Only 03 - Only You

answer was, “I can get through any hole a cat can. Ask Reno. He calls me gata.”
    Rafe slammed his open hand against the rock wall and swore viciously.
    But despite his anger, he didn’t crawl into thecoyote hole and drag Eve back. If she could get through the opening, she was Reno’s best chance of survival.
    And if Reno was dead, Eve could find out that, too, before Caleb or Wolfe got killed trying to dig out a man who was no longer alive.
    Eve crawled and clawed her way through the rubble, lured by the haze of lantern light ahead. The last foot was the hardest, for the cave-in all but filled the opening. There was just enough space for her to put one arm and her head through. Using her feet to push, she drove herself through the hole.
    Abruptly the ceiling gave way.
    For an instant Eve felt a crushing weight. Then a tongue of rubble shot forward, taking her with it. She sprawled across the uneven floor of the tunnel and fought for breath.
    The first thing Eve saw was Reno’s lantern. The second was Reno’s head and shoulders sticking out of a pile of rubble left by the series of cave-ins. The third thing she saw was that Rafe had accidentally done what the Spanish had done many times by design; he had dug a new coyote hole connecting to the big tunnel.
    Eve didn’t know she was crying Reno’s name until the broken echoes came back at her. Coughing dryly, she pulled her bandanna into place and crawled toward Reno through the swirls of dust stirred by the new cave-in.
    “Eve!” Rafe yelled. “Are you all right?”
    “I found Reno!”
    “Is he alive?”
    Eve reached out to Reno, but her hand was shaking so badly, she couldn’t tell if there was a pulse in his neck. Then she saw blood welling slowly from a cut on his forehead.
    Distantly Eve became aware of Rafe shouting her name.
    “He’s alive!” she yelled back.
    “Praise God. Watch out. I’m coming through.”
    Moments later another shower of rubble spurted from the unstable wall where coyote holes riddled the old tunnel. Stones as big as Eve’s fist hammered down. One of them struck the lantern, knocking it over and extinguishing it. Another struck Reno, who groaned softly. The remainder of the rocks added another layer to the mound covering him.
    “Stop!” Eve yelled. “Rafe, stop! Every time you move, Reno gets buried deeper!”
    “All right. I’m stopping. What happened to the light?”
    “A stone knocked it over and spilled the fuel.”
    Rafe swore.
    Eve groped in darkness through her pockets. Finally she found the stub of candle that Reno had insisted she carry in case something happened to her lantern.
    Suddenly light from Rafe’s lantern poured through the small opening that was all that remained of the coyote hole.
    “Can you see now?” he asked.
    “Yes. Wait.”
    A match sizzled. Soon a candle flame burned cleanly against the enveloping darkness. Eve crawled deeper into the old tunnel and wedged the base of the candle into a crevice.
    “I’ve got light now,” she said.
    “How bad is Reno hurt?”
    “I don’t know. He’s facedown, buried from his heels to his ribs. He’s got a cut on his forehead.”
    Rocks fell and rolled as the mine adjusted to its new shape.
    “Can you get him out of reach of another cave-in?” Rafe asked urgently.
    Eve put her hands beneath Reno’s arms and pulled. He groaned again. She closed her eyes and pulled harder.
    The rocks covering Reno barely stirred.
    “I’ve got to get the rubble off him first,” Eve said.
    “Be quick about it. That opening is damned unstable.”
    She worked frantically, pushing rocks until Reno was free to his hips.
    “Eve?” Rafe called.
    “I’ve got all but his legs uncovered.”
    “Want me to try to come through and help?”
    Even as Rafe spoke, more rocks came raining down on Reno.
    “Stop digging!” Eve said frantically.
    “I didn’t move!”
    Rocks bounced and groanced and rattled.
    “Get up the tunnel as far back from the coyote hole as you can,” Rafe ordered.
    “But Reno—”
    Another wave of rubble lapped out from the unstable wall as a low, grinding sound vibrated through the mine.
    “You can’t help him now!” Rafe yelled savagely. “Save yourself!”
    As though in a dream, Eve saw the wall shiver and shift minutely as it began to unravel.
    Adrenaline poured through her in a wild cataract. She didn’t stop to think or worry or wonder. She just hooked her hands under Reno’s arms and pulled with every bit of strength and