Chapter Twenty One – A Way In, A Way Out

Chris shielded her eyes against the sun as the sound of a propeller engine drew near.

"That's strange," Laura Harrison stated in confusion. "That's not the mail plane," she noted.

The doctor turned to look at her with a frown and then followed her gaze. "No, that's George Baxter," she deduced.

The two women waited patiently while the smaller aircraft taxied toward them and then came to a stop only a few meters before them.

"This is new," Chris said. "I wasn't expecting to see you, George."

"Well, Sanders is stuck at Hogan's place. He took on dirty fuel and have to filter the tank. It'll be a while before he'll get here," he explained. "He said he'd promised you a ride and I have a few errands so I thought I'd offer you one instead."

OOOOOO

It had been another long day and Emma sighed wearily as she drove Logan's old sedan into the garage and out the back. She'd reduced the price for the service if she could drive it back with her into town after she'd fixed up the tractor. Bart and Betty had readily agreed and given her the go. Now it was just a matter of meeting up with her missing husband.

Emma angrily glanced at her wristwatch, the Nomad was overdue back again. He'd promised her he'd be home in time and that they'd take care of the animals together. She was so sick of sheep, of old generators, old barns and broken windows that she wanted to set fire to the place. They had the Goolies, they had wonderful neighbors, except for George, and they had food on the table and a roof over their heads. They even had their own aircraft. They had everything to be grateful for if it weren't for the fact that they hardly managed to be at one place at the same time nowadays.

She just wanted to get away from the place, to get back to a time when they lived in town where she only had the garage to care for. Nowadays it gave her a guilty conscience, hanging around in town, as the animals needed to be looked after, the house needed new paint and the roof was leaking. It was hanging over her and refused to let her go.

"Sam," she whined through clenched teeth as she backtracked to the garage and went into the office. She might as well do something useful while she waited. With a sigh she reached for the orders and started to check on deliveries and payments. If Sam hadn't returned when she was ready, she'd yell at him to say the least.

OOOOOO

David swallowed as sediment trickled down the walls occasionally. "Why did I let myself be talked into this?" he mused under his breath as he held the lamp up high in order to see better what lay ahead of him.

Sam involuntarily shrank back as the construction above seemed to moan in protest. He swallowed and took a moment to gather himself. He sharpened his senses and frowned as he thought he'd heard something further down the tunnel. "Mr. Dibsey!" he hollered.

The sound of something clanging against iron transplanted itself through the small passageway and the doctor and pilot shared a look. David nodded and Sam set off further into the tunnel. David followed suit and after a few minutes they came to a stop at a large junction.

"Now what?" the doctor mused.

The pilot nodded toward a faint light coming from the left. "Ghosts?" he whispered with a frown.

The young doctor took a deep breath as he felt the walls closing in on him and tried his best to keep the anxiety at bay. If he didn't succeed he'd start hyperventilating in mere minutes and that wouldn't help anyone.

They made their way over and spotted a man sitting down in the middle of a larger cavity. He glanced up at them, his cheeks sunken and his eyes glazed. "This place was holy for them," he spoke up hollowly.

"Mr. Dibsey," David began and swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

"You shouldn't have come here," he whispered. "It's not your turn."

Sam felt the hair at the back of his neck rise at the words and carefully glanced around the semi-dark place and gulped as he noticed several strings of gunpowder across the floor, leading to rods of nitroglycerin. "David?" he called worriedly.

The doctor forced a quivering breath as he went closer to the man. "Ah, Joel, is it?" he began in a friendly matter.

"They warned me," he whispered and doubled over as he broke into a coughing fit. "I didn't heed their words," he finally managed through clenched teeth.

"The mining accident?" Sam guessed carefully as he recalled the rumors from when he was a child.

"It should never have happened?" Dibsey returned dejectedly. "It killed everyone on that shift. I killed everyone on that shift-" he trailed off. "All my mates."

"That's not what I've heard," Sam reasoned softly as he gently made his way over and knelt next to the older man.

"They despised me, the widows and the children. They asked me how I could live with myself," he mumbled gloomily.

"It was an accident," Sam reasoned.

Dibsey shook his head. "It wasn't secure. All the Company cared about was profit, not maintenance and happy workers," he explained. "And I didn't have the guts to stand up for them the way I was supposed to. It has plagued me for all these years, I need for it to end."

"I don't think your niece would be happy about that," David quipped. "After all the trouble she's been through to find you."

"I have no one, leave me be," Dibsey replied in a subdued voice.

"I'm sorry, I can't," David replied seriously as he made to grab the older man's arm to haul him up.

"No!" he shouted.

Sam watched in horror as the powder strewn on the ground ignited and began to burn its way up the walls, it would only be a few seconds till the whole cave was emblazed in flames and nitrogen set off. He grabbed Dibsey's other arm and together they hauled him away and out in the tunnel.

The fire roared behind them, consuming the oxygen in the cavity, then the explosion came, creating a shockwave far beyond the chamber and blew out the lights above the three fleeing men. The blast threw them to the ground mercilessly, as rocks began to loosen above their heads and soil started to rain down on them.

In the commotion David lost grip of Dibsey and was slammed against a beam. He gasped for breath and closed his eyes and curled up into a ball in an attempt to shield himself from further harm.

