Lynette, along with a dozen other people, dashed over to the mine. Mitch was already issuing orders, tying a bucket to the end of the rope to be lowered down the shaft. Hazel loaded three water canteens and a jar of oil into the bucket – the first of what was to be many such offerings to the men down the bottom of the mine.
“We need to find out if any of them are injured,” Lynette said, trying to get Mitch’s attention.
“Who’s the dead man?” Ann asked.
“Has anyone spoken to them?
“Do they want food? I’ve got sandwiches.”
“Can we get the men out yet?”
“All right, that’s enough from all of you,” Mitch snapped, losing his temper for the first time since the mine emergency had begun. “They need water, first up. Everything else can wait another ten minutes, so how about you all let us do our jobs?” It had been a long and very trying day, with nerves fraying and hopes rising and falling by the hour.
Working hard at being patient, Lynette waited a little way back from the shaft, with Ann, Hetti, and the rest of the women with husbands or sons still missing. Paul was hanging back near the cliff, to stay out of the way, and the salases had stepped back, their presence not needed for the simple job of lowering buckets of water into the mine.
Muffled voices and the occasional curse word drifted up from the chamber at the bottom, then a golden light flickered on; they’d got one of the lamps lit. A chorus of cries of relief sounded a moment later, and Lynette reflected that it must have been difficult to spend two full days in total darkness. The men would have had some lamps to begin with, just after the earthquake, but the oil wouldn’t have lasted long.
More water was sent down, the bucket raised up empty, only to be refilled again. Finally, after fourteen full canteens had been lowered – and six empty ones sent back up again – Mitch called a halt to the supply runs. “I’m going down,” he said, sliding into the harness they’d been using. It was a sturdy thing, with thick straps of leather around his legs and waist, held together with steel rings. “I’m going to find out exactly what the situation is and what medical supplies they need,” he said, glancing Lynette’s way, “and yes, I will find out who’s alive,” he said, his jaw tightening as he eased himself beneath the support tripod set over the shaft. “Melowin? Can you lower me down?”
Melowin stepped forward, taking the rope, and then Mitch disappeared down into the inky gloom. There was a rough, scrabbling sound as he reached the bottom, then voices, too low for them to hear the words. A good ten minutes passed until the voices finally stopped, and then Mitch yelled, “Pull me up!”
Rather than peppering him with questions, the villagers waited in tense silence as Mitch reached the top of the shaft and pulled himself clear of the gap. He unclipped the harness, then turned to face them all.
Mitch looked straight at Marie, a woman in her fifties whose son was one of the ones trapped. Savon was only nineteen and had started working in the mine just the previous year. “Marie, I’m sorry. Savon’s dead.”
Marie let out a wail, and two of the men caught her as she collapsed right where she stood.
“The ceiling came down on top of him, right when the earthquake hit,” Mitch went on, his voice rough. “For what it’s worth, he wouldn’t have suffered.”
The two men with Marie lifted her to her feet and moved her away from the mine, attempting to comfort her as they went. It might have sounded cruel, but having her out of the way would make it easier for the rest of them to get their jobs done.
“Lynette, we’ve got a couple of injuries. We’re going to need herbs and salves, bandages, and instructions on how they’re to treat each miner.” He ran through a list of injuries – cuts and bruises, one of the men with persistent pain in his eye after shards of rock got in it during the quake, one man who had started suffering hallucinations, and finally, Mitch came to Markon, Hetti’s husband, and one of the most experienced men in the mine.
“Markon’s leg is broken,” Mitch said. “No one down there is a doctor or a nurse, but they said it’s bad. Snapped right through, midway between the knee and the ankle.” Hetti gasped at the news, clapping a hand over her mouth. “The first thing he’s asking for is pain relief, but getting him out of there is going to be a hell of a job.”
Lynette nodded, already running through a mental list of treatments and possibilities. “Have they managed to splint it at all?”
“No. They’ve got nothing to work with. Their tools were all buried. Ben says they were spread out around the chamber when the quake hit. Markon got them all over to the ventilation shaft. It was a known weak point, which ironically meant that the ceiling around the shaft had the most supports and reinforcement.” He glanced over at Marie, still sobbing a little way off. Mitch lowered his voice. “Savon died because he wasn’t quick enough getting to the shaft. He didn’t listen to Markon’s instructions.” Mitch lowered his voice even further and leaned in close to Lynette. “Ben saw the ceiling come down on him. There wouldn’t even be a body left. It would just be… paste,” he said, his lip curling in disgust.
“Don’t tell Marie that,” Lynette said, her stomach rolling at the thought.
“No, of course not.”
“I’ll get some herbs ready to send down and write some notes about what they should do with them. And we’ll need a sturdy piece of wood, about two feet long, to act as a splint. We won’t be able to set the leg until we get him out, but if they can immobilise it, that should stop it getting any worse, and it might help control the pain.”
The next hour passed in a flurry of activity. More buckets were sent down, full of food, lamp oil, and medical supplies. As the light faded, Paul took to following Lynette around with a lamp, allowing her to work with both hands instead of fussing about with a light.
Finally, as it was becoming truly dark, they reached the reluctant conclusion that they’d done as much as could be done for tonight.
“How are the men holding up mentally?” Lynette asked Mitch, after managing to tug him away to the side for a quiet conversation.
“Better now that they know we’re trying to rescue them. The not knowing was taking a hard toll on some of them. And they’ve got water now, which makes a big difference. But even so, a few of them are having a hard time putting on a brave face. They’re going to have nightmares and some lingering trauma after this is all over.”
Lynette nodded. “Is it safe to leave them here overnight?”
“I want to leave at least two men with them. Not just to keep an eye on the mine, but to talk to them, if any of them starts to get panicky. There’s not a lot of room down there for seven men. At the very least, they’d have someone to gauge the time for them.”
“Okay. Let’s get a few people to stay, then the rest of us can head back down to the village. The children are going to want to see their mothers and we’re all going to need some sleep before we tackle this again tomorrow.” Two or three women, plus a few of the older children had been left in charge of caring for the younger ones while their parents were away.
