How had he known it was here?
A question for another time.
Gil tugged on the lock like a handle. Had Jedidiah realized they’d left it unfastened? Apparently not, for the door shifted when he pulled. He opened it wide, revealing the floor-to-ceiling stack of crates.
One look at Sampson’s widened eyes showed he must not have known what lay within.
Gil motioned to their family’s crates. “These that look like ours are the only ones we move. The crates that are different stay.”
He reached for the crate he’d opened before and slid it off the stack. Could he carry two at a time? Maybe.
He grabbed a second, stacking it atop the first. The weight strained his shoulders and back, but he managed to lift them both, determination fueling his strength. Sampson followed his lead, hefting two crates as if they held feathers.
As they carried the boxes out of the storage room and down the passageway, Gil's mind raced. What if Jedidiah or one of the other men noticed their absence and came looking for them?Lord, let the men keep telling stories until we’re finished.This might have been a foolish idea, but it was the only opportunity he might have.
They emerged into daylight, and he blinked against the sudden brightness. No one was in sight, so he led the way across an open area into the woods. A few strides in, the underbrush grew thick, and he set his crates down. He could come back and conceal the boxes better once they had them all out.
“I'll bring a wagon here tonight." Gil muttered the words as he struggled to catch his breath. "Load these up, and you can drive it to the ranch tomorrow while I travel with Jess and her father."
Sampson set his load down and turned a frown on him. "I’m not leaving."
Gil started back toward the cave. "We have to get the sapphires back. Please, Sampson, I need your help."
Sampson strode past him. “We don’t have time to chatter.”
He was right. Gil pushed into a run over the open ground, and Sampson matched his pace.
Together, they made four more hurried trips. That left only two crates remaining from the Coulter stock.
Gil studied what remained. “Let’s stack up the rest of these in the front so it doesn’t look like anything’s missing.”
“We don’t have time. He’s probably realized we’re gone.”
Gil was already moving boxes, though. It would only take another minute if they both worked.
Sampson jumped in to help, and they got the front row full filled.
“There.” Gil blew out a breath. “We’ll lock it up, then I can take the last two while you head back.”
Sampson led the way out, and Gil pulled the door shut. The lock clicked, and he gave a test shake to make sure the mechanism had fastened. All set.
He turned back to the crates. “Take the lantern with you. Thanks for helping.” There was no way he could have moved the sapphires without being caught if he’d had to carry them all himself.
Sampson strode away with the light, leaving Gil in darkness as he hoisted the last two boxes. He’d traveled this path enough to manage without seeing.
As he took his first few steps down the passageway, the space didn’t feel as black as usual. Maybe his eyes were growing accustomed.
But then a light appeared around a curve in the tunnel. And it was growing brighter.
CHAPTER 17
Gil’s breath caught, and he shifted backward and to the side so the bend in the wall would protect him from the oncomer’s view. Maybe he could move away faster than they were walking. He could stay out of view until… Until he fell off the bridge into the chamber below? Or until he had to try to descend the rope carrying two crates?
Plan B, then. He was trying to figure out what it would be when…
“What have we here?” Jedidiah’s voice curled through the cave, tightening every part of his body. Had the man seen him?
He scrambled backward, using the cave wall against his arm to guide him.
