Freck shrieked, "Watch out! The ground's slidin'--help me!"

Ren was closest to her. He hollered, "Freck--quick--grab my hand! Hold on!" She did--then they both went slippin' towards a deep black hole.

I was standin' on a more stable outcroppin' at the time. Ropes connected us, but it warn't enough. The line jerked like a stretched rubber band. It almos' nearly pulled me off my feet. I held on as tightly as my scrawny arms could. My heels sunk into the scrabble. Yikes! The rocks was too loose. My feet slipped. The first thing ta bite it was my butt, elbows next, then my head cracked against hard stone--and then--and then, nothing . . .for a while . . . I don't know how long I was out. It was just sparklin' lights against a midnight backdrop.

"Wishes?...Wishes?" Freck was reachin' out ta me mind-to-mind.

I tried to respond, but couldn't speak. The dust so thick it choked me. Overwhelmin', gaspin' pain surged through me. It was so intense that all that I could eek out was, "Uhhh (cough) . . .uhhh (cough) . . .uhhh."

"Good, you're alive. Hurt, I'm sure, but alive."

"Freck," I cried out telepathically, "It aches so bad...I...think I must have broken somethin'. Maybe everythin'."

"Me too."

"Where are ya?"

"I don't know. I cain't even see my hand in front of my face," she wailed. "I'm wavin' it back and forth in front of my nose. It's so black I feel like I'm buried under a mountain of coal. Wishes, I'm real scart. Where's Ren? Do ya get any sense of him?" Then she went ominously silent.

After a bit, I mind-called, "Freck—are ya still there? Can ya hear me?"

"I was just feelin' my way through my body, ta figure out where the biggest pains are. My right side is the most excruciatin'. I cain't even move my leg. It must still be attached 'cuz it hurts like flamin' swords. If I try ta touch it---Owwwww, yikes, oh, oh, oh!

"Don't worry Freck, I'll come get you as soon as I get myself free from these here rocks." That turned out ta be more difficult than expected. When the rock slide happened, I got swept away by a couple of tons, or more, of pea-sized gravel. I was waist deep in the stuff, and every time I moved, more rocks slipped.

"Freck? Have ya heard anything from Ren yet? I tried to connect, but he didn't answer. Maybe he got knocked out or sumpthin'. Can ya see him from where you are?"

"No. It's totally dark. My flashlight got swept away in the gravel river. He could be right next ta me for all I knows. There ain't even a sliver of light or a glow of a sputterin' candle anywhere's."

She was cryin'. I heard her moanin' sobs, so's she couldn't be that far away. I called out, "Can ya hear him breathing', or movin', or anythin'?"

"No (sob). I'm scart stiff. My leg grieves me so bad I think I might black out, that is, if I don't suffocate first on all the dust in the air." She choked on the dirt. I listened to her tryin' ta spit it out.

"Freck maybe we shouldn't try ta talk out loud. Who knows what gulpin' in this awful crap could do ta us?"

Freck was one of the bravest people I ever knew. It would take a whole passel of yellow-toothed rabid rats ta scare her. I've seen her taunt a lairbeast appearin' as a giant sabertooth tiger, just ta save me. That takes guts. I guess this was enough, prob'ly more than enough. We'd gone to hell in a red-rock hand-basket. 'Course I couldn't see color now, but I did just before my flashlight was tore from my hand.

I knew she had reached her wit's end, by her voice and all the confusion in her head. She's somewhere nearby in the blackness, with probably a broken leg, and cain't move for the agony. I'm sure she's worried to death about me and Ren. I'll bet she's panicked that we might be even worse off. That would scare the bejesus out of anyone.

"Freck, let's just keep up the mind talk. Maybe that'll keep ya from thinkin' 'bout your misery. Are you stuck in the gravel too?"

Suddenly there was a plaintive wail that didn't come from Freck.

"OoOOoooH!"

"Ren, is that you?" Freck called out.

There was a second moan even loud'a.

"Is that a yes?"

"Freck—Wishes?" Ren mentally reached out.

