Tunnels of terror
Anne Ludwig
Copyright 2013 Anne Ludwig
Cover art copyright 2013 Linda Adams
Publishing advice and support: Lesley Humphrey
Table of contents
Chapter 1. Unexpected unwelcome!
Chapter 2. The homestead
Chapter 3. Dinner at last
Chapter 4. The tree house
Chapter 5. Midnight visitor
Chapter 6. Emma goes missing
Chapter 7. The cave
Chapter 8. Luke goes searching
Chapter 9. Daylight!
Chapter 10. Safe at last
Other titles by Anne Ludwig
About the author
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Chapter 1. Unexpected unwelcome!
Luke and James got off the train and looked around. They were the only people on the platform. “Well, no great welcome from the Nut Job,” sneered Luke, using his favourite name for his aunt. “You’d think she’d at least pretend to be happy to see us.” He felt uneasy as he watched the train pull out of the station. “Well, now what?” he grumbled, breaking the silence. “I’m not walking up to Devil’s Cliff. She had better get here soon.”
Meanwhile, James had wandered over to the noticeboard. There was an envelope with bright pink lettering stapled to the board.
“Luke and James,” he read aloud. He pulled the envelope off the board. Luke snatched it out of his hand and ripped it open.
“Listen to this!” said Luke in disgust. He read the note aloud in a silly voice.
Hi boys!
If you’re reading this note, it means that I’ve had car trouble. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but it’s probably a good idea to start walking. Just a short walk up Devil Drive and sharp right into Stony Creek Corner at the gravestone. We’re at the end on the left. You can’t miss the homestead.
Love and kisses, Aunt Lucy.
P.S. Phone reception here is non-existent mostly, so I can’t call you. See you soon.
Luke ended with loud kissing noises.
“Great!” said James, sarcastically.
“I’m not walking up that road with my heavy backpack,” shouted Luke, looking up at Devil Drive. “She can come and get us. This stinks! What if something happened to us? We’re her guests.”
“Maybe Mum told her how nice we’ve been lately and she’s scared off already!” said James, the corner of his mouth turning up. “We have been pretty intense.”
“Exactly what they deserved,” spat Luke, thinking of the school bullies who had made Grade Four so miserable.
“How about we head up the hill? I guess we’re responsible for ourselves,” said James.
“I’m not! Go if you like. She can come and get me. And if something happens to me she’ll be sorry,” said Luke. James wasn’t sure he understood Luke’s logic, but he wasn’t about to argue with him while he was in one of his moods.
“Hey, boys!” called a booming voice. “You wouldn’t be Luke and James would you?”
“What if we would be?” answered Luke rudely.
“Well, if you would be, you could catch a ride up the hill to Devil’s Cliff. I’m Paul and I’m taking some stuff up there for Lucy. She said you might be here.”
“That would be great, thanks,” answered James quickly.
“Why would we want to get into your filthy truck?” sneered Luke, his left eye twitching.
“Suit yourselves,” answered the booming voice happily. “Enjoy your walk! As she’s not here, it means she’s stranded. I’d better go and rescue her.”
James watched in horror as the big man whistled, wound up his window and drove up the hill.
“You idiot!” yelled James. “We could be at the top of that hill, with our backpacks.”
“What about ‘never accept a lift from a stranger’?” grumbled Luke, realising his smart-mouthed remark had cost them a ride.
“How did he know our names? Aunt Lucy must have told him about us. She just got married to someone called Paul,” shouted James.
“How would you know?”
“I remember Mum and Dad talking about their wacky wedding.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“You wouldn’t. The conversation wasn’t about you, for once,” said James.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re an idiot. The kids at school are right. You are a moron. I’m walking up that hill. Sleep in this station if you like. I’m not! And it wouldn’t hurt you to be polite now and then. Not everyone is out to get you,” yelled James.
“How would you know? You don’t know anything,” Luke yelled back.
“Well, I know more than you. I could be at the top of this lousy hill, but thanks to you, I’m not.” James turned, muttering under his breath, “He makes me sick…goes off at everyone…about everything. No wonder we have so much trouble at school.” He looked up the dusty road and started walking.
James was half way up the road before he noticed how fast he was walking. He stopped. It felt good saying what he had wanted to say. He usually just went along with Luke’s ideas.
Being Luke’s twin, he’d never known a time when he had done something on his own. It really felt good. Luke had been wrong. He often was. But this was the first time that he, James, had been angry enough to stand up on his own. It felt great. He also felt tired. He turned and looked back.
Luke was still sitting on his backpack, staring up the hill.
James turned back to face the rest of the hill. Slowly, he put one foot in front of the other as he trudged up the dusty road. His backpack weighed a ton. He wished he hadn’t packed his rock collection. His throat was dry and his eyes stung. Tears were prickling behind his eyelids, but he wouldn’t let Luke know how scared he was starting to feel. This was weird. Totally weird.
Luke watched James head off up the road. As he stood there, the anger fizzled in his stomach. After a while, he just felt tired. He sat on his backpack. When would he learn it was not always the best thing to be a smart mouth? It made him feel big. But sitting here, he was starting to feel small. And nervous. And lonely.
