Eternity (Montgomery/Taggert 17)

Carrie knew instantly that he was asking her advice, that he was asking for her help. Frantically, she began searching her mind for what they had brought. Please, they couldn’t have to go back down the mountain to get something to make a sling to carry an unconscious child in. The canvas bags they had brought weren’t strong enough to hold a sturdy little boy, and they didn’t have enough rope.

Suddenly, Josh reached out and put his hand on Carrie’s waist, his fingers moving around her stomach as though feeling for something.

It took her moments to understand, and when she did, she smiled. Yes, her corset. Immediately, with Josh’s nimble-fingered help, she unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it out of the trousers she wore, and Josh deftly helped her with the corset strings. When Josh had it in his hands, he opened the corset, frowning at its small size, not sure if it was going to be big enough to go around him and the child.

Unbuckling her trousers, Carrie gave Josh the belt, then slipped out of the trousers and held them up to him, demonstrating that he could tie the legs around Tem’s inert body.

Josh nodded at her, then, with most of her clothing tied about him, he took the rope and walked to the edge of the ridge, Carrie right beside him. “When I have him, I’ll whistle and you pull. Understand?”

“Yes,” Carrie shouted back.

When he was on the brink of the ridge, he paused. Carrie knew what was in his mind, knew what he felt, because she felt the same way.

As though they had been friends and lovers forever, she leaned forward and kissed him. “Good luck,” she whispered against his lips.

“Break a leg,” he said, then he was over the ridge.

Carrie couldn’t see a thing, and she was sure that the time that Josh spent down below was the longest of her life. Hanging over the side, she strained to see or hear anything. She lay down on the sodden ground, oblivious to the fact that now she wore only her boots, knee-length drawers, and chemise. The thin cotton was no protection against the cold and the wet, but she didn’t feel the storm, for she was too intent on what was going on below to worry about herself.

At long, long last, a whistle came and she gave a little prayer of thanks as she ran to the tree and grabbed the rope. She was young and she was strong and she was determined. At another time, she might not have had the strength to pull on the rope as she did now, but knowing that

Tem and Josh were at the end of it gave her a great deal of strength.

At one point she thought there was someone helping her pull, but when she looked back, she saw no one. Then, lightning flashed, and she nearly screamed at the sight of an old man, a man who wore patched leather clothes and was dirty even in the rain, standing behind her and pulling on the rope. Swallowing the scream that came to her throat, she nodded thanks to him, then kept on pulling.

At long last she saw Josh’s head appear. She held her breath. Then, as he came over the ridge, she saw Tem harnessed to the front of him by the means of a corset, a pair of men’s trousers, and Josh’s shirt sleeves.

Dropping the rope, she ran to them, grabbing at Tem frantically. From what she could see of him, he didn’t look to be alive.

Turning into the darkness, where she could see no one, but knew that the old man and the little girl were there, she shouted, “Where can we go? Help us, please.”

They had to wait for the next flash of lightning, then they saw the little girl again and she was pointing east. Neither Josh nor Carrie hesitated, but began scrambling down the rock face toward the horses, Josh holding his son to him as though he were fragile and precious—as he was.

When they reached the horses, Josh handed Tem to Carrie. She struggled under the weight of the child who was almost as tall as she was while Josh mounted and reached down for his son, easily taking him onto the saddle in front of him. Carrie ran to her mare, pulled on the reins and freed the knot, then mounted.

The little girl appeared to them twice more before they found the cave. When Josh had dismounted with Tem in his arms, Carrie pulled both of the horses into the mouth of the cave.

The cave had a sandy bottom, and there was dry firewood stacked along one wall. In the back she could see a stack of what looked like blankets. There was also an ancient coffeepot and half a dozen mugs. For all that it was a cave, it looked as though it were used as a guest house.

“Get him out of his wet clothes and wrap him up while I build a fire,” Josh said.

Carrie lost no time in obeying. She had Tem out of his sodden clothes in seconds, but before she wrapped him in a dry blanket, she inspected him to see how badly he was injured. No bones were broken. There were bruises all over him, and there was a cut on the side of his head, but for the most part he just seemed to be cold.

Wrapping him in two blankets, covering his head, she pulled him to her and rubbed his back and sides.

Josh came to her and carried Tem to the fire, where he had put the coffeepot filled with rainwater and a handful of Carrie’s tea. “Get out of those wet clothes,” he ordered.

It was then that Carrie realized that she was nearly as cold as Tem. Moving to the back of the cave, she took off her clothes and wrapped herself in a blanket, then went back to Josh and Tem.

Josh was holding his son to him as though he meant to put life back into him, and as Carrie watched, Tem’s eyes fluttered.

“Tem,” Josh said. “I want you to talk to me.”

Lazily, Tem opened his eyes and smiled at his father. “I fell. I saw the wild girl and I fell.”

Josh looked up at Carrie. The poor child must have felt guilty at scaring Tem. “It’s all right,” Josh said, stroking his son’s damp hair. “You’re safe now and your wild girl told us where to find you.”

“I didn’t get a rattlesnake.”