The B Girls

Final Exam





Lucy dropped back into the passage where they'd left Jane. "We found the--"

Jane turned to Lucy with dull, pain-glazed eyes.

"Oh my God." Lucy rushed over to her, her own problems forgotten.

Behind her, she heard Mae unclipping from the rope.

"What's wrong?" Mae asked.

"She's not doing well."

Mae rushed over to see for herself.

Jane managed a wan smile. "I'll have you know I'm doing okay. I was just finishing a little nap."

Lucy put a hand to Jane's forehead. She felt cold and a little clammy.

"I'm going right now to get some help," Mae said.

Jane gave her head a weak negative shake. "No. You can't go alone. I've been thinking about getting out of here. Had lots of time to think about it."

Lucy rolled her eyes. Jane was either delirious or delusional. "I can't wait to hear this."

"I'll tell you in a minute but first show me what you found."

"We don't have time for that right now."

Jane pushed herself more upright with her good arm and winced at the movement. "Of course we do. Can't you see I'm better now that I'm more awake?"

No, Lucy didn't really see that. She glanced at Mae.

Mae wasn't convinced either.

"Really, I promise. I think I'm still making those natural painkillers. Show me," Jane said.

"It's just an old jar," Lucy said. "If the document's in there we shouldn't open it until we get someplace clean and safe."

"We can open it once your arm is taken care of and Belle is safe. We'll have a party. With alcohol," Mae said.

I'm going to drink myself blind tonight," Jane said.

"I just want to get you out of here," Lucy said.

"Party pooper," Jane said.

"We can fight later," Mae said. "Right now, I'm going for help."

"I have a better idea," Jane said. "I told you I've been thinking about how to handle this."

"I can't wait to hear this," Lucy said.

"I know I can get all the way back to the first shaft. With a little help." Jane held up her good hand when Lucy started to protest. "No, hear me out."

Lucy nodded. Why not let her talk?

"The first section we have to navigate is a short, walking bent section. I know I can do that. Same with that little bit of wading. The next climb will be a little tricky but if you all help me through the tough parts with a rope I can make it."

Lucy wasn't convinced, but she made an encouraging noise.

"Okay then comes the nightmare crawl."

"We only thought that was a nightmare. Mae and I found the real nightmare," Lucy shuddered then shook it off. "But I see your point. There's no way you can pull yourself through there."

"What happened?" Jane asked.

Lucy waved off the question. "Later. What about that first scary tunnel?"

"If we use one of the space blankets as a sort of stretcher one of you can pull while the other pushes me through. All I'll have to do is lay there. And then an almost easy stroll back to the base of the first shaft."

Lucy wondered if it was possible. Could she and Mae really maneuver Jane through that crawling section?

As for the rest, with room to maneuver they could probably get her through. But it was dangerous.

"I still think we should let help come to you," Lucy finally said.

Jane shook her head. "I have to at least try. I'm feeling pretty tough right now."

Lucy hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was to make things worse.

"What's your vote, Mae?" Jane asked.

Mae shrugged. "I don't know."

Jane looked at them with pleading eyes. "I have to try. I don't want to lay here like some helpless ninny."

Lucy looked at Mae.

Mae nodded. "Let's try. I don't like the idea of our splitting up. What if something happens to me on my way out? I think we have to at least let her try."

"First we need to do a better job of immobilizing that arm. The less jarring it gets the better," Lucy said. "And you have to promise to let us know right away if the pain gets to be too much."

"I swear. But I really think there's some sort of chemical thing going on to anesthetize the arm."

Lucy had her doubts, but every foot closer to the entrance would be a good thing. "Let's do it."

Mae and Lucy did what they could to bind Jane's arm to the front of her body with more of the space blanket. The trick was to get it tight enough to hold it still without putting so much pressure on the break that it caused more pain.

Once they were satisfied, they helped her to her feet.

Jane gasped once on the way up and swayed a little. "Wow. That was a little more exciting than I would have liked."

"You want to sit back down?" Mae asked.

"No. I want to get the hell out of here."

The first section they had to retrace was wide enough for two people--if they were friends--even though it required walking bent over.

"Will it help if one of us walks next to you?" Lucy asked.

"I don't think so," Jane said. "I won't really be able to lean on you."

"Stay close behind me and put your hand on my back," Mae said. "That should give you a little support and help keep you steady."

And off they went, moving slowly.

As the walls closed around them, the tune to "Three Blind Mice" got stuck in Lucy's brain and she started humming.

Mae joined in, and by the time they'd shuffled back to the edge of the pool, they were singing like drunken sailors.

Not that they had an easy time.

Jane stopped frequently to suck in big gulps of air. Each time Jane stopped, Mae waited and Lucy leant what support she could from behind.

"So, do we get naked again?" Mae asked as they stopped at the edge of the pool.

"No. But we should take off our boots and socks and roll up our pants," Lucy said.

Jane looked pained.

"Do you need to rest? Ready to stop?" Lucy said.

"No." Jane made her way to a large rock and sat down. "Just get my boots off."

