CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The force of the explosion blew her forward. Out of training and experience, more than thought, Alex landed in a plank position on her hands and the balls of her feet. Her ears rang in an eerie silence of explosion induced deafness. Falling to her stomach, she belly crawled forward to where Raz lay in a crumpled ball. Colin crawled toward her.
Colin pointed to his ears. Confirming she couldn’t hear either, Alex pointed to her ears. She pointed to Raz then leaned back. A Special Forces trained medic, Colin began looking over Raz. He pointed to Raz’s legs. Raz’s legs pointed in opposite direction.
Raz’s back had gone out.
Using American Sign Language, Alex instructed Colin to help her turn over Raz. Colin was clearing Raz’s mouth when Jesse flew toward them.
“Another bomb! Right here! Go, go, go!”
When Alex grabbed Raz’s arm, Colin looked up at her. She pointed to the side tunnel. Colin shook his head. He didn’t want to move Raz.
“Another bomb!” Alex signed.
Colin’s face registered shock. He grabbed Raz’s other arm. They half carried and half dragged Raz’s body into the side tunnel. They were twenty yards into the tunnel when they were blown off their feet by another bomb.
Alex, Raz and Colin fell forward together. Alex managed to catch herself with her arm cast and elbow. Colin landed on his right shoulder. Raz landed on top of Alex and Colin. They skid forward along the dirt floor until they came to a halt.
Debris rained down on them. The air choked with dust. Alex counted to sixty before daring to look up. Raz groaned when she moved out from under him. Rolling to her side, she saw Colin was checking Raz from his side.
Another earth shattering boom and everything went dark.
FFF
Forty-five minutes later
Saturday morning
March 29 – 3:12 A.M. CDT
Inside the Mariscal Mine
Not quite unconscious, and not awake, Alex groaned. Breathing, she lay face down.
One breath in.
One breath out.
She heard nothing more than the ringing in her ears. Rolling onto her side, she felt a small hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Zack’s girlfriend Bestat Behur.
“Do not move quite yet,” purred Bestat.
Alex pointed to her ears.
“Yes, Alexandra, you cannot hear. We don’t need to speak out loud.” Bestat smiled.
“Did you transport through all this dirt?” Alex asked.
“I am not able to do that,” Bestat said. “There is an opening up ahead. Small, but enough for me to get through. I thought you’d rather see me in my more… familiar form.”
Alex nodded. She had only seen Bestat in her ‘other form’ one time. They were flying fast over Egypt when a ray of sunlight sparkled off this gorgeous purple and yellow flying serpent gliding next to the chopper. The vision was a gift, a thank you, for rescuing someone Bestat cared about deeply. Usually, Alex saw Bestat as she appeared now, a golden skinned beautiful woman with waist length dark hair and large almond-shaped, rust-colored eyes. She was dressed in stylish linen pants and a silk blouse.
“I always thought this shape was an illusion,” Alex said. “Your clothes are never wrinkled.”
“That is an illusion,” Bestat laughed. “I spend most of my time in this form now. Zackery can be so frisky. This form is such fun.”
Alex smiled. Remembering Raz and Colin, Alex jerked up to look. Unconscious, Raz was face down with his right arm underneath him. Colin lay next to him on his side. They were both breathing.
“Your Rasmussen’s vertebrae has compressed his spine. I’ve been able to strengthen him and protect his spine. He will survive. And probably walk. His right arm is also broken near the wrist. He will need your brother’s help.”
Alex moved to get up then groaned.
“Give yourself a moment. I have healed your bleeding.”
“Thank you,” Alex said.
“Your arm is…”
Bestat shook her head. Alex lifted her left arm to look at it. Her fiberglass cast had collapsed near the break. Looking into the cast, she saw her arm had a two inch divot where her ulna had collapsed toward her radius. So much for her simple fracture.
“I don’t think the cast was made for all of this.” Bestat gestured to the tunnel. “I’ve blocked your pain. I am happy to fix this little break but how will you explain it?”
“Better leave it.”
“Alexandra, your brother…”
“Colin? What?” Alex asked. She reached over to touch Colin. He groaned.
