Authors: Des Hunt
Nick lay on the floor staring up at the glow-worms. He didn’t know whether he had slept or not. It had been a horrible night, lying on the damp floor with his arms taped behind his back and his legs tied together. If it had not been for the glow-worms and the burbling stream he would have gone mad. At least they reminded him he was still alive.
While his body could not be active, his mind sure had been. Far too much so. Time and again it had returned to the night in the bar to remind him what a sorry fool he had been, sitting there and moping over the fight with Christine. He had remembered wishing for an earthquake, hoping that at least he’d get something right.
Wishing for an earthquake! What sort of crazy man was he? Nobody wished for earthquakes.
And then there was the ultimate stupidity: being tricked by Duggan into coming to the mine. What on earth had he been thinking of? All because he wanted to see the body, so he could be the big hero and tell the police everything. Well, he now knew the body was not here in the mine. In fact, it seemed no-one knew where it was. Duggan had said
the only thing he could remember was hitting the woman and then finding her pack in the shop. He didn’t know what had happened in between: it was possible he’d buried her or something, but he didn’t really know.
Then the Scotsman had carried on about his darling Ema, and how he wasn’t going to let Nick mess up his special day of memories. After that he had left, leaving Nick in the darkness with only the glow-worms and the burbling stream for company.
Nick had tried all sorts of things to stop his mind from remembering. Counting the glow-worms had worked best, but never for long. His brain just kept going back to the argument with Christine. He had replayed it over and over, especially the bit about warning people of the ’quake. At the time he hadn’t understood her point of view. But now he did. Oh yes, he sure did now. Now, he was in the same position as the coal miners she had talked about. If the earthquake came while he was down here…Christine had been right. She’d automatically thought people should be told. Yet he had needed to be tied up and left in a dark mine before he saw it the same way.
So he lay staring at the glow-worms, trying not to think of anything. He looked for patterns in them—like constellations in stars. If he closed his eyes a little, he could see elephants, goats, birds…Then he must have closed his eyes too much for they all disappeared. He opened his eyes wide and still couldn’t see them. He began to panic until he heard the babbling stream. Yes, he could still sense things. But where were the glow-worms?
Then he realised what had happened. They were still there. They had just turned out their lights. They had switched off, and there was only one reason why they would do that in a dark, silent cave.
For a moment he felt true fear, and then the scientist in his brain took over. This was a chance in a million that no-one had ever had before. And that’s when he began to count: one potato, two potato, three potato, four potato…
It was slightly past his normal rising time when Tony eventually woke in daylight. He dressed whilst thinking of the day ahead, the first day of a new year. If he did things right, then it could be a very good year; get it wrong and it could be a disaster.
The first task was to dig up some ground and shift the coop for the weka. When he got to the coop, he was surprised they weren’t out waiting for him. He found them still huddled in the house as if it was night. First the frogs, now the weka—something strange was going on here.
Task number two was to find Christine and have that chat about Nick. But Christine was not cleaning the lounge as she should have been.
‘You looking for Christine?’ called Betty from the kitchen.
‘Yes, have you seen her?’
‘She went looking for Nick.’
Tony brightened. This was good news. Maybe they would make up without him.
‘And then Rose went looking for Christine.’
Not such good news.
‘They both headed to Cathedral Rock, where Jamie is.’
Not good at all.
‘We think Nick might be there too, but we don’t really know. Lofty was the last to see him when he headed off with Jamie in the early hours of this morning.’
A hollow pit formed in the bottom of Tony’s stomach. Nick and Jamie going off together was bad news. Definitely bad news.
He didn’t hang around for anything more. He was off down the path that led to Cathedral Rock. Christine by herself on Cathedral Rock would have been scary enough, but Christine and Rose there with Duggan was frightening. Who could predict what Duggan might do? The man still thought he was a murderer wanted by the police. In that state of mind he might do anything.
‘It’s all your fault!’ he shouted as he ran. ‘You could have stopped it.’ All he had needed to do was tell Duggan about the Frenchwoman straight after the telephone call. But no, he had thought himself so smart; he had wanted the Scotsman to sweat for another day. And what had happened? Now, Nick was missing and Christine and Rose were in danger. Oh why, oh why did he always have to try and be so darned clever?
Down past the stream he raced, jumping over the watercourses, two at a time. Soon he was on the first part
of the climb. By then he was feeling the same sense of urgency he had felt that first time in the mine—the feeling that the mine was the wrong place to be. That time there had been an earthquake…
With a flash of understanding he realised what the frogs and weka had been trying to tell him: Nick’s earthquake was coming. Nothing was surer. And the last place you would want to be was on the top of Cathedral Rock. Yet he never thought of going back. Christine and Rose were up there and they might need him.
