Hi, everyone. Here is chapter 3. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Disclaimer: "Bob's Burgers" and its characters belong to Loren Bouchard. I only own a few OC's.
Chapter 3
The story of a little girl trapped eighty feet underground, after having been pushed into an abandoned well, was travelling fast. By Saturday evening, it had spread far and wide throughout New Jersey. It was by no means a breaking story, but it was featured on the evening news on major news stations throughout the city. It seemed that soon everybody in New Jersey knew about the girl in the well.
It had quickly become common knowledge that nine-year-old Louise Belcher had been pushed into a well on Friday evening and remained trapped eighty feet underground; it had also become widely known that a teenage boy had pushed her, but it was still unknown what injuries she had. It had been known from the beginning that there a had been a cave-in, leaving Louise partially buried, and "one wrong move, and that little girl's gonna be buried alive," as Chief Richards had put it.
The video clips of Bob jumping into the drilling rig, snapping at the police and firemen, plus kneeling next to the well, and talking to his daughter, had been broadcast on several news stations around New Jersey. Many parents sympathised with him and felt his frustration and helplessness, which was enough to keep the story in most newspapers. Unlike Seymour's Bay, where the ongoing operation was constantly on the television news; in the big cities it would be briefly mentioned during the evening news, as quite a few journalists felt that it was pointless reporting when nothing major was happening. There was really not a lot more they could say other than 'girl still trapped in well; rescue workers are still digging.'
However, in Seymour's Bay, live updates were given what seemed like every hour to news stations all over the town, journalists were doing their best to get new information, and Olsen, being the first one there, had the fortune of being given the latest updates first, which she in turn would give to her boss.
Most reporters were reluctant to leave the site, as they feared that their places would be taken by the crowd of onlookers, but some of them, as they could not get any more information out of Bob and Linda, had gone to Ocean Avenue, in hopes of talking to some neighbours.
"Oh, yeah, it's definitely tragic," said Jimmy Pesto, smoothing his hair back as he stood outside his restaurant. "She's a delightful kid; always in here, playing with my sons," he gestured behind him, smiling. Okay, it wasn't the truth, but it was good for business. "She just loves it in my restaurant, and I hope that they get her out soon."
"Louise is my best friend after Andy!" squeaked Ollie, clutching his twin.
"Louise is my best friend after Ollie!" Andy cried.
Mort was also interviewed.
"Well, I just couldn't believe it," he'd said on Saturday evening. "I had no idea the well was there, and I can't believe she's still in there. I really hope they get her out of there soon."
The two teenage girls who had discovered Louise were interviewed, as well. Jenny and Shannon were standing together near the entrance to Wharf Park, while looking into the camera.
"Well, we had just been to see a movie," said Jenny, "and we wanted to go down to the pier, and so we took a shortcut through the park. I could hear this high-pitched screaming, and I thought it was a fox or something, so we started looking."
"Jenny found the well, and the sound was coming from there, so she called down," said Shannon. "And we heard a voice, and I was, like, so shocked; I couldn't believe it. Louise told us where her dad worked and she said to go and get him. Jenny ran over there, and I stayed with Louise and called the fire department."
Bob and Linda knew instantly when they woke up that morning that their youngest daughter was still trapped. They knew because there were no missed calls, no messages, and no officials outside to tell them of the good news.
"She's still in there," said Linda, standing up and heading into the kitchen. "She's been in there for.. thirty-eight hours now!" she continued, checking the clock briefly and turning to Bob, anguish written all over her face. She began pulling pans and plates out of the cupboards in a kind of frenzied manner, being a little bit louder than she normally would. She needed to do something.
The result of the noise awoke Gene and Tina, and they made their way into the kitchen, fully dressed. "Okay, you kids need to eat," said Linda, cracking some eggs over the frying pan. If she couldn't help with the rescue efforts, she could at least make sure the rest of her children were taken care of.
The children sat at the table silently, and Bob joined them. Usually, they switched on the television to watch the morning news, but they didn't do that.
When they had finished their breakfast, they immediately headed out, intending to go back to the park, and they were greeted by Carol, who quickly walked down the street towards them.
"Ah, there you are," she smiled, "I was just coming to get you."
"We're just going to see Louise," said Bob. "How far have they gotten?"
"They've gotten twelve inches closer to her," Carol told them, as they made their way to the police car.
"Only twelve? It's taken them all night to drill one foot? How?"
"Well, the rock is very hard," said Carol.
"But it won't take too much longer, right? She'll be out by this evening?"
"I'm afraid I don't know that."
When they arrived back at Wharf Park, they could see that the crowd was still there, although it appeared to be smaller, and the reporters remained, even though they were looking a little worse for wear.
The Belchers were escorted through the crowd, and past the barriers to the well. Tim and Charlie were still there, as was Dr. Cabell. The three of them looked exhausted, but they nonetheless greeted the family with a smile as Bob and Linda knelt down next to the well. Teddy had arrived shortly after, and stood next to the Belcher children.
Tina and Gene looked around at the crowd and saw that their friends from yesterday had returned, but they remained where they were. Soon, a high-pitched, excessive wail came to the siblings' attention. A blonde haired girl was hanging over the railings, kicking her legs, and shrieking.
"What's Millie doing here?" whispered Tina and Gene shook his head.
"We can't let her speak to Louise," he said.
"That won't be easy," as Tina pointed, Millie was trying to cross the barriers, but was blocked by officer George.
"You can't come through, little one!" he said, quickly grabbing Millie as she tried to sidestep him.
"Louise is my best friend!" she howled, trying to wriggle out of George's grip. "I need to know she's okay; I need to see her!"
"Louise is fine, but you're gonna have to stay back!" he told her firmly, but Millie wasn't listening.
