He made a decision and wedged the torch into the crack.
“Here, Emma, I’ll leave the light for you,” he whispered. She sniffed in answer. He turned to face the darkness. Now, he was following the tunnels by feel. He had one hand on the wall and one hand in front of his face.
He turned this way and that, following the wall. Then, the hand in front of his face touched a wall. He felt around. There were two paths to choose from. He remembered there being a fork. He had turned left before so he should go right, shouldn’t he?
He turned right and walked into a sticky spider web.
“Aaagh!” he yelled. Swiping at his face and waving his hands madly in front of him, he jumped back, tripped and fell over. Something scurried away from him. Shivers ran down his spine. Carefully he stood up. Now which way was he facing? Which way had he been going? His stomach tightened. He really needed to go to the toilet. He’d always joked about kids needing clean underwear. It wasn’t funny.
He had absolutely no idea which way to walk. He stood thinking about his choice, panic rising up his body. He didn’t know which direction was the way out. This must be what had happened to Emma. What if his choice took him deeper into the tunnels? His throat and chest seemed to close up. It felt like he was breathing through a very thin tube.
“This is weird. Totally weird,” James whispered, trying to calm himself. “Luke!” he yelled.
Silence.
He started walking, slowly, feeling his way in the inky blackness.
Chapter 8. Luke goes searching
Luke stood outside the entrance to the tunnels for what seemed like forever, listening. Suddenly, he heard a phone ringing. He turned and looked back at the homestead. A phone? He hadn’t seen a phone. If he could talk to someone, he could get help… He was running like the wind even as that thought was forming in his head.
“Keep ringing! Keep ringing!” he mumbled as he ran. He got to the back door. “Keep ringing!” he yelled, as he pushed through the door. He stood looking around him, listening to the echo of the last ring, so loud in his ears, mingling with the pounding of his heart, also so loud in his ears. But the phone didn’t ring again.
Silence.
“Aaaghhh!” he yelled into the kitchen, clenching his fists. He started looking on every surface, in drawers, in cupboards, under beds. How could the one minute of coverage happen when no one was near the phone, the phone they didn’t even know was there? Where was the one modern convenience in this forsaken place? A phone should be where you can see it and use it.
Then he thought he heard a yell from outside. He froze. He went to the door and looked out, towards the cave. Nothing! No one! Was it James? Was he in danger? Luke looked back into the kitchen. Then back towards the cave entrance. What to do?
“Luke!”
Someone was definitely calling his name. He raced back to the cave entrance.
“JAMES!” he yelled. His voice echoed off the walls back to him. There was no reply. Why didn’t James answer? What if James and Emma were lost in there? What if there was something else in there? How long should he wait? He knew caves and tunnels could be like mazes.
Hang on, he was good at mazes. He owned just about every maze book published. He’d carried most of them up the hated hill in his backpack. He could get through mazes faster than anyone he knew. But, it was dark in there, and the dark terrified him. James and Emma needed him, though. That was a strange sensation. No one had ever needed him before, or if they had, he hadn’t bothered to notice.
Candles! There were candles, better still, an oil lamp back at the shack. He turned and ran back to the homestead. He found the oil lamp and a box of matches.
Luke raced back to the cave entrance. His heart was pounding. He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. His throat was dry and scratchy. His legs were shaking. His hands were trembling. But he wasn’t afraid anymore. He had a plan. He had taken control.
“JAMES!” he yelled when he could take a deep enough breath.
Silence.
Luke shut his eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Okay,” he said, looking down the tunnel his brother had walked into. “Here goes...” He tried to open the matchbox. His hands were shaking so much that he pushed the little box right out and all the matches dropped onto the ground. They all had blackened ends.
“NO!” he yelled, flicking and spreading them around the ground. There must be one unused match. “Come on!” he urged. Then he saw a red tip. “Phew!” he breathed. He picked it up on the third try. “Stop shaking!” he yelled at his hands.
