Chapter 73
He got ahold of himself, slowly lowered the gun. He studied them a moment, shrugged. “No, I will not let you make me lose my temper. Oh yes, whilst you two are dying, think of your father, dead soon as well. Such a terrible accident.”
“And what tale will you tell about where you have been for the past ten years?”
“I’m considering that after we were kidnapped, you, my poor brother, were killed, and I was sold into servitude.
I selected Macau, ruled by the Portuguese.
I even taught myself Portuguese so no one would doubt what I told them.
Then I managed to make my way home. Everyone will comfort me, welcome me home, at last. Of course I will have all I need to prove I’m the long-missing heir.
“But none of this concerns you for you and the bitch will be dead. Can you hear the tide coming in?
“Since you have no memory of this, brother, let me tell you what will happen to you two. The tide is vicious. It will fill both the chambers quickly and the two of you will drown. You cannot remain with your heads above water until the tide goes out again. It will drag your bodies with it. And that will be the end to both of you. I rather wish you could remember the time you and I were nearly caught by the incoming tide and nearly drowned, then you would understand better what will happen to you.” He frowned.
“You saved my life. You were a strong swimmer, but now it doesn’t matter.
“Don’t even think about swimming out of here. I will be outside on a stack of boulders the tide doesn’t cover and I will shoot both of you dead and bury your bodies deep. Ah, the tide is already covering my boots.”
Simon laughed, saluted them, and splashed through the water back to the first chamber. Cam and Graham heard the sound of the relentless waves coming closer.
“Graham.” Her voice was a thread of sound but he heard it over the crashing water.
The water was to their shins, rising fast. Cam knew they’d drown if they stayed, but to be shot—He smiled down at her, hugged her close, said in a low, deep voice, “It’s all right, Cam.
I know exactly what to do.” He grabbed her hand and led her toward the back of the cave chamber.
Even as the relentless tide crashed into the second chamber, everything was perfectly clear in his mind.
Everything from the lost years was now in its place, his rough and tumble childhood, his boy’s innocence and excitement at everything life had to offer.
He remembered his experiments with his father, remembered thrashing wheat with the tenant farmers.
And he remembered the blow to his head. He saw Ryder’s face above his.
Graham pulled her to a stop at the back of the second chamber.
Cam didn’t understand. There was a wall there, damp, but solid and piles of rocks and boulders stacked up haphazardly in front of it, as if a giant had pushed them in with the tide and thrown them against the back cave wall.
It was a dead end. There was no place to go.
They were trapped. She felt fear and panic. She didn’t want them to drown, she—
But there was no panic in Graham’s voice. “I know what to do. We will be all right, Cam. Now, stay right there and be ready to grab my hand.”
She watched him numbly find handholds and footholds on the rocks, and he climbed.
He knew what to do? But how was that possible?
When Graham reached the top, his head was only inches from the cave ceiling.
She watched him steady himself, watched him begin to pull rocks out of the wall and hurl them out into the roaring water.
An opening gradually appeared. He called down to her, “Cam, start climbing, put your hands and feet exactly where I put mine.”
She didn’t question him now, whatever had happened, she knew they would survive.
She tucked her skirts into her drawers and started up, the water splashing her legs, the tug of the water strong but she managed to grab the next rock up and pull herself up.
The water was closer, closer, another couple of minutes and the cave would be filled.
She slipped, knew she was going to fall, but Graham leaned down, grabbed her hand, then her wrist. “Find your footing again, yes, that’s good.
Come to me.” She was right below him now.
The water was tugging at her skirts. He said again, a blazing smile on his face, “Trust me.” And she did.
Even though she knew the rocks would grow even more slippery when the water covered them, she felt calm and it filled her. She felt hope.
She stopped right below him. He said, “I didn’t tell Simon I’d found a way out of the cave, I don’t know why, but I guess I wanted it to be my secret.”
“You remember, don’t you, Graham?”
She saw a flash of a grin. “Yes, I remember, I remember everything.” Graham dug out one more rock, hurled it out into the water.
“Now this is as big as I can make the opening. Beyond is another chamber, very small, but it gives onto a higher part of the beach that doesn’t flood completely because the tide runs back downhill.
It’s a very short passage and we’re going to pull ourselves through.
Cam, it’s narrow. As a boy I could make it through that hole, but now—Listen to me, Cam. If I can’t make it, well—”
Her heart was jiggering in her chest, the water tugging at her skirts, cold, numbing, but her voice was calm, “Graham, both of us are going to make it out of here. You go through first. I will follow. No, be quiet, you’re wasting time. The water is halfway up the rocks. Go!”
“No, Cam, you must—”
She looked him square in the face. “If you don’t go, we will drown together.”