Corvan hunched over the steering wheel of his dad’s truck, peering through the clear spot at the bottom of the heavily frosted glass. He should have started the engine while he was still gathering things for their trip to back to the Cor. The old motor always took a long time to warm up in the winter and clear the ice off the windshield.
Next to him Tsarek was perched on the bench seat, his front claws digging into the dashboard as he stared incredulously out a spot he had scratched clear. He looked like one of the happy hunting dogs Corvan would see going by in the fall, its tongue flapping in the wind. The thought of Tsarek doing that, coupled with the ridiculous green elf costume he was wearing brought an unexpected laugh from Corvan.
Tsarek looked at him. “Why are you making that noise. Are you full of the happiness again?”
“Just look at the two of us. Santa and his helper are on their way to save Christmas at the mine.”
Tsarek frowned and pushed back the pointed elf hat perched on his head. “Going to the place you call ‘mine’ was your idea. I still don’t understand how it will get us back to the Cor.”
“It’s the only possible way we can get back. Do you remember when Kate and I left Saray back in Molakar?”
“When the Rakash attacked the people from Kadir, and I was waving the goodbye to you?”
“Yes. After that, Kate and I travelled back to the surface through an old water tunnel. We came out deep in place deep underground where my dad was working. That’s the place we call a mine and it’s where Kate got hurt. I’m thinking that since it’s winter, the water should be flowing a lot less, or maybe not at all and we might be able to find that same tunnel and follow it back to Molakar.”
“But that crack in the Cor shield was sealed when the old man Rayu crawled in. I was there when it happened. You can’t get back into Molakar that same way.”
“It’s true Rayu sealed it but there must be another crack because the water overflowing from the karst where Jokten killed that beast is now flowing away under the wall. It’s a lot of water so it must be a big crack that we can go through. We’ve got to try. It’s our only option.”
A fox darted across the road. Corvan swerved to miss it and the truck began to fishtail to one side down the road. He eased off on the gas, just like his father had taught him and the truck straightened out.
Tsarek grinned at him. “Can you do that again? That’s much more fun than your boring toboggan.”
“I don’t want to go in the ditch and get stuck. There sure is a lot of snow this year. Last year we didn’t even have a white Christmas.”
They rode on in silence through the blizzard before Bing Crosby began to sing “White Christmas.” Corvan checked the dashboard. The radio wasn’t on and when he looked over at Tsarek, he almost drove off the road in surprise. Tsarek was singing and his voice sounded exactly like Bing!
“How are you doing that?” Corvan asked.
Tsarek stopped singing and grinned at him. “That woman who picked up Billy has a box with black circles in her home and it makes songs. I learned to imitate the happy ones in my dwelling. They helped make me feel less angry about the black band.” He cocked his head at Corvan. “I haven’t heard you singing lately. You used to always do it up in the rocks when nobody else was around.”
“I don’t like others to hear me. At school Billy said I should sing the anthem solo, but he meant So Low that nobody could hear me. Can you imitate anyone?”
Tsarek chortled. “I would call you to come back to the house in your mother’s voice if I got tired of having you around. But not because of your singing,” he added quickly. “I thought your Elvis was pretty good.” Tsarek sat back, looked out the side window and a moment later Corvan heard his mother’s voice echo in the cab. “It’s time for bed Corvan. You can’t stay out there all night.”
The sound of his mother brought the seriousness of the current situation flowing over him like the swirling snow driving at the windshield. When his mother had gone through the portal and into the first water cave, Jorad would have been sleeping while he waited for Corvan to return. If his mother didn’t see the man and if Jorad hadn’t woken up, she would have gone on and now Jorad would slowly starve to death in the labyrinth. Unintentionally, Corvan might have doomed Jorad to a slow death.
Even if that were not true, everyone he cared about was down in the Cor. If the old man found out that his mother was back in the Cor, he would stop at nothing to punish Corvan’s mother for betraying him. He gave the truck a bit more gas and gripped the wheel tighter as the snow blurred past.
Eventually, the twin shafts of the headlights revealed the descent into the river valley, and he slowed down. With the party going on, the gate would be open, and it should be simple enough to get into the lift building with its metal cage elevator. Once they were down to the lowest level in the mine, they could follow the underground river and search for the natural tunnel.
His plan to follow it through to Molakar would fail if his theory about the water in Saray’s garden was not correct or if the underwater crack was not large enough to fit through. It seemed to make sense that the Rakash leader got through that way in order to follow he and Kate up to the surface. It also had to be the way the Rakash had returned after abducting his father. All the evidence suggested that this would be the required solution to get to the Kadir library and connect with his mother.
