Episode 3

She hadn’t thought she’d have to go on this day, not long after what had happened. They called her on the phone. Yes, she was on a day off, but this wasn’t a routine rescue—she was needed, so she got ready in half an hour. She was already heading to the car, her fully equipped bag on her shoulder, when Feri hurried after her.

„Don’t go like this!” — he pleaded, placing his large hands on her arms. She turned back to him with a determined look.

„I have to go. You heard the call.”

„But are you okay?” — asked the dreadlocked man in his thirties. They were almost the same height, the top of her head just reaching his forehead, but her frame was much slimmer, her shoulders narrower than his.

„I’m fine” — she replied almost without thinking. She only reconsidered this statement when she slid into the driver’s seat with her usual momentum, and the seat pressed against her wound. She didn’t hiss, her face didn’t twitch, but she felt it sting, quite a bit. It’ll pass… She started the car, waved at the idle man, and pulled out of the yard.

Not long after, she descended into the depths of the karst cave with the rest of the rescue team. The cave entrance was sealed by a small concrete door. She crawled in last through the limestone crevice. She was used to these narrow entrances; unlike her more robust colleagues, she could easily slip through tighter gaps. As she sat down, she felt the stabbing, unpleasant sensation in her hip again. This wasn’t the time for this, or perhaps she should have listened to Feri and finished it by hand. But there was no time to deal with it now—she’d handle it when they got back.

The cool cave air, with its characteristic mist and muddy, earthy smell, always had a calming effect on her. After the initial narrow passage, the cave widened. Here, the spaces were entirely different from the surface above. A chamber a few meters in diameter seemed quite large in the light of their headlamps. The grayish-white, water-carved rock cavities seemed unfriendly at first glance, but for someone who regularly visited caves like her, moving through narrow passages and distorted bubble-like chambers felt natural. As a child, she had climbed competitively, and by the time she graduated high school, she was regularly participating in serious rock climbs. During college, she took up caving. She enjoyed the winding passages, the challenging narrow gaps, and the constant cool, misty—yet not cold—air. When they didn’t have to go on cave rescues, she and her colleagues regularly explored the area, covering as much ground as possible. Her father had really wanted her to study medicine, as she had a knack for it. But she was restless by nature, finding it hard to sit still, and she loved being in motion, so she signed up to be a mountain rescuer. For her, it was about adventure and challenge. Since she started working in the Eastern Karst region half a year ago, mountain rescues had been rare, but cave accidents—mostly minor falls—had been more frequent. This was the first time a collapse had occurred.