Jeb kept walking slowly, not looking at us, but his words were clear. “I’d have to. I follow my own rules. So don’t ask me unless you really mean it.”
He disappeared into the dark.
Jared watched him go. Before he could turn his glower on me, I ducked into my uncomfortable sanctuary and curled up in the back corner.
CHAPTER 18
Bored
I spent the rest of the day, with one brief exception, in total silence.
That exception occurred when Jeb brought food for both Jared and me several hours later. As he set the tray inside the entrance to my tiny cave, he smiled at me apologetically.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome,” he told me.
I heard Jared grunt, irritated by our small exchange.
That was the only sound Jared made all day. I was sure he was out there, but there was never so much as an audible breath to confirm that conviction.
It was a very long day—very cramped and very dull. I tried every position I could imagine, but I could never quite manage to get all of me stretched out comfortably at once. The small of my back began a steady throbbing.
Melanie and I thought a lot about Jamie. Mostly we worried that we had damaged him by coming here, that we were injuring him now. What was a kept promise in comparison with that?
Time lost meaning. It could have been sunset, it could have been dawn—I had no references here, buried in the earth. Melanie and I ran out of topics for discussion. We flipped through our joint memories apathetically, like switching TV channels without stopping to watch anything in particular. I napped once but could not fall soundly asleep because I was so uncomfortable.
When Jeb finally came back, I could have kissed his leathery face. He leaned into my cell with a grin stretching his cheeks.
“’Bout time for another walk?” he asked me.
I nodded eagerly.
“I’ll do it,” Jared growled. “Give me the gun.”
I hesitated, crouched awkwardly in the mouth of my cave, until Jeb nodded at me.
“Go ahead,” he told me.
I climbed out, stiff and unsteady, and took Jeb’s offered hand to balance myself. Jared made a sound of revulsion and turned his face away. He was holding the gun tightly, his knuckles white over the barrel. I didn’t like to see it in his hands. It bothered me more than it did with Jeb.
Jared didn’t make allowances for me the way Jeb had. He stalked off into the black tunnel without pausing for me to catch up.
It was hard—he didn’t make much noise and he didn’t guide me, so I had to walk with one hand in front of my face and one hand on the wall, trying not to run into the rock. I fell twice on the uneven floor. Though he did not help me, he did wait till he could hear that I was on my feet again to continue. Once, hurrying through a straighter section of the tube, I got too close and my searching hand touched his back, traced across the shape of his shoulders, before I realized that I hadn’t reached another wall. He jumped ahead, jerking out from under my fingers with an angry hiss.
“Sorry,” I whispered, feeling my cheeks turn warm in the darkness.
He didn’t respond, but sped his pace so that following was even more difficult.
I was confused when, finally, some light appeared ahead of me. Had we taken a different route? This was not the white brilliance of the biggest cavern. It was muted, pale and silvery. But the narrow crevice we’d had to pass through seemed the same.… It wasn’t until I was inside the giant, echoing space that I realized what caused the difference.
It was nighttime; the light that shone dimly from above mimicked the light of the moon rather than the sun. I used the less-blinding illumination to examine the ceiling, trying to ferret out its secret. High, so very high above me, a hundred tiny moons shone their diluted light toward the dim, distant floor. The little moons were scattered in patternless clusters, some farther away than others. I shook my head. Even though I could look directly at the light now, I still didn’t understand it.
“C’mon,” Jared ordered angrily from several paces ahead.
I flinched and hurried to follow. I was sorry I’d let my attention wander. I could see how much it irritated him to have to speak to me.
I didn’t expect the help of a flashlight when we reached the room with the rivers, and I didn’t receive it. It was dimly lit now, too, like the big cave, but with only twenty-odd miniature moons here. Jared clenched his jaw and stared at the ceiling while I walked hesitantly into the room with the inky pool. I guessed that if I stumbled into the fierce underground hot spring and disappeared, Jared would probably see it as a kind intervention of fate.
I think he would be sad, Melanie disagreed as I edged my way around the black bathing room, hugging the wall. If we fell.
I doubt it. He might be reminded of the pain of losing you the first time, but he would be happy if I disappeared.
Because he doesn’t know you, Melanie whispered, and then faded away as if she were suddenly exhausted.