“Bet you’ve never seen anything like my place here.” Jeb’s voice was louder now, back to the chatty tone he’d used before. “It’s really something, isn’t it?”
He paused briefly in case I might respond, and then went on.
“Found this place back in the seventies. Well, it found me. I fell through the roof of the big room—probably shoulda died from the fall, but I’m too tough for my own good. Took me a while to find a way out. I was hungry enough to eat rock by the time I managed it.
“I was the only one left on the ranch by then, so I didn’t have anyone to show it to. I explored every nook and cranny, and I could see the possibilities. I decided this might be a good card to keep up my sleeve, just in case. That’s how we Stryders are—we like to be prepared.”
We passed the dim light—it came from a fist-sized hole in the ceiling, making a small circle of brightness on the floor. When it was behind us, I could see another spot of illumination far ahead.
“You’re probably curious as to how this all got here.” Another pause, shorter than the last. “I know I was. I did a little research. These are lava tubes—can you beat that? This used to be a volcano. Well, still is a volcano, I expect. Not quite dead, as you’ll see in a bit. All these caves and holes are bubbles of air that got caught in the cooling lava. I’ve put quite a bit of work into it over the last few decades. Some of it was easy—connecting the tubes just took a little elbow grease. Other parts took more imagination. Did you see the ceiling in the big room? That took me years to get right.”
I wanted to ask him how, but I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Silence was safest.
The floor began to slant downward at a steeper angle. The terrain was broken into rough steps, but they seemed secure enough. Jeb led me down them confidently. As we dropped lower and lower into the ground, the heat and humidity increased.
I stiffened when I heard a babble of voices again, this time from ahead. Jeb patted my hand kindly.
“You’ll like this part—it’s always everyone’s favorite,” he promised.
A wide, open arch shimmered with moving light. It was the same color as the light in the big room, pure and white, but it flickered at a strange dancing pace. Like everything else that I couldn’t understand in this cavern, the light frightened me.
“Here we are,” Jeb said enthusiastically, pulling me through the archway. “What do you think?”
CHAPTER 17
Visited
The heat hit me first—like a wall of steam, the moist, thick air rolled over me and dewed on my skin. My mouth opened automatically as I tried to pull a breath from the abruptly denser air. The smell was stronger than before—that same metallic tang that clung in my throat and flavored the water here.
The murmuring babble of bass and soprano voices seemed to issue from every side, echoing off the walls. I squinted anxiously through the swirling cloud of moisture, trying to make out where the voices came from. It was bright here—the ceiling was dazzling, like in the big room but much closer. The light danced off the vapor, creating a shimmering curtain that almost blinded me. My eyes struggled to adjust, and I clutched at Jeb’s hand in panic.
I was surprised that the strangely fluid babble did not respond in any way to our entrance. Perhaps they couldn’t see us yet, either.
“It’s a bit close in here,” Jeb said apologetically, fanning at the steam in front of his face. His voice was relaxed, conversational in tone, and loud enough to make me jump. He spoke as if we were not surrounded. And the babble continued, oblivious to his voice.
“Not that I’m complaining,” he continued. “I’d be dead several times over if this place didn’t exist. The very first time I got stuck in the caves, of course. And now, we’d never be able to hide out here without it. With no hiding place, we’re all dead, right?”
He nudged me with his elbow, a conspiratorial gesture.
“Mighty convenient, how it’s laid out. Couldn’t have planned it much better if I’d sculpted it myself out of play dough.”
His laugh cleared a section of mist, and I saw the room for the first time.
Two rivers flowed through the dank, high-domed space. This was the chatter that filled my ears—the water gushing over and under the purple volcanic rock. Jeb spoke as if we were alone because we were.
It was really only one river and one small stream. The stream was closest; a shallow braided ribbon of silver in the light from above, coursing between low stone banks that it seemed constantly in danger of overrunning. A feminine, high-pitched murmur purred from its gentle ripples.