"Let me speak to her!" she shrieked, attempting to punch and kick, but George had had enough.
"Stay behind this barrier, or we'll have you removed!" he ordered, placing her on the other side, and walking away. Millie collapsed to the ground and started sobbing, shaking off any attempts at comfort by the other kids.
George stopped next to Tina and Gene on his way back to the well. "It's nice that your friends have come to watch, isn't it?" he said.
"Yeah, except for Millie," said Gene, before he could stop himself.
"Huh?"
"Millie is not our friend, and she's not Louise's friend. Her best friend is Regular sized Rudy. Louise doesn't like Millie at all," said Tina, and George nodded thoughtfully.
"Okay, if she gets to be too much, I'll see if we can get her parents to come and collect her," he said, and the children nodded gratefully.
Bob and Linda were still next to the well, trying to talk to their daughter, but Louise was not answering.
"She didn't sleep well last night," Charlie told them. "She only got about two hours uninterrupted."
"Poor baby," said Linda.
"Yeah, she spent most of the night bossing us about," Charlie smiled.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Bob couldn't help but smile as well. "She's been bossy ever since she could sit up."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," said Linda. "Even as a baby, she knew what she wanted. Once, when she was about a year old, and Tina was having a nap, and Louise wanted to play with her. She got all her toys and threw them at Tina. And then jumped on her," Linda chuckled slightly. "She was such a wriggly baby; always full of energy. When she started crawling, I used to have to put her in a carrier, otherwise she would crawl all around the restaurant, getting under people's feet. She would always try and squirm out of it."
"And she would decide if it was nap time, not anyone else," said Bob. "If she didn't wanna take a nap, she would try and climb out of her crib, and wake everyone up." Charlie laughed.
"Feisty little thing, isn't she?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," said Linda. "But that's Louise, you know?" The two officers nodded.
"She sounds great," said Tim.
"She is," said Bob, his voice cracking slightly. "She's amazing. I mean, she's completely crazy, but she's got a big heart. Just don't tell her I told you that. She's my baby." It was uncommon for Bob to call his children pet names, that was Linda's thing. But, here it felt appropriate. Louise was the youngest, technically the baby of the family. He knew he wasn't supposed to have favourites, but Louise was just a little bit above Gene and Tina. She was most like him, so they found it easy to bond. He loved all of his children equally, but he always found it hard to say no to Louise. "My baby," he repeated. He got up, and went over to Teddy, Gene and Tina, suddenly unable to take it. Linda followed soon after, and they hugged tightly.
The chairs that Teddy had brought were still there, and so, the five of them sat down and silently watched the rescue operation. "It's Sunday," said Bob after a while, only just realising. He looked over at his children. "Do you two want to go to school tomorrow?" he asked hesitantly. He knew what the answer was going to be."I mean, Louise could be out by then, but..." he trailed off, not really knowing what to say.
"I wanna stay home," announced Tina, "if Louise gets out today, she'll probably need to go to the hospital, and I wanna stay with her." This caught Linda's attention. The idea of her child being hurt bad enough to require hospital care alarmed her.
"I'm sure she isn't hurt that bad," she said, mainly to reassure herself more than anybody. However, the silence that greeted her told her that the rest of her family did not agree. "Right?"
"She did say her leg and back hurts. And she is trapped under rubble," said Bob carefully, wanting to vomit when he said those words. "And, after all, she is stuck down a well; she's probably a little bumped and bruised.
"Louise will be outta there today," Linda insisted. "She's going to be fine; so I think you two should go to school tomorrow!" Gene's and Tina's jaws dropped.
"Well, what about you and Dad? Are you going to work tomorrow?" Gene soon found his tongue.
"Well, no; your father and I are going to stay with Louise," she told him.
"Well, if you don't have to go to work, then why do Gene and I need to go to school?" said Tina.
"Because you need to go to school."
"And you need to go to work," said Gene. "You wanna stay with Louise; well, so do we."
"If you guys get to stay here, then we should as well," Tina continued.
"Louise will be out of there today," Linda repeated, "you and Gene will go to school tomorrow, but your father and I will be with Louise at the hospital, if she needs it." But then her face softened. "Okay, okay; she'll probably be out of hospital by tomorrow, so you can miss one day of school."
"Yay," Tina and Gene smiled at one another.
Their attention was brought back to the well, as yet another driller was pulled up from the tunnel. The man was covered in dust, and he handed his jack hammer to the next volunteer.
"Only two inches," he said to Richards, after removing the mask from his face.
"Why is it taking so long?" Bob demanded, getting to his feet. "And I don't wanna hear about how thick the rock is!" he continued, cutting off Richards as he opened his mouth.
"Sir, I don't know what else to tell you; we're drilling through solid rock here, we can't move any quicker, and if we could, we would."
"You're not moving quick enough!" Bob screamed. He had completely lost it. Louise had been trapped for almost two days, and he just couldn't take it anymore. "How many times do I have to tell you? My daughter is stuck down there!" He gestured wildly to the well, "she's been down there for more than, what, forty hours; it's gotta be! You got here two days ago, and Louise still isn't out!" Before he could continue, Teddy grabbed him and led him away. "I wanna stay with my daughter!" he cried, trying to jerk out of Teddy's grip.
"These people are trying to do their job, and you just keep screaming at them!" said Teddy, trying to make his friend see sense.
"They're not doing their job! If they were, Louise would be outta there already!"
"Bob, they're doing everything they can; you just need to sit back and let them do their job," said Teddy, while Linda was fighting to keep silent. She wanted to shout and scream and throw things and physically shake the diggers. They were not going fast enough. She felt sick with worry and fear, it took everything she had to not join in screaming with her husband. Instead, she pulled an anxious looking Gene and Tina into a tight bear hug.
