Page 51 of Chasing Sunsets

He sleepily yawned and gestured for her to cover her microphone. She doubted they were recording yet, but did as he asked.

“I took your advice and called her,” he murmured. “We talked all night. That phone conversation was better than any date I’ve been on.”

She smiled. “She’s special.”

“That, she is,” he said, a faraway look in his eyes.

Jessie handed out a map that directed them on a short drive north to Natural Bridge Caverns. Billboards on the highway leading to the caves showed the inside was normally lit, yet they were given head lights when they arrived. Backpacks, containing breakfast, were handed to each team as they entered the dark cave. Everyone arrived about the same time since very little traffic cluttered the roads this early. The only light came from contestants’ headlamps, and most pointed down at the path. Camera operators wore them as well. A musty earthly odor filled the air. A recorded message played. She listened, knowing something in the recording would probably be questions they had to answer later.

She and Zack passed a couple of teams going slow, but Lowell and Uri sped by them like they were standing still. She’d seen pictures of caves, yet never been inside one. After a while, she stepped off the narrow path into a wide expansive area.

Zack followed her. “You okay?”

She couldn’t lift her face to his without shining her light in his eyes. “Would you mind if we took a second to look around?”

“I’d love to. I’ve never been in a cave.”

“Me either.”

Many of the camera workers were in this part of the cave using their headlights to illuminate the darkness as they filmed, making it bright enough to see everything. Sadie marveled at the massive inside extending high and wide in this section. She pointed to what appeared to be icicles hanging from the ceiling. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“Those must be the soda straw stalagmites the recording talked about. I can’t believe we’ve never gone spelunking.”

“Yeah. This is nature’s majesty at its finest.” She took one last glance around. “We better get back to it.”

“I’m hungry.” Zack lifted the backpack from his shoulder.

“Me too.”

They resumed their journey while eating trail mix and a peach. The path varied from narrow to vast. They trekked for hours, encountering water here and there. Some places became so narrow she could touch both sides of the cave while going through.

“Damn it.”

Sadie lifted her head to peer down the path to see who’d spoken. This part of the cave looked like a big tunnel. Lowell sat on the ground holding his ankle.

Uri hunched over him. “How bad is it?”

“Bad enough I’m on the ground!”

Uri lifted him. Lowell put his injured ankle down and hobbled forward.

When Zack and Sadie caught up to them, Uri waved. “You guys go ahead.”

“Need help?” Zack asked.

“I rolled my ankle.” Lowell staggered another step holding on to the cave wall.

Zack motioned to Uri. “Take his other side.”

The two men raised Lowell’s arms over their shoulders and wrapped their arms around his back. Sadie went ahead of them, pointing out potential problems on the path. They rounded a corner, and she saw a faint light. She quickened their pace, assuming the exit was not far. A short distance later, they stepped into the bright sunshine to find two signs. RAPPELLER pointed left to another cave and MINER to the right. Advertisement billboards on the highway for the cave had included panning for gems, fossils, and other treasures.

Uri and Zack helped Lowell onto a bench, and Uri said, “You’re the adventure seeker, you rappel.”

His quip made Sadie laugh. Lowell could barely walk, much less rappel. She bit her lip when she saw Lowell’s angry reaction.

“This is why I walked out, Uri. You never take anything seriously.”

“And you need to lighten up. To you, everything is gloom and doom.”

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