heavy arm slid across her shoulders and Rick spoke low in her ear. “Let’s get the kids rounded up, okay? I’d like to get started.”
Summer nodded and his arm dropped away. But when she looked back at Kyndal, the young woman’s face broke into a wide, knowing grin, and she gave Summer a wink.
Summer winked back, feeling like they’d shared some secret. She liked this woman. She believed they could become good friends if given the opportunity.
After a few calls and whistles, they had the kids seated in a semicircle on the grass in the Brennans’ backyard. A concrete structure jutted out of the ground with a door built on a slant into it.
The campers had spent so much time Friday night in the storm shelter at the camp, showing them another one seemed silly. “Another storm cellar?” she whispered to Rick, wrinkling her nose.
“Trust me,” he whispered back.
“Does anybody know what this is?” Chance asked, pointing to the structure. His dark eyes scanned the crowd and a grin illuminated his face when everyone’s hand went up.
Howie waved his hand frantically and was rewarded when Chance pointed to him. “It’s a storm shelter. We were in one of those during the storm the other night.” The boy sat back with a look of satisfaction on his face before blurting, “My dad’s going to build us one of those.”
“We need to talk about Howie,” she whispered, and Rick’s eyebrow shot up in question. She shook her head. “Not now.”
“You’re right. It is a storm shelter,” Chance was saying, and the boy’s face beamed with smug satisfaction. “But this isn’t an average storm shelter. This door also leads into an underground cave.”
A collective gasp of surprise moved through the group.
“Have any of you ever been in a cave?” Chance asked, and three hands went up, including Howie’s, which was once again waving.
Before Chance could call on him, Howie was already talking. “My dad says he’s gonna take me to some cave that’s big and famous and has snowballs in it!”
“He’s talking about Mammoth Cave. It’s only a couple of hours from here,” Chance explained. “It doesn’t really have snowballs, but there is a huge room called the Snowball Dining Room that’s covered in white quartz crystals, so it looks like snowballs are stuck to the walls and ceiling.”
Howie’s hand shot up again, but Neil leaned down and said something to him and the boy dropped his hand, disappointment etched on his face.
The look weighed on Summer’s heart.
“Well, caves can be dangerous.” Chance’s face grew serious. “My wife and I got lost in this cave a few years ago. We entered the cave about a quarter mile from here, not planning on going very deeply into it. But a piece of the floor broke, and Kyndal and I fell into a subterranean passage. Do you know what that means?”
“A path that’s underground,” M&M said.
“That’s right.” Chance nodded. “And Kyndal broke her ankle in the fall.”
Hank squirmed in his mother’s arms and she put the child down. He ran to Rick, who picked him up. “We have to be quiet while Daddy’s talking, bud,” Rick whispered, and the child nodded.
Summer smiled to herself, noticing how her once-frosty attitude toward him had melted into a warm puddle that seemed to linger in her belly now.
“Beneath where we’re standing is a little room that was built a long, long time ago by the Native Americans who lived in this area.”
“My dad says we’re part Indian,” Howie said.
Chance smiled patiently. “A lot of people around here are, and that makes the little room very special. Mr. Rick led the rescue team that found us and saved our lives.”
Another gasp of surprise moved through the group and all eyes turned to look at Rick. He shifted uncomfortably. A spontaneous round of applause caused his face to blush redder than Summer thought possible. This was the same rescue Sheriff Blaine mentioned yesterday—and Rick had been embarrassed then, too.
When the applause quieted down, Chance finished his story. “Kyndal and I want to keep this ancient room safe, so we don’t allow many people to see it. But we’re going to take you all down a few at a time to look at it.” An excited titter passed through the campers.
“You won’t be allowed to go into the room,” Kyndal added. “But you can stick your head in the opening, and look around. We’ve put some lanterns in there so you can see.”