Laurel made jokes while flashing the torch onto the ground. I chuckled without commenting on it. Judging from the landscape around us, Rachel couldn’t have found a secluded spot here, but I’m certain she wouldn’t go too far away. Did something happen to her?
Meanwhile, Tessa seemed to be in a foul mood tonight. “She has always been a loose woman. Why does she have to have a diarrhoea now? I’m sure she has an ulterior motive,” she said in a frigid tone.
Clueless about what Nora had done earlier, Laurel asked, “Tessa, I can tell that you dislike Ms. Zimmer too.”
Tessa snorted coldly. “Only men love a woman like her. I bet any other woman will hate her too.”
I stopped listening to their gossips. Afterward, I spotted a darker zone in the middle of the tea farm. Out of curiosity, I marched toward it.
“Ah!” Taking a few steps forward, I fell downward.
“Scarlett!” Laurel shouted in a panic.
I fell into a pit. Unable to judge my current situation, I said, “Laurel, call Nora now. This pit is quite deep.”
“Okay, don’t be afraid. I’m calling them now!” she consoled me.
Reaching into my pockets, I couldn’t find my phone. Perhaps it dropped out of my pocket when I fell.
I squatted down and explored around, trying to look for my phone, but all I could touch was the soil. It was pitch-black all around me, so I could see nothing at all.
Fear grew in my heart. Afraid that I might accidentally touch a snake or an insect, I squatted on the ground and dared not do anything.
“Don’t fret, Scarlett. Nora and the others are coming over. Hold on, I’ll look for them. I’ll be right back!” Laurel said from above. She then added, “Tessa, talk to Scarlett and keep her company. I’ll get the others here.”
Tessa remained silent for a while. “Let me look for them. My stamina is better than yours, so I can walk faster.”
Nodding her head, Laurel stayed here after the woman left. Sprawling beside the pit, she turned on the flashlight of her phone and shone it downward. “Scarlett, can you hear me?”
I saw a glimpse of light over my head. “Yes, I can hear you. Don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s just that it’s too dark down here.”
The woman attempted to drop her phone to me, but I stopped her promptly. “Don’t throw it down. What if I lose it too? I can’t see anything here. Just chat with me.”
Laurel nodded in agreement. Her voice sounded worried as she said, “My phone is running out of battery. Hopefully Tessa will be back soon. We’re not familiar with this hill, so I’m afraid she might lose her way. That’ll make things worse.”
That was totally possible. Though I felt troubled, I reassured her. “We’ll be fine. Don’t think too much. This place is near to the city. If worse comes to worst, we’ll have to wait till the next morning for someone to come to our rescue. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
Despite my assurance, the woman was still anxious. “But didn’t Tabitha say that landslide will probably happen? What if it rains?”
Exasperated, I have no choice but to comfort her. “No, no, that won’t happen. Nora checked the weather forecast, and it’s not going to rain today.”
She hummed in response for several times. Overwhelmed with anxiety, she chatted with me unceasingly. “Scarlett, won’t you regret giving up on an outstanding man like Ashton?”
Giving it some thoughts, I answered solemnly, “Yes, I’ll regret it. But isn’t it inevitable to have regrets in life?”
“You’re right.” The woman nodded her head in agreement, letting out a sigh. “Rachel is…”
Rumble, rumble. Unexpectedly, a low rumbling of a thunder sounded.
Laurel’s voice trailed off in mid-sentence. She sounded desolate when she asked in a quivering voice, “Is it going to rain?”
Trepidation shot through me at her words. Due to the darkness in the pit, I couldn’t see the situation outside. In case of raining, the water would flow into the pit. Once the rainwater accumulated to become deep enough, I would get drowned.
Lifting my head, I asked, “Laurel, take a look at the sky. Maybe it’s only a dry thunderstorm. It won’t rain as long as there’s no dark cloud.”
The woman was on the verge of crying. I could tell that she was trying to choke back her tears as she whimpered, “Yes, there are dark clouds in the sky now. They appear out of nowhere. It’s drizzling now. Why is Tessa taking so long? Where’s she now?”
Pressing my lips together tightly, I couldn’t deny that I was freaking out. Nevertheless, there was no way out other than trying to save myself now.
Otherwise, not only would I be drowned, but I might also be buried alive if the rain grew heavier and caused a landslide.
Glancing up, I asked, “Laurel, calm down. Try to look around for a thick and long vine or branches and throw them down.”
The woman nodded and hummed in response before she went away.
