Chapter Eight
Jarrod repeated everything. He wasn't surprised by the frustrated sighs that he received as a reply. "We might as well head home. If he has indeed taken another route, he should be home before we are-or shortly afterwards. Even as he spoke the words, he again felt a pull towards the mountains and, without half thinking, he allowed his eyes to drift towards the giants and their white blanket.
"You don't think he's up there! Do you?" Heath and Fred both asked at the same time, confused as to what had turned Jarrod's mind in that direction.
Jarrod, Heath and Fred headed towards Haynes-hoping that the rainstorms had ended for good; and that, by some wild chance, they'd find the missing Barkley was actually there. While they were doing that, Nick was sitting on the floor of the cave he, Elizabeth and Tabitha had taken refuge in. He was watching Tabitha writing in the cave's dirt floor. Since he did not know sign language, the two of them had taken to writing out their conversation. For her part, Elizabeth had wandered to the mouth of the cave-her coat buttoned to the top. If she could have told the wind off, she would have. If it wasn't for the wind, they could have continued towards her friends' home-even if it was at a snail's pace thanks to all the snow. After all, the sky was still clear. However, the wind was doing its best to pick up every snowflake that had fallen the night before and toss them through the air-making it extremely hard to see, and near impossible to push any horse to travel in it.
Tabitha, who had seen Nick looking towards Elizabeth more than once, took the stick in her hand and wrote You like her? You want court her? The whole time she was smiling from ear to ear.
Nick, who had quickly learned there wasn't a shy bone in the young girl's body-when it came to asking any question that was on her mind, chuckled. Yes and Maybe. He then wrote in the dirt 'We need to worry about getting the two of you to your friends, not if I am going to court Elizabeth.'
He laughed when she wrote in the dirt 'Why?'. Afterwards, he excused himself and, standing up, walked over to where Elizabeth was watching the snow fly around. He leaned against the wall of the cave and studied her face. He could tell she was concerned-he figured it was because she feared they'd wind up being stuck in the cave for longer than any of them would like. He couldn't blame her there. "You said your late husband had a number of caves like this one. Where's closest one?"
Elizabeth, keeping her eyes on the flying snow-which had begun to settle down due to the wind decreasing its rage, replied, "Roughly three miles…about a mile from my friends. They actually use it as well. That is, when there is a need. Jason and Phillip were like brothers. They always had each other's backs." A far away look appeared in her eyes as she spoke.
Nick assumed she was thinking on her late husband and his friend. However, he didn't ask- as the mention of brothers and backs had Nick watching the scenery as well, though his mind was in another place for a few minutes.
"You sure know how to get into a fix, don't you?" Twenty year old Jarrod teased Nick after he and their father had thrown a rope down into a mine shaft and pulled the young sixteen year old out of the hole.
"You're lucky your brother knew where to look." Tom, who was standing next to his oldest son, had known Nick was in trouble had been looking for him only, with no idea of where the young man was, hadn't been having any luck.
On the heels of that memory of him and Jarrod rescuing Heath down in Mexico. It made him think that, since he wasn't where he was supposed to be, they were out looking for him. That thought made him feel a bit guilty only, since he still didn't think it was a good idea for Elizabeth or Tabitha to be traveling to their friends alone, he didn't know what to do. "It's always good to have that…I mean, having someone to watch your back. I know my brothers and I are always looking out for each other."
He wasn't surprised to see a bit of sadness flash through Elizabeth's eyes, as he-again-thought she was thinking on her late husband and this Phillip she had spoken about. Then again, maybe… "My being here and the fact that my brothers are, more likely than not, looking for me is not your fault. Remember, I insisted on coming."
With her mind on her oldest brother, the force behind his arranging a marriage for her and the fact that it was a Barkley helping her and her stepdaughter, Elizabeth turned her gaze to her Tabitha. "I do feel bad for you family only the worry they must be going through is only a portion of what got to me. Truth is, not all families are so lucky…I mean, many brothers are not as close as they could be. Or, worse yet, due to their own choices and the consequences that follow, their relatives want nothing to do with them. Now," Elizabeth turned completely away from the opening, "I am hoping it will be safe enough for us to travel soon. Why don't I draw a map in the dirt on this cave's floor? I don't think it's not really smart for only one of us to know the route." She pointed towards the cave floor. "That way you'll know exactly where we're going."
Nick, who couldn't help but wonder if Elizabeth was talking about her own family, would have loved to get her to tell him more. As it was, he watched her draw the map.
