The Groom Elevator: A Narrative Fiction

Lynne came in late and used the executive bathroom elevator to avoid seeing anyone. I’ll be back in a minute Lynne yelled towards Terry, I need to finish my make-up. Don’t spend too much time, we are going on another field trip. Oh, yeah, I remember, I’ll change then. I had fun last night Terry, but you took an awful chance, I could have just as easily have been furious with you. Well either way I win, we have to learn to deal with each other on every level, so either way it works. Which elevator Lynne asked? Don’t people find it odd that we are dressed this way when they see us in the main elevator. Not at all, I’m in research and this isn’t unusual for me or anyone in Division II. If I get dirty in the field, I usually go home and change
The widow Grambling was left to raise them on her own. This is the cabin where she lived when the disaster occurred. How much of the mine did your grandfather own? He owned forty percent of the mine and Dunham owned the other forty percent. I remember reading that actually, I hadn’t thought about it much since. Is there anything of interest about the cabin, Lynne asked. No Terry responded, not much left except the foundation and the fireplace. I found a few bent utensils a small gold nugget he must have lost out of his pocket and a few other things. I brought you here to see something else, something in nature he explained. The widow Grambling used to have a get-away where she would go to be alone after the disaster. She called the place “Mothers Retreat” The children were instructed never to follow her or bother her, it was known as her own private place to convene with nature. Yes, yes, that’s actually in some of the books, there are several guesses as to the spot, but all of the books pick a different spot, there is a picture of her in one of the books. She went back when she was older and showed the author where her special spot was, but she intentionally misled the author. There is no consensus, among the authors as to the exact spot, Lynne
Just as she was starting to say something, she heard a distant thud. I heard it, she said, it hit something. Terry, it’s a long way to the bottom, it must be an old well or something. Nobody could have drilled up here, he showed her, we could only get here on that narrow trail. Then what is it she asked? It’s a natural cavern. Smell the air venting out of that area, you can smell the cavern. Terry, this is amazing, but the mountain is full of natural caves and mines, why is this hole in the ground of interest to you, to us? It’s important because this is where the Widow Grambling came for years to be alone. Lynne, anything to do with this mountain is not to be discussed with anyone, not even your Mom. How do you know this is the spot the widow Grambling came to, since the trail splits at the edge of these boulders. Her handwriting, look above you, you have to really look. Before you get out of there look at the rock just above your head, what does it say. It reads Hells Dungeon. She scratched it out with a rock, I took pictures and had the handwriting analyzed, it’s hers. How did you ever find that, I don’t think it was meant to be found. What does it mean? I’ll ask you to answer that question in a few months, when you’ve