It came forward into the light, less cautiously now, looking towards me, its sleek, brown fur glistening in the hard light of the torch.
Close by my hand was a fair-sized stone. My fingers reached for it. The rat stopped moving. I snapped up the stone and threw it in one movement.
There was a rustle, a streak of brown, and the rat was gone, long before the stone hit the spot where it had been.
Well, I knew now. I knew what had turned Ferris into a heap of rags and bones. I knew too when that brute got hungry it wouldn't run away.
I looked around for more stones, and began making a little pile of them within easy reach. I examined the ground near me. Under dust and pebbles I discovered a short length of wood. It wasn't much of a weapon, but it was something. If I had to tackle this one rat, chained as I was, I felt I could lick it, but the back of my mind I was beginning to wonder if there was more than one, and if so, how many. Again my eyes strayed to the heap of rags. A lot more than one rat had done that.
I held the club in my right hand, the torch in my left and leaned my back against the wall. I waited; and somewhere in the darkness, not far away, the rat waited too.
chapter thirty
The luminous hands of my wrist watch pointed to twenty minutes past four. I had been in the shaft a little over two hours. I had five cigarettes left, and the light of the torch was turning orange. I had been switching it on and off every five minutes for the past half-hour while I waited and listened, trying to make it last as long as possible.
I had heard no sound nor seen anything. The stale, dank air was making me feel sleepy. It was only by smoking and concentrating hard on the glowing tip of the cigarette that I managed to keep awake. I had tied my handkerchief round my throat to offer some resistance if the rat went for me. It gave me an optimistic feeling of safety.
I had got over my panic - or, rather, I had worn it out. There's a limit to fear, and after the first hour I had got on top of it. But I had given up all hope of getting out of this jam. My one thought was to kill the rat before it killed me. Beyond that I had no thoughts.
The two hours had dragged by like two months. There was nothing to do except smoke and watch and listen, and think of the rat. The hands of my watch crawled on.
Then the rustling sound began again. The sound of the hard rings around the rat's tail rubbing along the floor. I threw a stone in the direction of the sound and heard a little scurry. Well, he wasn't hungry yet. I threw another stone to drive him farther away.
The dying light of the torch worried me. I turned it off, sitting now in the darkness, breathing gently and listening. I sat there for perhaps ten minutes with my eyes closed, and I must have dozed off. Then something happened that drove the blood out of my heart and brought me wide awake: something touched my foot and moved along my leg.
I snapped on the torch, a cold prickle shooting up my spine, my left hand grabbing at the club. For one horrible moment I saw the rat within inches of me, creeping towards me, pressed flat on the ground, its red eyes gleaming viciously. As the yellowing beam of the torch hit it, it swerved away and was gone, moving like lightning, and leaving me gulping in the close air, petrified and sweating.
Then out of the darkness, beyond the feeble light, four pairs of red sparks suddenly appeared, spaced about a foot apart and in a semicircle before me. Four now, not one.
I yelled at them: my voice harsh and off-key, but they didn't move. I grabbed a handful of stones and threw them. The red eyes vanished, but reappeared almost immediately, a little closer, if anything. I yelled again.
'Vic!'
I started up.
Had I imagined that faint call, somewhere in the darkness? I raised my voice and let out a yell that echoed like a thunder-clap down the tunnel.
'Vic! Where are you?'
'Here! Down the tunnel!'
I was so excited I forgot the rats. I was yelling now like a madman, and my yells changed to a yelp as a furry brown body suddenly streaked into the light and teeth snapped with a click into the folds of the handkerchief round my neck.
I felt the weight of its body on my chest, and smelt the dirt in its fur. Its wet nose was thrust under my chin as its teeth tried to cut through the folds of the handkerchief to get at my throat.
I nearly went crazy. Grabbing the sleek, horribly fat body, I tore it away from my throat. I felt it twist in my hand. The loathsome pointed head whipped round and razor-like teeth fastened into my wrist. In a kind of frenzy I dug my fingers into the fur, bent its back sideways, hearing its shrill squeal. The teeth came out of my wrist. Before it could strike again, I snapped its spine, feeling the bone go like a dry stick between my fingers. Shuddering with horror I threw the brute away from me.
'Vic!'
'Here!'
My voice croaked.
At the far end of the tunnel I saw a tiny pin-point of light.
'I'm coming.' Paula's voice: the sweetest sound I've ever heard.
