few feet on her bottom but stopped. The
floor beneath her had gone. There was just a drop into darkness and
the people way below. They would be the group she saw at the
parking lot when they arrived and this must be the cavern Lem,
Renee and Courtney fell into.

Linda smiled. She still had her flashlight off and
felt like an aerial spy watching the tourists. The voices were so
sharp she could almost distinguish the words. A few moments later,
the tourists moved away, until everything became dark again,
except, of course, for the heaven of glowworms above.

Linda lost all sense of time but realized she had
been playing spy for quite a while. She wondered about Lem's
predicament, decided she had better return and crawled backwards.
She stood, turned back the way she had come and clicked on her
flashlight.

"My God," she squealed and her heart leapt into her
throat.

Something was lying on the ground.

Terror gripped her until she forced herself to move
her head so her helmet flashlight focused on the object. She held
her heaving chest and stared transfixed, then as quickly as the
emotions appeared they dissipated, for she realized what was
there.

She chuckled and bent down to pick up a bulky jacket.
It must have been lying there for a year. With a cheeky grin, she
put it on. The garment was so large it went around her twice and
reached beyond the bottom of her shorts. She was certain it was
Lem's jacket. Nobody else would have one this size.

Feeling proud of her discovery, Linda set off to find
the others.

****

CHAPTER
26

"Well, at least I got out the correct side," Lem
lamented after he managed to free himself from the narrow section
of the cave.

He grinned at Ken and rubbed dust off his clothes.
"Want to go through?"

"Not really," Ken admitted. "But I can't leave the
other two."

He squatted and was about to crawl through the gap
when Stephanie called out that they were coming back. It was a
smirking Linda who appeared first. She slid out with an object
tucked beneath her.

"Look what I found?" she said in an unsuccessful
attempt to remain serious and held the bulky fabric up.

"My jacket," Lem exclaimed. "What a little beauty you
are."

Stephanie returned and they all watched grinning
while Lem went through the pockets. He produced a jackknife, two
handkerchiefs, some candy bars, a set of keys and several pieces of
paper. "Well, Patrick is out of luck. There's no sign of a
necklace. It was a long shot, anyway."

"But you got your jacket back," Ken said. "It looks
like a pretty good one to me."

"It's an old favorite," Lem admitted and burst into
laughter.

Linda gave him a curious look.

"I was thinking of Chuck's premonition," Lem
explained. "If I got stuck so firmly, imagine what would have
happened to Renee and Courtney if they'd come with us?"

"I see what you mean," Linda replied. "The roof could
have caved in or anything."

Ken laughed but the ranger gave a slight smile and
didn't join in the banter.

"I'm glad it worked out okay," she said. "Come on.
Let's head back. We've been down here over two hours."

Lem glanced at his two younger companions and raised
his eyebrows. The locals seemed serious about the Native American's
rites and customs. He gave Linda and Ken an affectionate hug and
followed Stephanie along the tunnel.

****

The party arrived at the surface fifty minutes later
to a scene of frantic activity. People stood everywhere. Police and
park vehicles were parked haphazardly. A rescue helicopter hovered
overhead. Lem frowned and watched as a police sergeant met
them.

"There's nothing to worry about, Mr. Erksberg, but
I'm afraid that members of your family have been involved in a
traffic accident, " the officer said in a somber voice.

"What happened?" Ken interrupted in a shout. "Tell
me, what happened to Courtney?" His eyes, as wide as saucers, never
left the police officer. "She's not dead, is she?"

Lem glanced up and noticed a coroner's hearse parked
beside the police cars. The vehicle's rear doors were open and
officers were clearing spectators away so the helicopter could
land.

An officer walked up and interrupted them. "Excuse
me, sergeant, I've been told to tell you they're going to unload
the two body bags here and take the wounded to Wyoming Medical
Center in Casper."

"No." Ken staggered so severely he almost fell. "It
can't be?"

The sergeant turned to the shaking youth. "It's not
what you think, Son," he apologized. "I'm sorry about the
confusion. The fatalities are from the other vehicle, which
exploded. The jeep was pushed off the road and rolled into a
ravine. Your friends had seat belts on and are not seriously hurt.
Miss Bonnett has a broken ankle and Miss Howlett, facial
lacerations."

"Thank God," Lem replied, his own face white. He
stopped and stared at the sergeant. "Broken ankle, you say?"

"Yes," the man replied. "We believe Miss Bonnett
broke her right ankle."

"Oh shit," Lem whispered.

He wrapped his arms around Linda and Ken as they
watched the helicopter land and medics wheel two plastic-covered
bodies out.

"There's room on board if you three would like to go
to the hospital," the sergeant shouted above the helicopter's
engine roar.

"Right." Lem sprang into life. "Come on, kids. Let's
go."

Inside the small cabin, Courtney, who had a large
Band-Aid across her right cheek, smiled as Ken rushed in and seized
her in his arms.

"Whoa, there big guy," she shouted. "I'm okay. Just a
few cuts, that's all. It's poor Renee who's broken her ankle."

Across the cabin Renee looked up. "I'm sorry, Lem. It
happened so quickly. This pick-up ran us off the road and…"

"Shut up," Lem retorted and bent down to hug her in
his arms.

A medic shut the door, the engine roared and the
helicopter lifted off.

****

Renee limped from the emergency room with her right
leg in a heavy bandage but it was not in plaster. "It wasn't
broken," she told the others. "Only sprained and bruised."

"Tell them the rest." Lem said.

"Well, I've had quite a bit of pain over the last few
months. The surgeon said it's a pinched nerve damaged during my
original accident. The dislocation and bruising put extra pressure
on this nerve, hence the sharp pain."

Courtney's face had swollen and she supported a
bandage around one arm and her waist. She grinned. "I know exactly
how it feels. The doctor said I had two cracked ribs but there's
little they can do." She smiled at Ken. "Bruising hugs are strictly
forbidden."

"Kissing is still allowed, though," Ken added in a
deadpan voice and reached over to kiss her one cheek that wasn't
covered in a sterile dressing.

"Ken!" Courtney screamed. "Not in front of these old
guys."

"We found out something else. Nothing to do with the
accident," Lem said and glanced at Renee who flushed slightly.

"It appears I'm pregnant," she whispered.

"Oh my God, you aren't?" Linda gasped.

"They gave me a thorough examination," Renee
continued but stopped when the girls rushed to hug her.

Ken, meanwhile, stuck a hand out to Lem. "You've got
a twenty-year contract there, Old Fellow," he said with a slight
smirk. "Cost you a couple of hundred thousand bucks over all."

"Yeah, well," Lem replied and gripped his friend's
hand. "I guess I'd better call our last agreement off and head for
Europe."

"Don't you dare," Renee retorted and produced her
left hand to show a diamond engagement ring. "We thought it would
save the embarrassment of sorting out a surname for junior."

"How did you get that so quickly, Lem?" Courtney
asked. "Don't tell me you just whipped down to the jewelers."

"Tell them, Lem." Renee saw Ken's quizzical
expression and burst into laughter. "No Ken, I will not be a
nagging wife."

"I've had it for over a month," Lem admitted. "This
seemed to be a good opportunity."

"Yeah," Linda teased. "Catch a girl when she's
vulnerable."

"Barefoot and pregnant," Courtney retorted. "Going to
keep her in the kitchen, Lem?"