“His mind… He will not tolerate being down here,” Bestat said. “I cannot overcome all of the grief… “
“He’s never dealt with being a hostage,” Alex said.
“You will have to watch him. I’m sorry. I wish…”
“I wish I could too,” Alex said.
“Yes, the dragon and the fairy. We are useless against human grief.” Bestat touched Colin and he dropped unconscious. “You have your pills?”
“The ones John always makes me bring?” Alex asked.
Bestat nodded. Alex patted her pockets until she felt the packet of pills.
“You will need them for the men,” Bestat said.
“My arm?” Alex asked.
“As I have before, I will block your pain from a distance,” Bestat said. “There is enough air for fire. After your brother helps your Rasmussen, get him to find water. That will help keep his mind busy.”
“Then what?”
“Use your pills to put him to sleep. He will take them because he doesn’t want to feel.”
Alex nodded.
“They are working to free you,” Bestat said. “But it will be a number of hours. Your little band of men were able to get out with the children. They are very anxious without you.”
Alex nodded.
“I must go,” Bestat said. “Will you be all right here? Can your mind handle the dark? Your Jesse was unsure.”
“I think so,” Alex said.
“Alexandra, this cloud that surrounds you,” Bestat said. “You know what it is, don’t you?”
Alex shook her head.
“Your fairy instincts inform you that you’ve been tragically betrayed.”
“By everyone.” Alex’s smile dropped and her face clouded with sorrow.
“This is your error,” Bestat said. “Yes, your friends have been… human. The betrayal is deeper, bigger. Somewhere inside, you know who. You knew this before, and you’ll know it again.”
“You won’t tell me?”
“I will not tell you what you’ve purposely forgotten,” Bestat said. “You will have time, while you wait, to think on this.”
“On what?”
“On the reason you feel powerless to deal directly with this betrayal.”
“I don’t feel powerless. I’ve spoken to every single person. I dealt with John, my parents, Ben. I… Oh.” Alex closed her eyes. Pushing out a frustrated breath, her eyes popped open. “You’re saying the betrayal is someone other than the people around me.”
Bestat smiled. Leaning over, her dark hair brushing Alex’s face, she kissed Alex’s cheek.
”Zackery will come to get you. Look for him. I will keep your brother and your Rasmussen asleep for a while so you may get set up.”
“Can you fix our hearing?” Alex asked.
“It’s done,” Bestat said out loud. Like a loving elder, her dark eyes caressed Alex’s face. Her hand cupped Alex’s chin. “I am saddened that you must suffer all of this.”
“But I must?”
“Yes.”
Bestat stood. Alex watched her walk a few feet away. In a flash, she transformed into her gleaming serpent shape. Bestat laughed and fire jumped onto a tidy stack of wooden boxes. Alex leapt to tend the fire. When the fire burned steady, Alex looked up. The woman who was a dragon was gone.
Alex touched her headlamp. By some miracle, the light flickered then came on. She began exploring their chamber. The main tunnel had collapsed behind them creating a wall of rock and dirt. She went to the wall to check to see if she could hear anything or see any light.
Nothing.
They were not going to get out through the main entrance. Turning in place, she assessed the area they landed in. The mine had used this area for mine trash. Seventy-year-old wooden dynamite boxes, broken ore cars, rebar, and general mine trash littered the space. There were also the piles of newer trash. The boy’s captors had stored their trash here. The FBI would be so very happy.
About a hundred yards from where Colin and Raz lay was another wall of rock, dirt and debris. There was a hole, no bigger than mail slot near the top of the wall. This was where Bestat entered the tunnel. Through the hole, she could hear men yelling. Lights flashed as if vehicle headlights were passing over the hole.
“At least, we’re not completely cut off,” Colin said. “I’d lose it if we were.”
“You’re not alone this time.”
Alex hugged her younger brother. Hearing a Black Hawk fly over the opening, their head jerked to look for the helicopter. Shrugging to Alex, Colin turned away to put a piece of wood on the fire.
“Nice fire,” he said. “Matches?”
“Sure,” she said.
“The fire will keep us toasty in this small space. I found Daniel Joiner over there by that pillar.”
Alex turned to look.