"They're not going fast enough! I just want her out of there!"
"We all do. But screaming at someone who's just trying to do their job isn't going to help. They have it hard enough as it is." Teddy was, for once, speaking words of wisdom, but Bob was in no fit state to pay attention.
"They have it hard? What about us? What about Louise? Do you think she's enjoying being stuck down that well?!"
"Bobby!" Teddy looked shocked. "They want to get her out just as much as you do, okay? All of us want Louise to get out of there as soon as possible; so do the rescue workers, that's why they've been drilling constantly all through the night." He was just as worried about Louise as they were, but he understood that the diggers could not possibly do any more than what they already were. He knew that they knew what they were doing, and so he decided to step back, much as it pained him, as he wanted to do something to help so very badly, and let them do their jobs. Of course, it was easier for him because Louise wasn't his child, but it still hurt to see her in that situation.
"... Okay," said Bob, wiping his eyes and sniffling. He walked back over to Richards. "I'm.. sorry," he said sincerely. "I know you're trying your best, and I'm so grateful for it; I really am. I just want my little girl."
"I understand, sir," said Richards. "I know it's hard for you, but you'll see her soon."
Bob took a deep breath, and returned to his seat, followed by his wife, his children, and Teddy. He looked over at the well once more before burying his head in his hands.
Dr. Cabell was re-filling the baby bottle with more sugar water; however, he only filled it a quarter of the way full.
"Why are you only giving her a little bit?" asked Tim, as the doctor prepared to lower the bottle down the well.
"Because I don't want her stomach to be too full," he explained.
"What, because she might need surgery?" said Charlie, "she might not, as well. But she needs to drink."
"You don't understand; she could very likely have internal injuries, and if she does, giving her water or anything could be risky. But if she doesn't get water, she'll die, so I just don't wanna give her too much. I'll give her another quarter tonight."
"Alright, we'll tell her to take it slow," said Tim after a moment's hesitation. He didn't have any medical training, so he assumed that the doctor knew what he was talking about. But it just felt wrong only giving her a small amount of water. "Louise?" he turned his attention back to the well. "Louise, we're just giving you some more water, okay?"
"Great, send it down," she called, and Tim noted that she sounded bored.
"It's only a little bit, so make it last," he told her.
"What?!" Louise shrieked so loudly that Tim had to remove the headphones, cringeing. "Why?!"
"The doctor's worried it might make you sick," he said, as Cabell continued to lower the bottle down.
"I'm not sick, I'm thirsty! He can't do that!"
"I'm sorry, honey," he said. "Just take little sips, and it'll be okay." But Louise, who had not had anything to drink for almost twelve hours, did not want to take little sips. As soon as the bottle had reached her, she clamped her lips around it, and the sugar water was gone in less than five seconds. She didn't know what that stupid doctor was talking about; she felt fine, but she was still thirsty.
"It's all gone! Give me more!" she called, looking up.
"Louise!" Tim called exasperatedly, biting his lip. "That had to last you!"
"Well, I'm thirsty, I told you! I want more!" Tim looked up at the doctor.
"Can't you give her any more?" he asked, but Cabell shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. This isn't what I want," he added, after seeing Tim and Charlie's faces. "I'm doing what I can to keep her alive."
"Louise, I'm afraid that's it for the moment. We'll get you some more soon," he lied, bracing himself for her reaction.
"I want it now! Give me some water!"
"Louise, you'll have to wait, I'm sorry!"
Deputy Police Chief Jack Davis and Fire Chief James Richards were stood in front of a news camera a few hours later, a sheet of paper in Davis's hand, both of them wearing hard hats. Olsen Benner, who was standing next to the camera, gestured to them, and Davis started speaking.
"I'm Deputy Police Chief Jack Davis," he introduced himself. "Myself and Fire Chief Richards here are requesting some help. We have a nine-year-old girl trapped in an abandoned 14-inch water well at Wharf Park, Seymour's Bay; she's been there since Friday, and we are currently drilling a rescue shaft to reach her. We have come upon solid rock, basalt, which we are trying to dig through. Now, our rescue services are doing their best, but we need help. We are issuing a nationwide call for any drillers that have experience with hard rock to come and lend a hand."
Once he finished speaking and the camera turned off, Davis turned to Richards, but neither of them spoke. They knew they were not equipped for this, and if they did not get some better equipment soon, it would be several days until they would be able to reach Louise. They were already struggling; the seemingly impenetrable rock would snap off jack hammer drill bits as if they were pencil leads. Diggers would come up from the shaft after having only dug an inch and complain that they needed better equipment; the drills would bounce off the rock as if they were hitting steel, causing sparks to fly into the shaft.
Hopefully, the appeal would equip them with better tools and more experienced drillers sooner rather than later.
Gene and Tina were sat with their friends at the barriers, watching the proceedings, carefully ignoring the nearby crumpled, shaking form of Millie.
"Are you guys going to school tomorrow?" asked Regular Sized Rudy.
"No," said Gene, "Mom and Dad are gonna let us stay here."
"Do they think she'll still be in there?" said Jimmy Jr.
"They think they'll get her out today, but they're gonna let us stay home so we can see her," Tina told him.
".. Will she be okay?" asked Regular Sized Rudy after a slight hesitation.
"I think so," said Tina. "Mom and Dad told us that she's been bossing everyone around," and Rudy smiled upon hearing that.
"So, what's happening with the kid that pushed her in?" asked Zeke
"I don't know," said Gene. "We haven't heard anything."
"Did you see the video? They played it on the news this morning," said Jimmy Jr. "Are the police gonna speak to him or something?"
"Don't know," Gene repeated, "Dad told me that the police have seen it, and they'll decide what to do."
