Page 78 of The Promise
"So if the lantern is new again then—" He broke off, the beginnings of a smile lighting his face.
"Then, maybe, just maybe, the locket has worked its magic."
The smile faded as he drew his brows together in thought. "But Vargas had the necklace. It must have been buried in the rock slide."
"Maybe it doesn't matter. I mean, if this lantern is any indication, then maybe the locket did its stuff."
His brow cleared and the smile burgeoned in full. "And if the cave-in occurred in your time, then—d"
In her excitement, she interrupted him. "Maybe there wasn't one in your time. Which means that?—"
"I might be home."
Her face fell, the moment of elation evaporating as the meaning of his words became clear. If he was home that would mean that she was now a card carrying member of the nineteenth century.
And without the locket, it was a one way ride.
21
"Cara? Honey, are you all right?"
Cara forced herself to focus on Michael's face, pushing her panic down. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. She'd learned a long time ago that she had no control over life. And nothing happening now had changed her opinion. She squared her shoulders. Their immediate concern had to be getting Michael to Patrick. "I'm fine." She'd face the enormity of what she was doing later. When she had the luxury. Glancing to the shifting shadows beyond the lamplight, she pulled in a fortifying breath. "Let's get out of here."
Michael squeezed her shoulder, then bent to pick up the lantern, already moving toward the front of the tunnel. She started to follow and then noticed the pack of matches at her feet. 'Waste not want not' and all that. She scooped them up and stuffed them in her pocket, wondering if John Heywood had ever thought about time travel, then quickened her pace, following the pale glow of Michael's lamp.
Rounding the last bend of the tunnel, she skidded to a stop, the sunlight filtering in through the opening a truly awesomething to behold. It played off the rock walls, making them glisten and glitter. Michael was already heading outside, his mind obviously centered on the task of finding his brother and keeping him alive. She started to follow just as he stepped out into the sunshine.
One second she saw his silhouette outlined by the sun, and the next, he disappeared and everything went dark. Deep impenetrable black. Fear stung her throat as she swallowed a scream. She forced herself to walk forward, hands extended, choking back a sob. Panicking wouldn't help. In only a few short steps, her worst nightmare was confirmed as her hands touched the sharp-edged roughness of the cave-in. Michael was gone. She sank to her knees, trying to think.
She'd watched him walk out of the tunnel. The sunlight had been blinding. One minute he was there, and the next—gone. Safe in his own time. Which meant she was alone in her own time, with no way out. As if to underscore the thought, a flurry of rocks rained down from the ceiling.
"Cara?"
She jerked up. "Michael? I'm here." She could hear his voice from the other side of the rocks. Then, suddenly, he was there and the mine was filled with light again. She flung herself into his arms, content for the moment just to feel his heart beating next to hers.
"What happened?" His voice caressed her ear. "You disappeared."
She sucked in a breath, still trying to calm herself. "I don't know." She paused, trying to force the words out. "One minute you were there and then you were gone."
He massaged her back with one strong hand, the other reaching under her chin, tipping her head up. "You were still in your time."
She closed her eyes and drew in a calming breath, exhaling slowly. "Trapped."
He frowned at the entrance, tantalizing now with its false offer of freedom. "But I got out."
"Into your own time, Michael. Maybe we're destined to stay where we belong." She tried but couldn't keep the hopelessness from her voice. "I can't go through those rocks. I can't go back to your time."
"I won't accept that." His eyes flashed with anger.
She shook her head, shaking off her self-pity. "You may not have a choice."
He frowned considering what she'd said. "There's always a choice, Cara. And I will not leave you here to die."
"So what? You'll stay here and die with me? You'll let Patrick die, too?" She tried but couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Everything she cared about she lost. And now, in some bitter sort of irony, she was going to have to force him to leave her to die.
"You're making this all too cut and dried. There has to be a way out."
"Maybe. I don't know." She ran a hand through her hair, trying to fight against the feeling of inevitability. "But the fact remains that you got out and I couldn't."