Lucy took off Jane's boots and socks and rolled up Jane's pants before dealing with her own. "This time you lean on me," she said.

"No problem." Jane put her good hand on Lucy's shoulder and used it as a crutch to help her through the pool.

Mae walked behind them and they all made it across without mishap.

They sat down to put their boots back on.

Lucy helped Jane with hers and tried to judge how she was feeling.

Jane was trying to look brave but casting apprehensive glances in the direction of the rope disappearing into the corkscrew climb.

"You can stop here," Lucy said.

Jane shook her head. "No. I know I can do this. Just clip me in."

"Not so fast," Lucy said. "We need to figure out the best way to do this."

"I think you should go first," Mae said. "You can help her up with the rope when she needs it. I'll climb without the rope and help from behind when I can."

"The first part sounds good," Lucy said. "But I don't like the idea of you climbing without being clipped in. What if you fall?

"I'll be very careful. We're going to have to take some risks if we're going to make this work," Mae said.

"Fine," Lucy said. She clipped onto the rope. "Come on. If Jane can be tough, we can be tough."

"Jane's still here," Jane said. "And yes, I am still feeling tough."

The climb that had seemed so easy on the way down, didn't look that way as Lucy went back up. She tried to do as much of it one-armed as she could, just to get an idea if Jane should even attempt it.

There were two spots where she thought Jane would have to trust to the rope completely. Two places where Lucy was going to have to prove she was tough and pull Jane up a few feet with very little help.

At the top, Lucy found a spot where she could sit facing the hole with her feet braced on a large rock and rigged the rope for belaying.

The idea was for Lucy to use her Petzl ascender to take up the rope as Jane climbed, locking her in place on the way. As long as Lucy didn't go ass over tea kettle into the hole herself, Jane couldn't fall.

"Ready!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs when she finished setting up. Sound did strange things down here and she wanted to make sure they heard her.

She gave the rope a little shake for good measure.

Within a few seconds, the rope went tight. Lucy braced harder, leaning back and doing her best to let the equipment do the work pulling the rope through the ascender at a steady pace to keep up with the slack.

Lucy shuddered to think what kind of pain Jane was in. No matter how careful she tried to be she had to be bumping her arm against the rock from time to time on the way up.

The first time Jane gave her weight to the rope Lucy came within a hair's breadth of smacking her head against the rock in front of her. She had the rope positioned too high across her back and the sudden weight bent her forward hard.

Lucy grunted like a weightlifter, pushed her feet harder into the rock and leaned backward for all she was worth. All she had to do was keep from getting pulled over for a few seconds until Jane found the next hold with a little boost from Mae.

Five seconds seemed more like five minutes as Lucy grimaced and strained, clenching her jaw, waiting for the slack.

When it came, she thanked God she'd had her back braced against the wall or she would have smacked the back of her head instead of the front. She readjusted the rope lower on her back and waited for the next one.

Lucy's estimate that she'd have to hold Jane's weight twice was wrong. Apparently just pretending to have a bad arm and actually having one are two different things. The final total was five.

Five times Lucy held Jane's weight for a few brief seconds and hoped she wouldn't fail. She didn't.

Jane flopped out of the hole onto her back with a high-pitched sound of pain.

Mae appeared a few seconds later. She locked eyes with Lucy and gave a slight shake of her head.

"Don't shake your head," Jane said. "I made it didn't I?"

"You did indeed," Lucy said. She was in awe of Jane whether she made it another foot or not.

"You might be making your arm worse," Mae said.

"Nothing is worse than being down here one second longer than I have to be. Every step I take brings me closer to a hospital and controlled substances."

Lucy could think of something worse.

"I've been thinking," Mae said. "I don't think either of us can pull Jane through this first narrow part while we're crawling. I think we should attach a rope to the blanket stretcher then I'll crawl through with the rope and pull her through when I get to the taller part. You can come through with Jane to ease any rough spots."

Now this was a plan with possibilities. Lucy wondered why she hadn't thought of it. "Are you sure you have the muscle power to pull it off?"

"I'll find it. Don't they say you can lift cars when someone you love is in danger?"

"We'll make it work," Lucy said. "What do you say?" When she turned to Jane she realized Jane had passed out again. Probably a good thing. "Alright, let's get her bundled up."

Jane came to while Mae and Lucy were maneuvering her onto their last blanket. Mae explained her plan.

"So, all you have to do is sleep through as much of it as possible," Lucy said.

"Good, 'cause I don't think I'm up for any calisthenics."

She helped them by wriggling into the middle of the blanket and straightening everything to make it easier for them to wrap her up.

"We should pull her feet first," Mae said when she and Lucy debated about how to attach the rope.

"So, all we need to do is rig her climbing harness around her feet," Lucy said.

It took them three tries to find a way to wrap and tighten the harness around Jane so that Mae could pull her without shutting off the circulation to her feet.

They clipped a rope to Mae's harness and Jane's and Mae got ready to slither into the hole.

"I'll keep an eye on the rope and make sure it doesn't tangle. Give it a couple of good tugs when you're ready for us to start into the hole." Lucy said.