"What do you want them to do?" asked Regular Sized Rudy.
"Jail?" Tina suggested, and Gene nodded.
"Yeah! If he hadn't done this, she wouldn't be in there!" said Gene, and the other children nodded in agreement, before a low moan from Millie caught their attention.
"I just hope they get her out of there before it's too late!" she cried, wiping her eyes. "She must be so scared; I can help her! Why won't they let me talk to her?!"
"They won't let us talk to her, either," said Regular Sized Rudy.
"You don't count!" Millie shrieked.
"Okay, ouch," Rudy muttered.
"Louise is everything to me! I need to speak to her! Oh, God, if she dies, I don't know what I'm gonna do! Oh, my God, what if she dies? What if she dies?!"
"Shut up!" Zeke hissed, glancing over at Gene and Tina.
"Louise is not gonna die!" Gene insisted. "She's gonna get outta there soon!"
"I just wanna talk to her!" Millie sobbed. "I need to hear her voice!" Tina could only groan and bury her head in her hand.
Louise had her head resting against the well wall; looking annoyed, and tired. If she had the space, and the freedom, she would be kicking the wall. She didn't know what was worse; the tight, cramped space, or the bricks. The bricks, she decided; they were the reason she was still trapped.
She sighed, screwing up her face at the pain in her legs, her arms, unable to even shift in her discomfort.
"How long is it gonna take? I want to get out!" she called, not as loudly or angrily as she had previously.
"It won't be long," called that voice. What was his name? Tom? Something like that.
"You keep saying that! I wanna know exactly how long!"
"Well, we don't know exactly how long. With luck, it'll be by tonight."
"What time is it now?"
"It's – uh – ten past two."
"So, I've got.. six hours? Maybe less?"
"We hope so."
"Okay," Louise nodded. A time, a definitive timestamp on when she would be free was what she needed. "How long have I been in here?"
"Uh – 44 hours." Louise's jaw dropped.
"That long?" She couldn't believe it. "Want to get out." She hesitated. "Wish I could see what it's like up there," she said after a while.
"Well, there's lots of people up here. There's firemen, paramedics; there's news reporters, and policemen, and a huge digging machine. There's lots of people digging over to you."
"How many people are there?"
"I'd say around 200. And there's all these people that have come to watch."
"Wow," Louise muttered. She still wasn't too happy about that, but at this moment in time, she didn't really care. She just wanted to get out. "Isn't there a quicker way to do this?"
"Afraid not, honey."
"Fine." They both fell silent. "Hey, mist – what's your name again?"
"It's Tim." Ah. Close enough.
"Can I have some more water? I'm thirsty."
"Let me check with the doctor." Louise looked up at the microphone and speaker as she waited. She suddenly felt rather drained. Despite this, her frustration was bubbling underneath the surface. "He says that he'll give you more later on."
"I want it now!"
"I'm sorry, Louise. We have to listen to the doctor."
"No, you don't!" Overtired and afraid, Louise shook her head, her face contorted with anger and distress. "You just want me to suffer, don't you?"
"That's not true, sweetie."
"Yes, it is! You don't care about me! I bet you're not even digging. You don't want me to get out!"
"We all want you to get out, Louise," Tim assured her. "We're drilling every second because we wanna help you."
"You're lying!" came the tired, whiny voice.
"I'm telling you the truth; I cross my heart and hope to die."
"I-want-to-get-out-get-me-out-how-long-is-it-gonna-take-I-want-to-get-out," she ordered tiredly, gently banging the back of her head on the well wall with every syllable.
"Excuse me," Tim looked up to see Linda, and she was gesturing for the headphones and microphone, and he passed them to her. "Louise, baby, stop hitting your head!" she called.
"How did you know?" asked Tim, who had been wondering what the thumping sound was.
"I was watching her on the camera," Linda explained, not taking her eyes off the well. "Louise, stop it! You're gonna hurt yourself."
"I wanna get out!" she moaned.
"Oh, baby, I know, but it won't be long now."
"That's what everyone says. I don't wanna wait any more."
"We don't wanna wait, either, sweetie, but I'm afraid we're gonna have to."
"No!" Louise whined, her eyes tightly shut.
"Right, baby, you're tired; try and get some sleep," said Linda, recognising the telltale signs in her daughter's voice.
"Not gonna sleep. Hmph!"
"You'll feel better once you've had a nap."
"No."
"Come on, Louise, try and go to sleep."
"Don't tell me what to do."
"It'll be good for you," but Linda, as always, could not coerce her.
"No!"
"Louise?" Charlie leaned into the microphone. "What can we do for you? Can we read you some stories or something to distract you? Anything like that?"
"You know, there's some books in the ranger's station," said Tim.
"Do you want us to read you a story?" asked Charlie, feeling that it would be good for her.
"Don't like stories," Louise muttered unconvincingly.
"You don't? Can we read you some, anyway? To keep you entertained?"
"... Fine." At Charlie's nod, Tim got up, and headed toward the station. He was extremely grateful for the chance to stretch his legs.
"I'm hungry," Louise muttered after a while, her eyes still closed. "Want some cookies." She suddenly had the urge for some hot, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. She could almost smell them, and she actually salivated. "I want food." Upon hearing that, Linda could only pass the equipment to Charlie. That was too much for her.
"She wants to eat," the worn-out mother whispered.
"We can't give you any food, Louise."
"Why?"
"The doctor doesn't think it's a good idea. If you choke, then we can't help you."
"I'm not a baby; I won't choke."
"If you have any.. injuries, then you could," he said delicately, not wanting to frighten her. "We want to keep you safe." Louise only whined in response. Why were they doing this to her? They seemed very eager to make her suffer, but there wasn't anything she could do. She didn't have the energy to argue. She hit her head against the wall once more, screwing up her face, and closing her eyes.
