“Sue, crawl; don’t look down. Come on; it’s only a few feet.”
“I can’t. I’ll fall.”
“No you won’t. Here; look at me: don’t look at the shaft. Come on, Sue.”
“I can’t. I’ll fall.”
The plank shifted a good inch.
“Sue; look up. Look up! That’s better; now, keep looking at me, and crawl.”
Susan bit her lip, and started to edge her way towards Colin. Immediately the plank began to tremble more than ever.
“I can’t do it. Honestly, I can’t!”
“All right, Sue. Stay there: I’m coming!”
And, without a moment’s hesitation, Colin walked out along the plank to join her.
“There now; give me your hand. Do you think you can stand up?”
He bent down, trying to look no further than his sister’s face.
Susan grabbed at the hand, and flung her other arm round his knees: the plank rocked furiously. Colin fought for balance: Susan had completely lost hers. Slowly she pulled herself up, clutching her brother all the time, until she stood, trembling, with her arms on his shoulders.
“Now walk. No, wait: I’ll tell you when. With me, now; one … two …”
Colin moved backwards along the plank, feeling behind him painfully for every step.
“Idon’t know what came over me,” said Susan. “I wasn’t afraid to begin with: something was pulling me on all the time.”
The children had withdrawn a good distance from the shaft, and were sitting with their backs propped against the tunnel wall. They were both in need of a rest.
“I was so certain that we were right that I could have cried when the tunnel dropped like that. And again, when you said we’d better go on, and we came to the ledge, I wanted to jump into the water!
“That would have made a mess of things!”
“I know; but it was such a strong urge. Crossing the plank was easy. I just knew it would be safe, and I wasn’t dizzy. But, when I saw those four pairs of eyes glowing in the shaft, something went wrong in my head. The plank wasn’t safe and wide; it was old, and rotten, and narrow, and the shaft was trying to swallow me, and those eyes were waiting.”
“But how do you know they were eyes? It could have been the light glinting on broken glass, or that white fungus stuff.”
“No it wasn’t! They blinked, and moved about. I’ve never been so frightened before; not even when Grimnir caught us. And when I dropped the lamp it was worse.
“But I’m not frightened now; isn’t it strange? As soon as we were off the plank I felt altogether different. No, it wasn’t because we were safe: it’s as though there was a special kind of fear reaching out of the shaft and trying to make me fall. Do you think they were svarts down there?”
“I don’t know; but whatever they were, I think we’d better move from here. Are you ready?”
They retraced their steps, and presently came to a break in the wall, and a stairway, cut in the rock, leading down into a cave.
“Shall we?”
“Yes, anywhere’s better than covering old ground.”
But soon they realised that it was not new country at all. They were walking at the foot of a cliff, and on top of this was heaped a shelving bed of sand that almost touched the roof.
“I wish we’d known there was an easier way to that tunnel,” said Colin. “It’s bad enough down here without doing things the hard way.”
They were becoming used to conditions underground, and the atmosphere of the place was no longer oppressive – while they were on the move. But the loss of the lamp slowed them considerably. They went hand in hand wherever possible, and Colin held the light, except when they were in a tunnel; then Susan would take the lead, while Colin was left to grope along behind in treacherous semi-darkness. Their rest-periods became more frequent, and Colin made a rule of switching off the light at such times. The battery was not new, and they had neither matches nor candles, and without light there would be no hope.
The children tried to keep to uphill paths, but the switchback tunnels bemused them at every turn.
“I’d like something to eat next time we stop,” said Susan.
“All right; but we must go very carefully with the food and drink. We were fools to swig nearly all the lemonade like that, because I shouldn’t think any of the water down here is fit to drink.”
“Ugh, no!”
“The next small tunnel we find, we’ll rest and share the food out. We’ll have one sandwich each, but we mustn’t have any drink.”
“Oh, Colin, I’m parched! My mouth feels as though it’s full of glue, and I’m so hot!”
“Me too. But we must be strict with ourselves, otherwise we may never get out.”
Colin was very worried about the light. It was strong, but sooner or later its white beam would turn yellow, flicker, and slowly die. He said nothing of this to his sister, but she was not blind to the danger.
“Ah, here’s a likely place,” said Colin.
They crawled inside and looked around. Yes, it was very suitable. The tunnel came to a dead end after a few yards, and the entrance was almost filled with sand. Quite a snug little den – until they realised that it was the very same tunnel in which they had first rested. All that distance, and to no purpose.
“And I was beginning to think we were gaining height!” said Colin. “We’re like squirrels in a cage! Oh, I could throw something!”
They unwrapped the food.
“Here you are,” said Colin; “make the most of it.”
“You know, perhaps we have climbed a bit,” said Susan. “For all we can tell, this tunnel may be near the surface.”
“Huh,” said Colin out of the darkness. He knew she was only trying to cheer him up.
Susan gave a little cough, and a gasp.
“What’s the matter? Got a crumb in your throat? That’s what comes of being greedy! I suppose it means you’ll have to have a drink now. Why can’t you be more careful?”
Colin reached for the lamp and pressed the switch. He was alone.
“Sue!!”
He scrambled round in the tunnel: it was empty.
“Sue!!”
She had gone, pack and all.
Colin squirmed through the entrance and flashed his lamp up and down: there was nothing to be seen. He ran unthinkingly. Tunnels, caverns, tunnels; an endless desolation of sand and rock.
“Sue! Sue!!”
And at once he was past running. The sand dragged his steps, he tripped and fell.
“Sue!” No. That’s not the way. Keep quiet. Must think. Put the light out! Must find her. But suppose I find the way out? What then? No. Must find Sue. Rest a minute, though: just a minute.
Slowly strength returned to his limbs. Colin