by Tom Pawlik
Jack could feel his heart racing as he wondered if this was the very path his father had taken during his last expedition. Running Bear had not recalled speaking with him twelve years ago, but Jack felt a sense of certainty that he was on the right trail. He was eager to find out just what kind of cave system was under this mountain.
At length Ben found a suitable area along the cliff to attempt an ascent, and he scrambled up the mountainside like a squirrel up a tree.
Jack chuckled. “Wow, he moves pretty good for an older guy.”
Rudy shook his head and grunted. “Army Ranger.”
Within ten minutes, Ben had scaled the cliff and pulled himself onto the narrow ledge. He scooted along until he came to the opening and slowly climbed inside. He disappeared from view for a minute and then reappeared, waving at them.
“It looks big enough to fit inside,” he called. “It’s maybe three or four feet wide and extends up into the cliff at about a thirty-degree angle.”
“How far up does it go?” Jack said.
Ben glanced back. “I didn’t see the end.”
They tied their packs one by one to the rope, and Ben pulled them up. Next, Rudy and then Jack attempted the fifty-foot climb while connected to the safety line. The climb was steep and laborious, but forty minutes later they had both managed to reach the ledge.
Jack gazed out as he caught his breath. The cliff dropped off right at their feet, straight down into the forest below. From this vantage point, Jack could see the foamy creek tumbling back down the slope through the woods and into a rough meadow beyond. The entire countryside below him was lit beneath the blazing sun.
Rudy stood beside him, flipped open his minicam, and panned across the vista. “Nice view, huh?”
“I’ll say.”
Rudy shut off the camera. “So . . . you still think your dad came this way?”
“I know I can’t explain it,” Jack said, “but I’m almost positive he did. I have to believe it.” He turned to Ben. “So what do we do now?”
“We follow the same procedure heading up into the tunnel,” Ben said. “I’ll go in first and set an anchor. Then you guys follow me up.”
Ben pounded an anchor into the base of the ledge to secure a safety line. Then he climbed up into the crevice over the stream of water, bracing himself against the sides. Jack peered in and watched as Ben disappeared into the darkness, trailing the rope behind him.
They waited outside for several minutes until Ben appeared again in the mouth of the opening.
“Okay, the tunnel opens into a larger chamber about ten yards up,” he explained. “There’s a big pool that’s feeding the waterfall, maybe twenty or thirty feet across. And it looks like there’s a couple other passages leading off the main room.”
Jack rubbed his hands. “Let’s go.”
They secured themselves to the line and pulled themselves up the incline, keeping their feet to either side of the gushing water. At one point the passage grew so narrow, Jack could barely squeeze through. He had no idea how Ben had managed to get his larger frame past it.
But the passage leveled off and opened into a large, rounded chamber just as Ben had described. Jack stood in the mud and rocks at the edge of the pool, ankle-deep in water. A narrow glint of daylight filtered up the passage and illumined part of the room, but they explored the rest of it with flashlights. The chamber was wide and low, so they had to stand slightly hunched, and a steady stream of water poured down from overhead through a number of cracks and crevices.
Rudy had unpacked his minicam again and filmed the chamber.
“Caves are very delicate ecosystems,” Ben was saying, “so we need to make sure we minimize our impact. There’s an old saying: ‘Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, and kill nothing but time.’”
“Yeah, well, we’re having an impact just by our presence,” Rudy said. “We’re producing carbon dioxide and perspiration, leaving epithelial cells, and introducing new bacteria. Even our footprints could have a butterfly effect in this place.”
As they talked, Jack searched the walls for evidence of the N’watu or some of the writing Running Bear’s grandfather had supposedly seen. He waded around the edges, shining his flashlight along the walls, but found nothing.
Ben inspected the ceiling with his flashlight. “I’m guessing that during the spring thaw this whole chamber gets flooded.”
“Is this the tunnel you were talking about?” Rudy pointed out an opening off to one side, where a trail of water trickled down and disappeared into the darkness.