The park soon started to swell as experienced drillers began to arrive. A large group of men, carrying their own drills, gloves, hard hats, some of them carrying their own harnessing equipment, had arrived when they saw the public appeal for help.
Many of them had children and it was easy for them to put themselves in the shoes of Bob and Linda; therefore they wanted to help, just as they would want others to help them if they were in a similar situation.
The group had made their way to the front of the barriers, causing some annoyance among the reporters, who were still gathered at the front.
Davis and Richards approached the barriers, eyeing the would-be volunteers.
"What we need," Richards began loudly, "are drillers who have experience with hard rock, and mending drill bits." Most, if not all of the men crossed the barriers and immediately went over to the rescue shaft where they were put to task.
A man was already down the hole, drilling, and the new batch of volunteers crowded around the hole, looking down into it.
"How many of you can weld drill bits?" asked Davis and three of the burly men stepped forward. "Right," he beckoned them over to a flatbed truck where a small pile of broken jack hammers lay.
None of the previous workers had the expertise to fix the drills, so they had simply called in for news ones whenever they broke. "There's two jobs to be done here," Davis instructed, as the men gathered around the truck. "There are some drill bits that need to be sharpened; the diamond ones, and there's drills that need to be fixed," Davis turned to Josh Tate, one of the more experienced drillers, who, he knew, would be able to explain it better than he could.
"We need to build up these drill bits with tungsten carbide," began Josh, his bright blue eyes looking intently at the men in front of him. His father used to explore caves as a hobby, and Josh was the manager of a construction and development company, so he knew what he was doing. When he had heard about the girl in the well, he had come to where he might be needed. "It's stronger, so it won't break so easy. What you do is, you melt the edges of the bit, weld the carbide onto it, and then place it into a bucket of oil for at least thirty minutes. We also have chisels, and what we're doing is making them longer by welding two together; it gives you better traction. And, when you're drilling, other workers will be welding; we will rotate."
"Thank you, Josh," said Davis. "Does anyone have any questions?" He looked around at the men, who shook their heads, and then he ordered them to get moving.
In the rescue shaft, the volunteers were working in 30 - 40 minute shifts. As it was so small, only one digger was permitted to go down at a time. They would then start by drilling the outline of the tunnel so that they knew how wide it had to be; it had to be big enough for both a paramedic and a nine-year-old girl. Therefore, the tunnel was being drilled to be almost as wide as the rescue shaft. Once the outline had been made, the workers could then start drilling the rest of the tunnel, first attempting to make a dent in the rock, and then widening the rest of the tunnel. They were making progress inch by inch.
When a significant dent in the rock was made, the drillers would again dig the outline, being sure to keep it the same size. It soon began to feel as if they were drilling in one spot.
While the workers were drilling underground, the rest of the volunteers, distinguishable from the fire and police crews only by their high visibility vests, remained above ground, sharpening and welding drill bits for the next digger.
Bob looked over at his wife, who was knelt by the well, talking to Louise. Both he and Linda felt so helpless, and Bob felt like he couldn't talk to his wife; he had his own fears about Louise dying in the well before they could get to her. He had tried to reassure his wife that their daughter was going to be okay, but he was struggling to believe it.
With each passing moment, the situation seemed to become more and more serious.
He needed to be strong for his wife and family; it was now time for him to be rational, and logical and calm. He wanted to break down and cry, but he felt that if he did, then everything else would fall apart, so he did his best to keep his feelings in check. All he could do was think about the moment when Louise would get out of the well.
When Linda returned, Bob remained where he was, standing silently; Linda felt numb.
"Linda?" asked Bob tentatively. "Is everything okay?"
"I just don't know what to do," she said desperately. "I need to do something to help my baby! I know I should be doing something, but I can't; they won't let me go down and dig, they won't let me operate the crane; they won't let me do anything!"
"But we can talk to her," said Bob, trying not to fall apart. "I think Louise would rather hear us than some strangers."
"It doesn't feel like enough!" Linda continued. "We keep telling her that we're going to get her out, but it's so slow... I just know I should be doing more to help her."
"Look, Linda, none of us can do anything more than what we are; I bet hearing our voices is a real comfort to Louise because she knows that we're there for her, and when they get her out, we're gonna be standing right there, and the first thing Louise'll see will be our smiling faces."
The kids remained on the ground at the front of the barriers, watching silently. Millie had calmed somewhat, but she was shaking with worry.
"I wonder how long it'll be," said Regular sized Rudy after a while.
"Hopefully, it's by this evening," Zeke didn't look too sure, though.
"It's got to be soon," said Millie frantically. "She can't stay down there much longer!"
"I'm sure she's fine," Zeke assured her.
"You don't know!" she wailed. "How can you know? They won't tell us anything!"
"Whoa, calm down, girl! Just tryna be positive."
"Don't tell me to calm down! I'm so afraid! I'm scared she's going to die, okay!" Millie snapped, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Girl, she ain't going to die," Zeke reassured her, placing his arm around the girl's shoulders, but Millie shrugged it off.
"How do you know that?! You can't possibly know that! She could have broken ribs, or a fractured skull, or -"
"Well, she ain't got that." Zeke could admit he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew that if Louise had some serious injuries like that, they would have heard about it. There was a doctor; he'd be able to tell.
"The well is so small -" Millie was cut off yet again.
"If it were too small, Louise wouldn't be making any sounds at all," Zeke was on a roll; he was quite proud of himself. "Millie, listen to me, girl; she's gonna be fine."
"You can't know that," Millie argued.
"I know we can't, but we have to believe it will be," said Harley.
"Yes! You're right! If we believe, she'll be fine!" Millie clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes tightly.
