Sinking Through Time - Future Past

Chapter 5 - The Sand Mines

It felt to Lucy like they'd been walking for hours. Well, not really walking, stumbling was more like it. Every step Lucy took she thought she would lose her balance and fall, or twist her ankle on a rock.

Although the time had changed and the water covered a greater area of land than in her time, Lucy still had a good idea where she was. She'd grown up in this area and knew it like the back of her hand. Even blind folded she'd been able to imagine where they were taking her. The rocks had eventually given way to sand and the high pitched squelching the sand made confirmed to her that they had taken her to the sand mines. Only the very fine, very white sand in the sand mine area made that noise.

Even in her time, not many people had known about the old sand mines. The history of them had somehow been lost to all but a few locals and they had kept it that way. Lucy wondered if the red haired girl was a descendant of one of those locals. She tucked the thought to the back of her mind and made a mental note to find out.

Another thought quickly popped into Lucy's mind. If they were at the sand mines, did that mean she was going to get thrown down an abandoned pit? If that was the case, she knew she was definitely doomed. There was no way out of one of those mine shafts. Once you were down there, you were there for good.

Lucy wanted to speak up but knew if she did, she was dead anyway. The red haired girl had made it clear that if she spoke she would be 'closed out'. She hoped that if they were planning on leaving her in a shaft they would lower her down by a rope or ladder and not just toss her down. At least then she wouldn't have any broken bones and she could at least attempt to get out. If they tossed her down, death was imminent.

"We're here. You need to stay perfectly still. If you try to run you will be closed out. Got it?" the red haired girl said to Lucy.

Lucy nodded her head. She wasn't in any position to run. She was exhausted. Walking all that way in the winnie suit had sapped her energy. She didn't plan on going anywhere at the moment, anyway. She figured either way she was dead if she ran or if she stayed still. She took a chance and spoke up.

"Can I sit?" she asked croakily. Her throat parched from all the walking.

"What did you say?" Red asked her.

Lucy tried to clear her throat and asked again.

"Can I sit?"

"Can you sit? Yes, you can sit. But don't move from that spot and don't take off your blind fold or else I'll"

"Close me out, I know. I won't move," Lucy said, finishing Red's sentence.

"That's right. So stay still," Red said in an agitated tone, before marching off to find the others.

Lucy sat and waited. She heard some talking off in the distance but couldn't quite make out what they were saying exactly. Lucy tilted her head in the direction of the talking and listened as best she could. A few odd words made it to her ears. Didn't know. Praying. Studious.

Those words made Lucy reflect on the questions Red had first asked her. She had asked what authority Lucy had worked for. She thought about this for a moment. Authority meant having power or control; being in a position to be able to give orders, so did that question mean did she work for the government, or a government agency? What sort of question was that? Unless, Lucy thought, Red and her gang were criminals and were wanted by some government authority, like the Federal Police. That had to be it. Lucy wondered what she'd gotten herself into. She thought about John and wondered where he was. Did he make it back to 1877 or was he in this time too and had managed to avoid capture from this band of criminals? Lucy had no more answers now than when she had first found herself in the water and now she was going to die. How in the world had this happened? What plan of God's was this that she would be in this predicament? She didn't know. All she could do was pray that everything would resolve itself. That's exactly what she did.

"See what I mean? She's doing it again!" Red exclaimed, finding Lucy with her head bowed and mouthing words of prayer.

Lucy hadn't heard Red or the other person walk up on her. She had been deep in prayer. The interruption caused her to cease praying.

A woman with a very smooth, serene voice answered Red. "Yes, I see what you mean. You've done well, Rachel. You can leave her with me now. I'll get to the bottom of this," the older woman went on.

"But what if she's dangerous? Won't you need back up?" Red, whose name was apparently Rachel, asked.

"You know I can handle myself. I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern. You're dismissed. Go and have a break and then go and see Randall. He may need your help," the serene lady ordered Rachel in her lovely voice.

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel replied. A moment later Lucy heard Rachel's footsteps squelching in the sand, moving away from them.

"Now, you must be exhausted. Let's get you out of the sun and somewhere more comfortable. How does that sound?" the serene lady questioned Lucy.

Lucy wasn't sure how to take this lady but a place out of the sun sounded good to her at the moment so she nodded her head.

"Come on then. Stand up. I'm not going to carry you. But don't remove your blindfold. Do you understand?" the lady questioned.

Lucy nodded her head again and struggled to stand up. The woman took Lucy by her arm in a vice-like grip and steadied her as she tried to gain her balance. The woman's grip told Lucy everything she needed to know. This woman may have a lovely, serene voice but she wasn't one to be messed with. She was strong and in control, a definite leader.

The woman released Lucy's arm as soon as she was steady and spoke to her again.

"Now that you are on your feet I'm going to ask you to make one more effort for me. I need you to climb down a ladder. I realize you are hot and tired but I assure you that you will only have to make this one last effort before you are made comfortable. Do you think you can do that?"

Lucy croaked out a small "Yes".

"Good. Come with me then," the lady said, taking Lucy once again by the arm, this time with not as much force.

Lucy let herself be lead, taking each step tentatively. After a minute they stopped.

"Good. Now, this is the tricky part. I am going to turn you around and you need to get on your knees and back up very slowly. You will need to feel for the ladder. I can't help you with this. It's all up to you whether you get the ladder or fall. Do you understand?" the woman asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded and let the woman turn her around. She slowly dropped to her knees, letting the winnie helmet go and crawled backwards inch by inch until she thought she felt the ladder. Lucy felt around her body to her right foot with her right hand and then past her foot. Her hand met with a metal ladder rung. Lucy struggled in the winnie suit. It was big and bulky and didn't allow her body to feel where it was in proportion to the ladder. She stretched her right leg out further and down, trying to find the first rung of the ladder with her foot. Once she was successful at doing that she continued and used her left hand to find the other side of the ladder. Now all she had to do was position her left foot on the rung below her right foot and she would be in a position to start climbing down. Trying to get her left leg through her arms and down past her right foot proved to be more difficult than anticipated. The problem was the bulk of the winnie suit. It was huge and wouldn't allow her leg to slide through her arms.  

Lucy tried using a little more force, and then a lot more force. It didn't work. She was just exhausting herself. Her suit made it impossible to slip her leg through her arms. She had no choice but to raise her left arm in order for her left foot to reach the rung below her right foot. Lucy raised her left arm over head and kicked her left leg back and down. In doing so, she overcompensated for the winnie suit and lost her grip with her right foot. She slipped. Her right hand tried to hold her weight on the ladder but she was exhausted and her palm was sweaty. She felt the ladder slipping out of her grasp and screamed.