Chapter 9 #2
They reached a place where there was a sudden hole in the ground. It wasn’t large. The whole trap wasn’t exposed. Whatever had fallen in had broken through a section of the covering on the side. They must have slid down the wall into the trap.
Michael went down on his haunches and peered into the hole.
It was certainly big enough to allow an adult into the trap.
He could see, from this angle, the edge of the trap, and it was one of the wide ones set up in such a way that it wouldn’t collapse all at once, allowing the trespasser to call for help and trap his or her friends in the pit too. Quite ingenious.
The brilliance of the whole design wasn’t lost on Michael, but he found it difficult to appreciate it much with his heart hammering in his chest like a prisoner wrongly jailed, desperate to be let out.
Emily couldn’t be in the trap, and yet now that he was there, he couldn’t help but think she had to be down in that dark, dusty hole.
“Oh my,” Felix said. He didn’t look surprised or concerned at all. He looked as though he was enjoying the adventure. “This is a clever little trap, isn’t it? I mean, goodness!” He smiled.
“Your niece might be down there,” Michael said stiffly.
“Oh, do you really think so? What would she be doing out here?” Felix asked, not looking nearly worried enough in Michael’s eyes. But he really couldn’t imagine the old man doing anything to hurt Emily, even if his mistakes might unfortunately lead to that outcome all too often.
Michael looked around. They were quite far from the well-trodden paths of the camp and heading toward the south. There wasn’t much there but the trail that the creek cut through the landscape and, eventually, a small forest of trees.
Tim lay on his stomach and called into the darkness. “Emily? Emily, are you down there?” He listened for a moment and then stood up. “There is someone in there. They groaned when I spoke to them. I don’t know if it’s her.”
“Fetch a ladder,” Michael said. “Help me get the cover off this trap, and let’s see what we’re dealing with.”
Troy nodded and sent Tim to fetch the ladder from the shed nearby while he, Michael, and Felix dusted the sand off the cover and lifted it. It was mostly woven branches, about five feet in diameter, and they lifted it quite easily, moving it to the side.
Michael’s heart stopped when he looked into the hole and saw the crumpled person at the bottom of it.
“Emily!”
There was no doubt. The blonde hair, the dress—it was her.
Dear Lord, no!
He sat down and swung his legs into the hole. A hand clasped his arm. “Do you think she’s okay?” Felix asked. He had gone white as a sheet, finally looking properly concerned.
“I won’t know until I’m down there,” Michael said.
The ladder arrived and was placed in the hole.
Michael climbed down, his hands slipping on the rungs since they were slick with sweat.
His heart was thudding mercilessly in his chest, and he kept expecting the worst. She wasn’t moving, and that sent fear racing through him like a herd of wild horses.
He reached her and put a hand on her shoulder, finding Emily to be warm. He let out a sigh of relief.
“She’s alive,” he muttered. “Thank you, Lord.” He rolled her over and saw the nasty-looking bruise on the side of her head.
It had swollen into an egg and was a deep purple.
There was a graze on her cheek, and her hands were scabbed over too.
She must have tried to stop her slide into the hole.
It was lucky that she hadn’t fallen in the middle, or she might have broken her legs or neck.
“She’s okay,” he called up to Troy, Felix, and Tim. “She’s knocked out, but she’s okay. Nothing seems broken. She’s got a lot of scrapes and bruises.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Felix called back. “What a way to wake up! I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Need to get her up to the medical tent,” Troy said. “Can you manage her, Michael?”
Michael picked Emily up and slung her over his shoulder with ease. She didn’t weigh much, or perhaps he was so full of adrenaline now that he could have lifted a ten-ton block. He carried Emily out of the trap with ease.
She stirred a little when they reached the top and Michael transferred her to his arms, rather than having her hanging over his shoulder.
“Hold on, sweetheart,” he muttered as he rushed back toward camp.
Julie was in the medical tent with Ethan, spooning broth into his mouth. When she saw Emily, her expression dropped.
“I’m sorry, Ethan, I have to go.”
“I can feed myself,” he said with a nod.
Michael put Emily on the other cot in the room and hurriedly explained what he knew about Emily’s condition.
“She could have been out all night,” Julie said, her expression strained. “All right. We need the smelling salts.”
Fetching them from her store of medicines, she opened the little bottle under Emily’s nose and held it there for a long moment. At first it seemed that nothing happened, and then suddenly Emily’s eyes popped open. She blinked.
“Emily,” Julie called. “Emily, look at me.”
Emily blinked again, and her eyes slid over to look at Julie.
“Good. Now we need to do some tests. You’ve got a nasty bump on your head.”
Emily nodded and groaned.
Michael stood at the bedside while Julie performed her tests, looking at Emily’s eyes, feeling her pulse, checking her breathing. After a while she cleaned Emily’s wounds and put a salve and a bandage on her head.
“She will have to stay here today,” Julie said. “I will need to make sure that there is no further injury to her head, but I think she will be fine.”
Michael breathed a sigh of relief.
“Well, good to know she’ll be right as rain,” Felix said overly brightly. “I think I’d better be off.”
“Felix!”
It was Emily speaking, although her voice was cracked and hoarse.
Everyone turned to him. Her uncle blinked, forced a nervous smile, and said, “Yes?”
“I was following you,” Emily said, pointing with a shaking finger. “I followed you. Where were you going?”
Felix swallowed. “She must be woozy.”
Michael turned to him. “What is she talking about? Were you walking around the camp last night?”
“You were talking to that troll,” Emily said, frowning. She shook her head. “The troll with the big nose.”
Felix laughed. “There, see? She’s all scrambled in her thoughts.” He leaned forward and patted Emily’s hand. “It’s going to be all right. Once you’re feeling like yourself again, I’m sure you’ll recall what really happened. Rest now.”
Emily frowned and shook her head. “You were talking to a troll, and he hit me.”
“I think that’s enough,” Julie said, gesturing for them all to leave. “She needs rest, something to eat, and warmth.”
Michael, Troy, and Felix left the medical tent and found Tim waiting outside. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“She’s going to be fine, Tim,” Troy said, putting his arm around the boy’s shoulders.
“In time for Monday?” Tim asked.
“Maybe. Why?” Troy asked.
“Well, she gave us an assignment due on Monday, and I was wondering if maybe …” Tim said.
Troy shook his head. “Do the work, Tim.”
Tim nodded reluctantly. “Okay. I really do hope she’s okay though. She’s a nice lady even if I don’t much like school, no matter who teaches it.”
Troy turned to Michael. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Michael said. He turned to Felix. “You and I are going to have a nice chat over coffee.” He put his arm around Felix’s thin shoulders and steered the older man to the campfire.
Felix wasn’t happy. Then again, neither was Michael. Not by a long shot.