“No.” Jesse grinned like an insane devil. “Because it’s too far down.”
“There’s nothing below us?”
“Have a look for yourself,” Jesse said cheerfully. “You needn’t worry about hitting your head on the roof any longer. From here on in, the old miners took just about every scrap of rock they could get their grubby little hands on and hauled it outside for processing.”
Sam sat up, fixing the beam of his flashlight up ahead to make certain that he wasn’t about to lose his head on a low overhanging rock. Relieved to see that there was nothing but the darkness of an open vault, he adjusted his position so that he was sitting fully upright. He swept the cathedral-like vault with his flashlight.
So much rockface had been removed he wondered how the entire mountain managed to sustain itself and not collapse.
He didn’t let his mind contemplate that risk for very long.
Instead, he aimed his flashlight downward.
The depths of the giant void swallowed the light whole. He maneuvered the beam a little, expecting to see some sort of structure or rockworks, but instead found nothing. Turning to the back of the ore cart he fixed the beam onto the narrow track.
And swore.
Because the hundred plus year old mine tracks now traversed a bridge so high that, despite being able to see through the gaps between the tracks, he couldn’t make out the bottom far below.
Sam’s jaw clenched shut, his lips thinned. He ran his tongue across the inside of his mouth, as though he’d just tasted something incredibly vile. His heart raced and his chest tightened.
He said, “How much farther?”
“We should be a little over halfway.”
The ore cart rose over a gentle ridge and then entered a moderate sized tunnel section of what appeared to be a giant pillar of stone, presumably once left by the miners so as to avoid the collapse of the entire cathedral vault above.
Sam ducked his head instinctively, but he needn’t have worried about it. Even within the tunneled pillar, the miners had clawed away as much of the valuable gold rich quartz as they possibly could.
The cart dipped again and descended across another chasm via an almost imperceptible bridge. Sam imagined himself on the worst — or best depending on the way you looked at it — roller coaster ride at Disneyland, with the one difference being that those rides were well engineered and regularly tested. The one he was on now hadn’t been used regularly for decades. All it would take was one rotten beam and they were going off the bridge into the dark rift below.
He squeezed his eyes shut and put the thought out of his mind. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.
Sometimes life comes down to luck.
The ore cart entered a relatively horizontal shaft.
Sandi pulled the brake hard. Iron slammed against iron as the brakes screeched along the track. The heavy ore cart barely slowed, putting up a modest fight, until she shoved all her weight into it. The cart finally jolted to a stop.
“What did you do that for?” Jesse asked, his voice harsh.
“I’ve had enough,” she said, climbing out of the ore cart. “I want to get off the ride.”
“But we’re not there yet!”
“I don’t care. I’ve spent one day with you and already I’ve nearly died a dozen times. I’m done. I’ll walk.”
Sam smiled. “Hey, I’m with her. This jittery old cart and the hundred-year-old tracks give me the creeps.” Speaking to Jesse, he said, “How much farther do you think we have to go from here?”
Jesse thought about that for a moment. “It’s been a while since I came down this far, but at my best recollection, I’d say we’re about a half mile off from the Queen Maud reef. Once there, we’re about an hour’s walk out of the mountain.”
Sam looked at Sandi. “What do you think?”
“Half a mile. Ten miles. What difference does it make?” She glanced at the mine cart. “I’d walk a thousand to avoid ever getting back in that thing again.”
Sam said, “All right. We walk. It’s not like the motocross riders managed to follow us all the way down here. That ceiling, for most of the way, was too low for anyone to ride under. So, I guess we’re safe.”
Jesse paled. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Sam snapped his flashlight around to the way they had come. The tunnel was long and straight, allowing them to see as far as the light could reach before it too became overcome by darkness. There was nothing coming.
“I don’t see anything,” he said.
Sandi’s eyes narrowed. “Neither do I.”
Jesse swallowed hard. “It doesn’t mean they’re not coming.”
Sam put his hand on the iron track. It was vibrating. There was little more than a tremor, but it was enough to be certain.
He ran his eyes along the track. The entire track seemed to be shaking now. Sam squinted and his ears strained to make sense of the sound.
His eyes went wide at the realization. “The riders must have taken the second ore cart to follow us!”
Chapter Fourteen
Sam, Jesse, and Sandi all pushed the ore cart, urging it to build up speed. The screeching sound of metal on metal filled the tunnel, as the second ore cart hurtled toward them, causing all three of them to push harder.
“Climb in!” Sam motioned to Sandi, who was by far the lightest among them.
She didn’t need to be asked twice this time. She gripped the handle with her right arm and climbed over. “I’m in!”
“You next!” Sam said to Jesse.
Jesse launched himself onto the side railing and climbed in with the supple ease of a much younger man.
“Your turn,” Jesse shouted, his voice almost drowned by the screeching of the ore cart’s wheels.
Sam reached his peak speed on foot. He lunged forward to grip the hand cart and slipped.
A series of shots fired, echoing in his ears.
He stopped himself from falling to the ground by doing a sort of shuffle with his feet, but his hand missed the cart.
“Let’s go Reilly,” Jesse said. “They’ve reached the straight tunnel!”
Sam knew that meant the second cart was still five or six hundred feet away, but now moving along a straight line, with the riders capable of shooting. They would be impossible shots, but anyone can get lucky, or severely unlucky.
It was enough to urge him on.
Sam powered on with his legs, swinging his arms like the pistons of an engine, and he dived for the ore cart.
His right hand gripped the handle and locked on.
Sam’s feet started to drag, unable to keep up with the cart’s speed. His knuckles turned white, refusing to release his iron hold. His chest burned and the muscles of his legs ached. Jesse gripped his left hand and pulled him in.
Sam took a couple deep breaths. “Thanks.”
Jesse said, “Don’t thank me too much. I have no idea where we’re going to lose them now. We’re dead once this ride is over, and I’ll end up being the cause of your death after all.”
“We’re not dead yet,” Sam said, defiantly.
“You got a plan?”
“That depends…”
Jesse raised his eyebrows. “On?”
“Whether or not there are any other tunnels offshoots between here and the Queen Maud reef.”
“Yes, coming up soon. Only one though. Queen Maud’s the end of the line. What were you thinking?”
Sam grinned. “I was thinking if we can reach another switchstand lever, we might divert our unwanted guests.”
“Good idea, but we’re going to need to slow them down first, or they’ll see right through our ruse.”
Sandi picked up a couple pieces of quartz ore. “Leave that to me!”
Sam got the idea instantly. They started to pass the rocks backward where he dumped them onto the track. At the speed they were going, it was unlikely the rocks would cause the pursuing ore cart to derail, but hopefully it might slow them somewhat.