Part 2 (1/2)

4.

STALAGMITE CAVERN.

Amber put her hand to her head and groaned. 'Oh no. This is just brilliant.'

'She was in front of me when we came out of the narrow bit,' said Li.

Paulo splashed impatiently back into the cavern. 'I bet if we go back the way we came we'll find she's having a sit down.' But he felt guilty. Maybe he'd really upset her. Although there had been no other tunnels off the one they had just come along, there were numerous nooks and crannies. He peered into every one. Some were just small cracks when you got up close; some were big enough to crawl into.

The others followed. 'What if she's hurt herself?' said Alex. 'We're responsible for her. How could we have not noticed her dropping behind?'

'I think we'd have heard the screams,' muttered Li.

They were irritated, but they had to consider other possibilities. Getting a casualty out would be extremely difficult. And if she'd done more than just sit down, or gone back further than the last cave, she could be lost. How long would it take to find her?

Paulo emerged first into the stalact.i.te cavern. 'Tiff?' he called.

Amber came out next, then the other three.

They stood and listened for movement. The only thing they could hear was the steady drip of water.

Then a feeble voice: 'Help.'

It came from the tunnel they had abandoned.

The five friends exchanged weary glances. So she had decided to take the shortest route to the top and leave the rest of them behind. But she hadn't looked at the map: the tunnel wasn't just an easy stroll up to the ground, and now she was in trouble.

Paulo knelt down and shone his headlamp into the hole. He couldn't see anything, just the tunnel getting narrower and narrower. 'Tiff?' he called.

'I'm here.'

'Are you hurt?' he called.

'No. I can't get out.'

'Try coming backwards,' said Li.

'I have,' said Tiff. 'I'm stuck.'

Hex said in a low voice so that his voice wouldn't carry, 'Well, that serves you right, doesn't it?'

Amber nodded.

Li looked at Paulo. 'How narrow was it down there?'

'Just your size,' said Paulo.

Li gave him a long-suffering look. She took off her rucksack and handed it to him, checked the rope slung diagonally across her body, then got down on her hands and knees.

Without the rucksack she reached the narrow section in no time. She had to squirm along on her belly like a lizard. It was like climbing along the inside of a drainpipe. Her breathing echoed, emphasizing how tiny the s.p.a.ce was. She'd never been claustrophobic before but this was really unpleasant. She felt very alone. She kept reminding herself that her friends were back at the other end, friends who knew what to do if she got into trouble. The tunnel began to slope up steeply. She scrabbled to find handholds to pull herself up.

The tunnel suddenly turned downwards like an elbow. Li had visions of getting stuck round the corner. But Tiff had got through, so she could. In fact, thought Li as she squeezed around the gap, how did that little minx manage to get all this way? She must be tougher than she looks.

Li could see a ghostly white glow below her. A lamp. 'Tiff are you there?' she called.

'Yes.' Tiff's voice sounded shrill. Was she frightened? Good, thought Li. She deserves to be. Next time she won't go off on her own.

Li's headlamp illuminated a patch of brown mud as she inched her way down the steep tunnel. The floor was only a metre further down now. She vaulted lightly into the cave.

Tiff was sitting on the floor, her helmet off, looking miserable, but not injured it was her usual sulky expression. As Li looked around she saw a forest of big, jagged stalagmites, sticking up from the uneven floor like teeth in a shark's mouth.

For a moment she forgot that she was mad with Tiff. 'Wow,' she said. 'You've found a pretty amazing place.'

'Yeah, well, I want to go back now,' said Tiff curtly. She got up.

Li turned back to the tunnel to see how easy it was going to be to climb out. 'Did you try to get out?'

'Yeah. It's impossible.'

Li looked at her balefully. 'Well, I very much hope it isn't, or we're both stuck.'

Tiff jigged nervously from foot to foot. 'Come on, man, this is horrible in here. There's this noise.'

'That's not unusual in potholes,' said Li. 'It's probably underground water.' She inspected the tunnel. The first part was a slippery slope there were scuff marks where Tiff had tried to climb back up. Li was an experienced climber and could see tiny handholds but for Tiff it would be impossible.

A squeal interrupted Li's thoughts. She turned round sharply. 'What?'

Tiff's eyes were blazing. 'Did you hear it?'

And then Li made out a sort of chugging, booming noise. It wasn't water. It was regular, with a beat. In the toothy gloom of the cave, it was rather eerie. It surged, as though giving more power, then settled to a steady chug again. Like an engine.

'See?' Tiff was angry. 'You thought I was making it up. You people never listen.'

'I'm sure there's a perfectly normal explanation,' said Li. 'Or are you still frightened of monsters under the bed?'

Tiff looked at her with contempt. 'You should learn some manners. Remember I'm the customer.'

Li bit her tongue. 'I sense you have hostility issues,' she said. 'Maybe we should have a group hug.' Actually she would never do anything of the sort, but it was worth it for the look of revulsion on Tiff's face.

Li hopped up into the tunnel mouth. 'You stay here and I'll go up and throw you this rope.'

'You won't be able to climb out,' said Tiff scornfully. 'I kept slipping.'

But Li was already scaling the steep slope, feeling for tiny ledges with her fingers and toes. Slowly she made her way up to the elbow, then turned and threw down the rope for Tiff.