“What I need is a dry place to spend the night, okay?”
“No need to get so testy about it.” Lifting Robert’s jacket, she peeked beneath it at Jack. “Poor little guy.”
“He’s dry for now, but we need to find shelter,” Robert said. “It could rain like this all night.”
Cupping her hand over her brow to shield her eyes from the downpour, she scanned the surrounding forest, looking a little bit lost and a whole lot hopeless. “I don’t understand. It seems like we should have come to the mine entrance by now.”
Robert looked at her and wondered how long her teeth had been chattering. Guilt tugged at him that he hadn’t been able to come up with a better plan than the one he’d offered. “Maybe we need to backtrack a little,” he said.
Even with her hair soaked and plastered against her head, she looked beautiful. He felt another tug, stronger this time, deeper. He wanted to put his arms around her. He wanted to comfort her and tell her he was sorry for getting her into this. He wanted to reassure her and tell her everything was going to be all right. He wanted to kiss her again. Lose himself in the lush softness of her mouth. He wanted to touch her the way he had the night before, make her lose control…
“There’s a village a few miles from here. Maybe if we keep walking…” Brushing wet hair off her forehead, she sighed. “Damn it. I don’t see how we missed it.”
“How long has it been since you’ve been here?”
“Since before Jack was born.”
“The entrance could be overgrown with foliage.” He followed her gaze with his eyes. “What about landmarks?”
“I remember the mine entrance being near the little wooden bridge we crossed a while back.”
“How far off the trail?”
Turning, she pointed toward a jut of earth and rock tangled with vineage and saplings and dry leaves. “In that general direction.”
Aware of Jack’s little body soft and warm against his abdomen, Robert walked over to the jut of earth. Cold rain trickled down his neck and back as he stooped to pick up a broken branch. The rain burned the bullet wound in his shoulder as he began breaking off the smaller twigs.
“What are you doing?” Lily asked.
“This jut of earth looks man-made.” Using the stick, Robert poked at the tangled foliage. He walked several yards and poked again. Nothing but rock and earth and winter-dead foliage. Damn it.
Rain poured down his face and into his eyes. Jack felt so warm and delicate, he couldn’t stand the thought of the baby getting wet. He couldn’t let that happen. He poked again with the stick. This time, a hollow thump sounded.
Tossing the stick aside, he fought through the brush, tearing the vines and branches away, eventually locating an ancient wooden door. “Bingo.”
But Lily was already beside him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Rain poured down her face, but she didn’t seem to notice as she tore aside the tangled branches and vines. “This is it!” she shouted excitedly as the wood planks of the door came into view.
“Stand back.” Quickly, Robert unbuckled the carrier and carefully passed Jack to her.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, taking Jack.
“I’m going to kick in the door.”
“Wouldn’t the knob be easier?”
Robert blinked the rain from his eyes and looked at the rusty knob someone had nailed to one of the planks. Trying not to feel like an idiot, he twisted it and shoved. The door creaked like ancient bones and swung open to reveal an ink-black tunnel.
“What do you see?” Lily asked, craning her head to see over his shoulder.
“Not a damn thing.”
“Do you have a flashlight?”
“Hey, I’m a Boy Scout, remember?” He dug the halogen flashlight from his backpack and shone it into the depths of the tunnel. The beam revealed a narrow chasm carved into rock and earth that went on for as far as the powerful beam penetrated. The passageway was seven-feet high and ten-feet wide. Ancient wooden support beams a foot in diameter had been set into the walls and ceiling at four-foot intervals. Cobwebs hung down like Spanish moss. Broken rails and rotted ties littered the floor where mining cars had once hauled ore from the bowels of the earth.
“Home sweet home,” Robert said, stepping inside.
“I wonder if they deliver pizza.”
“In-room movies would be nice.”
“Gone With The Wind.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of The Matrix.”
She smiled at him.