'Down here. Mind how you come. There're rats.'
'I'm coming.'
The light moved steadily towards me, growing brighter. A minute or so later Paula dropped on her knees beside me, and caught hold of my hands.
'Oh, Vic!'
I drew in a deep, shuddering breath and tried to grin at her, but my face felt frozen.
'Paula! Jeepers! Am I glad to see you! How did you get here?'
Her hand touched my face.
'It'll wait. Are you hurt?'
I raised my hand. Blood welled from my wrist. If I hadn't had the handkerchief round my throat the brute would have nailed me.
'It's all right. A rat took a fancy to me.'
She took off her white silk scarf and tied it tightly round the wound.
'Really a rat?'
'Yeah. I killed it. It's behind you.'
She looked quickly over her shoulder. The beam of her torch fell on the brute. She caught her breath in a stifled scream.
'Uuugh! Are there any more like that?'
'One or two. He was particularly persistent. Do you wonder I sounded scared?'
She went closer and peered at the rat, then drew away with a shudder.
'It's enormous. Let's get out of here.'
'I'm chained to the wall. Barratt's idea of getting even.'
While she examined the chain, I told her briefly what had happened.
'I have a gun, Vic. Do you think you could shoot up one of these links?'
'We can try. Here, give it to me, and get out of the way. The slug may ricochet.'
She put a .25 into my hand and went a little way down the tunnel. The third slug cut the link. The noise of the shooting deafened me.
Slowly and painfully I crawled to my feet. She came back and supported me.
'I'll be all right in a moment. I'm stiff, that's all.' I began to hobble up and down, restoring my circulation. 'You haven't told me how you got here. How did you know I was down here?'
'A woman phoned. She wouldn't say who she was. "If you want to save Malloy, you'd better hurry," she said. "They've taken him to the Monte Verde Mine." She hung up before I could ask her who she was or how she knew. I just grabbed a torch and a gun and drove like mad to the mine.' Paula shook her head ruefully. 'I ought to have got Mifflin. I really lost my head, Vic. I don't know what I was thinking about.'
'That's all right You're here and I'm free, so what does it matter?'
'But it does. I've been wandering about in this awful place for hours. If I hadn't heard you yell, I was going to yell myself. You don't know what it's like down here. Every tunnel looks alike.'
'I'll get you out. Come on, let's try.'
'What's that?'
She was peering at the heap of rags and bones.
'Lute Ferris,' I said, and moved stiffly over to the rags. I flashed my torch on them. Even the skull had been picked clean. In the centre of the forehead was a small hole. 'So they shot him. Now, I wonder why.' I examined what was left of his clothes, and discovered a leather wallet. Inside, was a
car's registration tag made out to Lute Ferris, two five-dollar bills and a snapshot of a girl I recognized as Mrs. Ferris. I put the wallet back where I had found it and stood up.
'We'll have to bring Mifflin down here.'
Paula was staring at the heap of bones.
'Did the rats do that?' she asked in a low, horrified voice.
'Well, something did. Come on. Let's go.'
She looked a little fearfully into the darkness.
'You don't think they'll come after us, do you, Vic?'
'No. They won't bother us. Come on.'
We started off down the tunnel. I used my torch. The light was feeble, but if this was going to be a long job, we'd need Paula's torch later.
Halfway down we came to another tunnel that turned to the left. I remembered Dedrick had gone that way.
'Round here,' I said.
'Why not straight on?'
'Dedrick went this way.'
We turned left and went on for about a hundred yards. At end of the tunnel, another tunnel, intersecting it, went away into darkness both to the right and left.
'Now which way?'
'Toss for it. Your guess is as good as mine.'
'Let's go right.'
We went right. The ground was uneven and after walking some minutes, I realized we were going downhill.
'Now, wait a minute. This goes down. We should be going up. We'd better go back and try the left-hand branch.'
'You see what I mean?' There was an edge to her voice I had never heard before. That's what's been happening to me. I've walked for hours.'
'Come on.'
We went back to the intersection and started off down the fennel to the left. We walked for perhaps five minutes then suddenly we were confronted by solid rock.
'I - I don't think you're going to be much better at this than me,' Paula said breathlessly.
'Take it easy.' I was a little worried about her. She was usually so cool and unruffled. I had an idea she wasn't far off hysteria at this moment. 'Maybe that other way goes down and then up. We'll try it.'
