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The sinkhole came into view faster than anticipated and felt like a dagger to my stomach. It was still untouched. The underground caverns that made the hillside unstable for construction had been prone to much smaller holes in the past, always made worse by heavy rainfall like we’d had this year. The decision was made early on by geologists that Michaela and little Leila’s only chance for survival were in landing in one of those caverns and being shielded from the fallout of the collapse. They also immediately became concerned that any disturbance to the soil would risk dropping it on them if they were trapped below. My thoughts shifted back to the conversation I had once the recovery team arrived.
I stared at the geologist, desperate to understand the full scope of the situation. “And if they didn’t fall into a cavern?”
He rubbed a handkerchief over his dirty face, not budging even a single smudge of mud in the process. “The weight of the cave-in would have crushed them.” He paused, then said what he thought would be a comfort. “It would’ve been a fast death, Your Highness.”
I wrestled myself from dark thoughts and back to the present. Leila’s parents stood behind the tape that cordoned off the sinkhole. They hadn’t left either, though they had family and friends who brought food and blankets and stayed for comfort. Young Leila’s father worked at the hospital, and Leila often stayed overnight because she being treated for a blood disorder. She needed her infusion soon. Any rescue had to happen within the next twelve hours, or it wouldn’t matter if she’d managed to survive the fall. Her disease would kill her instead.
Leila’s father met my gaze, brow furrowed with questions neither of us could voice. He wanted news. He wanted to know what the future held, but I hardly knew what the next minute would bring. I shook my head once to let him know that we were just as lost as we were before. Crews were dispatched to search the caverns below but, thus far, nothing had turned up.
I shifted my trajectory to take on the incline toward the mouth of the caves at the top of the hill. The project supervisor owed me an update. But as I approached, Kellen Romford, the supervisor, looked away. A pit opened in my stomach, fearing the worst.
“Your Highness.” He offered a short bow, but since he wasn’t from Nolcovia, I didn’t expect much. I’d brought him in for his expertise, not his loyalty to the crown. “I’m afraid we’ve exhausted all accessible tunnels. We’ll start moving what we can as far as obstructions, but any blasting could end up causing more cave-ins and could kill any survivors.”
For an inexplicable reason, I began to laugh, but tears rolled over my cheeks, as though my emotions had finally snapped under the strain. I’d been up for forty-eight hours, only sleeping for snatches of no more than five minutes when I sat for a moment. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. Heartache was my only companion that stayed with me constantly through everything. And now he was telling me we’d reached the end? This was it? She was gone? The laughter choked in my throat, shifting to utter disbelief that threatened to destroy me.
“You’re giving up?” I struggled to speak, unable to keep myself together.
“No,” he set his hand over my shoulder, “but we need to be realistic. It’s been two days with no sign, no sound, nothing. Even if they landed in a cavern like we hoped, it’s more likely that they are deeply injured or they died on impact.”
“No.” I shoved his arm off. My mind refused his words. “I’ll keep searching myself if that’s what it takes.”
“Your Highness, my team is committed. But I need you to prepare yourself for the worst.” His eyes turned sympathetic. “We won’t give up, I swear. We’re here for the long haul.”
I cleared my throat, embarrassed by my outburst. “Thank you. I know this isn’t—“
A cry from down below caught my ears. “I hear her! I hear Leila!”
Eyes wide, I turned and started running down the hill before I processed anything else. Kellen matched my speed, just as eager to get to the sinkhole. The ground tipped and tilted. My body had nothing left to give and yet I pressed on. Hope felt more nourishing than food ever had been.
“Get me a probe now!” Kellen shouted orders at his team. “Push everyone back. This ground is unstable. Any wrong move can be fatal for everyone.”
I stared at the dirt, watching the disturbed earth for any sign of movement. “Let them be alive,” I whispered to myself. “Let them be alive.”
I didn’t understand the work Kellen’s team did, only that they moved quickly and precisely and with more energy than they had in the previous thirty-six hours. It took all of my power not to dive at the opening and start clawing at the ground again. My shaky hands trembled with all the desire I felt to search on my own. In order to calm myself, I thrust a hand in my pocket and found the wire tiara I’d folded in half. My thumb ran over the surface, grounding me in the moment, stabilizing my breathing enough that I was able to focus.
I knew it. The moment I watched her fall, I knew my mistake. I’d put my country above my love. Michaela was all that mattered. If I had the chance to make it right, I would. There was no path that would satisfy every problem, but she was all I wanted. All I needed. Michaela was everything, just like I’d promised her. But I silently prayed I hadn’t learned the lesson too late.
“Right here,” Kellen pointed at a section of earth, “can we get picture in there?”
The crew moved as one entity, shifting equipment, speaking words I couldn’t understand. Whatever Leila’s mother had heard, I was yet to hear it myself. Was it merely the delusion of a hysterical parent? Temperatures had dropped again. Snow would fall tonight. Another factor that could lead to their demise.
Time had run out.
We needed a miracle.
“Trowels only,” Kellen said as he rose to his feet. He ducked under the tape as two of his team members moved into position and started digging. I waited for him to come for me, but his stare remained locked on the sinkhole. Fear seemed to ease across his face like ice. From the moment he’d arrived, he’d been nothing but steady. What had caused the change in him?
“Help!” a tender voice barely escaped the wet soil. Leila! I sank to my knees, completely overcome. “Please, can you help me?”
“We’re coming, Leila!” her father yelled. “We’re coming!”
I raked my fingers through my hair, locking them around the back of my head. “Come on, Coco. Talk to me,” I whispered. “Please talk to me.”
“It’s unsteady, Sir,” one of the men digging spoke to Kellen. “How should we proceed?”
The professional’s jaw clenched. He glanced at Leila’s parents and back to the ever-deepening passage they’d created. “Dig faster. Get her out.”
Larger shovels appeared, along with scaffolding to offset the weight of those digging. Dirt moved quickly, creating a deeper crater inside the one already there. Leila’s voice spoke louder with every passing second.