“That’s one of them.” Ben shouldered his pack. “There’s one on the other side that leads up.”
He pointed his flashlight across the room to a smaller crevice. Jack could see Rudy shudder at that prospect. It did look like a tight fit. The one leading down was wide by comparison. And probably an easier climb.
“Well—” Jack swiveled his flashlight between the two options—“I vote for the lower one. It looks more promising.”
“All right,” Ben said. “Let me take a look around first.”
He crouched to squeeze himself through the opening and crawled a few yards down the passage. “Looks like it goes on a ways.”
He continued on until his light disappeared altogether. A minute later, his voice echoed back up the passage. “Okay, come on down. It looks like a pretty easy tunnel.”
Jack motioned for Rudy to follow. “I’ll bring up the rear,” he said.
“Great,” Rudy grunted as he crawled into the passage.
Jack watched him go and followed a few moments later. While he had to hunch to get through the opening, he found that he was nearly able to stand upright just a few feet into the tunnel. It led downward at a steeper angle than the waterfall shaft outside but was also rougher. The trail of water at his feet had obviously not been enough to wear the rock smooth.
Soon the passage tapered considerably and the incline grew steeper. Moreover, the ground was becoming slippery with mud as the water flow seemed to have increased, dripping down from the ceiling.
Ben signaled them to stop. “It’s getting pretty steep here,” he said. “And slick. I think we should keep ourselves spaced out and link up.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Link up?”
Ben produced the rope they had used earlier and tied it to his belt harness, then to Rudy’s, and finally to Jack’s. “You’re the anchor.”
“Great.”
“Keep a good ten to fifteen feet between us,” Ben said. “Just in case.”
They continued on, weaving between sharp outcroppings. In the meantime, the floor was growing increasingly slippery. Jack found his boots losing traction repeatedly.
Ben came to a halt. “Hold up. I want to set an anchor just to be safe.”
Jack tried to stop but lost his footing and skidded into Rudy, knocking him off balance as well. They both landed on their backs but kept sliding down the passage.
“Whoa!”
It was a surreal experience as Jack felt himself gaining momentum. Kicking his feet against the sides of the tunnel, he tried to stop, but it seemed like the mud was everywhere. Limbs flailing, the two of them slammed into Ben, who was also struggling to keep himself from falling.
The chain reaction sent all three racing down a chute without a sled. Suddenly the tunnel dropped away sharply beneath them, and they plummeted nearly straight down for an endless moment through solid darkness.
Chapter 05
Jack plunged into a dark pool of frigid water. The cold tore through him like icy razors slicing his skin as he struggled to keep his thoughts from scattering into panic. He could feel gravel and rocks beneath his feet, but he was in water up to his waist and the cold was nearly overwhelming.
A light blinked on in the darkness, and Jack could make out Ben’s large frame standing a few yards off clutching one of the flashlights.
Now Jack saw the pit was maybe fifteen or twenty feet across. Smooth rock walls loomed on all sid
es, and water cascaded from above in a steady stream. There was no place to climb up out of the cold. It looked to Jack like they had fallen into the bottom of a well.
“This is just great.” Rudy’s frantic voice sounded from the shadows behind Jack. “What are we gonna do now?”
“Don’t panic, for one thing,” came Ben’s gruff reply. “Get your ropes off.”
Jack untied the rope from his waist and fumbled beneath the water for his own flashlight. He could feel his teeth chattering. “Wh-where are we?”
Ben was scanning the walls. “Looks like some kind of pit.”
Jack found his light and peered up at the ledge. He spotted the tunnel they had fallen from about twenty feet up. A grim realization was beginning to set into his mind. He looked at Rudy and could tell he’d come to the same conclusion.
“W-we can’t climb back up that w-way,” he said.
“Check your packs,” Ben said. “Make sure we have everything.”
Jack swung his pack around and inspected its contents. His minicam was moist but not ruined; his canvas pack had obviously protected it during the initial fall into the water. He slipped the camera back into its nylon case and zipped it tight. It wasn’t waterproof, but hopefully it would stay dry enough. Although from the look of their predicament, the fate of his video equipment hardly seemed important anymore.
