“No. That could be confusing. Orphan?”
“That’s just depressing.”
She snorted. “What do you want, something like Precious, Snuggie, or Tinkerbell?”
He chuckled. “Definitely not. If he’s a boy, it should be a male name. I noticed he has spots on him. What color are they?”
“They’re more like splotches, like on a cow. They’re brown, but not tan, more a reddish brown.”
“What about Copper.”
Her footsteps halted. “No, they’re browner than that.”
“I mean you could call him Copper like the mineral this mine was built to find. It’s close to brown, plus he ran into an old copper mine.”
She started forward again. “Copper? Hmmm. Hey Dog, do you like the name Copper?”
He squelched his own snort. Just then he heard her boot hit something hard.
“Ow. Damn rails.”
He froze. “Want me to take the lead?”
“No, I’m fine. Just misjudged the spacing of the rail tie. We don’t have that far to go.”
And she knew this how? He had to admit she seemed a lot more confident in the inky blackness than he did.
Chapter Eight
Keep it together O’Hare. This firefighting cowboy already thinks you’re off your rocker. No need to prove it by avoiding a snake that isn’t there and tripping over imaginary rock formations.Keep the rock on your left and your steps measured. The only thing down here is rabbits.
His voice came out of the darkness. “I think we should stay to the left this time. See what’s beyond where you found Copper.”
Sounded like he’d decided on Dog’s name. She actually agreed it was a good name. One she’d give the dog if she was keeping it. She’d tell Whisper that was the dog’s name. The woman could always check with the animal to see if he liked it. At least, she thought Whisper could. Who knew for sure?
“Do you agree?”
Agree? Oh yeah. “Sure. One dark tunnel or the other, it’s all the same to me.” And that was the problem. It felt too much like the cave when there was no light. The only exception was the rail.
In Afghanistan there were miles of underground caves, some of which actually were said to have rails similar to this, but there’d never been any legit intelligence of that, at least not at her outpost. Maybe if she’d been on base like she was on her first deployment, she would have known more, but that first time she was too busy trying to train Afghans in US warfare to learn about any important intel.
The rock beneath her fingertips felt different, too. It wasn’t nearly as porous as in the cave she’d been trapped in. Very few pieces flaked off and then suddenly many would. That’s when she had a hard time focusing. Then it was too much like the cave. Even the ground burying her alive was like her first night in the cave. Except back then, she had no one to pull her out and she’d panicked. Even thinking about it had her heartbeat racing.
Deep breaths. She needed to take deep breaths because she could. Because Garrett had got her out of there and held her like she was important not to lose. It was probably just adrenaline from the sudden avalanche in the dark. Still, it felt good to be valued for a change.
“We should be about there.” Garrett’s voice coming from behind her almost earned him a swift kick to the gut, but she stopped herself in time, her action only getting as far as turning around. “Have you been counting steps?” She’d planned to but her thoughts wouldn’t stay focused.
“Yes. I’ll turn on the light and see if I’m right.”
She looked away, so the light wouldn’t blind her. She learned that trick quickly after the first time she turned on her cellphone light in the cave.
Reflected light filled the area, proving that Garrett had an excellent sense of measurement. A few more steps and they’d be entering the left tunnel of the fork.
He stepped around her. “We should pick up the pace while using the light.”
Now he was the expert? She gritted her teeth to stop from voicing her thought. The man was helpful, and he wasn’t bad company. She should be grateful he’d come looking for her, or she’d be in the mine alone with her thoughts…going crazy. “Then lead the way.”
He strode forward a few paces into the tunnel then switched to the other side of the rails. “What’s this?”
