13
"Much as I'd like to see Jack," Charlie said, "I hope he don't pop in right now. This might be just a leetle hard to explain."
Gia laughed. "I wouldn't even bother. I'd just get on his case about what took him so long."
Gia's feet rested in a foothold about four feet off the floor of their prison and her arm ached as she dug a new hole above her head in the dirt wall. Charlie was behind and below her, holding her in place by pushing against the backs of her upper thighs. He'd dug out the first four holes in record time-the ability to do something to help them out had galvanized him into a digging machine-stretching as far as he could for the last; then it was Gia's turn. Somebody needed to use the foot- and handholds to dig the next ones. Since she was smaller and lighter, it was easier for Charlie to hold her up.
"God, this dirt is hard."
She kept her eyes closed and her face averted to avoid the loose earth that rained down as she stabbed the cross into the wall. She was covered with dirt; her short blond hair was especially full of it; she felt gritty and grimy, but she kept jabbing away. They were making progress, they were getting out.
The cross clunked against something in the hole. Another swing, another clunk, with very little dirt falling out.
"Uh-oh. I think I'm up against a rock."
"You got it deep enough for a foot yet?"
Gia gauged the opening to be three inches deep, tops. "Not yet."
"See if you can dig around it."
"What if it's too big?"
She felt Charlie shift behind her.
"Here. Stand on my shoulders and see if you can get a look. If it too big we shift the hole to one side. If it ain't, see if you can yank it out."
"You're sure?"
"Do it. Just don't go droppin' it on my dome."
Clinging to the shallow depression she'd been digging, Gia lifted one hesitant foot onto Charlie's shoulder, then the other. Straightening her knees, she raised her head to the level of the hole and looked in-
-to find the empty sockets of a child's skull staring back at her.
Gia let out a scream of shock and revulsion and lurched back. She lost her grip and started to fall. Terrified, she nailed her arms about but could find nothing to hold on to. Somehow Charlie managed to catch her and save her from injury.
"What's wrong?"
Gia sobbed. "A child's skeleton. Maybe Tara herself. I hate this!" she shouted, letting the tears flow. She thought of Vicky, how except for luck that might have been her skull. "This shouldn't happen to anyone, especially not a child!" She wiped at her tears and the back of her hand came away muddy. "What kind of monster-?"
The ground shook then. Just a little, but enough to bring her around.
Charlie was turning, looking up at the surrounding walls. "You feel that?"