"If she was injured, they'd say, right?" asked Regular sized Rudy quietly.
"I reckon so," said Zeke. "They'd probably say it so more people would come and help, right?"
"Yeah, maybe." Rudy looked over at the well. It seemed that no matter how many times he saw it, it still didn't seem real. He saw one of the policemen walk over to the well, and speaking to the other officer with headphones. Rudy knew he was a higher rank because of his badge, and waved his arm, getting the man's attention.
"What is it?" Davis asked kindly, walking over to the children, and crouching down.
"Is – is she alright?" he asked, looking up the chief.
"She's fine," he assured the kids, "and we're working hard to get her out."
"Is she really okay?" and Davis could see the worry in the poor boy's face.
"Right now, she's really tired, and she's bad-tempered and grumpy because of it. She keeps asking to get out." He smiled comfortingly. "She's warm, she's got oxygen, and water. She's not in danger." Rudy sighed in relief; that made him feel a bit better.
"Can we talk to her?" Perhaps hearing her voice would help ease the worry.
"I'm afraid we can't do that," said Davis, looking apologetic.
"Why not?!" Millie wailed.
"Well, too many people at once might overwhelm her, the doctor doesn't want her to get too.. emotional; he wants her to conserve her energy. Besides, if we let you pass the barriers, then everyone else will want to, and that wouldn't be good."
"Why not?" asked Harley.
"We can't have unauthorised people running around over there; they might damage the equipment, and get in the way."
"Okay," was all Rudy said.
"If you guys want, I can pass on a message to her," Davis offered.
"Okay," that was the next best thing, Rudy supposed. "Um, could you tell her that we hope she gets out soon, and that we can't wait to see her?"
"Of course I will," he promised. "I've got something to attend to right now, but I'll tell her soon. And I'll let you know what she says."
"Thanks," Rudy nodded, and the chief walked away.
Tina and Gene were back with their family; they were sitting in the camp chairs while Teddy told them stories to pass the time. They were only half-listening, as their attention was mainly focused on the well, but that was what they usually did whenever Teddy told stories. It wasn't that he was boring, but he tended to ramble on and on.
Bob and Linda were sat by the well, wanting to be near Louise.
Tim had a copy of the first "Harry Potter" book, and was reading it to her. He and Charlie agreed that it was best to keep her occupied, and reading was the easiest way to do that.
Louise was not a Harry Potter fan, and so she wasn't listening to the story. Instead, she was wriggling her shoulders, trying to break free of the rubble. She had been doing this countless times over the past few days, but she just couldn't shift the brick. Sighing, she gave up, and rested her head against the wall. She supposed it wouldn't kill her to listen to the story about the boy wizard.
Tim and Charlie took it in turns reading, speaking into the microphone, while Bob and Linda shared the headphones. Their daughter didn't say much, and every so often, either Tim or Charlie would ask her if she was okay, and Louise would respond, her tone more bored than irritable.
As the story went on and on, Louise found herself becoming interested, and wanting to find out what was going to happen next. She especially liked the part with the three-headed dog.
"Wow, a giant dog with three heads!" she muttered, wishing that a real one existed, and looking over at Kuchi Kopi. "Did you hear that, Kuchi?" Bob and Linda couldn't help but smile when they heard her talking to her precious toy.
"At least having Kuchi Kopi down there is helping," said Bob, and Linda nodded.
"Yeah, at least it's something familiar with her."
Louise looked up at the well opening once again, looking at the equipment surrounding her. She wondered if she could grab one of them with her mouth, and they pulled it up, would she get out of the well? Or would it just pull all of her teeth out? The thought of it made Louise cringe, so she put it out of her mind.
She listened to the story for a little while longer, until she saw that Kuchi Kopi's neon glow was rapidly getting dimmer and dimmer.
"No. No. No, no, no!" she cried as the night light went out, leaving just the single light hanging from above. She began to scream, not from fear, but from frustration, anger, and desperation.
"Louise? Louise, what's wrong?!" Bob yelled, grabbing the microphone after hearing his little girl screaming. "Louise?!" Richards and Davis came rushing over, as did Cabell, who grabbed the headphones and started listening to her.
"What is it?" asked Tim, as Richards and Davis crouched down beside them.
"I don't know; she's just screaming!" said Bob. "Louise, tell me what the matter is!" he cried.
"Kuchi Kopi! Kuchi Kopi!" she shrieked, staring at her beloved toy.
"She's saying 'Kuchi Kopi'," Cabell revealed, handing the headphones to Linda. "What's that?"
"It's her night light," said Bob, both he and Linda sagging in relief. Linda placed a hand over her heart.
"Sweetie, what's wrong with Kuchi Kopi?" called Linda.
"He needs new batteries! They're dead! Give him some new batteries!" Louise screamed.
"Okay, baby, okay, we will," Linda told her. "I'll just bring him up, okay?"
"Hurry up!" the little girl screeched as Tim pulled the cord that Kuchi Kopi was attached to, and began pulling it up. Louise looked up as Kuchi inched away from her. "Bye, Kuchi," she called. He was all she had down here, and now he was gone. She was alone. "Don't be too long!" she told her mother. "I need him!"
"Okay, sweetie!" called Linda. When Kuchi Kopi had arrived at the surface, Linda grabbed him, and tore off through the park.
"Dad?" came Tina's small voice. Bob looked round to see her and Gene looking worried. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Tina," he gestured for them to come over, which they did, followed by Teddy. "The batteries in Kuchi Kopi ran out, so your mother went to get some new ones."
"Oh. Okay."
"Do you wanna talk to her?" asked Bob, and Tina nodded. He gave her the headphones, and she picked up the microphone.
"Hi, Louise," she said awkwardly.
