Common Ground

Zack couldn’t help but feel intimidated walking along side Robert Ravers. He wasn’t doing anything specific, just striding along the path with assured, measured steps. But this was a man. From his confident, stone set face, to his towering frame and muscled body to even the way he smelt of hard labour and cologne, this was the very definition of a man. And although Zack was legally an adult now too, beside this statement of manliness and masculinity, he felt every bit a boy. A boy with childish problems of not knowing which toy he wanted to play with. Robert didn’t seem to be the type of person to ever by plagued with indecision; when he wanted something, he set out to get it.

The problem was that the thing Robert seemed to want was Zack’s mother. And while he could blame his mother for acting no better than Ashley and getting herself into these circumstances where they got carried away in the moment, he couldn’t deny that some of the blame lay squarely on those broad shoulders of Robert Ravers. He knew that Monica had a husband, had a family, had her own reputation and career…and he didn’t care. Robert was determined to pursue her even at the expense of all those things. And Zack wasn’t quite willing to allow his house to become a broken home so easily.

“Mr. Ravers, ah…I mean, Robert…or, um…” Zack started strong, firm and assertive, but crumbled as Robert looked his way, his strong jaw stretching as a grin formed on his face while Zack began to doubt how he should even address the man.

“Robert is fine,” Heather’s father said. “My friends call me Robert. And I think you and I should be friends, don’t you?”

“Um, oh-okay…but…” Zack was taken aback at the lack of sternness with which Robert responded. He felt the fire under him fizzle down to an ember. “…but…my mum…”

Robert chuckled, again catching the younger man off guard. “You know I’ve been confronted by husbands and boyfriends, fathers and brothers, even a few mothers and grandparents, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever been given my marching orders from someone’s son.”

Zack blushed, realising that Robert knew exactly what he was trying to do. There was likely nothing the young dark haired teen could say that Heather’s father hadn’t heard before, and probably ignored. But he had to at least try…

“Well…I mean…you know she’s married, of course you do, and she had a family, obviously again, I’m her son, but, what I mean is, I like my dad, and I think my mum likes him too, no, I know she does, but, as in, I like them together, and so does my mum, I think, only, right now, I think, she’s confused, so…” Zack babbled.

“Don’t worry, Zack. I would never do something that your mother didn’t already want to do. You have my word on that,” Robert interjected, cutting to the core of the discussion. “Your mum and I are old friends you see, and meeting again, after so long, brought back a lot of feelings for both of us.”

“Wait, how long have you-” Zack began but was stopped by Robert who threw out his arm to keep Zack from walking past.

“What’s going on?” Heather asked as the girls approached them from behind.

“There.” Robert pointed to the edge of the track where the edge sloped towards the overgrowth. “Do you see it?”

“All I see is the ground,” Zack replied, his mother nodding in agreement.

“No, that’s the point,” Heather said, kneeling at the side of the path where there appeared to be two brown scuff marks. “The earth is upturned here as if something fell.”

“Or slipped,” Robert suggested, pointing then towards the overgrowth, noting a trail of flattened grass and disturbed bushes. “And rolled down the hill in that direction.”

“Should some of us check it out?” Zack asked, stepping towards Heather as he looked at the markings on the road. To him it didn’t look like anything, something that could have been easily made by an animal of some sort.

“It’d be best if your mother and I checked this out. I can follow the trail best and if the girl did fall this way, she might be hurt, so Monica would be useful,” Robert suggested, looking towards the doctor, who nodded to confirm she thought that was the best plan also.

“What do you want us to do?” Heather asked, folding her arms and frowning. “Just wait here for news?”

“No, continue to the cave,” Robert instructed. “We still don’t know for sure that she went this way. If this is a dead-end, at least you may find something worthwhile, rather than standing around waiting.”

While Heather didn’t want to leave Monica and her father alone, she couldn’t deny that plan sounded like the most efficient use of their time. Reluctantly, she took off towards the caves, glancing back at the adults with concern as Zack rushed to catch up with her.

Meanwhile Robert led the way through the overgrowth, Monica following just behind him. With careful steps to navigate the downhill slope, the pair followed the clues Victoria had left behind as she tumbled down towards the hole. The fissure in the ground was so overgrown that Robert didn’t see it until he was right beside it. Seeing him stop, Monica paused as well, only then looking down and seeing the crack in the earth.

“Can you see inside?” She asked, watching Robert peer over the edge.

“No, it’s too dark,” Robert replied as he straightened up. “I could measure the depth if I had a rock to drop, but I wouldn’t want to drop anything on the girl if she is down there.”

“Is there anyway of telling where it leads?” Monica brainstormed, equally worried if Victoria had fallen down there. If she’d been injured in the drop and left down there for this long, getting her medical attention was of immediate importance. “It must be somewhere within the caves, right?”

“That’s likely, yes,” Robert agreed, but posed the next problem, “however, the caves are a maze themselves, so it could be difficult to determine a direct path from there to here. Not to mention, some parts of the cave are inaccessible due to cave-ins. This could a sealed chamber without any other way in or out.”

“So, what can we do?” Monica asked, taking a step closer.

“Monica, wait, no,” Robert warned but it was too late.

The moment Monica stepped beside Robert the ground beneath them crumbled, denying the pair their firm footing. Without it the two slipped off the edge and down into the same dark hole into which Victoria had fallen.