He had moved onto the mossy track between the flax when he was stopped by the ear-splitting sound of a massive explosion. It was difficult to judge direction, yet it seemed to be coming from straight ahead; although how far away was difficult to say. Was this part of the earthquake? Nick had said nothing about explosions.
The second one came just as he had started moving again. It was less of a blast, but longer. Tony lost his stride for a moment before continuing to climb.
He broke onto the top to see Duggan standing close to the edge. Christine was beside him. Slightly further back was Rose. They were all staring out to sea.
‘Mum!’ he yelled. ‘Get back!’ Nothing. She can’t have heard him. ‘Get back, Mum! Rose! Get back!’
Then he saw what they were watching. That’s when he knew for sure. ‘Earthquake!’ he screamed. ‘Get back!’
He was running forward to grab them when it struck. One moment he was running, the next his feet had gone from under him and he was crashing to the ground. He
saw Duggan thrown forward and Christine sprawl onto her face. Rose stood for a moment longer before she too fell down.
Then, for a moment the earth was still, as if taking a breath before the big event.
Tony took in the situation. He was close to the bushes. Rose was about three metres away. Duggan and Christine were even closer to the edge. Far too close.
From somewhere in the bushes a weka squawked, and that was the signal for all hell to break loose. Everything started moving: the rocks shook, the plants swayed, and anything that wasn’t fixed down skidded across the surface. Tony tried to get a grip onto the rocks, but they were too smooth. Then a flax leaf brushed over his face. He clutched at it and hoped it would hold.
The shaking kept going. The flax broke and Tony moved closer to the edge. He swung his arms and caught the base of a gorse bush. Fear gave him the courage to haul himself into the plant where he wrapped his arms and legs around its prickly trunk. If the roots held he would be safe.
Still the earth shook. He looked up and saw the others still sliding down the smooth slope towards the edge. If the ’quake kept going, then disaster was inevitable.
Rose managed to get hold of an abseiling ring and with her other hand she grabbed hold of Christine’s T-shirt.
But the earth kept on swaying.
Duggan was beyond Christine where the slope was steeper. He was frantically clawing at the surface, searching for the crack that might save him. Yet there were none.
Tony watched in horror as the man slid the last few centimetres and then out of view.
Rose was struggling to keep a grip on Christine. If the ’quake had stopped then, she could have held on. But it didn’t. Her hold broke and Christine slipped away. At the last instant she raised her head and looked straight at Tony. He saw a flash of affection before she slowly slid downwards and over the edge.
Moments later, the earth gave one last shudder, and finally Cathedral Rock was still.
Nick’s count had reached four hundred and thirty-seven when the first jolt struck. It was just over seven minutes since the glow-worms had signalled their warning.
In the pause that followed the first shock, he had enough time to hope it was over. Yet everything that he knew about ’quakes told him differently. An instant later this was confirmed. The limestone pit began moving as if some giant had a hold of it and was shaking to see if there was anything inside.
There was: Nick and the bottles of chemicals used to extract the uranium. The bottles smashed into each other, followed by Nick smashing into them. He felt a sharp burn as acid spilled over his arm. Then intense pain as a broken bottle sliced deep into his thigh. He screamed, yet the sound could barely be heard above the rumblings of the rock.
The shaking continued. Pieces of rock were raining down from above. He tried to roll into a ball, but it was impossible with his arms and legs bound. He could do nothing except hope that it ended soon.
It wasn’t soon, but it did end—eventually. Almost as
suddenly as it had begun. Now, the severity of his injuries became plain. He could feel the blood flowing from his leg. The burns on his arm became unbearable as the acid bit down into his flesh.
Water! That’s what he needed—he had to dilute it with water.
He had lost all sense of direction, but the burbling of the stream should tell him where it was. He listened, yet there was nothing. His heart sank. That could mean only one thing—the outlet through the rocks was now closed.
He soon knew that was true when the flooding water began to soak through his trousers. He rolled so that his arm was submerged and felt relief as the pain reduced to something almost bearable.
Yet his relief was short-lived. Within seconds his body was half-immersed. The stream shouldn’t be flooding so quickly. This was much more than the normal flow. The earthquake must have opened some new passages. Then he thought of the dams on Duggan’s farm, and his gut tightened. That would be where all the water was coming from. There was enough there to flood the whole of the mine and then some.
