Midnight's Lair Read online

  Greg put his arm around her. 'Don't worry,' he said.

  'My mother.'

  'I'm sure she's fine. She probably had plenty of time to get away.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'It wasn't anything sudden,' he said. 'Whatever happened, it must have started when the lights went off. It took all this time before the elevators dropped, so the whole place didn't go up at once.'

  Darcy thought about that. Greg was right. Obviously, the entire complex hadn't been destroyed in some terrible cataclysm. The fire must have started a distance away and spread until it consumed the elevator housings. So people had time to get away. Maybe Mom was okay. Maybe she wasn't even in the hotel when it happened.

  Darcy looked at Greg. 'Thanks,' she said.

  He nodded. His broad face was ruddy in the firelight, his eyes shining. Steam was rising off the front of his sweatshirt. Darcy rested her head against his shoulder.

  The heat from the fires was almost too much. She had thought for a time that she would never be warm again. But now her face felt as if it were being seared. Her skin was stinging under the snug heat of her trousers. The touch of the windbreaker against her breasts was painful. Sweat trickled down her sides.

  She turned around, and sighed with relief as the hurt faded and her back began to warm up.

  Someone sidestepped through the fluttering light and moved in front of her. The man in the Peterbilt hat. 'You're supposed to be in charge here,' he said. 'What are you gonna do now?'

  'Just take it easy,' Greg told him.

  'I'll get us out of here,' Darcy said.

  Those nearby, who heard her over the other voices and the windy noise and snapping sounds of the fire, stepped in closer and looked at her.

  'Gonna get us out, are you? How do you figure that?'

  He spoke to Darcy as if this were all her fault.

  'Cool down, slick.'

  'Butt out,' he snapped.

  The old man's head moved forward on his long neck. His scalp was hairless except for a white fringe over his ears. His eyes were small and squinty, his nose a beak. He looked to Darcy like a bald eagle about to rip off the bastard's face.

  'Don't let him rile you, Calvin,' said the buxom woman at the old man's side - maybe his daughter. She tugged his arm. He pulled it free.

  'Yeah, Calllllvin,' mocked the man in the truck hat. 'Don't want you having a heart attack.'

  'Low-life son of a whore, you best start minding your manners, or…'

  'Or what, Calllllvin?'

  'All right, now!' Greg's voice shot out. 'We've got enough trouble without fighting among ourselves. Darcy said she's going to get us out, so why don't we listen to her?'

  Those nearby gathered in closer. Others, farther off, continued to talk among themselves.

  'LISTEN UP!' It was the fat boy.

  The voices went silent. Darcy stepped past the scowling man, patted the shoulder of his son, and made her way into the cool shadows a distance from the fires. Turning around, she found that Greg had stayed with her. She held up her arms.

  The people faced her, their backs to the blazing elevators.

  'Obviously,' she said in a firm voice, 'it's a lot worse than we thought. The area above us is burning.'

  'Tell us something we don't know.'

  'Would you please hush?' A woman's voice.

  'What'll we do?' Another woman.

  'We're going to die.' More of a whiny squeal than a voice.

  'Nobody's going to die,' Darcy said. 'I still think that rescue is possible from the elevator shafts, but that'll take a lot longer than we imagined. And since we don't know what's going on up there, I think it would be foolish to do nothing but wait. There is another way out.'

  'The natural opening.' It was the fat boy's knowing voice.

  'That's right,' Darcy said. 'Just before the lights went out, I was showing you Ely's Wall and telling about how he closed off the other half of the cavern. There's a pick axe near the dock area. With that, I'm sure we'll be able to break through the wall. From there, it's only about half a mile to the natural opening. We'll take the pick axe with us, and knock out the wall at that end. Then we'll be home free.'

  'Fuck. Should've done that in the first place.'

  'Yeah, we'd be out by now.'

  'Let's do it!'

  Back-lit by the fires, the group seemed to Darcy like a band of villagers eager to begin a foolhardy errand. Movie extras. Faceless dark forms gesturing and mouthing brave words. A hunting party, a lynch mob, peasants working themselves up to go chasing the Frankenstein monster.