James had never spoken to him like that. He was usually his partner in crime. He didn’t want to stay at this station on his own and he had no intention of sleeping here. He wished he were half way up the dusty hill, with James.
A sudden dusty gust blew his long wild hair into his face, and he coughed. He was thirsty. He wanted a soft drink. That was another thing. He wasn’t drinking water by the litre like his crazy aunt. She thought water solved everything. Silly woman! He went back into the station, but there was no vending machine. Just a water fountain. No! He wasn’t having water. He wanted a soft drink. He walked to his backpack, hoisted it up onto his back and started up the dusty road.
Chapter 2. The homestead
James stood looking at the “homestead”. The message was right. You couldn’t miss it. It was a shack in the middle of an overgrown vegetable patch. The henhouse looked bigger and more luxurious. And, oh no! Was that an outhouse? The toilet wasn’t even part of the shack. He walked up the path, stepped over a tortoise, startled a hen and her chicks and knocked on the door. It swung open slowly, creaking.
“Hello!” he called, “Aunt Lucy!” There was no answer. “Anyone here?” Cautiously, he stepped into the surprisingly large kitchen. There was an envelope on the large wooden table in the centre of the room, with LUKE AND JAMES written on it in that pink ink. He opened it slowly, unsure whether he wanted to read the contents.
My darling nephews
Glad you’re here safe and sound. Pick a bed! Any bed! Just not the big o
ne!!!! Make yourselves at home. Help yourselves to a snack from the garden. I should be there any minute. Can’t wait to see you. Paul’s keen to meet you guys too.
Love and kisses, Aunt L.
Snack from the garden? What were they supposed to eat? Tortoise? James opened the cupboard. Some cans of stuff, long-life milk. No pizza. No quarter-pounder with cheese. No Coke. No chips. They were going to starve. He heard a movement behind him and turned quickly.
“Luke! You made it!” James said a little uncertainly, looking at his brother with relief. “She’s not here, but should be… any minute! We can eat the tortoise if we like. Do you know how to cook tortoise?” James couldn’t help grinning. Luke was actually speechless! “She’s weird. Totally weird,” James added. He realised he was enjoying himself!
“What?” gasped Luke eventually. “Tortoise? I need a Coke.”
“Bombed out there, too. There’s long-life milk and... water, I guess. Or tortoise juice!” announced James, the corner of his mouth turning up and his eyes twinkling.
“Well, I’m dying here. Pass me a glass, if there is one in this prehistoric shack,” ordered Luke ungraciously.
While Luke poured himself a glass of water, James went in search of beds. It was obvious the purple, scarf-draped room that smelled of something flowery and smoky was the room with the big bed, so he threw his backpack onto one of the single beds in the only other room. He looked around the room. Two beds, one oil lamp, two drawers, one mat, one window, no curtains. What on earth were they going to do here for six weeks?
James turned and walked into the kitchen and out into the vegetable garden. He was hungry! He looked around. Lettuces, tomatoes, capsicums, spinach (gross), carrots, onions, radishes, eggplant (grosser) and some strange-looking things he’d never seen before, growing on plants. There was nothing to eat. Now, he wasn’t sure what he’d be more likely to die from... boredom or hunger. He picked a cherry tomato and was pleasantly surprised at the flavour explosion in his mouth as he bit into the firm red ball. Wow! This was good! Maybe he wouldn’t actually starve. He ate a couple of handfuls while he stood looking around.
James noticed an enormous weeping fig tree, with an amazing looking tree house. Things were looking up. He walked over to it.
He climbed up to the first platform easily, thanks to the clever foot-holds that had been nailed to the trunk. It looked like there were three levels. Using the rope ladders and other foot-holds nailed to the branches, he made his way to the top platform.
He could see forever from up there. He could see the edge of the cliff and the ocean beyond. He turned around. There was the shack and behind it, Devil Mountain, rising up into the clear blue sky. It looked like there was an opening at the base of the mountain. Maybe it was a cave. That would be cool.
“James, where are you?” Luke sounded panicky.
“Up here.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? I’ve been calling and calling you.” Luke sounded more annoyed now.
“Sorry. Didn’t hear you!”
“Yeah! Right!” answered Luke, unconvinced. James climbed down the rope ladders and made his final dismount using one of the many rope swings.
“Here, try one of these tomatoes,” he said, offering Luke a rather squashed one from his pocket.
“No way! I don’t do veggies,” muttered Luke. “Nor do you, if you remember.”
“Yeah, I know, but these are amazing. Try one.”
“No way! I’ve already had three glasses of water. I need real food.”
“Well, from what I could see from up there, I don’t like your chances. We’re in the middle of nowhere!”
“Let’s phone for a pizza,” suggested Luke.
“Now you’re talking,” agreed James enthusiastically as the boys started walking back to the shack.
“She’s right. No reception!” grumbled Luke as he held his mobile above his head and waved it around. “Not even one bar. How can they bear to live here?”
“Let’s just use their phone. They must have a land line,” suggested James, picking more cherry tomatoes as they walked through the veggie garden.
