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them loose.”
    “What good will that do? We still can’t climb out of the hole,” Mariah said.
    “Someone could hear us yelling. With the boards on, the sound is trapped.”
    “What about other ways out? Don’t these shafts lead to tunnels?”
    Baylor searched the earthen walls with the flashlight beam. “Sometimes, but most of these vertical shafts were air vents, or exploratory holes that go nowhere.”
    “If this one is an air vent, then the actual mine shaft would be below us?”
    “Yeah.” He glanced at her. Her face was coated in dirt, the sleeve of her blouse ripped almost off. He should have been paying attention topside, instead of kissing her. Maybe he’d have been able to protect her.
    “What if we go down?”
    He pulled in a breath. “We could try, but most of those old tunnels have caved in. We could go from thirty feet to the surface, to fifty feet from the surface.”
    “What are the odds someone will find us?”
    A knot fisted in his gut. “Who knows we’re out here?”
    “My dad knows I’m on a stakeout, but he’d never figure I went for a horseback ride.”
    “My new ranch hand, Travis Priestly, doesn’t show up until Monday. The horses will hightail itback to the barn…” Baylor paused. His summary of the situation was only making Mariah more tense and he had to keep her calm.
    “Come on. I brought food and water. We’ll eat and figure this out later.”
    She nodded, and he felt better. They sat down and he opened the saddlebag, taking out one of the sandwiches he’d made and cut in half. “We’ve got enough to last several days if we ration.”
    Mariah watched Baylor halve the half and took the sandwich from him. She wasn’t really hungry, she decided as she bit into it, but if they were going to be trapped for any length of time down here, it was important to maintain their strength.
    He pulled out the canteen and unscrewed the cap. “You first, one swallow.”
    She took the canteen from him, and took a drink, letting it moisten her parched throat. She handed it back to him. “Tell me we’re going to get out of here.”
    “We’re going to find a way out. I promise.” She tried to smile, and took another bite of her sandwich, remembering the way he’d kissed her before their fateful plunge. She popped the last piece into her mouth, chewed and swallowed.
    “Let’s inventory what we have. Empty your pockets,” he said, opening the saddlebag and digging inside.
    Reaching into her pants, she pulled out everything she had. A package of gum, a handful ofchange, two paperclips, a mini-compact mirror, a couple of business cards and a used tissue. “That’s it. A pitiful bunch of junk.” She patted her pistol. “And this.”
    “I’ve got food, water, a pocketknife, flashlight, small first-aid kit, a horse tie-out line and a compass.”
    A zing of hope flashed through her as she stared at the coiled-up length of nylon rope. “How long?” She picked it up.
    “Twenty feet.”
    Excitement streamed along her nerve endings and she stood up. “Maybe we could get it through the opening and tied off somehow.”
    Baylor stood up next to her and gauged the weight of the empty saddlebags. “We have to knock the boards out of the way. Let’s add rocks.”
    Together, they filled the saddlebags with rocks and Baylor cinched the buckles tight. He uncoiled the rope and tied it securely around the wide leather strap that joined the two leather pouches together.
    “Stand back.” He tested the saddlebags, guessing they came in around fifteen pounds.
    Stepping back as far as he could against the wall of the shaft, he tossed the loaded bags toward the opening.
    Clunk. It hit the boards, dislodging one of them. A ray of sunlight streamed into the hole.
    A dozen throws later, the boards their assailant had closed them in with had been knocked out of theway and light again shone through the jagged opening.
    Baylor shoved his flashlight into his pocket, and folded onto the ground next to