"Carmella, where are you?" he shouted in the mine. It's echo was very eerie, and Iolaus realized that even if she responded, he wouldn't be absolutely sure where it was coming from. So, Iolaus continued to follow the signs she had left in that soft earth. He walked carefully deeper into the mine. Occasionally, he heard slight rumblings deep in the cavern, and small dust and pebbles pelted him from above. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Iolaus stopped abruptly as he realized that the soft earth was now replaced with hard rock. It would be more difficult to track her in this, and he despaired. Iolaus sat on a huge rock to try and clear his mind and felt something. He felt a slight breeze brush his hair back. Iolaus looked carefully around and saw multi-colored lights beaming into another tunnel. Taking a deep breath, Iolaus carefully stepped toward that light. He discovered that the light itself wasn't focused directly in the tunnel; the tunnel led to a natural cavern bathed in a light so bright that Iolaus dropped his torch and shut his eyes brieflyto the brightness. When he opened them again he looked up to a small shaft where the light originated. His heart leapt at the comprehension that this was a natural opening to above ground. They would be able to get out this way. A sniffle from the far end of the cavern broke through his heart's exultation. It was hard to focus in that room for it was filled with exposed crystals, and the light danced and threw colors throughout the room. When he finally could see, he saw that it was Carmella.

Iolaus rushed to her side, "Carmella, sweetheart, are you hurt?" He drew closer to the little frightened form. She flinched as he reached for her. "Carmella, I'm not going to hurt you."

"You...hate me..I can tell. I'm nothing..but trouble, just like ...my daddy said," tearfully gasped the child. Her heart was shattered as huge sobs tore through her being.

"Carmella, I don't hate you. The cave-in was an accident, and no one really blames you," Iolaus said comfortingly. "Carmella, look at me." Two little red rimmed eyes peered up at him from the crumpled child. "Sweetheart, I know how you feel; sometimes I make really big mistakes, bigger than the one you've made. And I wonder how can the people who love me still love me?" She turned away from the glittering wall and faced him, still unsure if he was speaking the truth. "Guess what? They still do. We all care for you, Carmella. We were all scared that something had happened to you. I'm so glad you're safe, and guess what else? You've helped us find a way out of here. See?" Iolaus pointed to the opening high above them to the light. A small smile crept across her face, and she climbed down from her small perch and into Iolaus's arms. He wrapped them quickly around her and allowed the tears of relief and sadness for her fall.

The little one heard a sniffle and pulled back slightly. Iolaus tried to grin through his tears but let her see the honest emotion bathing his face. She thought about his tears really being for her, and for the first time in her life, she could really believe that people cared for her. She pulled him tightly back into a hug, and they wept together. "You mean a girl can help too?" she asked as she raised her head to look at the light above them.

"Of course girls can help. There have been lots of women who have helped Hercules and me fight monsters, thieves, and evil warlords. Who ever told you girls can't help?" Iolaus asked as he dried his own tears marveling at where this child had heard this old fashioned idea.

Carmella looked down as she still held on to Iolaus's neck, "My daddy always wished I was a boy. He got mad when I wanted to go hunting or fishing with him. At first I thought it was because I was too small, but he said it was 'cause I was a girl." She looked to the floor of the cavern and uttered, "I could never make him smile. How come, Iolaus? How come I could never make my daddy smile?" Her searching eyes reached for an answer, and for someone as young as she was, she could see his eyes had one time held the same question.

Iolaus took a deep breath. He struggled with this question as he had earlier in his life.

Although he had made peace with his long departed father, he still knew the pain this child was struggling with. He held her and placed his hand on her hair and whispered, "I don't know, honey. How could he keep from smiling at you is beyond me. If I had a little girl like you, I'd smile, giggle, and sing all day long with you. You are very special; just because your daddy couldn't see it when he was alive, doesn't mean he can't see it now. And it doesn't mean other people can't see it. And next time I go fishing with the other kids, I hope you'll come too."

She smiled brightly at that last statement so much it nearly took his breath away. "Iolaus, let's go back and show the others this pretty rainbow room." She hopped out of his lap and tugged at his hand. Iolaus laughed and nodded. However as the two started to leave the cavern, Iolaus felt the strange rumbling. This time it shook the whole mine. One of the crystal shards came crashing toward them, and Iolaus pushed Carmella out of the way as the crystal dagger plunged toward them.

Carmella screamed when Iolaus pushed her. She was terrified at the shock and sounds surrounding them. When she turned around to look for Iolaus, she cried out again. He was lying face down with a huge crystal pinning his leg to the ground. She rushed to him and lifted his face from the floor of the mine. Calling him over and over seemed to retrieve him from his unconscious state. His eyes flickered and then locked in a gaze with Carmella's brown eyes. He tried to smile to reassure her that everything was okay, but he realized that it wasn't.

