A shot fired. It originated in Sebastian’scamp, and she had little trouble guessing the target. Her stomachchurned with concern for Cedar, but it was best to leave him to hisown devices and figure out a plan of her own.
Kali returned to her inspection of theequipment. Her knuckles bumped against a wood box. She found thelid, opened it, and groped inside. Charcoal and a smaller boxcontaining long wooden matches. She grabbed the latter, though shedid not know how she might use them yet.
More gunshots fired, going back and forthacross the river, and the chatter died down. So far no bullets hadslammed into the ground near her, but the scout was still standingguard up ahead-she could make out his dark figure now too-and hewas bound to see her if she made a run for the forest.
On her hands and knees, she crept around theboiler, still hoping to find something she could use. Her fingersbrushed air. The mine shaft entrance, nothing but a hole in theground with a pipe leading into it. Not digging equipment afterall. Maybe some sort of heating system to thaw the permafrost andmake it easier to work? If so, there might be a whole network oftunnels beneath her.
Tunnels she could get herself trapped in. Sheshook her head. Going in was not a good idea.
Unless…
Could she make them believe she had gone in,get them all to follow, and then escape into the forest whileeveryone was searching the tunnels? She better check and see howextensive the system was first.
Hoping the one-man-versus-the-entire-rivergunfight Cedar had started would give her time, she eased over thelip of the hole. She probed for a bottom with her feet. There. Fivefeet below.
She released the lip and dropped to thebottom, clunking something with her elbow on the way. A lanternstuck in a niche in the wall. She grabbed it and followed thepiping system into a low tunnel that led away from the river. Thewalls radiated coldness and smelled of damp earth. Creeping intothe Stygian darkness made her think of the tombs and sepulchers ina book she had once read about the Dark Ages. The gunfire grewmuffled and distant. When she judged herself far enough from theentrance so the flame would not be visible, she lit thelantern.
Pickaxes and shovels leaned against dirt andstone walls marbled with quartz and thin threads that might havebeen gold. For all she knew about mining, it might have been ironpyrite too.
A few meters ahead, the passage branched intothree tunnels. Enough exploring. The mine promised the maze she hadhoped for, one her would-be captors could waste several minutesexploring. All she had to do was set a decoy at the entrance sothey believed she had gone down and then hide nearby until theydropped down to explore. It’d be better if she could figure outsome sort of time-delay device to cause a sound, making the meneven more certain she was down there, but she did not want to riskdelving further and genuinely being trapped.
Kali was about to turn around when somethingglinted in the darkness, reflecting her lantern light. She onlyhesitated a heartbeat before jogging toward it. Just anothermoment….
The tunnel broadened into a small room filledwith… Were those potatoes? She peered closer. Several crateslined the wall. Though they must have been harvested monthsearlier, they appeared fine, preserved by the surroundingpermafrost. But why were they in a mine?
A rusted, decommissioned boiler stood in thecorner while rows of ceramic jugs lined the opposite side of thechamber. A clunky metal contraption rose against the back wall. Itwas the source of the reflection she had noticed. Theobject-machine? — might have been anything; the mishmash of partscomprising it reminded her of something she would create out ofscrap metal. It was only when she opened a box that emitted ayeasty smell that the pieces clicked together.
“Oh.” She rolled her eyes, feeling foolishfor taking so long to get it. “Alcohol. Right.”
A thump sounded near the entrance. Someonejumping down.
Kali cursed under her breath and cut out thelantern. She had dawdled too long.
“Kali?” came a soft call.
She blew out a relieved breath. “Cedar, backhere.”
“We have a problem,” he said, voice drawingnear.
She relit the lantern. “You’re mad that Ishot up your fancy sleeping blanket?”
“All right, two problems.”
Cedar jogged into view, water sloughing fromhis clothes and matting his hair to his head. He bore a rifle inone hand while his sword dripped blood in the other. A second riflepoked over his shoulder, scraping against the wall as heapproached. He also wore his packsack. No, wait. That was herpacksack. Her tools! Excellent.
“Your old beau is gathering his men, and he’sabout to search in here,” Cedar said, letting her help him out ofthe packsack. She tore into it as he continued to speak. “Iapologize for my ineptness, but it’s getting light, and he spottedme when I went for your gear.”
“I’ll think of something.” Kali pulled toolsout of her pack. “Can you guard the entrance?”
“Yes, but, ah…” Cedar cleared histhroat.
Kali glanced up. “What?”
“On account of people shooting at me, I hadto choose between your pack and mine.”
“So…no fresh smallclothes until we get backto town?” She tapped a pickaxe leaning against the wall. Maybe shecould dismantle it and-
“No fresh ammo,” Cedar said. “I have abox on me, but I won’t be able to hold an advancing army off forlong if they’re enthusiastic with their siege.” He leaned herWinchester against the wall. “I don’t suppose you have any?”
Kali fished in her pack, groping around thebottom, and pulled out a fistful of cartridges. “Sorry, I’d usuallyhave a full box, but I had to make room for my pliers. And mywrench set. And-”
“Never mind.” Cedar grabbed the cartridgesand shoved them in his pocket. His gaze fell upon the potatoes.“Too bad those can’t be used for ammo. They’re probably frozenharder than cannon balls.”
“Technically, I suppose you could make somesort of spud launcher.”
His eyes brightened. “You could? Now?”
“No, not now. I don’t have time to do thatand get us out of here.”
“Oh.” Disappointment tugged down the cornersof his mouth.
“Just do the best you can with the rifles,huh?” Kali grabbed her wrench and tore into the piping on theceiling to rip a segment free.
Sand and rock dribbled into the hole thatmarked the entrance to the mine. Cedar whirled, raising his rifleand firing before Kali spotted anyone.
A yelp came from above.
“Yup, they’re down there,” a man called.
Kali grabbed one of the pickaxes and kickedthe iron end off, figuring she could turn it sideways to use as thebit in a hammer drill. The tool she had in mind would be clunky atbest, but it only needed to work long enough to dig a way to thesurface, preferably from the end of a tunnel far from the entrance,so the gunmen waiting outside would not hear her.
The drill would need a lot of power, and shedid not have the time to build a steam version. She pulled out oneof the vials in her sock and eyed the glowing flakes.
Cedar fired again. “I better go up front andsee if I can discourage them from getting so close. Sooner or laterone of them will think to try and smoke us out. Kali?”
She lifted her eyes from her growing pile oftools and salvaged equipment. “Huh?”
He hesitated. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.I’ll keep them away as long as you need.”
Jaw set with determination, he strode towardthe entrance. Kali worked. Much to do, little time.
Shots fired while she twisted metal andhammered her casing into shape. Cedar shot at anyone who camewithin his field of vision, but she knew he could not poke his headout of the hole, lest someone shoot it off. The gunmen could creepdangerously close, as evinced by more than one bullet ricochetinginto the tunnel. One bounced off the rock-hard floor, hit a wall,and skidded all the way back to her chamber. Any one of thosebullets could hit Cedar. Or her.