"It's as black as the inside of a witches hat. We have ta see what's up. Can either of you reach a flashlight?" Freck asked. "I lost my pack in the slide."

I felt around with my right-hand looking for my pack. I tried movin' my left but the torment was like a thousand spears goin' through me. It hurt so much I was sick to my stomach. Nothin'. I couldn't find nothin' at all. I mind-spoke ta Freck, "Sorry, Freck, mine's gone too."

Ren went silent again. That wasn't good. What if he was dead? How could two badly injured kids cope with a tragedy like that? Ren, a grown man, was sent as our protector. If he was gone, what would we do? Panic threatened. I was workin' myself up inta real lather when Freck spoke ta me mind-to-mind, "Ren must have conked out. How bad are ya hurt Wishes?"

"I think my left arm is broken. My head's on fire. There's sumpthin' sticky that smells like copper on my cheek. It's prob'ly blood. I think I could stand up, if I rolled over onto my knees, but I don't dare. It's too dark to see what I might stir up. How are ya doin'Freck?"

"I cain't move. I'm sure my leg's broken, or maybe it's my hip. I cain't tell. Other than that, I think I'm all right. What're we going ta do Wishes?" she moaned, "What're we going ta do? Even if I could see anythin' I cain't move. What if I'm by a cliff or something? A sneeze could knock me over.

I didn't have no answers. I never felt so helpless. It was eerily dark. It was like my head was wrapped in a wad of black cotton, stuffed in a poke, and cinched real tight. Ren was out cold. Freck might be hurt really badly, and at the very least, I probably had a broken arm and a cracked noggin. I wish't we had some light. I blasted out a telepathic call to Gee the Whistlin' Salamander. Wishin' on the salamander has always worked. I wish't that I'd get my mother back, and I did. Once I wished I could slide down Hawks Hill on bars of soap in the rain. That happened too, but I was very sorry it did when I crashed into a boulder in Indian Creek. Ren rescued us that day. He took us ta the hospital prob'ly savin' both our lives.

Like Grand Keeper Chrys told us, magic appears when ya ask, when ya really believe, and the need is urgent. Belief was no problem. I dug down deep inta m'self ta connect with the source of power, and prayed for help. I had seen it work a few times, although it doesn't usually happen in the way you'd expect.

Somethin' was happenin' though. I could feel it. There was a tinglin' sensation. I tried to guess the form cigam would take. Would the room light up? Maybe a rescuer with a flashlight would get through. That would be good. Whatever happened, we desperately needed to see our predicament. We couldn't do nothin' until we could see again. My hands started ta itch. They was gettin' warmer. It felt good because it was so dang cold in here. Dark and real cold like being in a runnin' fridge with the door slammed shut. I peered down where my hands would be--if I could see them. I turned my palms up, and there smack dab in the center where it was the warmest I thought I could see a faint glow. It was dim as a lightnin' bug comin' out just b'fore nightfall. It was so weak that it was no more than a sputter. Was I imagin' it? I kept starin' at the spot, hopin' it warn't mind trickery. I strained so hard to see, my eyes felt like they were goin' tanpop right outta my head. And the bitsy little light got stronger. I swear it. It warn't my imagination at all. My hands was gettin' warmer, and the hotter they got the stronger was the light. Dad gum it was real. Sure at first it wasn't much brighter than one of those glow-in-the-dark Halloween costumes, but then the light kept on gettin' stronger and brighter. Now it's little glow was better than the nightlight my in my bedroom. It was enough to see by, but just barely. I saw the red gravel I was stuck in. Thank goodness the glow was still expandin'. The light had spread from a tiny spot at the center of my palms to the whole palm. Now it was creepin' up inta my fingers and thumb. I was so amazed at what was happenin' that I almost forgot where I was, until Freck mind-spoke to me.

"Wishes, why 'yer so quiet? Did you go unconscious like Ren?"

"No—sumpin' magical is happenin'"

Just them my palms lit up like I had 60 watt bulbs und'a my skin.