But they couldn’t find a phone. It was then that they noticed that there were no light switches, and no lights. In fact there was no electricity. They stared at each other. What were they going to do tonight with no lights? Total darkness was not on their list of favourites.
“Candles! Find candles and matches,” James ordered Luke. “I saw an oil lamp in the bedroom. I guess we can work out how to light it without blowing this place up.” He grinned at the thought and then stared in disbelief as Luke went searching for matches. Luke had never taken an order before, as far as James could recall.
Ten minutes later, with candles and oil lamp arranged and matches strategically placed, they sat at the kitchen table and looked at each other.
“I guess you read their note,” said James.
Luke grunted and muttered, “Leaves and water for dinner, I suppose.”
“With tomatoes on the side,” grinned James. For some reason, he found it all mildly amusing. Maybe it was because Luke was so cranky about everything. Both boys looked at each other in silence, each seriously hoping that someone would come soon, but not really ready to admit that to each other. Adults could be so annoying, but both boys wouldn’t mind one being here right now. Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside. Dogs were barking, a cow mooed, a horse neighed, the chickens went crazy and what sounded like a tugboat pulled up to the house.
Chapter 3. Dinner at last
A tall woman with wild red hair got out of a truck. It didn’t make sense but the truck looked familiar.
“James! Luke! You’re here!” grinned Aunt Lucy. “Give me a hug. My, you’re all grown up. I was expecting little dudes.”
“Could have fooled us,” whispered Luke leaning closer to James. They did give her a hug. They were so pleased to see an adult, they would have hugged that big man with the booming voice. They both gasped as that is exactly who got out of the driver side of the truck.
“Gidday!” he grinned.
“Boys, this is Paul. Uncle Paul, I guess!” said Lucy. Luke and James just stared.
“Nice to see you again, boys,” said the booming voice, offering his hand to both boys. They shook his hand mutely.
Paul turned back to the truck and helped a little girl down to the ground.
“Boys, this is Emma,” said Lucy. “She’s going to be staying with us for the holidays too. Emma’s four. She’s Paul’s niece, so I guess that makes her my niece and your cousin or something.” Emma just stared and held Lucy’s hand tightly, moving even closer to her.
“Sorry I wasn’t there to meet you. I was hoping my car would survive at least until I’d picked you up. But no such luck! Fortunately, Paul got back early from visiting his sister and rescued me, or I’d still be walking, with a long way to go! So we do have wheels and you’re here safely. I’m glad it’s worked out so well.”
“We are too,” agreed James, looking knowingly at Luke.
“Come on everyone. I’ll chuck some dinner together,” said Lucy. Luke’s stomach rejoiced.
“James and Luke, please pick five different veggies, all a different colour. Pick your favourites. You are, after all, the guests of honour. Emma, you come and help me with the sauce. Off to the herb garden first. Come on. Oh, boys! Do you prefer orange juice or water with dinner?”
Luke and James looked at each other. “I guess ‘neither’ isn’t a polite answer, huh?” whispered Luke to his twin.
“Uh... orange juice would be great, thanks,” answered James quickly.
“Great, Paul dear, will you do the orange juice please?” said Lucy.
“You hate orange juice,” whispered Luke.
“Well, maybe it’ll be like the tomatoes,” answered James.
“What?” asked Luke, confused.
“You know, maybe it’ll taste really different here,” explained James.
&nbs
p; “Come on boys. The veggies won’t pick themselves. Let’s say, three or four of each vegetable?”
“Ah, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, snow peas and carrots. Great combination. Thanks boys,” said Aunt Lucy. “Please go and help Paul pick the oranges before dinner.” Luke and James looked blankly at Lucy. “Uh, silly me! How would you know where the orchard is? Walk half way down the road, turn right at the gravestone and then walk about a hundred metres.” They were too stunned to argue and found themselves turning around and walking as if in a trance, down the hill they had struggled to climb less than two hours ago.
After a major walk and hard labour, squashing enough oranges for five decent drinks, then a quick cold shower, both boys sat down at the dinner table, silent and exhausted. They’d never taken the time to consider what had to be done before orange juice appeared in glasses on the table. They’d had to squeeze twenty-five oranges. Luke and James looked at each other, sighed and shrugged their shoulders.
Suddenly, much to Luke’s horror, Lucy and Paul held hands and actually tried to hold his and James’ hands. Uncool in the extreme! Both boys had a fake coughing fit and then sat on their hands.
Luke and James watched in silence, as Paul and Lucy held hands with Emma, shut their eyes, and quietly said, “We are grateful for this delicious and nourishing food.” All was quiet for a few moments. Then Lucy opened her eyes and the spell was broken.
“They probably don’t hold hands when they give thanks in their home,” Lucy whispered to Paul. Hold hands? thought James. Not likely. And ‘give thanks’? Yeah, right! At home, they just sat down in front of the TV and got on with dinner.
“Help yourselves, boys” said Lucy brightly, as she passed a steaming bowl of vegetables covered in sauce to Luke.
“No thanks. I... uh... don’t do vegetables,” announced Luke, in a meek voice.