  'What're we waiting for?'

  'Let's haul ass!'

  'EVERYBODY SHUT UP!' Darcy shouted.

  The noise faded to mutters.

  'It won't be a picnic. We've got one good flashlight and one that's nearly dead. Beyond Ely's Wall, there will be no walkways. There is also the chasm that Elizabeth Mordock fell into. In other words, the terrain will be rugged and dangerous. If we all try to go trooping through there, most of you will be doing it in darkness.

  'Here's my suggestion. I think that no more than six of us should try to go out that way. One flashlight should be enough for a group that small, and we'd be able to keep track of each other. Everyone else can wait here, where there's warmth and light. Once we're out, we'll make sure the rest of you are rescued as quickly as possible. You'll either be lifted out through the elevator shafts or a rescue party with plenty of good lights will come in from the natural opening and guide you out. Either way, you won't be in here much longer than those who go in the first group with m But you'll be able to leave in a lot more safety.

  'I'll give you a while to think about it. Decide whether you want to stay here or go with the escape party. I recommend you choose to stay here unless you've got a very good reason not to. After you've had a chance to make up your minds, I'll pick my group from those of you who want to leave with me.'

  'Guess that leaves me out,' muttered the Peterbilt man.

  'That's right,' Darcy said. Raising her voice, she announced. 'You've got five minutes.'

  ***

  'I absolutely must be one of the six,' Helen said to Carol.

  'I'll stick with you.'

  Helen shook her head. The lenses of her glasses reflected fire. She lifted a hand to Carol's cheek. 'You're so sweet. But there's no need for you to risk life and limb. Besides, look how you're dressed.'

  'I know how I'm dressed,' Carol said. The heat from the burning elevators felt wonderful, and she knew she would regret leaving the warmth. 'Hell, the fires aren't going to last forever.'

  'I'll leave you my sweater.'

  'I'm going with you. If they'll let me.'

  'Stay. I'd stay, myself, if it weren't for this damned diabetes. I just can't take the risk of waiting any longer than necessary. The hotel must have burnt.' She shook her head, 'I'll have to go into town, I suppose.'

  'We'll both go, Helen.'

  it might be terribly dangerous. You heard what the guide said. There won't be a walkway. And that chasm. It sounds just horrendous. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you came along on my account and… something happened to you.'

  'Nothing will happen. Besides, what makes you think I'd want to stay behind? I don't know any of these people. You're my best friend. Even if you are a pain in the ass sometimes.'

  Helen made a sound that was more like a sob than a laugh, and embraced her.

  ***

  'I'd sure like to see what's on the other side of that wall,' Wayne said.

  'Don't be ridiculous,' Jean told him. it wouldn't be any different than what's on this side.'

  'Except it's been closed up for about sixty years. And it's where Elizabeth Mordock died.'

  'Daddy, don't be so disgusting.'

  'Might be haunted,' he said.

  'There's no such things as ghosts,' Katie told him. 'Who says so?'

  She slapped his arm.

  'You hit me one more time, young lady, I'll knock your block off.'


  'Mommy.'

  'Don't speak to her that way, Wayne. It's not funny.'

  'That's right.'

  'She shouldn't go around hitting me all the time.'

  'You shouldn't tease her about ghosts.'

  'Who's teasing?'

  'If you really thought Elizabeth Mordock's ghost might be lurking in the other side of the cave, they couldn't drag you there. You're the biggest chicken I know.'

  Wayne laughed. She was right, of course. 'Well,' he said, 'it's quite obvious that I can't go with the first group and leave you two alone. Weil get to see the other end of the cave sooner or later, anyway.'

  'I don't want to,' Katie said.

  'It's either that, or we'll have to be lifted out with ropes or something. Personally, I'd rather take my chances with Elizabeth's ghost than get dropped.'

  'Goddamn it, Wayne!'

  ***

  'I reckon you'd rather stay here by the fire,' Calvin said, smiling and patting Mavis's considerable backside. 'Don't tell me you want to go.'

