The Empty Lamp

Jed held his breath as long as he could. A collapse like this could send all kinds of dust, sand and grit into the air, and after years underground he didn't need any more of that in his lungs. When the crashing and clattering and reverberation stopped, Jed allowed himself to breathe through his bandana for a while as he surveyed the damage.

Amos stood a few feet away, doubled over and coughing as if he had swallowed a horned toad. The little lamp swung unconcernedly from the beam overhead, set in motion by the cave-in. There was not much else to see. The rock fall had closed them in.

Amos immediately went to the rock pile and put an ear against it, listening for sounds of digging on the other side. We're the only ones down here, Amos, remember? Jed said. The MacPherson mine had been closed for a long time. They weren't supposed to be there at all.

Old Man MacPherson had been content to keep the mine running at minimal profits for years, to provide for his workers and for old time's sake. But when the time came for the old man to take his specimens to the great assay office in the sky, his widow sold off the machinery and buried the entrance. Jed and Amos had burrowed their way in a few weeks ago, hoping they could find some remaining nuggets, or at least some scrap they could sell off. Where they were now had been one of the newest tunnels, following a small vein somebody hoped would turn out to be something larger, before the old man's candle went out.

Turn the lamp down, Amos, we need the oil to last, Jed said. Amos was the muscle of the operation, Jed was always saying.

Tell you what, Amos. We need to get out of here, but we don't need to clear the whole tunnel. How's about we take turns, I'll go first and you rest, then you go, and we can get past this rock pile.

Jed made a show of enthusiasm for Amos' sake, but his heart wasn't in it. It was hard work tunneling under ordinary circumstances. But that cave-in had been violent, and the shocks had gone on for a long time. Who knew how much of the tunnel was buried? Jed suspected he was going to die deep underground, and poor Amos too, and it was his fault for talking Amos into it. He went through the motions of digging, but hardly made a dent in the pile. And then the lamp went out.

Sorry boss, it ran out after all, Amos said. Jed felt Amos' hands on his shoulders, pulling him back from the piled rubble and guiding him in the dark to a spot along the wall of the tunnel. Once Jed was seated on the stone floor, Amos started in on the pile.

Jed could hear Amos struggle with the large stones and small boulders, now in pitch blackness. Jed chuckled to himself. That Amos. He would keep working til he died, maybe longer, if nobody with more sense told him to quit.

After some time, Jed followed the grunts and scraping sounds to the small tunnel Amos had made in the rocks. Jed tugged on the heel of Amos' boot and took his place. He didn't feel so bad now, understanding the progress Amos had made. He worked harder than before, hoping Amos would know he was doing his fair share. He was surprised by how quickly he got used to mining blind.

Soon Amos had to work again anyway, clearing out the rock and gravel Jed pushed back behind him in the cramped wormhole they were digging. The floor of the dark chamber behind them was covered with debris, which threatened to trip them up if they tried to walk through it instead of crawl. Every so often they would rest, maybe sleep, then change places. Amos would sometimes have to widen the tunnel Jed made, to give his own bulkier frame room to dig.

After what felt like days, Jed let out a thin-sounding holler. In the stuffy darkness the air felt fresher somehow, and he knew they were near the far side of the cave-in. Jed wriggled awkwardly back and let Amos have a breath of slightly less foul air. Amos refused to give Jed another turn at the front until he had opened a man-sized opening into the clear tunnel on the other side. Then he wormed his way back through and pulled Jed up to the hole. You go first, he said.

Jed wasn't in a mood to argue. He clambered through one last time, stood up slowly in the black darkness, and with arms out he started to stumble his way forward. Then he realized. They were still trapped. Without being able to see, it could take days of stumbling in the dark to find their way out of the mine.

Where was Amos? Jed called back through the passage: You comin' or what? Eventually Jed heard Amos's grunts as he crawled through the passage for the last time.

Forget something, Jed asked.

Yeah boss, Amos said, and Jed heard a scratching sound as light flared in Amos' hand. The light grew into a flame, and there stood Amos holding the lantern, still a quarter full of oil.

Let's go, boss, he said.