“All right.Teague, take point.I’ll follow.Hopefully they’re not far in.Once we get them out, we’ll rope off the area with anchors this time.”
They hadn’t brought anything permanent to seal the cave properly—no concrete, no steel gates.A roped-off area and a sign warning of large fines would have to do for now.It wasn’t perfect.But hopefully enough of a deterrent until they could get approval for more.
Teague stepped into the darkness first.His headlamp beam was swallowed by the narrow crevice.
Noah followed, taking a breath of outside air before entering.The temperature dropped immediately.The cave’s cool air enveloped him, pressing against his exposed skin.Behind him, daylight faded to a dim glow.Then it disappeared entirely as the passage curved.
The rocky floor crunched under their boots.Water dripped somewhere ahead.The sound echoed off unseen walls.
Noah kept his breathing steady.His focus sharp.
The passage was tight here.It forced them to move single file, Teague’s back just ahead.Their shoulders occasionally brushed the wet stone walls.
“Watch your head,” Teague called back.He ducked under a low-hanging section of rock.
Noah followed suit and bent at the waist.The beam of his headlamp caught the glisten of moisture on the limestone.Rain ran down the new cracks left by the quake and spiderwebbed across stone.
The air grew thicker as they made their way in.Heavy with the mineral smell of ancient stone.After several minutes of careful navigation—slow going, testing each foothold—the passage opened into the main cavern.
Noah’s headlamp swept the space.Its beam caught jagged rock walls and dark openings that led deeper into the cave system.
In the center, the natural spring still bubbled.Its surface rippled and spilled over, more active than before.No doubt swollen by the rain.
Noah scanned the cavern carefully, and methodically checked each section.No falling rocks.No crumbling walls.No fresh debris.The structure held firm.
He’d take the win for what it was.
His beam passed over the left side of the cavern.The spot where Lydia had died.Dark stains still marked the rocks.
He forced himself to look away and focused on the task at hand.
Teague moved carefully around the spring, his flashlight sweeping the chamber in wide arcs.He crouched near the far wall where his beam illuminated a pile of packs scattered among the rocks.
“Found some of their stuff.”Teague’s voice echoed slightly.“Packs, some wrappers, empty water bottles.”
Noah crossed the uneven floor and joined him.He picked up one of the packs and tested the weight.Cheap nylon, already fraying at the seams.
“Doesn’t look like they’re serious cavers.Probably people who wandered in off the trail looking for adventure.They’re likely not much deeper.”
Teague nodded and straightened.Then he gestured toward a tunnel branching off the main cavern.“That way?”
“Let’s try it.”
The tunnel entrance was narrow but passable, if they hunched, the walls wet in places where rain had found a path.The sound of the spring faded behind them as they moved forward.The floor sloped downward at a steep angle, forcing Noah to duck to avoid scraping his head on the low ceiling.
His thoughts drifted to Meg despite his attempts to focus.
She was outside with Liam.She was safe.That’s what mattered.
And she’d made the call herself.Not because he’d ordered her to, but because she’d known her limits.And knowing your limits and admitting to them took courage.
After a few minutes of descent—the tunnel getting tighter—the passage opened into another cavern.It was smaller than the first but still vast.Its ceiling was dotted with new fissures from the earthquake.A sizable waterfall—probably more rain runoff—roared from the left wall.The water pooled in shallow depressions before disappearing between cracks in the floor.
Noah’s headlamp swept the space.He searched for movement, for light.
He was about to suggest they try another passage when the flicker of a light bounced off a wall in one of the side tunnels.
There.