  'I don't aim to leave you behind, that's for sure. Minute I'm gone, old slick'd take it into his head to give your ass a poking.'

  'Calvin!'

  He laughed.

  'It's not at all funny.'

  'Don't fret. It ain't about to happen. I'll be right here and see to it. 'Sides, I reckon his pecker's so teeny he'd never find it in the dark.'

  'Why don't you quit harping about him? Honestly, Calvin, you act like such a baby sometimes.'

  'Which is it, a baby or a chauvinist?'

  'Both.'

  'You sure do take pleasure in insulting a man. Not that I hold it against you. It's just the way you gals are. No sooner you get married than you turn into a shrew.' He saw the corners of her mouth turn down. Now I've gone and done it, he thought. 'Shitfire,' he said, 'don't take it personal.'

  'How am I supposed to take it? You as much as said you wished you hadn't married me.'

  'I said no such thing, May. You're just fine, you're just fine.'

  'You called me a shrew.'

  'Well, you are a shrew. But like I say, it ain't your fault. You're just a woman, and that's a natural part of the equipment. It comes with the wedding band.'

  Now, she was weeping. In the firelight, Calvin saw shiny tears rolling down her cheeks.

  'Oh, damnation,' he muttered. He clamped his cane between his knees, and put his arms around her. 'I'm sorry, sweetie-pie.'

  'You should be.' She squeezed him tightly. He felt the cane move. 'Is that you, Calvin?'

  ***

  'If I go,' Paula asked, 'will you come, too?'

  Kyle went tight and cold inside. 'You don't want to go, do you?'

  'My dad… I'm scared he might've gotten hurt. Ami even if he's okay, he must be awfully worried about me. I've just got to get out of here as fast as I can.'

  'If your father were here,' Kyle said, 'I bet he'd want you to stay and wait for a real rescue.'

  'Why?'

  'Because he wouldn't want you to take a chance like that. It'll be… really bad on the other side.'

  He wished he could tell her how bad. He wished he could tell Darcy how bad, and talk her out of breaking through the wall.

  At first, after the elevators fell, Kyle had been stunned to realize that the trouble was more than a simple power failure. The whole complex up top must be burning down: the hotel, the tourist area with its gift shop and snack bar, his own room - and worst of all, room 115.

  The loss of 115 hurt. To think that it was gone before he'd even gotten another chance to use it.

  He told himself, Dad'll rebuild the place. He'll make another room just like 115. It will be the same, and some day I'll be running the new hotel and I'll pick who I want to put in there.

  The thoughts of rebuilding made him feel a lot better, but then Darcy started talking about escape through the other end of the cavern, and Kyle felt a rush of dread that turned his legs soft and he'd held onto Paula to keep himself steady.

  He couldn't let them do it!

  If they broke through Ely's Wall…

  How could he stop them?

  Warn Darcy. But what could he tell her without revealing the truth?

  There had to be another way.

  Get rid of the pick axe. Without that, they wouldn't be able to smash through the barrier.

  The pick axe must be in the grotto where Darcy had changed clothes. Kyle hadn't seen it there, but his eyes had never left Darcy. Still, that's where it probably was. Cubby Wales had been working to enlarge the grotto and must've left his tools behind.

  While Darcy continued speaking to the group, Kyle imagined himself finding the pick axe and hurling it into the Lake of Charon. They'd never find it there.

  He would have to sneak away. Maybe whisper to Paula that he had to take a leak, then hurry to the grotto. Without any light. (Follow the railing.) But it would take so damn long. They were bound to notice he was gone. When they got to the grotto and the pick axe wasn't there, Darcy would know he was the one who took it. Then, after they found the pick axe (they'd make him show where he threw it), they'd break through the wall anyway.

  They'd find what was there.

  Maybe not.

  But if they did, they'd realize that Kyle knew about it - otherwise, why did he ditch the pick axe?

  I can't do anything, he finally decided. I can't let on that I know. Then, whatever happens, I won't get the blame.

  If there was some way to stop just Darcy…

  Don't think about it, he told himself. You can't do anything. Maybe she'll be all right.

  But now Paula wanted to go along, too.