The ground shook beneath Sam's feet as he slowly got up. He stumbled over the uneven ground, visibility was close to zero as rocks and soil pondered him from above. He thought he'd heard someone cry out but he couldn't make out anything. The pilot cursed under his breath and then let out a yelp as something struck him on the shoulder with a glancing blow that once again forced him to the ground. Something sharp cut through the fabric of the light uniform shirt and stung his arm. As he opened his eyes to slits he could just make out a patch of red spreading over the right upper-arm. The pilot grimaced in dismay and coughed as dust forced its way down his lungs. In a desperate attempt to get away from the pondering he raised his arms over his head and closed his eyes, willing for it to end.

OOOOOO

"Right, where is he?" Emma demanded as she walked through the door to the base. "He promised me-" she trailed off at seeing the worried faces before her and felt a knot in her stomach.

Chris forced a smile on her lips that didn't reach her eyes and Emma knew immediately that something was wrong.

"What's happening?" she asked carefully.

"We think they've found Dibsey," Chris managed.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and plucked down next to DJ and absentmindedly picked up the newspaper in wait for more news. The articles held little or no value to her and she found her thoughts wander off.

"I'm over there now DJ. It looks like it's been some kind of cave-in," Jack said seriously. "Tracks are leading into it but-"

Chris and DJ shared a worried look.

"Of course, I can' be sure it's them but who else would it be?" the policeman mused darkly.

"Them?" Emma asked in confusion as her mind whirled. Chris said they'd find Dibsey. She swallowed as she realized, them, meant Sam and David. Then, Jack reported there had been a cave-in of some sort- Emma froze as reality sank in. "Sam," she whispered as she placed her elbows on the desk, her head resting in her palms as she stared unseeingly at the opposite wall of the radio room.

Chris cast a cautious glance over her friend and gently squeezed DJ's shoulder as she rounded him and headed over to the mechanic, her face full of concern and solace.

Emma shook her head as she neared. "Don't look at me like that," she whispered and promptly got out of the chair.

"Where are you going?" Chris asked kindly.

"To the garage, I need to do something useful," she mumbled.

The doctor watched helplessly as her friend left the room and forced herself to concentrate on the matter at hand. "DJ, I think you can call Annie and tell her to come back now. They won't find anything and we need her services here."

DJ nodded solemnly as he gently tuned in another frequency.

OOOOOO

"There must be another way in," Paula said stubbornly.

"It's a maze of tunnels in there," Dougie explained softly. "It was one of the largest mines in the whole district of its time."

"So, what are we waiting for then?" Paula pushed.

"It's not as simple as you think," Jack cautioned. "The local tribes says it's haunted."

"And you believe it?" Paula asked in disbelief. "Look, my big brother is in there somewhere."

"There are two more entrances in the vicinity that we might be able to reach before dark," Dougie offered.

"You chose," Jack said quickly.

OOOOOO

"Sam," David whispered as he reached the pilot's side. "Sam, are you all right, mate?"

His colleague stirred and slowly turned around on his back, coughing a little as he gently rose into a sitting position. "Yeah," he managed. "Just give me a minute."

David briefly closed his eyes only to find the pilot giving him an amused look. "You look a little worse for wear, doc," he said softly as he noted the dust streaked clothes and ruffled hair. "Looks like your chin took a real beating."

The doctor rolled his eyes and smirked. "You should see yourself," he replied.

"Dibsey?" Sam asked in confusion.

David nodded further down the tunnel. "Over there, unconscious at the moment," he explained. "Let me have a look at that arm."

Sam followed his gaze and pursed his lips into a thin line of displeasure as he slowly raised it. "It's superficial," he assured him.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" David replied somewhat testily, feeling all his aches and cuts all too clearly.

Sam gave in and sat still, hissing slightly when the doctor gently removed the fabric from the wound. David studied him closely for a moment, looking for signs of other injuries. "I love him, David. You better keep him safe for me," Emma's voice echoed in the back of his mind.

OOOOOO

"I just heard," Tom said, coming from the hospital with Kate in tow.

Chris was about to say something when the door opened to reveal Molly and Vic, engaged in a light conversation, sharing a smile.

"Something the matter?" the young woman asked worriedly at the look of their solemn faces. She hobbled closer to the radio room on her crutches and took in their pale faces.

"Something happened," Vic muttered.

"We think our colleagues have found your uncle," DJ let on.

Molly broke into a grin. "Well, that's' wonderful news," she said happily.

"But?" Vic asked carefully, sensing something was wrong.

"We can't reach Sam and David. We believe they're in the mine," he answered solemnly.

"That place is-" Vic felt his mouth go dry. "Does Emma know?"

"I'll go and get her," Chris said as she rose from the chair next to DJ. "She was pretty upset when she left earlier."

"Something Nance and I can do?" Vic asked. "Sandwiches-"

"We'd appreciate it," Geoff said with a cautious smile. "I've been trying to get a helicopter out there before it gets dark to see if we can find Jenkins' truck to at least get a starting position as to where they entered but I'm not having any luck."

"You'd better call Sanders, I overheard he was late today with the mail distribution. He should be over there in about twenty minutes unless he's deviated from his original flight path," Vic suggested.

Geoff patted him on the back. "Thanks, mate," he said with praise.

"I'll get him straight away," DJ assured them.

OOOOOO

To be continued