Very carefully, he tried to roll over. At first, he found that he couldn't. The shard had splintered when it fell, and part of it went through his thigh. "Carmella, I need you to be a very big girl right now." Iolaus gasped as he tried to concentrate through the pain. How much should he reveal to this little fragile soul? He decided that he'd better trust her heart if he wanted to get out of there alive. "This glass rock went through my leg and I can't get up. Do you think you could pull it out?" He hated to ask her to do that because he knew it might start bleeding more and terrify her.

Carmella rose to her feet and walked behind him. She looked at the long narrow crystal that burrowed through his leg and wrapped her hand around the top of it. The little one pulled with all of her might, but couldn't get it to budge out of his leg. "I'm sorry, Iolaus. I can't get it out."

Iolaus sighed as he considered this new development. Then he spoke in a whisper, "That's all right sweetheart. At least you tried." He buried his face in his folded arms to try to shut out the pain beginning to awaken in his numb body.

Around the little fire, heads jerked toward the mine's deeper tunnel as they heard Carmella's scream echo throughout the whole mine. They had felt the rumbling too, and all of the children huddled closer to Alysa. Theodorus stood up and said, "I'm going to help Iolaus find her." He grabbed a timber to use as a torch the way he had seen Iolaus do. Alysa started to protest, but she considered that this may help everyone concerned. Before she could speak, Theodorus walked to the edge of the cavern and grabbed the damp picnic blanket. He pulled a thread loose and began unwinding it. Alysa looked at him curiously and he giggled, "Weren't you listening when Iolaus was telling us about Theseus earlier today? If he can keep from being lost in a maze with something like this, I can sure keep from getting lost in this old mine."

"Go, Theodorus, be careful. I'm very proud of you," she said quietly as she rested her hand on his young shoulder. He looked at her and smiled as he squeezed her hand, and then he turned and started off down the tunnel following Iolaus's footsteps and rolling out the thread with one hand while holding the torch in another. Theodorus was more frightened than he let on, but he was determined to make up for being the idiot he had been earlier. He smiled to himself as he stepped one foot in each of Iolaus's footprints as he went. He had secretly hoped to one day be as great a hero as Iolaus. He realized as he searched, that part of being a hero was being considerate of those weaker than yourself. Carmella was younger and weaker than he was. He realized immediately that it was an accident, but he had let his fear lash out at her rather than admit that he was scared. He was a little afraid to face Iolaus and their "talk" they were to have later, but his love for his hero gave him strength and courage to do the right thing. "I will do the right thing, Iolaus!" he shouted into the cavern. He noticed that the footprints ended and only hard rock lay before him.

Carmella reached up for the shard again. She knew that Iolaus hadn't given up on her, and so she decided that she wouldn't give up trying to release him from the shard. She grasped it and pulled with all of the strength her little 5 year old body could muster and yelped when she flew backwards. Iolaus jerked his head up as he realized he could move. He carefully rolled to his side and looked at her in astonishment. They both began to laugh as she scurried next to him and gave him another hug. "But Iolaus," she said suddenly frowning, "I couldn't get it out of your leg." Iolaus looked again at his leg and could see the tip of the crystal protruding through the front of his thigh. He could feel the weight and the pain of the heavier part of the rock sticking out of the back of his leg.

"Carmella, that's okay. At least I can move now; maybe I can walk back to the others with your help," he reassured her. He wasn't really sure whom he was trying to convince when he heard a noise at the room's entrance. Iolaus and Carmella both let their mouths hang open at the sight of Theodorus coming into the room with a torch and a small ball of string. Theodorus wedged his torch between two crystals.

"I heard laughter, but Iolaus, what are you laughing at? You have this big glass thing sticking out of your leg!" declared Theodorus in amazement and confusion.

Carmella and Iolaus laughed at the look on his face then Iolaus gasped. The pain was getting much worse, and Theodorus rushed to his side. "What can I do?"

Iolaus looked at him and said, "Carmella could get the shard out of the ground," Iolaus almost laughed at the look of surprise and admiration on his face, "but she couldn't get it out of my leg. I need you to pull it out, but wait." Iolaus took a deep breath, "It's going to bleed, maybe a lot; I don't know. I need something to wrap around it like a bandage." Iolaus started to struggle to slip off his vest, but he felt a strong small hand stop him. Theodorus wasn't about to let Iolaus tear that beloved vest. The little boy who would be a man slipped off his own shirt and tore it for bandages. Iolaus smiled grimly and held his hand out to clasp his little friend's. Theodorus straightened up and accepted the honor given him.

