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‘Let me help you.’
His father nodded, and slowly they lifted the grille open, the heavy hinges groaning as they did so. Clara shone a torch downwards and Gabriel could see that bands of solid rock ran around the sides of the borehole. He hadn’t realised how much effort it must have taken for his own rescuers to drill down into the cave.
He wasn’t going to think about that. He needed to focus on now, today, and the women who were down there and needed his help.
‘There’s a ladder.’ Clara shone the beam of the torch onto the metal ladder that was fixed to the side of the borehole.
‘Yeah. Who knows how stable it is, after all this time.’ It looked sturdy enough to Gabriel, but if it wasn’t it was a thirty-foot drop.
She bent down, opening the bag, pulling out a harness and a coil of nylon rope, sorting through the other equipment. ‘There are a couple of belay devices here. I think it’s going to be safer just to abseil down there. I’ll go first.’
Gabriel nodded. ‘Okay. Wait for me when you get to the bottom.’
His mother and father watched, silent and tight-lipped as Clara put on the harness and adjusted it, while Gabriel secured the rope around the heavy metal brackets that locked the grille in place. Then he took a harness from the bag, putting it on, and Clara checked it for him and fixed two belay devices to the rope, working quietly and carefully to make sure he’d missed nothing.
‘You’ve got this?’ She murmured the words quietly.
‘Yes. Let’s get on with it.’
Clara turned to his mother, taking her hand. ‘I’ve done this lots of times before, and I’ve checked everything to make sure it’s safe. We’re going to find your friends, and we’ll be back in no time. Try not to worry.’
His mother nodded and Gabriel felt a lump in his throat. As he watched Clara step over the side of the parapet he felt physically sick. She gave him a broad grin and started to abseil down the borehole, the light of her torch bouncing this way and that as she went.
He felt his father’s hand on his arm. ‘I will go in your place...’
‘No. I won’t let Clara go alone, and I need to do this.’ Gabriel wondered if his father could understand. He’d never done so before.
‘I know. You are a doctor.’ His father nodded.
‘Yes, I am. And I need you here, to call for help if we need it.’
‘You don’t remember when we brought you out of here, do you?’
‘No.’
His father smiled suddenly. ‘I lifted you out in my arms. I’ll be waiting here for you today, too.’ His father reached for him, enveloping him in a hug.
‘Hey! What’s going on up there?’ Clara’s voice echoed upwards and Gabriel broke free of his father. Suddenly he knew that he could do this.
‘What’s going on down there?’ he called down to her.
‘I’m in a smallish cave, it looks as if it leads through to the larger one. Shall I go and see if I can find them?’
‘No, wait for me.’ Gabriel swung his legs over the parapet. As he slid slowly down the rope, he saw the circle of sky above his head diminish. He felt his feet hit the floor of the borehole, and just as panic began to tear at the pit of his stomach he felt Clara take hold of his arm.
She unclipped his harness from the rope. ‘Are you good to go?’
‘Yes. Let’s find them.’ Gabriel took her hand, leading the way.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CLARA WAS BEGINNING to wonder whether she’d done the right thing. It was clear that Gabriel was hanging on by a thread. But he needed this chance to prove himself, and if one or both of the women was injured then she was going to need him.
Lights glimmered up ahead of them, and as they stepped into the larger cave he seemed to steady. More space, and more light, and by the gleam of the lights fixed to the wall, which marked out a smooth and easy walkway through the cave, she could see two figures on the far side. One rose, and hurled its way across the cave towards them.
The woman flung her arms around Gabriel’s waist, hugging him tight. ‘Gabriel... Gabriel.’
‘Giulia.’ Gabriel held her, soothing her. She started to speak to him, quick and urgent words in Italian that Clara couldn’t follow. Gabriel was listening intently, walking her over to where the other woman lay, a folded coat under her head.