By now, his upper body was floating. He would be all right for a while, as long as his legs could touch the bottom. But what would happen after that? His legs and arms were useless for swimming. He might not even float.
Yet he had too much to live for to give up easily. He pushed with his feet until he felt his back touch the wall. If he could get to where he’d climbed down he might have a
hope. Bit by bit, he edged around until his hands touched one of the crude steps. By then his feet were off the ground. He swung them back and felt them hit a lower rock. Now he felt he had a chance. With the help of the water he might make it to the top. But what then?
He put it out of his mind. Right now he had to concentrate on the moment. He was so weak from losing blood that just staying alive would take everything he had.
Cathedral Rock was back to the way it was before the ’quake. Those rocks had survived for seven hundred million years—a minor earthquake wasn’t going to disturb them much.
Tony crept towards Rose. She was absolutely still. Her knuckles were white where her left hand still gripped the abseiling ring. He could now see how close she was to the edge: her feet were suspended in space.
As he got closer he dropped to his hands and knees, scared that there might be more shaking. Then he lay on his belly. He wanted to grab her other hand but it was lying by her side. ‘Rose, can you reach your hand up?’
‘I can’t move.’ Her voice was just a whisper, yet loud enough to reveal her fear.
‘You have to, Rose. Lift your arm.’
Slowly the arm moved. ‘Keep it coming,’ he encouraged. ‘Yes, yes.’ Their fingers touched. ‘A bit more. Yes!’ He had it.
‘Now you’re going to have to pull up with the other arm. Are you ready?’
‘Yes,’ she said, weakly.
‘OK, now.’
On the first pull, her legs came onto the rock. Tony repositioned himself, and on the second pull had her clear of the edge. Still she didn’t want to let go of the abseiling ring.
‘Let go, Rose,’ he said gently. ‘You’re safe now.’
With Tony’s help she moved until she was sitting. Then she clung to his body tightly, shaking and sobbing. He found that he was shaking too. They rocked back and forth, comforting each other until the screech of a gull brought Tony back to reality.
He had to do something about Christine. He got to his feet. ‘Mum!’ he cried. ‘Mum! Duggan!’ But the only reply was another screech from the gull.
He looked down to the sea where huge swells were spilling over the rocks. Nothing could have survived down there. Nothing.
Rose moved to be alongside him. He stood looking out to sea with unseeing eyes as a feeling of great loneliness swept over him.
Rose broke the silence. ‘We’ve got to get help, Tony.’
He just stood there.
‘Tony, we must get help.’
‘Shhh. I think I heard something.’
Rose shook her head sadly.
‘There! Did you hear it?’ This time he was certain.
‘Mum?’ he yelled. There was something in return, but it could have been the waves.
He detached himself from Rose and moved forward ‘Mum!’ he screamed. ‘Mum!’
Then came a reply. ‘Tony?’
He got down onto his belly and slithered closer to the edge. ‘Mum, where are you?’
‘I’m trapped in a crack.’
‘Are you all right?’
He heard a hysterical giggle. ‘No, Tony, of course I’m not. I think something is broken.’
‘Mum, we’ll go and get help. Can you hold on there?’
‘Yes. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘I’ll go,’ said Rose. ‘You stay with her.’ She sped off down the track.
‘Rose has gone to get help,’ he called. ‘Mum, I’m going to move to another place so that I can see you.’ He had remembered his first visit to the rock. There was a place lower down where you could look across to the top. He remembered seeing a ledge and a cleft. That’s where his mother probably was.
In less than a minute he was looking back towards the rock. The first thing he noticed was Duggan, spread-eagled on the ledge a few metres below where he had fallen. There was no movement.
Christine certainly wasn’t going anywhere. She was firmly wedged into a gap, slightly further down the cliff than Duggan.
‘Mum,’ he called. ‘I can see you.’
‘Hi, Tony.’ Again the hysterical giggle. ‘I can see you, too.’
‘Duggan is on a ledge not far from you. I don’t know whether he’s alive or not.’
‘I’m alive,’ came a weak voice.
‘Where’s Nick?’ asked Christine.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Tony.
‘Jamie knows. Make him tell you.’
‘He’s in the mine,’ croaked Duggan. ‘I put him there.’
This shook Tony. ‘Where?’
‘Where the stream is. He’s tied up.’
Tony felt a surge of anger towards the man.
‘Tony!’ cried his mother. ‘You must save him. You’ve got to save him.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll be all right. Go!’
Duggan called out, ‘Tell him I’m sorry. Tell him I didna mean to harm him. I didna mean to harm anybody.’
