Chapter 5 #3
Soon the whole area lit up with lanterns and torches. Someone lit a large communal fire, and the smells of coffee and stew hung on the air.
All around her, Lizzy saw despair. As the hours passed and no more miners were found in the mess down below, and the grueling task of clearing the debris continued, hope began to die that they would get anyone else out alive.
She had to find a way. Had to find something that would clear the debris faster.
But she couldn’t seem to think of anything.
Though she wracked her brain, there was no safe, quick way.
Eventually, even Lizzy was too tired to carry on, and Andrew insisted she give her place on the winch to someone else.
Joining a line of other rescue workers, she was given a bowl of stew and a mug of coffee, then went to sit on the grass by the others taking a break.
She found Troy and Michael sitting together, their heads only inches apart. Lizzy considered going over and speaking to Troy, but as she was about to do so, Emily walked up and sat down beside him as though she had known him for ages.
Lizzy looked away, praying for God to ease the jealousy in her heart.
“He doesn’t like her,” Tim said from his spot beside her. He also held a bowl and a mug, which he placed in front of his legs as he sat cross-legged.
“How do you know?” Lizzy asked, warming her hands around the mug.
Tim shrugged. “He’s always with you. Always. I never see the two of you apart for long. And he never looks like he wants to get away. He does right now.”
She tried not to gloat.
As Troy and Michael chatted to Emily, Lizzy sighed. She was tired, and things were always more intense when she was exhausted. Please, God. Help me be more charitable toward Emily. She’s done nothing wrong and I’m being unkind.
She got to her feet. “Time to go back to work.”
The hours stretched on and on. The night seemed interminable, and the haste with which the rescue had begun slowed.
The energy and hope drained out of the rescuers as hour after hour passed with no one else being found at all, never mind alive.
People’s spirits dropped to their lowest level, and no words from Andrew or anyone else made any difference.
Everyone knew that soon the only thing they would be pulling from the mine would be bodies.
Unless the remaining men found a place that had access to fresh air.
Jasper had said that when they were working down below, some men had heard some sound or other and had sprinted toward safety before the explosion—so maybe it really was possible that the remaining miners had made their way to an air pocket and were all still alive.
Soon, Julie and Emily were treating rescue workers for exhaustion. There were muscle sprains and sore necks and backs that ached so badly that folks had to be carried to their beds.
Lizzy continued her work on the winch, going around and around until she had blisters on top of blisters on her feet and hands. Her mind was numb, though, by the time the sun came up, and she felt that was a blessing.
When Tim dropped from exhaustion, the grueling work too much for his young body, she finally stopped and gave her place to someone else.
She took Tim to the medical tent, but it was full.
Knowing he’d wake up and panic if she took him to his tent and left him there alone, all she could do was let him sleep in the dew-wet grass.
After a little rest herself and some more coffee, Lizzy resumed walking in a circle. Round and round she went, hauling the logs up out of the hole. There were three left, after which the mine would be open once more.
Three logs left. That was nothing. They could clear those in less than an hour.
By the time the sun was fully up and poking its head over the tops of the trees, the logs were cleared, and all that was left was giant piles of rubble.
Lizzy stepped away, her brute strength no longer needed as much as her mind.
What if there was no way to get through the rubble that was blocking the entrance? What if it was sealed shut with more rock than a whole city of people could move in time before the men trapped in the mine ran out of food, water, and air?
Air. It all came down to the air.
“Hang on.” She sat up, having sagged briefly against a nearby tree to try and collect her scattered thoughts.
“What?” Tim asked.
She looked at him as though seeing him for the first time, not sure when he’d rejoined the rescue efforts.
“Air,” she said.
“Yeah, so? What about it?”
“We sank air shafts into the mine,” Lizzy said. “There was one that was really big.”
“Yeah, I know that one!” Tim nodded vigorously. “Me and Ben go there sometimes and make ghostly noises into it.” He gave a credible imitation of a ghostly howl. “I think it scared Douglas that one time.” He laughed. “Gee, that was funny.”
“We are going to talk about this later,” Lizzy said with an amused sigh. “But for now, let’s go find Troy and Andrew. I think there might be another way to get the men out, where we don’t have to clear any more debris.”