Within the protection of the steep valley walls the snow was falling straight down. He approached the gates into the mine property. Nobody was in the small guard station and up ahead, the top of the massive tipple building was outlined in colored lights.
Turning off the truck and twisting off its lights, Corvan coasted passed the office building and parked between the support timbers of the tipple. Christmas music was ebbing from the main office building as he went around the truck to open the door for Tsarek.
A sudden blaze of light and a blast of music shot across the parking lot from the building. “Santa!” A woman dressed in a bright red elf costume beckoned him towards the open door. “Glad to see you made it through the storm. I have your bag of gifts ready to give out. Let’s make sure this is a merry Christmas for everyone.”
Corvan waved to the woman as he whispered over his shoulder. “Tsarek, I’ll be as quick as a I can. Take my pack with you and get inside the tall building up ahead with the large wheels on top. That’s the entrance into the mine shaft elevator. If the door is locked, see if you can find another way inside.”
Tsarek slid forward off the seat and hunched lower in the cab of the truck.
“You’d better leave the elf costume behind,” Corvan added.
“Can I keep the hat? I like the little bell.”
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Corvan shook his head and shut the door partway without latching it so Tsarek could get out on his own.
Pulling the Santa beard over his face, Corvan squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and strode confidently toward the mine headquarters. The smiling woman opened the door wide then handed him a heavy cloth sack as he stepped inside. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the bright light and his ears to the distorted music blaring from the record player in the corner.
“Just one to each person,” she shouted in his ear. She smelled strongly of both perfume and beer. “Green ones for the men and red for the women.” Corvan nodded and when the music ended, the woman called out across the room. “Santa is here with a gift for all you good boys and girls, but some of you are going to get a lump of coal. Just remember, you have the rest of the night to play the game and trade the coal for something better.”
A man called out, “I’ve been doing that my whole life. It hasn’t worked yet!” Everyone laughed as began to surround Corvan, their hands reaching out for a gift. They pressed in closely telling him how good they had been that year. One overly happy woman tugged on his fake beard and asked him if it was cold up at the north pole and if she should go back there with him to keep him warm. His ears burning, Corvan quickly handed out the rest of the gifts without paying any attention to the colors, then backed away. As the last of the party goers returned to the main room, he dropped the empty sack on a table piled with heavy coats and headed for the door. Easing it open he backed out to make sure nobody was watching him leave.
Turning around, he ran directly into a man coming in across the parking lot. Corvan went sprawling to the ground, his Santa hat with its attached beard flying off.
Corvan scrambled to grab the hat but before he could get it back on the man spoke.
“Is that you Corvan?”
It was Jake.
“Am I glad to see you! I need to show you something you won’t believe.” Jake pulled Corvan to his feet so fast his boots left the ground.
Corvan had to jog to keep up with the large man as they went around the corner of a storage shed. The lights and sounds of the party faded away.
“Look.” Jake pointed to the ground near the mine entry. “They’ve been covered up by fresh snow out in the open but in here you can see them clear. It’s them same footprints again. The ones I saw with your grandfather down in the ABC mine when we closed it down.”
A line of Tsarek footprints were visible where he had crept in close to the building under the eaves. Corvan followed after Jake, intentionally dragging his feet to erase Tsarek’s tracks.
Jake stopped where the line of tracks headed out in the blowing snow towards the entrance into the mine. The tracks were vanishing under the new snow. Corvan bent down then looked up at Jake.
“These look a lot more like an animal with claws. The ones you told me about in the mine were from those tall thin people, but people don’t have claws. Maybe this was a just really big coyote?”
Jake nodded and rubbed a hand over the thick stubble on his chin. “My mind is just playing tricks on me again. I’ve been out here alone for way too long.”
Corvan stood and patted the man’s broad shoulder. “Could definitely be a bit of cabin fever on these long dark nights. Are you looking after the site for the Christmas break?”
They were coming closer to the mine entrance building with its slanted massive timbers that supported the wheels and the cable drum. Corvan could make out the indents of Tsarek’s tracks where he stopped at the front door, then hopped off to the side of the building.
“It’s not going to be just for the Christmas break, but you cain’t tell anyone else. They’ve hired me to live here for all of next year ‘cause this mine will be closing down.”
“That’s not great news.” Corvan pointed to the front door. “Can we step inside for a minute? It’s a cold night.”