  Kyle took Paula by the hand and led her away from the others. 'I have to tell you something,' he said. They walked towards the darkness. The heat from the fires faded. 'I don't want anyone else to know this, so you've got to promise you won't say anything.'

  'What is it?'

  'Do you promise?'

  'Sure,' she said. Her voice trembled slightly.

  'It's who I am.' He stopped. He looked back. They were far from the rest of the group. He put his hands on Paula's shoulders. 'I'm Kyle Mordock.'

  'You mean like Mordock Cavern?'

  He nodded. 'My family owns all this. My dad, actually.'

  'Oh Kyle, I'm sorry. Maybe it's… just a small fire.'

  He shrugged. 'Doesn't matter. It's all insured. Dad has lots of insurance. We'll rebuild. But the thing is, it has to be a secret that my dad's the owner. If the others find out, they might… you know, cause trouble. They might blame me.'

  'Doesn't Darcy know?'

  'Yeah, but that's different. And I don't think she's told anyone. Do you know what a scapegoat is?'

  'Sure.'

  'I'd be the scapegoat if it got around. That's why Darcy's keeping it a secret. The thing is, I've lived here all my life. My dad and I, we've got rooms in the hotel. So I know a lot about the cavern - maybe more than anyone. I know some things the guides don't know.' He eased Paula closer to him. He felt the soft push of her breasts against his chest. 'The other part of the cave… a certain area behind Ely's wall… used to be an Indian burial place. I've read Ely's diary. When he closed it up, all the bodies were still there. A whole lot of them. And he even wrote that he thought it was spirits of the dead Indians that pushed his wife into the chasm. That's stupid, of course. I mean, I don't believe that, myself. But the corpses of all those Indians…' He shook his head. 'I get the creeps, just thinking about it.'

  'Aren't they buried?' Paula whispered.

  'They're just… like lying around. Some are sitting up, some leaning against the walls. At least that's what Ely wrote.'

  'Jesus.'

  'That's how come I don't think you really want to go along with the others. Me, I don't want to set foot on the other side of Ely's Wall. I don't want to see those things.'

  'Me neither,' Paula said.

  'You'll stay, then?'

  She nodded, her hair tickling Kyle's cheek.

  '
If we're lucky,' he said, 'we'll get rescued through the elevator shafts. Then we won't have to go through that place at all.'

  'Oh, I hope so. Jesus. Shouldn't we tell the others?'

  'We can't. They'd find out who I am, and…'

  'Okay,' Darcy called, 'those of you who want to go along with me, step forward and I'll make the final selection.'

  Paula looked over her shoulder at the others. Then her arms tightened around Kyle.

  ***

  Darcy was glad to see that there weren't many volunteers. For most of the people, remaining here with the light and heat of the elevator fires was apparently far more attractive than venturing into the chilly darkness, into an unknown and dangerous section of the cavern. Greg volunteered, as she expected he would.

  So did Jim and Beth Donner.

  Tom.

  A young man and woman who were holding hands. The woman wore a maternity dress in the style of a sailor suit.

  A white-haired, obese man who was smoking a cigar and appeared to be at least sixty years old.

  A pair of lean, matching men in plaid shirts and goatees. They appeared to be about forty.

  A couple of women, one rather stiff looking in a sweater, blue slacks and glasses, the other looking innocent and vulnerable and wearing a sleeveless sundress that must have kept her in shivers until the fires came down.

  No Kyle. That was a nice surprise. Maybe he'd dumped Darcy for that girl - Paula. She felt a small stir of guilt, once again, for pairing Paula with Kyle.

  Might not be such a good idea, she thought, leaving them here together.

  Hell, I'm not a chaperone.

  She looked at the people gathered in front of her. 'I'm afraid I won't be very democratic about this. Tom, I want you staying here. For one thing, you shouldn't be exerting yourself. For another, I want you to take charge of the group that stays behind.'

  'Either way's fine with me,' he said.

  Darcy turned to the pregnant woman. 'There may be a lot of rock climbing in the darkness. I don't want to worry about you falling.'

  'I'm perfectly capable of…'