Chapter 30 - Into the Ridge
We scrambled off the far end of the catwalk just as the heavy iron grating gave way beneath the weight of our pursuers' gunfire, plunging into the roaring white water below with a loud, metallic clatter.
Before the two men could find another way across the creek, we ducked into the dark, yawning mouth of an old copper mining tunnel that cut deep into the limestone ridge. The air inside was instantly cool, damp, and smelled of wet stone and ancient iron ore.
I pulled a heavy-duty tactical flashlight from my coat, clicking it on to reveal a narrow, sloping shaft that stretched downward into the absolute dark.
"Can you walk, Sarah?" I asked, turning back to check on her. Her breathing was shallow, heaving slightly from the sprint, but her eyes were sharp and clear.
"I can walk," she said, squeezing Lily’s small hand tighter. "Let's move before they find the upper entrance."
We walked deep into the mine shaft, navigating past rusted ore carts, rotting wooden support beams, and pools of crystal-clear underground water. For an hour, we moved in silence, guided only by the piercing beam of the flashlight cutting through the eternal night.
Finally, ahead of us, a faint, pale circle of natural daylight appeared at the end of the tunnel—a narrow fissure opening up into a hidden, high-altitude alpine meadow completely surrounded by sheer granite cliffs.
We stepped out into the crisp, clean air of the upper plateau. Below us, miles away, the vast expanse of Lake Superior gleamed like a sheet of hammered silver under the afternoon sun.
Lily walked over to the edge of the cliff, looking out over the endless green expanse of the northern wilderness. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small piece of red thread, and tied it securely around a low-hanging branch of a wild pine tree growing out of the rock face.
"What is that for?" I asked, walking up beside her.
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"To mark the trail," she said simply, looking up at me with those serious, unblinking eyes. "So we always know where we came from."
I smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder, and looked back toward the dark mouth of the mine shaft behind us. The shadows were gone. The debt was paid. And for the first time in thirty years, the road ahead of us was entirely our own.
