“H—help! I—I’m caught,” Ronnie heard Bill’s muffled voice.
Ronnie slipped out of his raincoat and boots and handed the light to Phil. Then he grasped the ledge of the lowest block of masonry and pulled himself up into the mouth of the crevice. From here he worked his way upward until his outstretched hands found Bill’s shoes. He took a firm grip about his friend’s ankles—and pulled. Bill’s body did not budge. Ronnie might just as well have tried to move the rubble.
“It’s no use, Ronnie,” Bill said in a whimper.
“Keep your chin up, pal,” Ronnie answered. “I’ll think of a way. Just don’t struggle or you’ll swell up and then it’ll be even harder to get you free.”
Ronnie lay back against the cold stone and tried to catch his breath—and think. He had to find a way to free Bill. With help so far away it was up to him to save his friend.
A section of brick was jabbing into his back just under the shoulder blades. He shifted his position to ease the discomfort. His shoulders rubbed against a section of smooth, slimy moss—and an idea came to him. He’d read stories of how the bodies of trapped men had been greased, and then had slipped out quite easily. The nearest grease bucket was in the barn, but wouldn’t wet slime do just as well?
He twisted his body about so he could call down to Phil. “Get me a good, big handful of that slime down at the other end of the culvert. And hurry.”
Phil nodded that he understood. He turned quickly and started for the river end of the culvert, leaving Ronnie in the pitch-black. Ronnie lay back against the rock and rested. Above him he heard Bill’s forced breathing and an occasional groan. He heard the gentle dripping of water, too, and felt something crawling down the back of his shirt.
It seemed an eternity before Phil returned with both hands loaded with slime, the flashlight tucked under his arm.
Ronnie had to come down a way before the slime could be transferred to his own hands. And now he’d have to work his way up again to where Bill was caught, and he’d have to do it without the use of his hands. It wasn’t going to be easy. With both hands cupping the precious stuff, he had no way of holding on.