Chapter 8 [Next Morning]
[Kent Farm—About 3:45 AM]
Martha stared at the ceiling with anxiety. Despite her attempts at composure and the belief that Clark could pull this rabbit out of the hat the way he did all the others, she worried about him. Whatifhedoesn'tmakeit?Whatifheranintoagreenmeteor?WhatifthoseSommerholtpeoplearedoingtohimwhattheydidtoRyan?Whatifthey'reusingLanatokeephimthere?She sighed softly and slid carefully out of bed.
Jonathan slept uneasily having been up several times through the night himself. He, of course, didn't want to involve anyone outside of Pete, Martha and himself. His galaxy-sized trust issues held him back from calling Sheriff Ethan and hence the State Police.
She glanced back at his sleeping form; their argument before they attempted sleep still ringing in her ears.
"Martha, if they find out who he is, they'll take him away!"
"Maybe they already have, Jonathan! We need to trust Lex and Miranda! Call the Sheriff! We can get out there as soon as the rain lets up!"
"Look at Phelan and that reporter, Martha. Look at what trusting Lex has got us! He's investigated Clark!"
"Jonathan, you can't just keep Clark behind bars! We can't let him die because we're afraid!"
Wecan'tletClarkandLanadieorgetfurtherhurt.She glanced out the window and found that the storm had indeed passed on. "Jonathan! Jonathan, wake up!" She shook him hard.
"M…martha? What is it?" His eyes snapped open and he sat up. "Is it Clark?"
"No but the storm's over. Let's get to that ravine," she insisted.
He jumped out of bed and started pulling his jeans on over his long underwear. "Give me a minute to get dressed. Then we'll go. Get Miranda up. She can come with us."
Martha nodded and hurried downstairs. She'd dress in a minute. Right now, she wanted to start coffee perking and get everyone roused from the doldrums. Once Clark and Lana were safe, she could relax and deal with the holiday. "Miranda? Miranda, storm's over!" She found that the sheets and blanket were folded in a pile on the couch.
The teen was nowhere to be found.
"Where is she? I…." Then she saw a folded slip of paper on the kitchen table. "What's this?" She rushed over there and unfolded it.
It read:
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Kent,
Sorry I couldn't wait any longer for the storm to clear. I understand that you don't want any further accidents with the weather. However I can't let anything happen to Lana or Clark. As soon as I finish writing this, I'm heading for Rester's Ravine. I can't deal with the wait.
With due respect, why can't Mr. Kent trust others where Clark's concerned? Is this the big secret that keeps him and Lana apart? Whatever it is, you both can trust her and me.
See you there and thank you for your hospitality last night.
Miranda Arighatto"
"She went out into the ice by herself!" Martha stared out the window to find the younger woman's blazer gone. She could see the frozen tracks through the ice . "JONATHAN!"
"What is it?" Jonathan wondered as he came downstairs.
"Miranda's gone. She left already!" Martha panicked. "If she ends up in an accident…."
"I'll get the coffee started. You get dressed. We can do chores when we get back," he advised. He shook his head. "She's going to get herself killed driving on those roads the way they are."
He glanced at the still plain and forlorn tree in the corner. "And here I thought that was the most important thing." He bowed his head. "Clark needs you." He started measuring the coffee into the coffee maker and glanced toward the clear sky through the window.
He and Martha were going to save the family. That would be the greatest Christmas present they could hope for.
[State Route 40—three miles to Rester's Ravine]
Much as her note had indicated, Miranda had lost patience with the Kents' apparent malaise over the situation. After the couple had gone to bed, she'd folded everything up and watched the weather forecasts on her laptop. When the storm had lessened there and, according to Metro's weather bureau, stopped to the east, she wrote the note and took off for the ravine.
In the back, she had a pair of boots with heavier treads, two flashlights, a first aid kit and plenty of rope in case she needed to repel down into that hellhole.
SenseisaidIshouldbereadyforanything.In addition to scouts, she'd trained during her two year exchange visit to Japan for such things. Occasionally she recalled the survival treks through the snow and frigid conditions atop Mount Fuji and other peaks. She knew well how the conditions could wear down one's resolve and sap strength.
Conditions such as the ones all around herself now.
She sighed and chuckled to herself. IaccuseClarkofsecretsbutIhaveonetoo.She clutched the steering wheel hard and shook her head. While she played the 'normal' teenaged girl and hung out with everyone else, she had never had a boyfriend. In truth, she had only felt attracted to her own gender.
And while she'd experimented with being around other girls in Asia and the States, she loved Lana as well.
Of course she knew full well that Lana loved Clark. She'd watched with seeming calm as Lana gave her affections to the farm boy in plaid. She endured how her best friend took her for granted and never seemed to notice her pain.
Ironically, even if the two never got along, she could relate to Chloe's hurting in that regard as well.
But, as the sensei had said as well, when one is in love, one makes sacrifices. It's about the other person not youself. Sometimes one contents themselves with the crumbs if that's all they get.
Consequently there was no way she'd let Lana or Clark freeze down there. Maybe she'd have to rip her heart out in the process but she'd do the honorable thing.
Just before the ravine's entrance, she stopped before she would've skidded into the piled up vehicles blocking the road in front of herself. She pulled over to the side of the road and got out into the icy darkness. She studied the clear starlit skies overhead for a moment. "God, give me strength. Even if I can't have her, let Lana be okay." She crossed herself and then opened the trunk. She pulled her gear out. Then she changed footwear, threw her heavier parka on over her padded vest and covered her face with a wool ski mask.
She studied the thirty foot drop into the ravine. Using her flashlight, she saw two ledges at ten and twenty two feet down respectively.
"Miranda?"
She turned to see Lex watching her from beside her vehicle. "Mr. Luthor?"
"What do you think you're doing?" he queried.
"What does it look like? I'm going down to see if they're okay. I've done worse descents in Japan under these conditions," she revealed.
He quirked his eyebrow. Granted she was a great waitress but, as with Clark, he had to admit that there were a lot of questions surrounding her. "The walls are iced over."
She pointed to the soles of her boots. "Hence these."
He recognized the boots as some he'd considered for his own adventures abroad. "I'll grant your preparedness, Miranda, but my copter will be here in twenty minutes."
"Twenty minutes?" She knew it would take her longer even with the ledges to get down there. "You sure."
He smirked. "Positive." He pulled out his cell. "Rogers, this is Lex Luthor. Take off and make it fast. I want to be down in that ravine in twenty minutes." He glanced at Miranda. "Leave room for two passengers." He shut his phone. "Faster and easier."
"Thanks, Mr. Luthor," Miranda expressed.
"I admire passion and loyalty. And from now on, it's Lex," he declared with a smile.
Miranda nodded and looked back into the ravine. Justhanginthere,guys!