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BOOK 3:FIRE, SCENE EXCERPT

 

“Nick,” she stated, “I think I’ve found something over here in the side of the wall.” As she leaned over the board fixed into the cavern wall, it gave way and Kristen tumbled over, down into the darkness. Nick and Tim, startled by the scream, turned just in time to see her feet disappear into the hole.

“Kristen!!” they both yelled simultaneously, running toward the area she disappeared into. “Kristen, are you all right?” Nick yelled down into the hole, shining his light down to see if he could spot her.

Dangling over the side in the dark, depth of the hole, tightly gripping the thin rope they used for alerting the others of an emergency, was Kristen.

“Thank God that you were the one laying that rope!” Nick said in gratitude. “Are you all right?”

“I think so!” Kristen yelled back up toward the two men peering down at her from the hole above. She could hear the crackling of the rope as her weight pulled the woven strings taught. She held on tightly, silently whispering prayers to God to protect her. She grasped the rope even tighter as she tried to peer down below her, wondering where her flashlight had disappeared to. She couldn’t see anything below her except utter darkness. If her flashlight had hit the floor somewhere below her, it probably shattered to pieces. If not, it could still be falling into the depths of the mine. The thought of the possibilities of either of those scenarios happening made her grasp at the thin rope even tighter, her eyes tightly closed against the darkness surrounding her as she continued whispering prayers into the air.

“We’re going to try to pull you up now, just hold on tight and let me know if you feel like the rope is giving way, all right?” Nick spoke to her with soothing yet quick words.

“All right,” she yelled back to him.

**********

Sean moved as quickly as he could in the light of his flashlight’s beam, calling out to his friends and listening for any responses. As he moved along the shaft on the small inclining surface he thought he heard someone yell. He stopped for just a minute as small undistinguishable sounds bounced along the passage, fading into nothing.

“Kristen! Nick!” Sean yelled into the darkness. He must have been nuts to take off by himself down in these mines. But he had a very bad feeling about them being the only ones not to appear in the large underground cavern with the rest of them. And, since Jason and the others didn’t seem to feel he had a need to worry he knew he couldn’t count on them to be of any help, so taking off on his own was his only option.

As he walked along the passage, staying near to the left-hand side wall, he nearly tripped over something. He shined his light down at the floor, spying one of the guide ropes they all used. I knew I would find them! He thought to himself. He studied the rope, realizing that it was pulled extremely tight even though it was still against the floor of the shaft. It seemed to disappear around the corner of an alcove, back into the wall.

“I knew it! Something’s very wrong here.” Sean said as he moved as quickly as he could, keeping an eye on the rope and following it to wherever it would take him.

*******

As Nick and Timothy continued the slow pulling of the thin rope, they began to hear footsteps echoing behind them. They grew nervous as they looked at each other with growing concern over who, or what, could be approaching. Suddenly, a flashlight appeared around the corner of the cavern opening and in ran Sean Doran.

Sean, realizing what was happening, quickly dropped everything and grasped at the rope as well. 

‘Kristen!?” Sean yelled down to her, but was unable to see anything.

“Sean!? What are you doing here?” she asked, confused.

“Never mind that, let’s just get you out of there!” he called back in answer.

…………….

Jason was taken by surprise at how quickly the young man moved. He ran at Jason full on with a large curved dagger in his hand. Jason grabbed one of the shovels they had brought with them and held it out in front of him. The large dagger sliced into the wood of the handle, sticking tightly into it. Jason threw the shovel and dagger to the side and grabbed the young man by the arms as he continued to flail, kick, scratch, and punch at him, landing several good blows to Jason’s jaw, lip, and left eye. Jason managed to spin the boy around and pin both arms down against his side. He wrapped his arms around the boy to keep him from kicking him, but unfortunately his foot found its mark on his shin. Jason picked the young man up to stop his kicking, and they both fell to the floor in the struggle. Jason managed to get the young man underneath him, straddling the boy with his legs and sitting on him while holding his arms down against the floor. 

Much to Jason’s surprise, during the struggle the young man’s hood and shroud had fallen away from his face to reveal a woman. Jason and Memnah sat starring at each other as their labored breathing made their chests rise and fall in rapid succession. 

“You’re a woman?” Jason questioned her as he gazed at the deep greenish-brown pools of her large eyes and the deep pink hue of her lips and flushed cheeks. The bone structure of her high cheekbones and the sharp but dainty, pointed nose and oval shaped face were stunning.

“Please remove yourself from my person sir!” she said forcefully through clenched teeth.

“I don’t think so lady. You just tried to kill me. If I let go of you, you just might try again.” Jason said as amusement began to play at his eyes as he licked the blood from his busted lip.

“Get off of me right this minute!” Memnah yelled and tried her hardest to get free of Jason’s grasp. 

“Now just calm down would you? I told you earlier that no one here is going to hurt you. Now, I’m going to slowly release you, understand? Just don’t go getting all wild again.” Jason began to stand up, pulling Memnah off the floor as he did. When they were both standing, he spoke again.

“What’s your name?” he asked, still holding on to her wrists.

He got no answer. She stood facing him, trying to avert her gaze.

Jason followed her eyes with his head until he could get her to look at him once again.

“I’m not letting go of you until you tell me your name.” he said with a slightly crooked grin. 

“Fine.” she clicked out staring into his eyes. “My name is Memnah.” she said with a thick Arabic accent. As she spoke she seemed to calm down and begin to breathe easier. 

“Now, that wasn’t so bad was it?” he said, as he began to relax his hold on her wrists. 

“Hello, Memnah, my name is Jason. I’m going to release you now and we can discuss whatever this is like civilized human beings. Jason slowly let loose of her wrists and when he realized she was calm he relaxed his stance. Just as he did, she kicked out at him, catching him in the groin and doubling him over onto the ground as she ran toward the exit. Jason lay there waiting for the stars and blurry vision to subside, trying to catch his breath. He managed to squeak out, “Nice . . . to meet . . . you. . . Memnah,” to her retreating back. 

Memnah abruptly stopped at his words. Her brow furrowed in confusion at his response and the exchange she had with the stranger. She turned and looked at the man now w upon the floor curled up in the fetal position. She felt one small pang of regret for nailing the poor man in the privates before turning and fleeing the cavern for the safety of her desert planes.

EVENT ADDED!! 

EVENT # 1

Thursday, October 10th - Sunday,  October 13th, I will have a booth in the West-Cal Arena at the Cal-Cam fair in Sulphur, Louisiana.  Come on out and enjoy the fair, booths, vendors, food and rides!!

EVENT #2

Saturday October 19th from 10-5 I will be at the Ragley Timber and Heritage Festival in Ragley La. at the Ragely Community Center, where Hwy 171 and 12 meet, beneath the overpass.

EVENT #3

 Saturday, October 26 from 10 am to 4 pm the "Rescue Me Community Treasure Chest" event will be held at the Ragley indoor community building underneath the Ragley overpass. There will be lots of different vendors in attendance from food, crafts, rummage and informational.

EVENT # 4

The next scheduled event I have coming up after this is the Tampa Bay Times Reading Festival which takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida on November 9th, 2019. Myself and MANY other authors, some of which are NYT best sellers, will be available for speaking with, catching a talk by your favorite author, and getting your signed copy of your favorite new book. You may also find a new favorite author (hopefully me! *wink*). So if you are in the area stop by and see me! BOOK 3 should be available for purchase as a signed copy!

http://www.tampabay.com/expos/festival-of-reading/

Check back in November for holiday deals that may combine two or more books in the series. Available from purchases made through this website only.