He continued struggling to keep his mind off his father, but he couldn’t help wondering if he had fallen down this shaft as well and died alone here in the dark. He shuddered at the thought of stumbling across his father’s bones somewhere under the water.
“W-we’re gonna freeze down here.” Rudy shivered.
“Shut up!” Ben’s voice took on an irritated edge. “Quit talking like that. Just keep looking for a way out.”
Jack pointed his light back up at the ledge. “Do you think if we boosted Rudy, he could climb back up?”
Rudy shook his head, shivering. “It’s too high.”
Ben shone his beam on the streamlets of water pouring down from the darkness overhead. “The shaft isn’t filling with water, so it’s got to be going somewhere.”
Jack nodded. “Another tunnel?”
“Probably underwater somewhere.” Ben began searching the perimeter of the shaft. “There’s gotta be an outlet.”
Then Jack got an idea. He unzipped his pack, unwrapped one of his granola bars, and set the plastic wrapper on the water like a tiny canoe. It spun in the eddies and swirls but soon began drifting toward one of the walls. As if drawn by an invisible thread.
He looked up at Ben. “What do you think?”
Ben didn’t reply. His stern, leathery countenance seemed fixated on the wrapper as it picked up speed. In moments it bounced into the smooth rock wall and bobbed against the side.
Ben looked at Jack. “Glowsticks.”
Jack dug further in his pack and produced a couple of the chemlights. He snapped them and shook them up until they gave off a pale green glow.
Ben grabbed them, sucked in a few deep breaths, and ducked under the surface. Jack was shivering at just the thought of being fully submerged again in the bone-chilling water.
A moment later Ben came back up, shaking. “L-looks like some kind of sh-shaft down there,” he said. “But I can’t see how far it goes.”
Jack was heartened by the news. “How wide is it? Can we fit through?”
“I dunno. A couple feet.” Ben set about uncoiling another length of rope and tied it onto his belt.
Rudy was shivering worse now. “Wh-what are you d-doing?”
Ben slipped off his pack and handed it to him. “I’m gonna see how far it goes.”
“Through there?” Rudy’s eyes widened. “Y-you’re c-c-crazy.”
Ben handed the other end of the rope to Jack and took a handful of glowsticks. “Keep it tight. If I tug twice, pull me back through.”
He sucked in a few more deep breaths and disappeared under the surface again. Jack felt the rope slip through his hand as he fed it into the tunnel. He soon lost track of how much length had gone in. Maybe twenty feet. Maybe thirty. Finally the rope stopped pulling, and Jack stood with his flashlight tucked under his chin, holding the coil in his numb hands above the surface.
“What happened?” Rudy asked, his face drained of all color.
Jack shrugged and pulled back gently on the rope to keep the tension. Then he gave it one short tug. A moment later he felt a single tug in reply and breathed a relieved sigh. “I think he’s okay.”
Nearly a full minute later, Ben emerged again, gasping for breath, his teeth chattering. “It c-comes out into an-nother chamber. The tunnel’s about twenty-five feet long, and it gets a little narrow in the middle.”
“How narrow?” Rudy said.
“It was t-tight for me, but you g-guys should make it no problem.”
Rudy turned to Jack, shaking his head. “Jack . . . I’m telling you, I will freak out down there.”
“Well, we don’t have any choice,” Jack said, trying to sound firm but supportive. The last thing he needed was Rudy getting hysterical.
“I’m gonna get stuck!”
“If Ben can make it, you can too.”
“But I can’t—”
“Rudy.” Jack grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt and jerked him close, shining the light in his face. “It’s real simple. You either stay here and die for sure from hypothermia or take your chances down there. Now man up and let’s do this.”
Ben was already uncoiling several lengths of rope. “I’ll go first. Then you send the packs through, and you two come last.” He turned to Rudy. “All you gotta do is follow the rope. Hand over hand. Got it?”
