THIRTEEN FOR DINNER

Twenty-three

TWENTY-THREE

            The fireflies are playing hide and seek, as they dodge between the moss hanging from the massive branches of the giant oaks. In a way they seem to be blazing a trail for Quillan and I as we walk hand in hand along the river bank, keeping up our pretense as a young married couple taking an evening stroll after dinner, or supper, as they call it around here. We’re headed for the cave we discovered our first day here. It’s the place we are to wait for the cargo. Unbeknownst to us, the cave has a back entrance too. Another covert tunnel that comes into great use for the runaways.

            As soon as we are out of sight from the estate Quillan drops my hand. My heart falls along with it. His integrity will not allow him to start something he cannot finish. He believes it’s best this way, even though I think deep inside I might be willing to live with a broken heart. I’ve heard the old saying, better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. I know what that means now and I’m thinking I might tell him once we get to the cave. We will have a couple of hours to kill while we wait for the cargo to arrive. I can bare my soul and if I humiliate myself then I have the peace of mind to know that Quillan will never remember it happening. I sigh, and hug myself, rubbing my arms as a little shiver tickles at my skin.

            “You nervous?” He asks picking up on my anxiousness.

            “A little,” I lie. I am scared as hell, but it’s more about the risk I take in vomiting out my feelings and not so much the risk of transporting the cargo; although that has me on edge as well.

            We arrive at the mouth of the cave; it looks much creepier in the dark than it did in the light of day. The entrance is low so I duck to enter. Again I feel Quillan’s hand on the small of my back as we go in. He leads me further inside and we pass the large boulder I dressed behind the first day we were here. Even though it’s been only little over a week, it seems like months ago. So much has happened in such a small amount of time.

            “Lunar told me there are lanterns, oil and matches here.” Quillan informs me while searching behind the rock. I spot them first. Quillan takes them from me.  “We’re not to light up until we are deep in the cave. Lunar says to keep the glow low, a signal to let the cargo know we are here.” I follow along, totally trusting my guide. Never in my life would I have entered this far back into a cavern. I’ve always had fears of the thing collapsing, caving me in until I suffocate to death.  The darkness is overwhelming now; I can’t see my hand in front of my face so I stop walking, for fear of tripping and falling down some gloomy cavity.

            “Take my hand,” Quillan offers.

            “I would if I could,” I say. I can’t see you.

            I feel his hand wrap around my elbow as he gently guides me along. “Can you see the mouth of the cave?” he asks me. I look back, “No, not anymore,” darkness surrounds me.

            That is his cue to light the lantern. The glow is faint but still it shatters the darkness, dispelling the gloom. I breathe a sigh of relief but even still my angst returns when I see how the cave walls surround us. Any lower and we would have to duck our heads. My claustrophobia is on the rise and I hope to death I do not start hyperventilating.

            “You okay?” Quillan asks eyeing me as I survey my surroundings unconsciously twisting my thumbs.

            “Just a little claustrophobic,” I confess wrinkling up my nose. God I have more hang-ups than I realized.       

            I can tell Quillan is trying to suppress his laughter but the flame of the lantern dances in his eyes, giving him away.

            “Why don’t we sit and wait,” he suggests. If we’re nearer to the ground, the ceiling won’t seem so low.”

            I sit down fast and take in a deep breath as I lean against the cold rock wall. I am sure I look like an oxygen deprived person who was just pulled ashore after a near drowning.

            “It’s all up here,” Quillan says gently tapping me on the head. “There is plenty of air; we’re not going to run out of oxygen.”

            I nod my head but it doesn’t matter how much oxygen is in the cave, all air escapes my lungs when Quillan sits shoulder to shoulder beside me. Taking my hand in his he lifts it to his mouth, kissing the back of it.

            “For what it’s worth, I am very proud of you.” he says while continuing to hold my hand. “You’re the bravest fraidy cat I know.” Still resting my head against the wall, I roll it to the side and smile at him.

            “I hope I can find someone like you one day,” he says and all of a sudden I want to bolt from this cave. I don’t want to hear this right now, it’s torturous. My heart is already at bursting level, weighing heavy with emotion. I feel the tears stinging in my eyes and I fear if he says one more thing I might start crying. He doesn’t say anything else and if he planned on continuing the conversation, he was stopped short by the sound of someone coming.

            “They’re early,” I say positioning myself to stand.

            Quillan pulls my arm, keeping me close to him, “It’s too early, I don’t think it’s them,” he keeps his voice low. “It could be a trap.”

            My heart is in my throat again as a faint light flickers in the distance, growing bigger with the sound of approaching footsteps. Whoever it is cares nothing about being discreet. They scuff along, kicking tiny pebbles that bounce across the cavern wall, echoing through the small corridor as the approaching light cast an eerie shadow against the rock wall. Quillan steps in front of me, blocking me and my view and lifts his lantern to reveal the intruder. The footsteps stop abruptly as does the huge shadow on the wall to my right. The silence is deafening, neither Quillan nor the approaching party speaks. Then, without saying a word, Quillan turns and gives me a peculiar look as he slowly steps aside. My legs go weak as I gasp,

             “Mike?”