Something about Duggan’s voice stopped Tony. He stared at the man. Should he tell him or not? Did he really want revenge so much that he would let the man die without knowing the truth? In the end the decision was simple. ‘You hang on there, Jamie,’ he yelled.
‘Why laddie? So I can go to prison?’
‘No! You didn’t kill the Frenchwoman.’
‘Maybe not, but she died because of what I did.’
‘No!’ he shouted. ‘She’s still alive. The police found her. She’s still alive.’
Tony turned to go when a movement on the top stopped him. It was Betty and Rose.
‘Betty!’ he called. ‘Mum and Duggan are on the cliff.
They’re both alive. I’m going to get Nick. He’s in the mine.’
‘Lofty’s gone to get others,’ shouted Betty. ‘It might be better to wait until they get here.’
Tony chose to ignore that. He knew the mine better than anyone. ‘Mum, Betty’s here and help’s on the way. I’m going to get Nick. Don’t you worry.’
This time he did leave, taking the path back to the lodge. When he got to the stream he stopped for a moment—there was no water in it. As he processed this information, a voice asked, ‘Where’s the water gone?’ It was Rose.
‘It must be blocked somewhere. Come on, he could be drowning.’
‘Where is he?’
‘In the limestone pit. Duggan tied him up and left him there.’
‘Then we’d better get going,’ said Rose.
They ran straight to the shed, ignoring the guests who were milling around talking excitedly. Tony collected the lamps while Rose looked for the first-aid cabinet. Thirty seconds later they were on their way to the mine.
The entrance was a shock: water was flowing from it. Tony knew that must mean that the limestone pit had already flooded and was overflowing. They had to get to Nick quickly.
The trip along the tracks was easier now. The flowing water had washed away most of the sand falls leaving a clean track. As they went, Rose kept asking questions about Duggan, the Frenchwoman, the police. She wanted
to know everything. Tony told her the important parts. The rest could wait until later. He knew she would want more. The Charleston Chitchat would be sending out a bumper edition after this lot was over.
When they got to the wagon they saw the water coming out of the tunnel that led to the limestone pit. Most was flowing down into the uranium grotto. When that filled, there would be even more water down the track—that would be a problem in getting Nick out. That’s if they found him.
Travelling along the side tunnel was more difficult. The water was up to their knees and flowing swiftly.
‘There was never this much water in the stream,’ said Tony. ‘Another one must have joined it.’
‘Or it’s coming from Duggan’s dams,’ added Rose.
Tony felt fear run up and down his spine. The idea of the dams bursting made him quicken his steps. He tried to visualise the top of the pit. Was there enough space for somebody without being in the water? Yes, there was: where Rose had perched when he went down there the first time. If Nick had got up there, then he might be OK. Otherwise…
There was no black hole where the pit should be—only water. It was swelling up and overflowing like a burst water main. It took a moment before they saw Nick. For some reason Tony had expected a light. He felt a surge of hate towards Duggan for leaving him in the dark.
Rose pushed past him and climbed up onto the bank where Nick had somehow dragged himself. ‘He’s still
breathing,’ she said. She opened the first-aid kit. ‘You cut the tapes while I look for injuries.’
Nick was lying on his back with his lower body hanging over the side and dangling in the water. Tony took the scissors, lifted the legs and cut the tapes. There was no reaction from the man.
Rose had already found the injury in his thigh. ‘Cut back the trousers,’ she ordered. This was a side of Rose that Tony had not seen before. This was an efficient, nononsense young woman. He was impressed.
With the trousers cut away, the wound was exposed. A long sharp piece of glass stuck out from an ugly gash, about a centimetre wide. Beside it was a bigger cut, still oozing blood.
Rose looked closely at it. ‘We’ll have to take it out or it might do more damage, or even cut us. I’ll pull it out. You be ready to push your hand on the opening.’
It was done before Tony had a chance to think about it. He kept the pressure on while Rose prepared a bandage.
Nick was in a bad way. His face was white from the loss of blood. There were cuts wherever his skin was exposed. Tony knew it must have been hell bouncing around the pit in the dark, unable to protect himself. He felt a rush of anger. How could Duggan have done this? Then, just as quickly, he felt guilt, because none of this would have happened if he’d told them the truth about the missing woman.
As Rose tightened the dressing, Tony felt the leg move beneath him. He looked up and saw Nick’s eyes were open.
‘Don’t move, Nick,’ he said.
It took the man a while to sort out what was happening. ‘Christine?’ he asked in a weak voice.
‘Christine will be all right,’ said Tony. ‘She’s all right.’