He shut his eyes and took another deep, slow breath. At a time like this, all he had was one match. “Well, I only need one match, I guess,” he said to the lamp. He felt his body relax a little.
He shielded the match from the wind with his body and struck it. A beautiful orange flame flared up. Carefully, he lit the lamp. “Okay, now for the maze,” he said, looking down the tunnel. “I can do this!” Slowly, he walked to the end of the tunnel. Left or right?
“James! Emma!” he yelled.
Silent blackness.
He stepped into the tunnel to the left and started walking. There was a strange feeling in his chest, a sort of expanding feeling. At the same time he knew he was in unfamiliar territory. He had never put someone else’s needs first. It felt good, really good. It was an odd sensation, and it made him feel six foot tall and light as air.
The light from the lamp was not very bright, but he could see. Courage spread through him and he continued walking along the tunnels, turning this way and that.
He came to a fork and turned right. After a while he heard a sound. He stopped and listened. The light was getting dimmer as he stood there. What was happening? It was getting darker and darker. He looked down at his lamp. It was going out. No! He hadn’t thought of checking the oil level.
Then, with a last flicker, the flame went out and it was pitch black.
He stood still, terrified. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see. He was frozen to the spot. He heard the sound again. Was that sniffing? Slowly he felt his limbs and senses come back to life. He was here on a mission, and he would see it through.
“Emma?” he called gently. “If you can hear me, please answer me.” The sniffing stopped.
“Unca Paul?” said a small voice.
“Come, Emma. Come home with me.” In the echoing tunnel, Luke could hardly recognise his own voice, let alone the gentle, reassuring words coming out of his mouth. It felt good, like he was grown up, almost a hero.
She sounded close, but he couldn’t see her. He walked in the direction of the sniffing, feeling his way.
“Emma, walk to my voice,” he suggested. He heard shuffling.
Something licked his leg. He froze. It licked him again.
“Emma?”
Silence.
He reached forward. Nothing! Something brushed past his legs. He stepped aside and felt around in the air lower down in the darkness. A smooth scaly something was gliding along under his hands – at knee height. He sucked in air and froze. All his senses were firing. Slow footsteps were walking away from him. He breathed out slowly and walked away from the footsteps.
He turned a corner and saw a faint glow and a shadow. The shadow moved. He stood still.
“Emma?” he whispered. There wasn’t enough light to make out her face.
“Unca Paul?” said the shadow. Obviously Emma couldn’t make out his face either. That was probably best. The shadow sniffed. He stepped closer and put out his hand. A little hand found his and held on tightly. The little hand was clammy and slimy. He managed to trap the word, Gross! in his throat, and he stifled the urge to let go. He could imagine what the wetness was, seeing as Emma was four and had been crying and sniffing.
“Let’s go home, Emma,” he whispered.
“Yeah, Unca Paul,” she sniffed.
“We need to find James first,” Luke stated. The little ha
nd stiffened. “Don’t worry. I’m here. James is lost in here, too.”
“James isn’t lost,” stated Emma. “James went to find help. James’ light is going out, though.”
“Did James find you?” asked Luke.
“Uh huh! He gived me his light, but it’s going out,” said Emma sadly.
“Why didn’t he take you with him?” asked Luke, confused.
“He couldn’t fit through the hole,” said Emma, matter of factly.
“Hole?” Luke was struggling to make sense of it all. Holding Emma’s hand, he walked further into the tunnel to where Emma had been. He moved closer to the faint glow. Only when he was very close did he understand what she had been telling him.
The glow was coming from the torch which was wedged on the other side of a crevasse in the wall.
“How brave of him,” whispered Luke. He stopped. This was the second time he had thought of someone else’s feelings. He pulled the torch free. Well, they would have a little light for a little while.
“I’m thirsty,” sniffed Emma. Luke was too. What he wouldn’t give for a glass of water. He stopped still. Water? He actually wanted water, not Coke. He smiled to himself.
“Weird. Totally weird,” he whispered, thinking of James.