Mae nodded and smiled. "We're going to pull this off and have her out of here in no time."

Lucy managed a weak smile in return. "Soccer moms rule."

Mae knelt at the hole.

"Wait!"

Mae hesitated. "What?"

"You should take the jar with you in case something happens. We need to make sure it gets out."

"Nothing's going to happen," Mae said.

"Just in case," Lucy said. "Hook your pack on the rope between you and the stretcher."

"Fine but I don't think we should be worrying."

Lucy didn't answer. She felt better knowing the jar would get out no matter what happened behind Mae.

They clipped Mae's pack to the rope with a carabineer.

Jane escaped into fitful sleep. Lucy put a hand on her forehead. She'd been clammy, now she seemed too warm. Could a person get an infection from a broken bone? Would it show up this fast? Or was her body just mobilizing all its defenses?

It didn't really matter. There wasn't anything Lucy could do to help other than get her out of here as soon as possible. If she was capable of helping.

Lucy stared at the hole watching the rope disappear foot by foot while her heart raced and her palms slicked with sweat.

"What happened? On the trip to the treasure?"

Lucy looked at Jane and saw she'd roused herself again. She shrugged.

"Come on. Take my mind of my arm and tell me."

How was she supposed to say no to that?

"The real crack of doom happened. A long crawl on our bellies. I flipped my shit completely and almost didn't make it. Claustrophobia on steroids."

Jane shivered. "I probably would have freaked out with you. Did you know about the claustrophobia?"

Lucy shook her head. "Not really. I guess I've never been in a place where it came up. I remember being a little uncomfortable when I toured Ruby Falls. And there was this little thing when I was a kid."

"What thing?" Jane asked.

"Well, I got trapped in an abandoned sewer during a thunderstorm. It was pretty scary for a while but I made it out okay."

"And you didn't think to tell us that before we came down here?" Jane looked like she would have yelled if she'd been able.

"Honestly, I hadn't thought about it for years until the other day after Gary left. I thought the trauma was way past. And a cave isn't a sewer."

"Was it really bad?"

"It was bad. I thought I was going to die."

"Panic attack. I've heard it's just like having a real heart attack."

"All I know, is I don't ever want to feel like that again."

The tugs on the rope surprised her.

Lucy didn't see how it was possible Mae had made it through so fast.

The tugging came again. "That's our cue. Ready?"

"As I'm going to get," Jane said and closed her eyes. "Tell me when it's over."

Lucy gave a couple of quick jerks on the rope to let Mae know she'd "heard" her and slid Jane on her makeshift stretcher into place at the mouth of the hole before repeating the signal to let Mae know she could start reeling Jane in.

The rope went taut and Jane's feet disappeared into the hole.

Jane made a small pained sound.

Lucy put her hands on Jane's shoulders. "We're in the home stretch," she said. If only she didn't still feel like something was very wrong. Well something besides the fact that they were down in this cave and Jane had a broken arm and Belle was in the hands of some crazy kidnapper.

"Good," Jane said and closed her eyes with a sigh.

As Lucy watched the crack swallow Jane inch by inch an irrational wave of fear washed over her. It was silly. The horror show before the treasure room was way worse than this. She'd gotten through this part with barely a whimper compared to the crack of doom.

A few times in her life she'd had "feelings" or premonitions about things going wrong. She'd always tried to listen to that inner voice.

Right now, her entire being vibrated with the absolute belief that if she followed Jane into that crack she was going to die.

If she didn't crawl in Jane might get stuck, Mae might run out of strength, or maybe both, and she'd be responsible for Jane going into shock and possibly dying.

Jane's head disappeared into the hole.

Lucy dropped onto her hands and knees and directed her light into the crack. The blue plastic of the space blanket moved another couple feet into the tunnel.

Ahead of her, Jane made another small sound of pain.

Shit, Jane might be in trouble already.

Heat flushed Lucy's skin and she was light-headed when she muttered, "F*ck it," and pushed her body into the crack.

She'd go as far as she could before the panic set in and hope it was enough to see Jane to safety.

The stretcher slid ahead of her in fits and starts as Lucy crawled along wishing it would move faster. No doubt, Mae was doing the best she could and it was pretty amazing she was managing to pull it alone.

For a few minutes they moved at a fairly steady pace with the sound of the blanket scraping over rock, the occasional groan from Jane and her own nervous humming keeping time.

The stretcher stopped moving. Lucy told herself it was just Mae catching her breath. She gave the stretcher a little push to make sure there wasn't a problem and it moved forward a few inches. Okay relax, breathe deep and wait for Mae to go back to work.

It got very quiet without the blanket scraping and humming.

In the deep silence there was a new sound.

"Jane?"

"Well hallelujah. I thought I'd lost you."

"Do you hear that?" Lucy said.

"What?"

"I don't know. A new noise."

"Are you sure? The damn space blanket isn't exactly stealth transportation."

"In case you hadn't noticed we're not moving."

At that moment Lucy recognized the sound. A horrible whining noise came up out of her throat.

"Oh f*cking hell," Jane said. "Water. Running water and it's in here with us."