A Gown of Spanish Lace (19 page)

Ariana stifled a scream that pressed at the back of her throat. She feared she would suffocate. She frantically wondered just how much more she could stand—and then they passed through a narrow opening and came out into a larger space. Ariana was faintly aware of the sound of dripping water.

“You safe here,” the young brave said again.

Ariana let her gaze travel over the cave floor. Someone lived here. There were robes and blankets and supplies. Someone…. Who? The Indian? Surely she wasn’t expected to share the dwelling with—

“It dry—safe,” the young man said again. Ariana still did not move.

“You light candle—one,” he ordered.

Ariana stiffly bent to pick up a candle. She noticed that there was a rather large pile of them on the floor. She held the candle to the wick of the lantern he held out to her. The candle sputtered, then raised a tiny, flickering flame. He set the bundle of biscuits on the floor by the other stores.

“You eat—one—each time you light new candle,” he commanded her in his soft voice. Ariana nodded dumbly.

“Sleep,” he said and pointed to the pile of skins and blankets in the corner.

Ariana nodded again and moved to place her candle in the wooden holder that had been left for it.

He stared at her candle for a long moment with an expression she could not read.

“Don’t let candle die,” he cautioned. “No more light.”

Ariana’s eyes widened. Being in this deep, dark cave was bad enough—but with no light. The very thought sent waves of panic through her.

“I not bring another,” and he indicated the flint in his hand with some apology in his tone. “I need at front of cave for return.” She stared dumbly at him.

“I go,” announced the man and moved away before Ariana could respond. She was afraid he would fade into the very rocks of the walls.

“Wait,” she cried after him.

He turned back. The flicker of the lantern he held cast eerie shadows on his bronze cheeks. His black eyes seemed to reflect the dancing light.

“Wait,” Ariana implored again, reaching out a trembling hand.

He stood silently while she tried to untangle her thoughts and get them in order for expression.

“I…I need to know…I mean…Laramie said you’d tell me what I’m to do,” she managed.

He nodded. “You wait,” he said simply.

“But…in here…alone…for who…how long?” Her questions seemed to tumble over one another.

He came a step closer and set his lantern on the hard rock of the cave floor. Then he surprised her by lowering himself to a cross-legged sitting position. Ariana waited.

He nodded to her, and she understood that she was also to sit—on the pile in the corner that was meant for her bed.

Obediently she sat.

“Alone—here—yes,” he began. “Do not leave—ever. We come.”

He seemed to feel that was settled. She was to wait here—alone—until someone came for her.

“How many suns? Not know,” he continued.

“But…who will come? Laramie said—”

“Laramie come,” he nodded in assurance, and Ariana’s troubled mind grasped at that promise.

But her sense of relief was short-lived.

“Maybe yes—maybe no,” he went on calmly, making her heart race again.

“If not—I come,” he finished, then sat quietly as though waiting to see if she had any more questions.

She sat trembling, looking down at her folded hands.

“Food,” he said, pointing at the supply against the rock wall. “Water,” he continued and pointed to the opposite wall and up against the ceiling. It was the first Ariana had noticed the little ledge and the small clay pot that sat on it. From somewhere above, water continued to drip, drip into the container. That was her water supply.

“Sleep,” he said again, and he rose like a shadow and turned away from her again.

She knew better than to call a second time. She was alone in a deep, dark cave, somewhere in the bowels of the earth. And she was to wait—just wait—silently—patiently—until someone came for her. Ariana felt terror rise in her throat until she felt she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

All through the night Laramie pressed his mount forward, the two animals on their tethers following obediently at his heels.

At times he hid his trail by traveling along the sheltered rock shelves; at others he left deliberate little clues as to which way he was heading.

He was glad for the snow. By morning, and the discovery that they were gone, much of the trail would be covered—just as it had been when his pa and Sam had brought the girl to the camp.

Laramie smiled. It seemed rather ironic. A snowstorm had kept her would-be rescuers from finding her—and a snowstorm might also defeat her enemies.

Laramie pulled his hat down over his face to protect himself from the bite of the whirling ice crystals and urged the rangy buckskin on.

Chapter Fourteen

Waiting

“Lord, it’s been seventy-two days,” Laura Benson reminded God in a quiet conversation with Him as she rolled crusts for an apple pie. “Seventy-two days—without any word.”

She blinked away tears that welled up in her eyes. “I’ve tried to be patient, Lord. Tried to trust…but sometimes…it gets so hard.”

The tears refused to stay in check and squeezed out from under her blinking lids and rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. She reached for the hankie in her apron pocket and quickly dispensed with the telltale marks of weeping.

