“Not without a rope.”
Darcy shook his head. “It’ll get caught on the branches.”
“Don’t be stupid, Darce. If she’s safe inside, you need to be anchored by the rope to get her out. The minute the tree gets loose, it will wash down stream and you don’t want to get washed with it.” Brandon handed him one end of the rope.
“It’s not long enough.”
“You need to clear the tree first. It’s plenty long enough for that.” Brandon tied the other end to a rock jutting up above the cave and tugged it to make sure it was tight. “You got anything in the ute’s toolbox which will help?”
“Might be an axe.” He knotted the rope around his waist. Brandon was right. He couldn’t be reckless. “There’s a torch too.”
He moved down the side of the cave and into the cold water. The river flowed around the tree trunk, pushing and shoving it, but something stopped it from carrying on down the river. It was too dark inside the cave. “Faith!” he yelled.
The roar of the water was all he could hear.
Above him, Brandon took the torch and axe from Amy and carried them down to Darcy. He shone the torch into the cave. No Faith.
She had to be there somewhere.
Almost unwillingly, he directed the beam into the water. It didn’t penetrate far enough to illuminate if a body lay underneath.
Another sweep with the torch showed why the tree wasn’t moving. Two of the forked branches played off each other and prevented the tree from moving. If he chopped one branch, it should come free.
“Axe.” He handed Brandon the torch and took the axe. He lowered himself into the water and was swept downstream into the branches. Pain shot through him as the wood poked and scratched him, but the rope kept him from being swept under them. He’d thank Brandon later.
Using the rope to pull himself to his feet, he moved into the cave. Right at the back, a light glowed, almost like a firefly, but they didn’t get those here. “Faith,” he yelled. The water hovered around his chest and soon he wouldn’t be able to get the momentum to chop the branches.
“Darcy!”
His heart leapt as the light moved and Faith’s head peered out from behind a rock. Alive! She was alive. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m stuck. I can’t get past the branches.”
“Hold on. I’ll get you out.”
He chopped at the nearest branches to get closer to the problem one. The water crept towards his neck, moving way too fast. The cave narrowed at the back and it wouldn’t take long for the rest of the cave to fill. He worked faster, pounding the axe into the branches and ripping them away. Finally, he reached the offending branch. He tugged on it and it swayed, but otherwise didn’t budge.
The water was at his shoulders now, making it difficult to swing the axe. He chopped as hard as he could, again and again, and finally he heard the crack. The branch sprang towards him, hitting him square in the chest as the river ripped it from the cave. His lungs emptied, and he was swept into the torrent, the branch scraping a line across his chest. Pain made him gasp in a mouthful of water, and he coughed.
“Darcy!” Faith yelled.
The rope jolted, holding him into place as he fought to stay above the waterline. Leaves and bushes brushed past him and still it rained. He grabbed the rope, and pulled himself slowly, hand over hand, back to the entrance. Brandon pulled the other end, helping him get out of the main flow of the water. “Faith’s inside,” he called.
Outside the cave, the water was too deep to stand. The cave was almost full. “Give me all the rope. I need to get her.” She had to be afraid of being swept away. The rope slackened, and he took a deep breath, using the roof of the cave to pull himself towards the back where he’d last seen Faith. The rope pulled tight, and he tilted his head to the ceiling to take some more air. He yanked on the rope, but it had no more give. “Faith, you’ve got to come to me.”
Her silhouette was about two metres away. “Hurry!” He gulped another breath of air as she lunged towards him. His hand grasped hers and he pulled her towards him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. The water covered them and he tugged twice on the rope, hoping Brandon would realise he needed to be pulled back. The rope moved. Darcy kept one arm around Faith and the other touching the top of the cave as together they swam towards the entrance. His lungs burned. The cave hadn’t seemed this deep on the way in. But no, they couldn’t have got turned around. He kicked harder and his hand encountered air. Frantically he grappled for the rock and pushed away from it, pulling Faith with him. They both breached the surface and sucked in lungfuls of air. Brandon reached for them, but the river pulled them away from the edge. Faith’s body shifted away from him and she clutched his shirt.
She was slipping from his grasp. “Grab her!” Darcy yelled at Brandon.
Brandon gripped the rope in both hands, holding them close to the shore. Fuck. If he let go of the rope, they’d shoot back into the river. Above him, Amy scrambled down the slope towards them.
Faith slid further away.
“Hold on!” He shoved one arm under her shoulder and hefted her towards him. The water dragged him under and he struggled back to the surface. He found the rock face and pulled them both to the side.
Faith threw one arm over the ledge, panting. Darcy pushed her other arm over the rock. “Pull her up.”
“You got a good grip?”
