rock wall on her right ended suddenly and she moved the light in that direction. The cave opened into what looked like a giant, sprawling, eerie, gothic cathedral. Layers of rock, rounded cones of rock, webs of rock, as smooth as if they’d been polished, hung from the ceiling and rose from the floor. Some of it sparkled in the beam of the flashlight. Charlie cast the light around slowly. The cave seemed endless.
You need a bigger light. A much bigger light.
Biscuit growled again. Charlie’s breath began to come in short bursts. Her mind conjured sharp-toothed beasts with shiny eyes crouching behind the rock formations, waiting for her to come closer. Then another image, this one of thousands of vampire bats, hanging upside down just beyond her light, ready to fly out, sink their fangs into her flesh, and suck all of the blood from her body. She suddenly felt surrounded, overwhelmed. She began to feel as though the walls of the cave were closing, that the rock ceiling above was collapsing. She tried to take another step, but her foot caught a rock and sent her sprawling onto her stomach. The flashlight clattered against the floor and rolled away. She crawled forward and reached for it.
“Please don’t go out,” she gasped. “Please don’t go out.”
Her fingers wrapped around the tube and she climbed to her feet. Terrified, she turned and scrambled back toward the entrance.
Back to the world.
Back to the light.
The thunderstorm Jasper had predicted began to rage just after Charlie returned home and finished tending to Sadie. She fixed supper for Jasper and herself and spent the rest of the evening doing laundry. Jasper puttered around the house, happily unaware that Roscoe Barnes had committed suicide earlier in the day. Charlie went to bed at midnight, determined to go back to the cave the next morning. She finally drifted off an hour later. She dreamed that she’d been chained to the hourglass-shaped boulder outside the cave. A huge eagle soared down out of the sun and landed on the rock behind her head. Charlie believed the eagle to be an angel from heaven, sent to rescue her from bondage. It wasn’t until she felt the sharp pain of the great bird’s beak tearing into her flesh that she realized she was being punished.
She awoke when the eagle tore out her liver and flew off into the clouds.
Chapter 18
AT ten o’clock the next morning, Charlie was back in the saddle. Jasper had gone to town and taken Biscuit with him, so she and Sadie were on their own. The storms from the night before had moved northeast, but a thick cover of puffy, gray cumulus lingered and a fine mist of fog hovered over the mountain like damp gauze. The weatherman on the radio had said more storms were on the way. She’d gotten out of bed early and driven into Elizabethton to pick up some things at Wal-Mart. Charlie had made up her mind. If there was really something in the cave, she was going to find it.
There was a high-powered, battery-operated searchlight in one of the saddlebags along with extra batteries. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and she had gloves and a stocking cap to keep her warm in the cave. She had a lighter in one pocket and a small can of pepper spray in another. She had enough food and water to last an entire day tucked into a backpack, along with two dozen small, cylindrical wax candles. The labels said they would burn for at least three hours.
The morning was unusually still, the forest chilled and misty. Charlie rode slowly, watching and listening for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. She expected Zane Barnes to spring from behind every tree and rock she passed. She strained to see as she topped ridges and rounded bends. She stopped often and turned to look behind her.
When she got to the creek across from the cave entrance, Charlie walked Sadie back to the same laurel bush where she’d tied her before. She wrapped the reins loosely around a small branch and pulled
You need a bigger light. A much bigger light.
Biscuit growled again. Charlie’s breath began to come in short bursts. Her mind conjured sharp-toothed beasts with shiny eyes crouching behind the rock formations, waiting for her to come closer. Then another image, this one of thousands of vampire bats, hanging upside down just beyond her light, ready to fly out, sink their fangs into her flesh, and suck all of the blood from her body. She suddenly felt surrounded, overwhelmed. She began to feel as though the walls of the cave were closing, that the rock ceiling above was collapsing. She tried to take another step, but her foot caught a rock and sent her sprawling onto her stomach. The flashlight clattered against the floor and rolled away. She crawled forward and reached for it.
“Please don’t go out,” she gasped. “Please don’t go out.”
Her fingers wrapped around the tube and she climbed to her feet. Terrified, she turned and scrambled back toward the entrance.
Back to the world.
Back to the light.
The thunderstorm Jasper had predicted began to rage just after Charlie returned home and finished tending to Sadie. She fixed supper for Jasper and herself and spent the rest of the evening doing laundry. Jasper puttered around the house, happily unaware that Roscoe Barnes had committed suicide earlier in the day. Charlie went to bed at midnight, determined to go back to the cave the next morning. She finally drifted off an hour later. She dreamed that she’d been chained to the hourglass-shaped boulder outside the cave. A huge eagle soared down out of the sun and landed on the rock behind her head. Charlie believed the eagle to be an angel from heaven, sent to rescue her from bondage. It wasn’t until she felt the sharp pain of the great bird’s beak tearing into her flesh that she realized she was being punished.
She awoke when the eagle tore out her liver and flew off into the clouds.
Chapter 18
AT ten o’clock the next morning, Charlie was back in the saddle. Jasper had gone to town and taken Biscuit with him, so she and Sadie were on their own. The storms from the night before had moved northeast, but a thick cover of puffy, gray cumulus lingered and a fine mist of fog hovered over the mountain like damp gauze. The weatherman on the radio had said more storms were on the way. She’d gotten out of bed early and driven into Elizabethton to pick up some things at Wal-Mart. Charlie had made up her mind. If there was really something in the cave, she was going to find it.
There was a high-powered, battery-operated searchlight in one of the saddlebags along with extra batteries. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, and she had gloves and a stocking cap to keep her warm in the cave. She had a lighter in one pocket and a small can of pepper spray in another. She had enough food and water to last an entire day tucked into a backpack, along with two dozen small, cylindrical wax candles. The labels said they would burn for at least three hours.
The morning was unusually still, the forest chilled and misty. Charlie rode slowly, watching and listening for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. She expected Zane Barnes to spring from behind every tree and rock she passed. She strained to see as she topped ridges and rounded bends. She stopped often and turned to look behind her.
When she got to the creek across from the cave entrance, Charlie walked Sadie back to the same laurel bush where she’d tied her before. She wrapped the reins loosely around a small branch and pulled
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