Some Kind of Hero. Brenda Harlen

continued to move ahead, unhampered by the close confines, navigating the narrow corridors and tight corners without difficulty. Of course, she was the one with the flashlight.

      He had no idea how long they’d been inside the maze of tunnels when she stopped abruptly. Joel bumped into the back of her, mumbling a quick apology as he stepped back again.

      “What’s the matter?” he asked.

      “Dead end,” she said, turning to face him.

      “We’re lost?” He hated the note of panic in his voice, hoped she didn’t recognize it as such.

      “No, we’re not lost,” she chided. “We just have to follow this corridor back the way we came and turn around. All the tunnels are interconnected, like a maze. They twist and turn in all directions. A few are dead ends, but eventually they all lead back to the amphitheater.”

      “Amphitheater?”

      “The big chamber that we started out from.”

      “Oh.” It seemed simple, and she sounded confident enough that his uneasiness abated.

      Then she moved forward, as if to step past him, and the side of her breast brushed against his arm. The current of awareness jolted him, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. Obviously, he hadn’t been the only one affected.

      “We have to follow this, um, corridor back,” she said again.