Badd was reluctant to leave Byrne alone, but he'd only be gone a moment. If Byrne screamed Badd could be back in less than ten seconds. "I won't. I'll just go up and see if it's caved in or not," he said, and reluctantly took the beam of his flashlight off Byrne and back onto the path before him.

Badd began walking up the path between the rusting minecar rails, leaving the dim light of the moon and stars for the shadow of the mine shaft.

"And I'll be right back."