Iolaus rolled over on his stomach again and tried to relax in spite of the anticipated pain.

Theodorus grasped the top of the crystal and pulled with all of his might. Iolaus grimaced as the shard moved slightly in his leg. Theodorus was pulling as hard as he could, but it just wasn't enough. He looked to Carmella, and he understood many of the lessons he had been taught about helping the weak and letting the weaker help him. "Carmella, come here please. I need your help."

She looked to him astonished, and stepped toward him.

"Help me pull it out. I'm sure we can do this together," he grunted. Iolaus grinned broadly

through the pain with pride in the little boy and small girl. With a huge shout, they twisted and pulled the shard completely out of his leg. Theodorus and Carmella flew across the room and ended flat on their respective behinds. Quickly they jumped up and clasped hands together and danced around the room laughing. "We did it!" shouted Theodorus.

She giggled wildly and threw her arms around the older boy. He pulled back and looked into her face, "I'm really sorry I said those mean things to you back there. I'm really ashamed of myself."

She looked into his face and saw the truth written there and beamed. "That's okay, Theo. Look I found a way out." She pointed to the ceiling.

Iolaus was hesitant in breaking this healing moment, but he could feel the blood spilling out of his leg to the ground underneath him. "Um, can you guys give me a little more help?" Iolaus struggled to get up, but Theodorus plopped himself on Iolaus's back and thrust the bandage at the hole in his leg. "Oomph! Yeah, like that. Carmella can you be a really big hero again?" She nodded seriously now. "Take the Theodorus's torch and follow his thread back to the others. Then, can you get them to follow you back here?"

Before Iolaus could actually finish what he was asking, She strode over to the torch and pulledit from its perch. She turned around and looked deeply into his eyes and stated, "I'll be back." He grinned with pride at her newfound courage, and then he turned to Theodorus.

"Thank you, Theodorus. But I don't want you to be ...afraid....I think I'm going to pass out... Just keep applying the press.." Iolaus closed his eyes to the pain and to the conscious world.

"Please hurry, Carmella. I am afraid," Theodorus admitted.

Carmella carefully followed the light blue thread snaking through the tunnels. Every so often, she would stop to listen to the strange sounds coming from the depths of the mine. They scared her and made her think of monsters, and dragons, and serpents. Taking a deep breath, She thought of Iolaus and Theodorus and took courage. With all the strength and determination way beyond her young years, she stepped quickly, but carefully, next to the thread to find help.

Alysa was worried that now two children were lost. Why had her father trusted her with these young ones? She couldn't even protect her own, and now she was expected to care for so many trusting hearts. Tears threatened to burst from her heart when she felt the youngest of them. Matthus, a tiny boy just 3 years old, slipped his little hand into hers as a gift. This cotton topped character had won the hearts of all those in the House of Hope. His deep blue eyes had a way of speaking to the very soul of all who took time to know him. Unfortunately few who ever came to the house looking to adopt children took the time. For though his bright smile and expressive face won over the very hardest of hearts, Matthus couldn't speak, or wouldn't speak. Alysa and Matthus arrived on the same day, and she felt a certain link to him. Now, though silent, his hand in hers shouted encouragement and love. She smiled gently as she remembered his enthusiastic play with Iolaus earlier in the day. Being the youngest, or the smallest, never held the child back. Alysa closed her eyes for a moment and remembered her own little boy.

Her tender memories were broken with shouts and rushing feet. Her eyes flew open to an amazing sight. Carmella was standing a few feet away holding tightly to the torch Theodorus took with him. She laughed brightly as Matthus ran straight for her and threw his arms around his waist. Carmella allowed herself to laugh too as she realized that she was a big girl to someone. Then she remembered her task.

"We've found a way out. But you have to follow the string very carefully. The dark places sometimes shake, and we have to stay together," she stated rather calmly.

Alysa turned to kick dirt on the fire and shuddered as it slowly got darker. Yet, she smiled to herself to see how the children flocked to the light Carmella had, and the child seemed to radiate not only with her torch, but strength of spirit. Carmella passed off the torch momentarily to one of the bigger children and walked over to Alysa.

Alysa dropped to her knees and hugged her tightly. Carmella smiled as she had never been hugged so much in one day through all of her short life. But the child also knew she had to tell Alysa about Iolaus without frightening the other children.

"Iolaus is hurt," she whispered in Alysa's ear. "A big glass rock went through his leg, and he's bleeding bad! We've got to hurry up and help him."