Jake pulled out a key ring, sorted through the keys and opened the door. Corvan stepped inside and raised his voice. If Tsarek had made it inside, he want him to know that Jake was here with him. “I thought the new seam of coal my dad found was working out.”
“Not so loud, Corvan. The owners said I need to keep this a secret from everyone and not let anyone come inside the mine.”
Pulling a flashlight from his pocket, Jake turned it on and held it close to his body to shield the light from the windows. “That new shaft your dad found was going great but then we hit water again. The ground is unstable, and they have lost so much money buying and fixing pumps that they are thinking of closing the mine down for good.”
Corvan went to the lift and looked in through the metal grating. “That would be terrible for our town. Could you take me down and let me look? I explored that area a lot after my dad went missing. Maybe it’s not as bad as they think.”
Jake hesitated. “I guess with the noisy party they won’t hear the lift working. It sure would be great if you can help us find a way to keep everyone working.”
Jake unlatched the doors into the lift. “Better wait here a minute. I need to get us some lights and stuff.”
As Jakes bulk turned a corner, a shadow darted in from behind the lift. “Does this metal box go all the way down to the Cor?” Tsarek whispered, struggling to keep Corvan’s pack from falling off his back. “Should I hide inside it?” Corvan glanced inside the empty cage and shook his head. When he looked back Tsarek had vanished, and Jake was returning with two helmets and battery-operated lights. He held one out to Corvan.
“I know I said I would only use the acetylene lamps but I’m getting used to these ‘lectric ones. The flame on the regular one kept getting clogged and I didn’t have you around to clean it for me.” He handed one to Corvan. “But I don’t blame you for not coming back to work. I know it was important for you to stay at home to help your mom out.”
Corvan nodded. His mother must have given that excuse to Jake to explain his absence from work.
Jake slid the door of the lift to one side. “Might as well go all the way down to where the water is flowing.”
As Corvan stepped inside, a loud buzzer sounded from the back of the building. “That’s one of them blasted pumps again.” Jake said. “Number two’s got bad bearings. I need to take care of it before the owners at the party hear it and come to check it out. It’s going to take me a while.”
“It’s okay Jake. I’ll go down and look around. If I don’t see anything I might just come back up and head for home before more snow comes.”
“Okay. But be careful. I don’t need trouble. This might be the only job I can find for a long while and I got my family and kids to look after.”
He handed Corvan the helmets and battery packs and rushed off towards the back of the building.
Corvan put on his helmet and switched on the light. Tsarek appeared from a room in behind the lift. Strapped to his side was a canvas first aid belt pack with its distinctive white cross. He dropped Corvan’s pack on the floor.
“You can carry your own pack now.” He patted the first aid bag. “I found this to carry my things in.”
Pulling off the Santa suit, Corvan removed his grandfather’s camouflage cloak from the pack and shouldered the unique pack. It was reassuring to have it sinch up around him when he joined the front clasps together. Hanging the battery pack from the straps of the pack, he also reached into the lower compartment and clipped his krypin rope into place next to it. Throwing the cloak over the pack, he gathered up the Santa costume.
“If we are able to leave through the mine, we will be gone for a while. I need to take my costume to the truck and then move it out into the scrap piles of old equipment. The snow will cover it over and it looks like it belongs in a junkyard anyway. That way Jake will think we left. You stay here by the door and when I knock like this,” he tapped out a patten on the helmet Tsarek was fiddling with and trying to keep in place, “you can let me back in.”
By the time Corvan had hidden the truck and returned to the building the snow was falling thickly in wild gusts of wind. That would help to quickly cover up the truck and its tracks. He rapped out the secret knock, the door opened, and a bright beam of light cut across the falling snow. Tsarek stood inside, the battery clipped the belt of his first aid pack and the helmet perched on his head. Corvan jumped inside and reached down to shut off Tsarek’s headlight.
“We don’t want people to see where we went.”
“I like the light hat more than the one with the little bell.”
Corvan squinted at the metal helmet. Tsarek had somehow managed flatten it, like a conquistador helmet, in order to make it fit his narrow head.
“Let’s save the battery for later. It will be good to have the light if we find the tunnel. Let’s just get down to the bottom before Jake comes back. I will send the lift back up.” He paused and frowned.
“What is it?” Tsarek asked.
“If we don’t get through to the Cor and they cut the power to the lift, we will never be able to get back to the surface. In the spring they would find not only the truck up top but also our skeletons down below.”