“James!” he called. The tunnels echoed. Then there was total silence. He suddenly understood the meaning of silence being deafening. Then a yell echoed down the tunnel.
“JAMES!” he yelled, much louder.
“Where is he, Unca Paul?”
“In here somewhere. Let’s find him,” said Luke. Hand in hand they headed back up the tunnel.
Suddenly there was a whirring sound and high-pitched squeaking, and a million wings were flying over their heads and flapping against their faces. Emma screamed and started to run. Luke pulled her down to the floor and covered her with his body.
She was screaming. He was shaking. What was happening? Then the sound faded and all was quiet. Luke put his head up and looked around. They were alone again. He felt dizzy, and then sucked in a big lungful of air. It felt like he’d been holding his breath for hours. His head cleared.
“It’s all right, Emma, just bats, only little ones,” he said, hoping he was right. “They’re gone now. Just stay with me. We’ll be okay.” A little hand found his and held it in a vice-like grip. Luke smiled. He sounded braver than he felt. Hearing himself sound confident actually made him feel confident. How could that be? He’d think about that later, in the sunshine.
Chapter 9. Daylight!
“Why don’t you think before you do something? There, Mum, I’ve said it for you,” James shouted at the darkness. He sat down with his head in his hands. He was well and truly lost and had no idea which way to go. He couldn’t see a thing. He was thirsty. His throat was so tight. He was sick of feeling like he was breathing through a tube. He didn’t know what to do.
As he was staring into the dark, his eyes started to make out a glow. Was that a light somewhere? He stood up quickly, smashing his head on what must have been a rocky outcrop.
“Aaah!” he yelled as he sat back down. “Aaaah!” he yelled again, out of sheer frustration. After the echoes stopped, he thought he heard his name. Now he was hearing things. What a bump on the head can do to you, he thought.
He heard his name again.
“Luke?” he answered, hoping against hope.
“James, I can hear you. Can you hear me?” came the faint reply.
“Yes!” James yelled. He’d never been so pleased to hear his brother’s voice.
“Let’s get outta here,” said Luke.
“I’m with you, bro’,” yelled James, grinning. He took a breath. He could breathe easier. The tube was getting bigger.
“Unca Paul, he thinks you’re Luke,” whispered Emma, suspiciously.
“Never mind, let’s get out of here and sort that out later,” said Luke.
“Okay,” agreed Emma.
James watched the eerie glow above him. He gulped. Were ghosts real then? He watched the glow but it didn’t move. He kept looking and slowly realised that the glow came from little stripes on the roof of the tunnel. Glow worms! Cool!
“James! JAMES!” Suddenly he was aware that his name was being called, again and again.
“Oh! Yeah! Luke!” he yelled back.
“What’s going on?”
“Uh! I’ll tell you later,” he yelled, looking up at the glow worms. He eyes were drawn to another glow, further away, and this one did seem to be moving. He walked closer.
“Hang on, Luke! I can see a light,” yelled James. He walked towards the glow, which got brighter as he turned a corner.
The tunnel opened into a large cave. The light was moving, as if leaves were waving in the wind. The air smelt fresher, come to think of it. He walked closer. Up to his right he could see daylight through a large gap or crack, and he could see leaves and branches.
He could see everything quite clearly. Below the crack was a wall, about three times his height.
“Great! Just great!” he said, disappointed. He walked up to the wall. He could see that the rock was in layers. “Sandstone, granite, slate,” he muttered. Turning, he walked back to the dark tunnel. “Luke!” he yelled.
“Yeah,” came the answer.
“I can see out, but it’s a crack up high and I can’t get up there. The rock is in layers: sandstone, grani… Wait! I can get out,” yelled James.
“James? Did you say you can or cannot get out?”
“Both!”
“What? I can’t hear you properly.”
“I can get out,” James shouted.
“Great, I’ll get back outside and we’ll come and find you. When you get out, yell now and again and we’ll walk around until we find you,” came the reply.
“See you on the flipside!” grinned James. “Wait! How can you be so sure you can get out? It’s like a maze in here.”