Rudy was shivering too badly for Jack to tell if he was nodding or not. He slapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll do fine. You’ll be through before you know it.”
“I’ll tug three times for you to send the packs,” Ben said. “Then I’ll give three more tugs when you’re clear to come through.”
Jack and Rudy nodded.
They tied their packs to the rope, and Ben started sucking in deep breaths. Jack could see he was fighting off the effects of the cold, and Jack himself was starting to go numb. He could feel his mind shutting down as the blue beams of their flashlights began to flutter in his eyes.
Ben ducked under again, trailing the rope behind him. A minute later Jack felt three tugs and began feeding the rope through the tunnel. He could tell by the feel of the rope that one of the packs snagged a bit somewhere in the darkness, but after a sharp yank, it continued pulling through.
Rudy was rubbing his arms and hugging his slim frame. “I c-can’t believe this is hap-p-pening. I knew I should’ve st-tayed home.”
“Keep it together, Rudy,” Jack said as he waited for Ben’s signal. “You got to stay focused.”
Suddenly the rope tugged three more times.
Jack clutched Rudy’s arm. “Okay, it’s our turn,” he said. “You go first and I’ll be right behind you.”
Rudy’s lips trembled. “I c-can’t. . . .”
Jack shook him. “Rudy—you can do this. You’re not going to get stuck.”
Jack thrust the rope into his hands and pushed him toward the tunnel, shouting positive reinforcements like some kind of desperate life coach.
Rudy sucked in several deep breaths; then Jack pressed his head under the water and guided him to the opening. A moment later Jack followed, ducking under the surface as a thousand needles of ice pricked his flesh. He fumbled blindly for the rope, following it into utter darkness.
Jack kept his eyes squeezed tight as the sharp edges of the tunnel scraped past him, closing in tighter the farther he went. It was smaller than he had expected, and at one point he felt like he would get stuck in the middle of the passage and drown. Panic began to swell inside his chest.
He could still feel Rudy’s feet ahead of him, thrashing wildly, and at least took some comfort in knowing he wasn’t completely alone. As the chill of the water sliced through h
im, memories burst in his brain like flashbulbs going off. Memories of his father. A funeral without a body. The big, empty rooms of his house.
He fought back his terror and tried to concentrate on the rope. Move forward. Hand over hand. Keep moving forward.
His lungs burned.
Hand over hand.
His arms throbbed from the cold.
Hand . . . over hand . . .
And then he was out.
Chapter 06
Jack surfaced, coughing and gasping for breath. He retrieved his flashlight from under his belt and flicked it back on, finding himself in a secondary pool within a much larger chamber. Ben was standing nearby, helping Rudy climb onto the rocky bank.
Jack waded to the side and scrambled onto the rocks. He lay there, clutching his flashlight and shuddering uncontrollably. “Wh-what do we d-do n-now?”
Ben had arranged their backpacks along the bank and was already going through them. “We need to take inventory of everything we have. I need to see what we’ve got to work with here.”
He was moving like some kind of robot, seemingly no longer affected by the cold. Probably due to his military training, Jack thought. Meanwhile Rudy was huddled on the shore, hugging his shoulders.
“I suggest you guys get changed,” Ben said. “We need to get out of our wet clothes.” He stripped off his shirt and slipped on the extra clothing he’d brought along.
Jack inched his way over and felt his own extra clothes. They were still mostly dry. He pulled off his wet clothing and slipped into his shorts and sweatshirt. It wasn’t much to keep him warm down in this cave, but it was better than staying in his wet clothes.
“What are we going to do?” he asked again.
Ben didn’t look up. “Find another way out.”
Rudy stirred at that comment. “What if there isn’t one?”
Ben shone his flashlight in Rudy’s face. “There’s always another way out.”
Rudy had brought along a pair of sweatpants and a nylon jacket in his pack. Jack tossed them over to him. “Rudy, get changed. You’re not going to do us any good if you get hypothermia.”