"Tina?" Louise looked up once again, feeling fidgety without her night light.
"Yeah, it's me. I've missed talking to you."
"Thanks, I've missed talking to you, too," Louise admitted.
"Hey, when they get you out, we can do something. Something you wanna do," Tina said, wanting desperately to cheer her little sister up. "We could go to the arcade, or go watch a movie. Anything you want."
"That'll be cool," said Louise.
"We can do something, too," Gene told her. "We could... get some ice cream, or... whatever you wanna do."
"That's great. … Thanks," Louise said, looking up at the well opening, wanting nothing more than to be out.
Teddy approached, and crouched down next to them.
"How you doing, Louise?" he called. He was the only one who hadn't yet spoken to her. He knew he should; Louise was in a very dangerous situation, and Teddy knew he should be comforting his temporary niece like the rest of the family, but he struggled to do it. Not that he didn't care about Louise; he loved those children like they were his own, but Teddy was afraid. If he was honest with himself, he was afraid that Louise was going to die, and the thought of hearing her last words terrified him; he didn't think he would be able to live with that. That was why he remained back, and kept talking to Bob and Linda. He desperately wished he could do something other than what he was.
"Is that Teddy?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"How long have you been there?"
"I've been here the whole time," he told her.
"Oh."
"Yeah, we're just waiting to see you."
"That's nice," Louise sounded a bit tired, but they didn't want to leave her.
A few moments later, Linda came back with Kuchi Kopi.
"Here you go," she handed the night light to Tim. "I also brought some extra batteries, just in case."
"Okay, thanks," said Tim, reattaching the cord to Kuchi Kopi, switching him on, and lowering him back down the well.
"Louise, baby?" Linda called, "I've brought Kuchi Kopi back, and we're just bringing him down to you, okay?"
"Does he have new batteries?" she asked, looking up.
"Yes, and we brought extra ones."
"Okay, good," Louise continued to look up, waiting for Kuchi Kopi. The appearance of her night light made her smile. "Kuchi!" she grinned as he once again rested in front of her. She was immensely glad to see him again; having him there made being trapped that little bit easier to bear. "Hi, Kuchi, I've missed you," she told him. "I'm glad you're back. Make sure you last this time," she said sternly.
At surface level, Linda smiled to herself upon hearing Louise. She heard her daughter yawning, and so she gestured for her family and Teddy to leave so that Louise could get some sleep.
Bob bypassed the chairs and slowly approached the group of diggers as they crowded around the rescue shaft. Most of them recognised him immediately, and looked at the man as he joined their circle.
"I - I wanna thank all of you for your help," said Bob sincerely. "Seriously; you have no idea what this means to us." He still felt awful for snapping at Richards earlier, and he wanted to do something to let the volunteers know how grateful he was.
"We're just doing our jobs, sir," said one driller, who had placed the drill he was mending to one side and joined his co-workers.
"I can't tell you how much this means to us," Bob continued, needing to express how grateful he was. "I mean, you've been working non stop here, and you don't even know us."
"Anyone else would do the same thing," said Josh. "We just want to help." The rest of the diggers nodded in agreement.
"So, uh, how - how far have you got?" he asked tentatively.
"Well, we're still drilling the tunnel," began Josh needlessly. "I know the progress seems slow, but we're going to get her."
"You will?"
"We're going to do everything we possibly can to get that girl out," Josh assured him, and Bob thanked the workers once again, before making his way back to his family. Like Linda, he wanted to help Louise, and since they were unable to dig, Bob felt like this was the only thing he could do to help.
The park was really becoming cramped; the drilling rig took up a lot of the space; the ambulance was still parked in the rear, most of the personnel were gathered around the well, there was a flatbed truck next to the ambulance, containing the tanks of oxygen and warm air that were being constantly pumped into the well; another flatbed truck was nearby, where the workers were fixing the rescue tools. Added to this, the several floodlights, the air compressors, the ten-inch wide canvas tubes providing the drillers with ventilation that snaked across the ground, and the crowd of onlookers all contributed to the closed-in feeling.
After a digger's shift was up, and they were hoisted back up to the surface, he would have to climb out of his harness, which consisted of straps over the chest, a belt, and leg straps, the next man would have to be rigged up, and be checked to make sure the lines were secure, before he would go down the hole and repeat the process.
The hours melted away.
Davis approached Tim and Charlie, and crouched down next to them.
"How's she doing?" he asked.
"Better now that she has her night light back," said Tim.
"She's calmed down?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay good." Something about the fact that she had a night light made him feel upset; it showed just how young she was. "Well, do your best to keep her calm; remember what the doctor said; don't let her waste energy."
"Will do, sir."
"Let me speak to her quickly; some of her friends had a message." Charlie passed him the headphones, and Davis took the microphone. "Hello, Louise?"
"Who's that?" she asked, and he chuckled a bit.
"My name's Jack Davis; I'm a chief. I was talking to your friends earlier, and they gave me a message for you," he told her.
"What is it?"
"They said to tell you that they miss you, and hope you get out soon. Do you have anything you want me to tell them?"
"Um, maybe to look for someone who can actually finish digging before the year is out?" she asked grumpily, and Davis smiled sadly.
"I will," he said, before handing the listening equipment back to Charlie, glancing over at the flat-bed truck full of dulled and broken drills. "Poor kid," he said to himself.
As yet another driller was brought to the surface, Davis approached Richards and stood beside him silently.
"If we don't get better tools, we're not gonna get to her in time," he said after a while. Richards nodded.
"Should we do another appeal?" he asked.
"I don't see any other choice," said Davis.
"Okay, well, I'll speak to the reporter, and see what we can do. It shouldn't be a problem," he said.
While Richards went to speak to Olsen Benner, Davis quickly wrote down a rough outline of what they should say.
