Page 84 of The Heart’s Charge

Mark’s patience thinned. “Ortega and his partner did the shooting and dropping. God did the preserving. My arms and legs are in good working order when the fall could have broken them. My head feels like a blacksmith used it as an anvil, but I’m awake and thinking clearly. I’m even well-rested, thanks to my little nap. I’ve been praying to find you boys, and now I have. That tells me God has a plan. All we gotta do is keep our eyes and ears open and follow where he leads.”

“No, thanks.”

Wart spun on the boy. “We ain’t got time for this, Floyd. I got a sister out there. If there’s a chance I can live to see her again, I’m gonna fight to make that happen. If you wanna sit here and whine, go ahead, but I’m gonna help Mr. Wallace.” He turned back to Mark, chin set, hands fisted. “Where do we start?”

Now they were getting somewhere. Mark nodded at Wart, sealing the partnership. “I assume they’ll plant the dynamite in the shaft near the entrance, so we’ll need to get as far away from the blast as possible. If we can insulate ourselves from it, that would be even better. Build up a barrier of sorts. I just don’t know if we have time for that.”

One of the smaller boys pushed his way forward. He didn’t quite meet Mark’s gaze, but he thrust his hand out with purpose. “Here ya go, mister. I nipped it while you was nappin’.” On his extended palm lay Mark’s pocket watch.

“Thanks.” Mark smiled as if the boy were giving him a gift instead of returning stolen property.

Stealing was how these kids survived. If they got out of here, he’d bring the lot of them to Harmony House. Try to convince them to trade in thievery for full bellies, education, and kindness. It just might turn them into reputable citizens.

He snapped the watch cover open and held it toward the light. Quarter ’til nine. That gave them a little over three hours. He glanced around the cavern, finally realizing what was missing from the picture. “Where are your tools?”

“In there.” Wart pointed behind Mark.

He turned to find a narrow horizontal passage at the far side of the cavern. The ceiling sloped downward toward it, so even the boys would have to bend to get to it. The passage itself was nothing more than a crawl space, far too narrow for a man to fit through. Which explained why the boys had been snatched. They were the only ones small enough to get into the ore room.

Unfortunately, that meant Mark wouldn’t be able to follow them and help find an exit. Therefore, their best chance for survival lay in insulating themselves from the blast.

“All right, boys. Here’s what we’re going to do. For the next two hours, you’re going to bring me as many rocks as you can carry through that hole. If there is any loose or broken timber, bring that as well. We’re going to build the biggest wall we can. Then, at eleven o’clock, all of you will go back through the passage and find the safest place you can to take shelter.”

Mark looked past Wart to the glowering kid at the back of the group. “Floyd, you know this place best. Steer clear of weak spots, places where dirt and debris tend to shower down from the ceiling. Pick a place as far from the entrance as you can get. One close to the walls and support posts. If you find a large hole somewhere along the ceiling, stay close to that if possible. It might be a ventilation shaft. If there’s a cave-in, fresh air will be important. Can you do that?”

Floyd shrugged.

It wasn’t a no. Mark decided to take it as a yes. “Good.” He turned to Wart. “You’re in charge of keeping everyone together. Rescue will be easier if everyone’s in one place. Can you do that?”

Wart nodded. “But where will you be? You can’t fit through the rat hole.”

Mark ruffled the kid’s hair. “I’ll be out here until the last minute, fortifying our wall. I’ll need one of you to bring me a pickax. The biggest one you got in there.”

He’d build the wall between the entrance shaft and the boys’ passage, but he’d leave an opening on the other side for two reasons. First, it might redirect the blast in the opposite direction, taking the path of least resistance. Second, if Ortega took the lazy way out and just tossed the dynamite down the shaft, Mark might have time to grab it and hack off the fuse before it exploded. Not exactly the safest option for him, but it gave the boys their best chance at survival.

Mark and the boys worked the next two hours like a locomotive at full steam, Mark pounding out large chunks of rock from the back wall, and the boys bringing bucket after bucket of smaller pieces from the ore room. A pair of half-rotted beams wedged between the floor and the low ceiling near the entrance to the ore room served as their frame. They placed their rocks inside it, building their barrier higher and higher. By the time the boys took refuge, they had a decent wall in place. About four feet high and five feet wide. It would probably collapse in the blast, but if it helped redirect the explosion, even a little, it could give the boys a fighting chance. To increase their odds, Mark continued reinforcing the wall after the boys took shelter, wielding the pickax until his arms were too fatigued to lift it.

He checked his watch. Ten minutes to midnight. Stepping back from the barrier, he moved to the vertical shaft and lay beneath it. It was the best way he could think of to catch a glimpse of a lit fuse at the top of the shaft. He was too tired to stand much longer anyway. His wrists throbbed from the rubbing of the iron manacles, and his arms felt like rubber. He kept one hand on the pickax handle, though, ready to put it to use on the dynamite if given the chance. One act remained. Mark rolled to the side, closed the metal shield on the miner’s lantern, and let the darkness engulf him.

He had done all he could do.

Keep those boys safe, Lord, he prayed as he stared into the blackness above him. Lead rescuers to them in time. Take care of Jonah, and if I don’t make it out of here, take care of Kate. Help her to know I loved her with my entire being, and that leaving her was the last thing I ever wanted to do.

He dared not let his mind linger on Kate for more than a heartbeat. Thoughts of her in his arms, the kiss they’d shared, and the future they planned to build would steal his focus. A single pinprick of light was all the warning he would get. He couldn’t afford distraction.

His left hand moved to his waist, feeling for the fallen pulley rope that he’d tied there earlier. He’d secured the other end to a support timber at the far side of the cavern. The nook he’d found there offered meager protection at best, but if the dynamite didn’t fall down the shaft, he’d follow the rope and pray for the best.

Please let it fall. Please let it fall.

He could hear time ticking away on his watch. His heart thumped to the beat. His muscles tensed. His grip tightened on the ax.

Then all at once, it was there. A speck of light danced above him. Then it dropped. Mark launched to his feet, jumped back from the shaft, and raised the ax. But no bundle of dynamite landed at his feet. He glanced up the shaft and spotted the explosive swinging back and forth. It must be tethered with a rope or chain. Deep enough to collapse the mine, yet too shallow for anyone waiting below to interfere.

Mark dropped the ax, grabbed the rope at his waist, and reeled himself in as fast as he could while stumbling through the black cavern.

A deafening roar exploded in his ears. A herculean force picked him up and threw him forward, slamming his body into a wall. The earth quaked. Rocks fell like rain. And Mark’s heart called out to his beloved.

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