The male, bass gurgle came from the river, as did the thick clouds of vapor that rose from the gaping holes in the ground by the far wall. The river was black, submerged under the floor of the cavern, exposed by wide, round erosions along the length of the room. The holes looked dark and dangerous, the river barely visible as it rushed powerfully toward an invisible and unfathomable destination. The water seemed to simmer, such was the heat and steam it produced. The sound of it, too, was like that of boiling water.
From the ceiling hung a few long, narrow stalactites, dripping toward the stalagmites beneath each one. Three of them had met, forming thin black pillars between the two bodies of flowing water.
“Got to be careful in here,” Jeb said. “Quite a current in the hot spring. If you fall in, you’re gone. Happened once before.” He bowed his head at the memory, his face sober.
The swift black eddies of the subterranean river were suddenly horrible to me. I imagined being caught in their scalding current and shuddered.
Jeb put his hand lightly on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. Just watch your step and you’ll be fine. Now,” he said, pointing to the far end of the cavern, where the shallow stream ran into a dark cave, “the first cave back there is the bathing room. We’ve dug the floor out to make a nice, deep tub. There’s a schedule for taking baths, but privacy’s not usually an issue—it’s black as pitch. The room’s nice and warm so close to the steam, but the water won’t burn you like the hot spring here. There’s another cave just past that one, through a crevice. We’ve widened the entrance up to a comfortable size. That room is the farthest we can follow the stream—it drops underground there. So we’ve got that room fixed up as the latrine. Convenient and sanitary.” His voice had assumed a complacent tone, as if he felt credit was due to him for nature’s creations. Well, he had discovered and improved the place—I supposed some pride was justified.
“We don’t like to waste batteries, and most of us know the floor here by heart, but since it’s your first time, you can find your way with this.”
Jeb pulled a flashlight from his pocket and held it out. The sight of it reminded me of the moment he’d found me dying in the desert, when he’d checked my eyes and known what I was. I didn’t know why the memory made me sad.
“Don’t get any crazy ideas about maybe the river taking you out of here or something. Once that water goes underground, it doesn’t come back up,” he cautioned me.
Since he seemed to be waiting for some acknowledgment of his warning, I nodded once. I took the flashlight from his hand slowly, being careful not to make any quick movements that might startle him.
He smiled in encouragement.
I followed his directions quickly—the sound of the rushing water was not making my discomfort any easier to bear. It felt very strange to be out of his sight. What if someone had hidden in these caves, guessing I would have to come here eventually? Would Jeb hear the struggle over the cacophony of the rivers?
I shone the flashlight all around the bathing room, looking for any sign of an ambush. The odd flickering shadows it made were not comforting, but I found no substance to my fears. Jeb’s tub was more the size of a small swimming pool and black as ink. Under the surface, a person would be invisible as long as they could hold their breath.… I hurried through the slender crack at the back of the room to escape my imaginings. Away from Jeb, I was nearly overwhelmed with panic—I couldn’t breathe normally; I could barely hear over the sound of my pulse racing behind my ears. I was more running than walking when I made my way back to the room with the rivers.
To find Jeb standing there, still in the same pose, still alone, was like a balm to my splintered nerves. My breathing and my heartbeat slowed. Why this crazy human should be such a comfort to me, I couldn’t understand. I supposed it was like Melanie had said, desperate times.
“Not too shabby, eh?” he asked, a grin of pride on his face.
I nodded once again and returned the flashlight.
“These caves are a great gift,” he said as we started back toward the dark passageway. “We wouldn’t be able to survive in a group like this without them. Magnolia and Sharon were getting along real well—shockingly well—up there in Chicago, but they were pushing their luck hiding two. It’s mighty nice to have a community again. Makes me feel downright human.”
He took my elbow once more as we climbed the rough stair-case out.
“I’m sorry about the, um, accommodations we’ve got you in. It was the safest place I could think of. I’m surprised those boys found you as quick as they did.” Jeb sighed. “Well, Kyle gets real… motivated. But I suppose it’s all for the best. Might as well get used to how things are going to be. Maybe we can find something more hospitable for you. I’ll think on it.… While I’m with you, at least, you don’t really have to cram yourself into that little hole. You can sit in the hall with me if you prefer. Though with Jared…” He trailed off.