“They say no news is good news, Lord,” she continued. “Help me to really believe that.”

Ariana huddled in her corner. She was thankful for the warm furs beneath her and the woolen blankets she could wrap her body in. She wasn’t sure if she shook from the cold, dank interior of the cave or from sheer terror, but she trembled just the same.

“If only I had my Bible,” she said to herself for the twentieth time.

But you do
, an inner voice prompted.
Haven’t you been busy with memorization for the past weeks? You have much of the Bible within you
.

With a start of surprise, Ariana realized it was so. She had memorized many sections of Scripture during her days of confinement. Perhaps the long stay in the small cabin would not be for nought.

She pulled the blanket more closely about her shoulders. “Where should I start?” she asked herself. “Well…why not at the beginning? I’ll gradually work my way through the Bible, recalling every portion I have learned.”

“Genesis, chapter one. In the beginning God…”

Ariana stopped. The few words had given her much to think about.

“In the beginning
God
…” she repeated slowly. The words seemed to echo off the dark walls of rock.

Ariana spoke them again. At least her own voice was something with which to fill the stillness.

“God…in the beginning…and always,” she mused to herself. “Well…if He has always been—and I fully believe He has—then I guess He must know all there is to know about what’s going on. Even now. Even in this cave.”

The thought brought comfort to Ariana.

She reached down one hand to feel the softness of her bed. Someone had taken a good deal of trouble to prepare it for her. Spruce and pine branches intertwined to make a soft layer beneath her. Soft moss covered the boughs. Then the thick fur—likely buffalo, Ariana guessed—and then the warm, though scratchy, blankets of wool.

Yes, she could not complain about her bed. It was much more comfortable than the rough wood bunk in the cabin.

Ariana let her gaze travel to the little stock of supplies. Here again her needs had been met. True, it was not especially tasty food that had been stored in the cave. But it was palatable—and nourishing. Pemmican. Dried berries and fish. And her own biscuits—which would soon be as dry as the berries, she thought wryly.

And water. She had a good supply of water—though at first the constant drip, drip had threatened to drive her mad. But the water was cold and fresh, and she had no trouble convincing herself to drink straight from the small earthen pot.

Ariana looked at the little stack of candles. So far she had relit a new candle from the old one seven times. She had no idea how long one candle burned. She had no idea whether it was now day or night in the outside world. She had even less of an idea how many hours had crawled by since she had been brought to the cave. She only knew that it seemed like a very long time.

And now her thoughts turned again from the cave and back to the Scripture.

“In the beginning God…” she said again and smiled to herself. “And in the end, God as well,” she went on. “And in the middle, and in the past, and in the future—God. For always and ever—what a wonderful truth.”

“In the beginning God created….” She stopped again and let her eyes drift over the eerie walls of the cave. The flickering candlelight cast funny dancing shapes over the roughness of the rock.

“You did this,” she spoke to the God she knew shared her abode. “You made this. Why? Why this strange little room way back in the rocks? Did you know—even then—that someday…?” Ariana let her voice fade. It was too big an idea to even think about.

Suddenly the cave no longer seemed menacing. It did not even seem as cold and clammy as before. Ariana had the comforting knowledge that she was not alone.

The severity of the storm made travel more and more difficult for Laramie. At the same time, it would make his trail harder to follow. He began to wonder if he shouldn’t change his plans and head straight for the cave and Ariana.

At length he decided against it. He and White Eagle had laid their plans carefully. To change now might mean a disruption that could be costly—even deadly.

Laramie pulled the collar of his heavy coat up more closely to his chin and nudged the buckskin with a blunted spur.

He lifted his face to try to judge the time of day. It was hard to tell with the sky so overcast. He turned his thoughts back to the camp behind him. Had they discovered his absence? How had his pa responded? Laramie could easily guess. Were they already on his trail?

Then his thoughts turned to Ariana. He had no reason to think that White Eagle would have had any trouble getting the girl to the safety of the hidden cave. The sentry posted on the ledge would not have been able to see the brave and the girl, and certainly would not have heard them creeping through the cover of darkness. The rest of the gang members would pose no threat. They much preferred their bunks or the card table during the hours of night.

It seemed to Laramie that the first part of the mission had gone as planned. The hardest part was still to come. He had to backtrack and lead the girl from the cave to further safety. That would mean getting her out almost beneath the noses of the gang, and they were bound to be stirring about like a nest of disturbed hornets.

Laramie set his jaw and pushed on. If only the second part of the plan worked as well as the first.