Page 41 of Under an Oklahoma Sky

Her stomach dropped. She fell to her knees and leaned as far into the opening as she could, but all she could see was darkness beyond the first few feet. She reached inside, knowing there was no chance of finding her daughter’s hand but desperate to try, anyway. “How far did you fall, sweetheart?”

“I–I don’t know.”

Fear clawed at Sage. She didn’t know what was beyond that opening or how deep the drop was. Please, God, let her be okay. “Can you stand up? Does anything hurt?”

There was a brief pause that seemed to last forever.

“I can stand. I’m not hurt. But I can’t get out!”

Relief swept through her so fast she almost sagged against the rocks. At least Jenna was on her feet and talking. The fall hadn’t seriously injured her.

“Okay. Stay right where you are. Mommy’s here.” Sage forced the fear from her voice and pushed herself to her feet. Panicking wouldn’t help Jenna. She needed to figure out how to get her daughter out of there. “We’re going to get you out, sweetheart. I promise.”

Pulling her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans, she held back a curse when she saw there was no reception in this spot. Struggling not to show her son how scared she was, Sage grabbed his arm. “Matthew, I need you to ride back to the house and get Adam and Evan. Can you do that for me?”

His big hazel eyes, so much like her own, showed his fear, but he nodded.“I–I think so. Is Jenna going to be all right?”

“She’s going to be fine.” Lord, please let that be the truth. “Tell them what happened. They’ll need some tools to make the hole bigger and some rope.”

They hurried back to the horses, and Sage untied Othello as Matthew pulled himself into the saddle. Before letting him go, she dug into the saddlebag and found the flashlight they always kept there.

“Now hurry, but be careful. Okay?”

“Okay, Mom. I’ll bring them back right away. Everything will be all right. We’ll get Jenna out of there.”

Suddenly, her young son appeared ten years older and ready to slay dragons to save his sister. He gathered the reins and urged Othello forward, quickly guiding the horse around the lake toward the trail leading back to the ranch.

“Mommy!”

“I’m coming, Jenna!”

After returning to the opening her daughter had fallen through and kneeling, she shined the flashlight beam into the hole and prayed there weren’t snakes or anything else in there with her little girl.

“Can you see the light, honey?”

“Yes! Come get me!”

“Matthew went to get help. We’ll get you out as soon as we can. Can you come closer to the opening?”

“No! It’s too high.”

She tried pushing and pulling several of the rocks, but none would move. They varied in size, and between the packed dirt holding them in place and the heavier stones resting on top, she needed something for leverage.

Scanning the area, she spotted a fallen tree limb a few feet away. She set the flashlight on the ground, kept the beam aimed into the cave, then retrieved the thick branch and dragged it back. After trying several cracks between the rocks, she finally found one wide enough to wedge the end into. Gripping the branch with both hands, she threw all her weight against it.

Nothing.

“Come on,” she muttered through clenched teeth and tried again.

The branch flexed beneath her hands, but the rocks refused to budge. Afraid it would snap and possibly send part of the formation tumbling inward, she stopped. The last thing she wanted was to make the situation worse.

“Mommy! Are you still there?”

“Yes, baby. I’m right here.” She crouched near the opening again. “I’m trying to make the hole bigger, but I think we have to wait for Adam and Evan.”

The scared little girl began sobbing, and Sage’s heart broke for her. There was nothing she could do except wait, and she hated feeling so helpless.

Sitting beside the entrance, she began to sing Return to Pooh Corner. It was the same song she’d sung to Jenna as an infant after those two a.m. feedings when her little girl refused to go back to sleep. Sage had grown up loving all things Winnie the Pooh and had happily passed that love down to her children.