Page 75 of In Too Deep
But maybe if he changed the angle…
He shifted his weight and pressed his back harder against one wall—the cold seeping through his shirt—while pushing his left foot against the other.
The opposing pressure gave him leverage.Physics working in his favor for once.
He twisted his trapped leg and ignored the way his knee protested, the way something in his shin felt wrong—a grinding sensation that made his stomach turn.
Noah gritted his teeth and twisted harder, his hands grabbing the slick walls.
Pain burned through his leg.
But the boot was sliding.The angle was changing.His foot was pulling free?—
He came loose suddenly, his leg dropping.
He barely caught himself before sliding farther down the shaft to the bottom.His arms spread wide, his boots scrabbling for purchase on anything solid.
His right leg throbbed with each heartbeat—a deep, bone-level ache punctuated by sharp stabs of pain whenever he shifted.
Not broken, but badly bruised.Maybe a partial ligament tear.Definitely some kind of soft-tissue damage, which would make the hike out a nightmare.
He stood up.The pain shot through him like lightning.But he could push through it.
He had to.
He squatted in spite of the dull ache pulsing through his knee and felt around where he thought his headlamp had fallen.His fingers swept across cold stone.
First sweep, nothing.
But in this darkness, he was completely disoriented.He had no idea which way he was facing or which way he’d come in.The shaft could twist in any direction and he’d never know.
It was like being in the cave with Ezra all over again.Ten years old and terrified, responsible.
Meg.
Her name cut through the pain like a lifeline.
She was waiting for him, counting on him.Those blue eyes probably checking her watch again, that crease forming between her eyebrows like it did when she was worried.
He’d promised he would come back.And he refused to break that promise.Not to her.Never to her.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.The verse didn’t bring its usual guilt and frustration.Didn’t carry the bitter taste of broken promises and unanswered prayers.
He’d always felt that the darkness after Mary’s death had overcome him and swallowed him whole.
But he’d been wrong.
He’d never completely given up hope.How could he?God had placed so many people in his life pointing toward Him.Little lights in the darkness.
Will and Becca.Liam.Meg.
God, I need Your help.Please.
It still wasn’t a fancy prayer—no eloquent words or structure.But the most vulnerable one since Mary’s death.
Noah’s hands made another swipe.His finger brushed material—rough nylon strap.
The strap.