Richards soon returned with the reporter and cameraman in tow. "She said we can make the appeal right now," he told Davis as Olsen and Brian quickly got set up.
"Okay, good; the sooner, the better," said Davis, as he handed Richards the paper, who then scanned it.
"Okay, guys, we're almost good to go. Are you ready?" Olsen called from her perch next to them, with the camera focused on her, and the two men nodded. She paused for a moment, before she signalled to Brian that she was ready to go. "This is Olsen Benner reporting live from Wharf Park," she began professionally, "I'm here with the Police and Fire Chiefs of Seymour's Bay, who are supervising the ongoing rescue attempt of Louise Belcher. They are both due to make another appeal for help." At that point, the camera panned over to the men. Davis cleared his throat and began speaking.
"I know we've already asked for help once," he started, "and we're extremely grateful to everyone, but we do need more help. We've been digging non-stop ever since Friday, and we're not even halfway there. We haven't even dug two foot yet. So, once again, we are putting out a nationwide call for help. We need better drills, ones that can quickly dig through basalt. This rock is so tough that it snaps diamond tipped drills. We don't know how much longer that little girl can survive, so we're asking anyone that can help us, to please come and lend a hand."
About an hour later, Bob and Linda decided to take the children home, and Teddy went with them this time. Louise had been trapped for 50 hours now, but their other children needed to get some sleep.
Just as before, they were driven home, this time by Carol, who joined them inside.
Teddy kept Bob company in the kitchen while he made dinner, while Carol sat with Linda, Gene and Tina in the living room.
Dinner was another silent affair, and when they had finished, they again retreated to the living room, and sat together in silence.
"Do you think Louise is scared?" asked Tina in a small voice. She knew that if she were the one stuck in the well, she would be terrified. But, try as she might, she just couldn't imagine Louise being scared over anything. It was just who she was. But lately, Louise had been sounding rather subdued, and it caused Tina to wonder.
"I think anyone would be," said Bob, his voice slightly tense. It was the worst thing for a parent; your child being scared, and you being unable to do anything for them.
"How long will it be until they get her out?" asked Tina.
"I don't know," said Bob, "I hope it'll be soon."
"The Police and Fire Chiefs are putting out another appeal," Carol told them. "They're asking for better drills, ones that should speed up the digging process."
"I hope they arrive soon," said Linda. "Really soon."
"Louise is going to be fine," said Gene determinedly to his mother.
"Yes. Yes, of course she will," she gasped. "She's always been fine." The six sat there in silence for a while.
"Remember when she stole Ringo from the essential oils party?" said Tina, a slight smile coming to her face.
"Remember? I'll never forget telling her we had to take it back," said Bob, managing to chuckle, as did the rest of his family. It hadn't been easy; Louise had taken the puppy and hidden from her family. Bob had thought he knew where every possible hiding place in the house was, but he couldn't find her anywhere. It turned out that she had squeezed herself into one of the kitchen cupboards, Ringo clutched tightly in her arms. Bob only found her when she started to gush over the puppy, unable to resist his cuteness.
Getting her to let go of the dog (and getting her out of the cupboard) had been the next challenge. It had been well and truly a family effort; Linda trying to prise Ringo out of Louise's iron grip, while Bob, Gene and Tina held onto Louise.
Then there was the whole hiding-Dad's-keys debacle, to try and ensure that Bob wouldn't be able to take Ringo home.
It had been a long night.
"What about when she glued Dad to the toilet?" grinned Gene.
"Or when she put salt in all the glasses at New Years?" Linda couldn't help but smile. "I remember when she was born," she said after a while. "Aunt Gayle was looking after you, and your father was at the hospital with me. You guys were so excited about having a baby sister. Louise was almost three weeks early, and it was so lucky that Gayle was there so Bob could drive me to the hospital. They wouldn't let him the delivery room because of how he gets around blood."
"Was Dad like that when we were born?" asked Gene, and Linda nodded.
"He was in the room when Tina was born, and he fainted, so for Gene and Louise, he waited outside. So, they got Louise all cleaned up, and they gave her to me, and they called Bob in," Linda began to reminisce.
Bob entered the room and saw his wife lying in the hospital bed, a tiny bundle in her arms.
"Here she is, Bobby," an exhausted Linda smiled as Bob approached her. "Do you wanna hold her?" To her surprise, Bob looked uneasy.
"She's so tiny," he said, wary about dropping her, but Linda held out their baby, and Bob tentatively took her in his arms. He looked down at his daughter's tiny, little face. Her eyes were closed, and a tuft of black hair peeked out from underneath her hospital issued pink cap. Her round cheeks were pink, and her little rosebud mouth was closed. One tiny hand poked out from under the blanket she was swaddled in. It was like holding a doll. "She's beautiful," Bob choked, tears welling up in his eyes. "Lin, she's gonna look just like you." Linda smiled again.
"So, what are you gonna call her?" she asked, causing Bob to look over at her.
"No, it's your turn; I named our last one," he said, and Linda waved her hand.
"Yeah, but I've already named our first girl; you can name her." Bob smiled and looked back down at the baby. He looked into her face, only one option coming to him.
"Louise," he said, and Linda gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth.
"Bobby!" Now her eyes were welling with tears. "Awww, that's so sweet."
"It suits her," said Bob. "My little Louise."
"You know," Linda began, "she'd be so proud that you named your daughter after her." The couple shared a smile, and Bob sat on the edge of the bed, and they both gazed at their new baby.
~ X ~
So, that's the third chapter done. What did you think?
I know it may seem like Bob and Linda are being a bit inconsistent with the way they're acting, but they're both trying to be strong for each other, and falling apart a little bit, simultaneously. I hope that that's clear from reading it.