“Someone’s been here.”
Alex got to the top about a minute before anyone else, taking off like a gazelle being chased by a lion.
Zack stopped next to his brother and saw the footprints in the snow, still fresh. The entrance to the cave system here was narrow, an opening in the rocks which narrowed significantly for about twenty metres, descending steeply down and then widening before it met the river.
He’d started caving in this very spot. It was a good place for beginners, getting them used to the narrow tunnels and the steep drops, without the need for equipment other than a helmet and torches. He knew the routes round here.
“Let’s get down there,” he said. “What are we waiting for?”
Scott shook his head. “Wait. I know you want to get to her, but she might be on the other side of the rock fall and they’re getting her out.”
Zack looked at the ground, needing to move, knowing that Scott was right. There was no point going in there if Wes’ team were about to find her.
“Where are they up to?” Scott said, looking at Ludd who had the radio. He’d heard the voices, crackling over the distance.
Ludd gave him a nod, listening to whatever was being said. “We’ll head down. Over.” He looked at Zack. “The ceiling of chamber three has completely collapsed. It’s going to take days to get through it. We have to go in this way.”
Zack stilled, his feet heavy, his heart heavier. There was a chance they’d been caught in the rock fall. He knew that’s what they were all thinking.
“Let’s go. Are you still with us?” Alex said, looking directly at him. “Can you do this?”
“Yes.” It was one word. The only word he could muster.
Rock falls and humans apart, very little changed cave systems quickly. Zack remembered each turn, each point where he needed to bow his head, each sound of the river as it neared and farred. He’d been twelve when he, Scott and Jake had started caving here by themselves. Their mothers weren’t keen on the idea, but their dads had supported them—as long as they stuck to the rules and the routes they knew, the routes they had been taught. And their fathers had grown up here, sons and grandsons of cavers too.
It was one point two miles to the door to Griff’s Cavern and usually took about forty minutes, depending on the river levels. Today he was going to set a personal best, with Alex and Scott close behind him.
The river was higher than he’d last seen it, the season dictating the levels. In spring it would become impassable for days, maybe weeks, especially given the amount of snow that would melt. But he didn’t have to think about that now. Just Sorrell. Just getting to her and bringing her home.
Something caught his eye as he looked across the river, the light from his head torch illuminating an object not native to the caves. Cavers didn’t leave things, they didn’t pollute. He looked again, wondering if he was hallucinating, but he wasn’t.
“That’s Sorrell’s scarf,” he said, heading straight through the water, leaving Alex behind him. “The first one she bought.”
It was stretched out like a long woollen snake, leading from the river down one of the pathways.
She’d been here. And she’d left the scarf to tell them which way to go, because she wouldn’t know the way out.
“Zack, slow down!” He heard Alex say. Somehow, he steadied himself, picking up the material and bringing it to his face, smelling the residue of her perfume and not giving a shit who saw and what they said.
No one said anything though.
“Okay, carry on. We’re here. She won’t be far,” Alex said. “And she’s been here with the scarf. That means she isn’t under the rock fall.”
Zack nodded and then started to call her name.
Sorrell had fallen asleep. She dreamed that she was in a big bed, with a warm duvet wrapped around her, the sheets soft.
“Sorrell!”
She murmured, not wanting to wake up.
“Sorrell!”
That damned voice. So irritating.
“Sorrell!” It had become louder. Closer. She became aware of the cold, of the sound of running water. Of the girl next to her.
Of Zack’s voice.