“You’re talking to the king of mazes, dude.”
James grinned. Of course! “Race you out!” James walked back into the cave. “Who’d have thought that being a rock hound would be so useful?” he chatted happily to himself.
He found a rock on the floor and started scraping away at the sandstone, which came away like chalk. “One foothold. Now to make a foothold in each sandstone layer and I’ll climb out of here, easy.”
James imagined answering questions from a reporter about how he had escaped from the Tunnels of Terror, “I knew that sandstone is a soft rock, so I made footholds in each sandstone layer, climbed the wall, using the footholds and got out. Too easy! Nah! I wasn’t really scared. You’ve just got to keep a level head!”
Sweating and panting, his hands blistered and aching, he finally reached the top of the wall and peered out.
Chapter 10. Safe at last
Luke and Emma were standing staring up at the mountain, expectantly. “Hey, you guys!” James yelled. “Over here!” They both looked in his direction. James clambered up out of the cave and held his arms up to the clear blue sky, feeling the warm sun on his face.
Luke grinned. He and Emma clambered up the mountainside to greet him.
“Sunshine and fresh air never felt so good,” said James. When Luke didn’t have a smart retort, he knew that his brother felt the same way.
They heard that tugboat noise again, and turned in the direction of the drive. Then a horse snorted. They looked down to see the truck driving towards the homestead. Then, Paul rounded the bend, cantering towards the homestead on horseback. Three other horses were cantering alongside Paul, who was holding extra-long reins attached to each horse. One of the horses was quite a bit smaller than the others.
“Hi, Aunt Lucy,” called Luke, as she stopped the truck and climbed out. James and Emma waved madly. Lucy looked over to Luke, James and Emma. She grinned, waved and started walking over to them. Paul and the horses slowed to a stop. On seeing Luke, James and Emma, he grinned and waved.
“Hi, we’re ba
ck! How are things going? Did you miss us?” called Aunt Lucy.
“We…” began James.
“’Course they’re fine. They haven’t had time to get into trouble yet! And they certainly haven’t had time to miss us!” laughed Paul.
“Do you guys ride?” asked Lucy.
“We...” hesitated Luke.
“... are willing to learn,” finished James. All three of them walked down the mountainside.
Luke walked up to the jet-black horse and patted his head gently.
“Wicked!” he whispered. The horse nuzzled him. James was stroking the mane of the chestnut horse.
“Awesome! Totally awesome!” he said.
Emma was lost in conversation with the small, tan-coloured horse. “You look like honey,” she was telling him.
Lucy and Paul looked at each other. “Guys, meet your new friends. Luke, meet Wicked. James, meet Awesome. Emma, this is Honey,” said Paul, smiling. “Do you think you can take care of these guys? They’re yours while you’re here. We’ll keep Gerty for emergencies and moving heavy loads. This is how we’ll get around from now on.”
“Who’s Gerty?” asked Luke, confused. And then it dawned on him. “Is the truck’s name Gerty?” he asked, laughing. “By the way, Uncle Paul, I apologise for being so rude when I first met you.”
“Forgotten mate,” boomed Paul. James just stood staring at his brother, with his mouth open.
“What, never heard an apology, before?” asked Luke.
“Not from you!” grinned James. Luke smiled at him. Things were going to be different. They both knew it.
“Ah, I thought we’d explore those caves one day,” said Paul. “There are some neat rock formations in there, and a bat colony and a perentie lizard that has a nest, with eggs, and glow worms, and lots of exits. You can’t get lost in there.”
“Is a perentie lizard big?” Luke asked, remembering the smooth, scaly thing that had walked past him, under his hand after licking his legs.
“Yeah! Huge, but this one’s quite friendly, really. She actually lets me pat her,” announced Paul, proudly. Luke, James and Emma looked at each other, and then back at Paul.
“Cool!” answered Luke. “Let’s get to know the horses first, though. Can I have Wicked’s reins and lead him back to the house?”