Dark River (A Mountain Mystery) by Shoultz D.R

Author:Shoultz, D.R.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

- 9.3 -

PARKER’S RECOVERY was painfully slow. The air was gradually returning to the room, but his oxygen-deprived body remained too weak to rise from the cot.

Stretch continued to belt out questions over the speaker.

“Where in the New River?” he repeated. “Do you know where?”

Parker replied in a slow, low murmur. “Give me some time. I can’t think.”

“If you’re lying to me, you’re gonna wish you’d died,” Stretch warned.

The yelling only aggravated Parker’s condition. He tried to focus on the content of the letter he’d found, but each time he came close to gathering his thoughts, Stretch would go off on another tirade.

Parker heard a knock at a door coming over the speaker. He continued to listen, but the speaker went silent.

The knocking was the first time Parker had heard anything other than Stretch’s voice over the two-way intercom.

Is he working with someone? Parker wondered. Did the knock come from above, or far away?

It was taking too long for Parker to recover. He needed to get closer to the air vents and funnel the fresh air to his lungs.

He strained to raise his wiry body off the cot. After struggling for nearly a full minute, he was able to lift onto his elbows. He rested before pushing himself into a sitting position. As he sat upright, the room began spinning out of control. He fell backward against the cinderblock wall. Exhausted, he leaned against the wall for what seemed like several minutes.

He continued to listen for Stretch, but the speaker remained silent. Even the persistent static had stopped.

The closest air vent was just to his left and seven feet off the floor. He’d need to rise from the cot if he expected to funnel the air toward his face. Parker’s dizziness had lessened, but he was still unsure if he could stand.

He slowly slid one foot to the floor, and then the other. Seated on the edge of the cot, he could feel oxygen-rich air reaching his lungs. His fogged mind was beginning to clear. Details of what he’d read were coming into focus.

Parker rocked his body, attempting to get to his feet. On the third attempt, he stood, his legs as wobbly as a newborn colt.

He reached for a blanket and then shuffled to the vent. Parker faced the wall and raised the blanket from behind his back and over the vent, trapping fresh air around his head like an oxygen tent.

The relief was gradual but noticeable. Within a couple of minutes, his head was clearing and his dizziness fading.

What happened to Stretch? Parker wondered.

It had been several minutes since he’d heard the knocking, maybe longer. He continued to breathe in the fresh air as his concerns for what might come next grew.

Parker lowered the blanket and turned back toward the cot. The open book was where it had fallen when he passed out. It was still open to the page containing the letter from the confederate soldier.

He stepped back to the cot and sat. Parker found the reading light on the floor and reattached it to the pipe on the wall.

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