“There’s not much to look at. He had a road ID on his shoe with his name on it.”
“We should cover him,” Alex said.
“I put my jacket over him,” Colin said.
Alex smiled at her kind, thoughtful brother.
“God, Alex, your arm!”
He took her arm to look more closely.
“You’ll need surgery,” he said. “Are you in pain?”
“I’m all right,” she said.
“Your hand is swelling again. How’s your hip? Abdomen?”
Alex swatted him away from her like he was a fly. He raised an eyebrow.
“We don’t have the medical pack. Do we have anything to use for a sling?”
“A sling?”
Alex followed Colin back to where Raz lay.
“Do we have meds?”
“Yep.”
They went through all of their possessions for something to use for a sling. Finally, Alex agreed to let him modify her sports bra. She stripped off her long sleeved T-shirt, tank top, and dragon body armor.
“It’s not like you need the support,” he said. “You should see Julie. Ever since she got pregnant, they’re huge. Now that she’s so close to having the baby?”
She threw the bra at his face at his gesture of how large his pregnant wife’s breasts were now. While Alex dressed, he made a loop out of her sports bra. He hooked her left wrist through one end of the loop and the other around her neck.
“How’s that?”
“Better.” Alex smiled.
Looking around their little cavern, Colin shivered.
“Anxious?”
Colin nodded.
“Would you like a Xanax?”
Alex gave him a pill then reached for her water bottle.
Fuck.
She’d left her water bottle on the floor of the mining office. They drank the last of Raz’s water before they reached the mine. She’d signed that she would ass-ist Raz with her water.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
“Do you have water?”
“Lime Vodka.” Colin shrugged.
“COLIN!”
“Hey, I’m a civilian on spring break. I know it’s pretty stupid.” He shrugged. Imitating his father’s voice, Colin said, “Preparation beats rescue.”
Alex smiled.
“I don’t have a fucking clue what it means to be a civilian,” Colin said.
He washed the Xanax down with a swig of lime vodka then coughed. Alex laughed at his disgusted face.
Raz groaned. His left arm waved in the air as he tried to find a way to get up.
“ALEX! ALEX!” Raz screamed.
“I’m right here.”
Alex and Colin dropped to either side of Raz. Alex took his left hand. While Colin checked his vitals, Alex cleared the sand and dirt from his mouth.
“I can’t move my legs,” Raz said. “Since the first bomb. Where are we?”
“We’re stuck in the side tunnel, Josh,” Alex said.
“Josh?” Colin asked.
“My name is Joshua Peretz,” Raz grunted.
“Craig. Joshua Craig Peretz,” Alex said. “We found an opening and they know we’re here. We’ll probably be out by morning.”
“Douglas, that’s my middle name. Generals. We all have a General’s first name as our middle name.” Colin continued checking Raz for fractures or injury. “Ironically, none of us took our confirmation saints as our middle name. You’d think we were smorgasbord Catholics.”
“We are smorgasbord Catholics, Colin,” Alex laughed.
“Speak for yourself. I’m a proud member of the C and E Catholic club.”
“C and E?” Raz laughed then yelped with pain. “Fuck Colin.”
“Christmas and Easter,” Colin said. “Now Alex and Max, they share a middle name but it’s spelled…”
“Differently, yes,” Raz laughed. “STOP DOING THAT.”
“What?”
“Making me laugh. It hurts like hell.”
“Identity is important, Mr. Joshua Craig Peretz. Especially to third graders,” Colin said. “This conversation is a show stopper in my classroom.”
Giving Colin the space to work, Alex began collecting fist sized stones from around the cavern. She set the stones along the edge of the fire.
“We need to get you a little more situated. Your back is straight but your legs are a little twisted from when we dragged you,” Colin said. “Alex, can you grab a leg?”
Together, Colin and Alex straightened out Raz’s legs. Raz grunted with every movement.
“How’s your pain?” Colin asked.
“Yes, pain.”
“Well my Daddy always said…” Colin started.
“Safety, first aid, warmth, and water in that order,” Colin and Alex said together.
“What does that mean?” Raz asked.
“We have work to do,” Colin said.
F
Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.
The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.
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