"Wow!" I could see a whole lot bett'a . Oh no! I was in stinkin' vat of trouble. There was maybe twenty feet from where I stood, in a waist deep pool of gravel, ta anthin' that looked even remotely stable, and that was mighty iffy.

"What's that glow, Wishes?"

"You won't believe it Freck, but I wished on the Whistlin' Salamander that I would get some light so's I could see, and it worked!"

"Does that mean you can 'scape them rocks?"

"Gosh, I hope so. I'm not in a good place. I'm gonna try to figure sumpin' out."

Not in good place, ha, that was an understatement. How in the name of the Gardner (Gardner is the Keeper's name for God) was I goin' ta get out without causin' another slide. Then it came to me. I once saw a Tarzan movie where he got stuck in quicksand. He relaxed and swamp right out. Wasn't this kind of like quicksand? The trick was to not struggle against it, and stroke my way out. So I laid down uphill on my back. Ignorin' the pain I wriggled m'self on ta my stomach. My head dippin' under. Small rocks dug at, and in, my nose. I had to set it aside and began movin' my arms out, and back, in what's called a breaststroke. At first I couldn't move my legs. My left arm felt like it was on fire. I'd have to manage one handed. Maybe I could nudge some with my shoulder.

A little at a time, with wrigglin' motions, I felt the rocks releasin' me until my feet were loosed enough that I could slowly move them. With a few small kicks my feet and legs came up closer ta the surface. That made it easier ta keep up the small kickin' motions while my hands struggled through the loose gravel.

I couldn't swim straight acrost because the rocks kept a slidin' sendin' me downward. Each gain forward had an almost equal loss down.

I had ta go slow because any quick movements set me back more and threatened ta release another load of gravel over me. Calm. I had to get calm. It warn't easy especially with the dust so thick it was like bein' in a sandstorm. I didn't know what was goin' ta happen next, or even if I would be able to force m'self through the pain. I was a scared dyin' sinner, facin' hell fires. Somehow I understood that if I gave intamy fear, we would never get out. It was up to me ta save m'self and the others. They was dependin' on me. "Don't struggle against it," I told m'self over, and over again. I discovered that if I wriggled in a kind'a dance and carefully nudged a way between gaps of the pebbles I could make progress. It was inch-by-painful-inch, but I was makin' headway. I knew it even if I couldn't always see it. The light was in my palms and my palms were mostly under the rocks. When my right arm surfaced I could see what was ahead, but when I forced it down for another stroke there was only blackness again. It was dark-light-dark-light, but I was getting closer. I knew it. There was a slim hope. Stroke and kick. Stroke and kick.

Twenty feet ain't usually a great distance. Heck, Olympic long jumpers could do it easily in one leap. A jump like that wouldn't even set a record. If I was on solid ground I could cover it in a few steps, but when sunk halfway in gravel, twenty-feet may as well be a mile.

I don't really know how long it took for me to reach solid rock. It could have been a few minutes or an hour. Time gets tricky when you are in total darkness with senses dulled by pain. However long it took I finally reached my destination. I was able to grab a one-hand hold of an outcroppin'. My breathin' was choppy like a slow startin' lawn mower.

While catchin' a breath I looked 'round. My lighted palms revealed a cavern filled with towerin' stone pillars. Strewn about were big boulders, and rocks of every size, and shape. I was sittin' m'self on a pebble covered incline. If I warn't careful I could could slip like I was walkin' on marbles. I spotted Ren some fifteen feet away buried in baseball sized rocks. Only one side of his face was visible. Freck was closer, but her circumstances didn't appear ta be any better. I made another wish that I could move freely, to help my friends. There was a tinglin' warm feelin' that gushed into my left arm. My head stopped throbbin'. The warmth stopped all the hurtin'. Unbelievable. How long would it last? I dared not waste any time, 'cuz it might disappear as quick as it came. I got up and kicked the pebbles off my path as I eased myself over to Freck. It wouldn't do ta slip. No any misstep would surely send me tumblin' down inta the black hole below.