‘Was she injured? Where was she?’
‘On Cathedral Rock.’
‘It’s OK,’ said Rose. ‘She’s going to be all right. Let’s worry about you, now. I’ve fixed your leg. Are you hurt anywhere else?’
‘My…my arm.’ The arms were tied behind his back. To cut the tapes would mean turning him over. There was no way that could happen on the narrow bank.
‘We could lower him into the water and then drag him into the tunnel,’ suggested Rose. It seemed to be the only way.
They had got him in the water and were supporting him by the shoulders when the aftershock struck. The water sloshed violently. Rose lost her grip and fell in. Tony jammed his feet against the bank and held on. If he let go, he felt sure Nick would go under.
The most terrifying part was the deep rumbling coming from the rocks surrounding them. Some bits fell from the roof and Tony felt his foothold begin to crumble.
It lasted only a few seconds—just enough time for Tony to worry about Christine. He hoped they had got her out in time.
‘The dam…’ said Nick. ‘Burst…Get out. Save yourselves.’
The water was now flowing so fast out of the pit that it was rising like a fountain.
‘Not without you,’ replied Tony, hauling Nick out of the water.
‘Get his hands free,’ said Rose clambering out after him. ‘That’ll make it a lot easier.’
Unfortunately the first-aid kit had been swept down the tunnel. So, with Rose holding Nick’s head out of the water, Tony bit through the tape with his teeth.
Rose put her head near Nick’s. ‘Can you walk?’
The man shook his head. ‘No. I’m too weak. Leave me here. You’ve still got a chance to get out.’
Tony ignored him. ‘We’ll have to drag him.’ After turning him over, Tony grabbed his shoulders and began backing down the tunnel; Rose grabbed hold of the feet.
The task got easier as the water level increased and bouyancy supported most of the weight. Yet this couldn’t go on forever. At the rate the water was rising, the whole tunnel would be full well before they got outside.
Tony hoped that the flow might ease when they got to the main tunnel where water could spill into the grotto. But when they got there he found it was not to be: the uranium grotto was already full.
Maybe if they got into one of the side tunnels—one that sloped up. Air would get trapped and they might last until the water drained. But the thought of being trapped was too frightening. There had to be another way. He looked at the wagon. Was that the way out? Was it possible? Yes, he decided. Yes, it was.
‘We’ll use the wagon.’
‘We won’t be able to get him in,’ said Rose.
‘Nick,’ said Tony. ‘Can you hear me?’
There was a slight movement of the head.
‘You’ve got to help us get you into the wagon. It’s our only hope.’
It would have been hopeless if they’d had to lift him the full height. But the water made it just about possible. With Rose and Tony pushing from below, and Nick pulling on the sides, they managed to get him past the balance point. From there he fell over to crash into the bottom. In a flash, Rose was beside him, easing him into a better position.
Tony climbed up onto the driver’s step. He grabbed hold of the brake lever and pressed forward. Nothing happened. It would not budge.
‘Hurry, Tony!’ yelled Rose. ‘It’s rising fast.’
Tony pushed again. Still the same result. He climbed past the lever until he was balancing on the wheels. From there he could pull. There was a slight movement on the first attempt. He moved into a better position and pulled again. This time it went with a rush. Tony fell back into the water with the brake lever still in his hand—it had broken off.
In the time it took him to scramble back onto the step, the wagon had started moving, slowly at first and then with a rush as the water got behind it. For the first part of the journey the wagon stayed on the tracks. Every now and then it would slow down as it ran into sand still covering the rails. But each time the force of the water was enough to shunt them on. All the time the water was rising.
Rose was facing the back, supporting Nick’s head. Her
lamp shone past Tony, back down the tunnel. Just when he was thinking things were going fine, Tony saw her eyes widen and heard a gasp as her jaw dropped. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
She just pointed. Tony turned to see a wall of water coming towards them. ‘Hell!’ was all he managed to say.
‘Get inside!’ screamed Rose. With a kick of his feet he tumbled into the wagon, falling onto Nick’s legs. As he scrambled to his feet, Tony was knocked back again by the force of the water hitting them. Then the wagon lifted off the tracks and took off. Now it was a boat.
Fred’s grandfather would never have experienced a ride out of the mine like they did that day. It was madness! The wagon surfed along at the head of the flood, swinging from side to side, and swishing up and down. At each bend it would crash into the wall, shuddering along for a while before taking off again. Sometimes it lifted high enough to bump into the roof and scrape their helmets; at others it would sway so violently that Tony was sure they would tip over.