The B Girls - By Cari Cole Page 0,49

didn't respond to Lucy's question.

"Mae?" Lucy said it a little louder hoping to snap her out of her trance.

"Wh-what?"

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief when Mae answered. Her voice was soft and hesitant, almost a whisper but at least she was speaking.

"Are you okay?"

Lucy saw Mae's shoulders rise and fall as she took a deep breath.

"Can we just keep moving? If there is another bear around here I'd rather not meet it while my butt's hanging over eternity. I'd rather face a bear than stay on the side of this hill with my ass in the breeze one second longer than necessary."

Jane snickered from above. "Glad your cheerful button still works."

"She has a point, Jane. You're holding up the works. Move it," Lucy said.

Rappel

First Jane and then Mae stepped up onto the ledge that formed the lover's forearm.

Lucy heard a rustling in the underbrush downhill and to her right just as she climbed up after them. She ignored it. There'd already been enough bear discussion. Plus, she found Mae hugging the rock wall and looking anywhere but down so she figured the last thing Mae needed was to hear any more worrisome news.

Hell, the last thing she needed was more bad news. Unfortunately she was afraid the worst was waiting for her in the dark.

She gave her head a shake and focused on the moment--the dark would come soon enough.

"We're going in now right?" Mae asked as soon as she saw Lucy.

Lucy figured Mae's fear of heights trumped her tiny touch of claustrophobia. At least she supposed it was claustrophobia. It wasn't so much the small space in the cave as the thought of all the weight of the rock and earth just hovering over her head in a cave that gave her a little twinge.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad in this cave. Not like the feeling she'd had at Ruby Falls where they went down in an elevator--deep down.

"Yes, we're going in now. You'll have to take off your pack to squeeze through the opening," Lucy said.

"Suits me. Anything to get off this ledge," Mae said.

"I still don't know how you think you're going to maneuver in the dark," Jane said.

Mae shrugged. "We'll see. I promise not to hold you up."

"We're not going to be in any hurry. We're going to be very careful," Lucy said. "We won't be helping Belle unless we come out in one piece--with the Declaration."

"Careful is fine as long as it doesn't paralyze us," Jane said.

Mae was shrugging out of her pack. "Let's just get inside. I'll go first." She handed Lucy her pack. "Hold this and pass me all three when I get inside."

She squeezed into the opening. "Boy, you weren't kidding about the tight fit." She grimaced, sucked in a deep breath and wriggled inside. "Wow. It is dark in here."

Instead of replying, Lucy shoved Mae's pack into the crack. Mae took it. Lucy handed hers in and moved back for Jane to do the same.

"After you," Jane said as she stepped aside with a sweeping gesture.

"Gee thanks. If I didn't know better I'd say Mae wasn't the only one with a little phobia." Wouldn't it just suck if they all had some fear to deal with inside? Who would be the cheerleader?

"I'm fine. You want me to go next?" Jane said.

"No. I'll go." The sooner she went in the sooner she could come back out. Lucy sucked in a deep breath and squished her way into the cave.

Jane followed close behind.

Mae had already put on her helmet and headlamp.

She blinded Lucy with the lamp. Lucy threw a hand up in front of her eyes. "Look down. I'll have spots dancing in front of me for hours."

The beam shifted to the floor. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Jane squeezed into the cave and winced when the light on Lucy's helmet zapped her in the eye. "Damn, that could be a real pain in the ass," she said.

"We'll just have to make an effort not to look each other in the eye." Lucy pulled the map out of her pack and looked it over yet again. There wasn't anything new to see and the lack of detail made her nervous. She had a feeling things weren't quite as simple as the map made them look.

"Well? Are we ready?" Jane asked.

Lucy pointed to the opening at the left side of the small entrance room. "The first hole is right through there. We should probably put on our climbing gear here and have the rope