'I was crazy to come down here alone!’ She caught hold of my arm. 'Why didn't I get Mifflin? We're lost, Vic. We could go on like this for weeks.'
'Come on,' I said sharply. 'Don't waste time talking a lot of mush. We'll be out of this in ten minutes.'
She made an effort, and when she spoke again her voice was calmer.
'Sorry, Vic, I'm rattled. I'm terrified of being underground like this. I feel shut in and buried.'
'I know. Now, get hold of yourself. Once you start feeling sorry for yourself, you're sunk. Come on, kid.' I linked my arm in hers and we set off again.
The ground sloped steeply and we began to descend into what seemed a black pit.
Suddenly my torch went out.
Paula clung to my arm, stifling a scream.
'It's all right. Put yours on,' I said. 'Mine was due to fade. It's a wonder it's lasted so long.'
She gave me her torch.
'We'd better hurry, Vic. This won't last long.'
'It'll last all we want.'
Having someone to steady made it easier for me. But we increased our pace, both knowing we would be in a bad spot if the torch failed us before we could find a way out of the mine.
We kept going down, and the farther we went the more stifling the air became. Then to add to our troubles the roof of the tunnel became lower with every step we took.
Suddenly Paula stopped.
'This isn't the way!' Her voice was high-pitched. 'I know it isn't! Let's go back.'
'It must be the way. Dedrick turned left at the end of the tunnel. I watched him. Come on, let's look a little further.’
'Vic; I'm scared.'
She backed away from me. I could hear her rapid breathing, and I flashed the light on her face. She was white and her eyes were wild looking.
'I - I can't stand any more of this! I'm going back! I can't breathe!'
I was having trouble with my breathing too. There was a tight feeling around my chest and every lungful of air I took in had to be fought for.
'Another hundred yards. If it doesn't take us anywhere we'll go back.'
I caught hold of her arm and pulled her along. Fifty yards farther on, there was another intersection. The air was very bad now.
'There you are,' I said. 'I told you we'd come to something. We'll go right. If it goes down we'll turn back and try the other way.'
She went with me.
Every new tunnel we came to was exactly like the others. We might just as well be walking up and down the same tunnel of all the progress we seemed to be making. And as we went on into the darkness, walking became more difficult. My legs felt heavy, and I had to make a continuous effort to move them. Paula was gasping for breath, and I had to help her along.
But at least the floor of the tunnel wasn't going down. If anything, it was going up.
'I'm sure we're on the right road now,' I gasped. 'We're climbing.'
She leaned more heavily on me.
'The air's awful. I – I can't go much farther.'
I put my arm round her and helped her along. The roof of the tunnel was getting lower. We had to bend our heads. Another twenty yards and we were bent double.
We stopped, gasping for breath.
'We must go back, Vic!'
She pushed away from me and began to stagger back the way we had come. I stumbled after her, jerked her round.
'Don't act the fool, Paula! Now, come on. You're getting into a panic.'
'I know,' She clung to me. 'I can't help it. It's this awful darkness.'
I could feel her trembling against me.
'Let's sit down for a moment. We're going to get out of this; only, you've got to keep calm.'
We sat down, and immediately discovered the air was a lot better near the floor of the tunnel. I pushed her flat and lay beside her.
After a few minutes the tightness around my chest and the weights around my limbs went away.
'This is better.'
'Yes.' She half sat up, pushing her hair off her face. 'I'm behaving awfully badly. I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again.'
'Forget it,' I said and took her hand. 'You've got a touch of claustrophobia. You'll get over it. Feel like moving? We'll crawl some of the way. Keep your nose close to the ground. I'll go first.'
We crawled over the rough ground, bruising our hands and knees. After a while we had to stop again. I was sweating, and my breath rasped at the back of my throat. Paula flopped beside me: all in.
'Do you really think we'll get out?' she asked in a small voice.
'Yeah; we'll get out,' but my voice carried no conviction. 'We'll take it easy for a few minutes; then we'll go on.'
I was beginning to realize that Dedrick couldn't have come this way. It looked as if we had taken a wrong turning somewhere. The thought of being in this mine much longer was beginning to get on my nerves.
Suddenly she gripped my arm.
'What's that?'
I listened.
Somewhere in the mine, I had no idea how far away or how near, there came the sound like rain falling and the soft rustle of dry leaves.
'What is it, Vic?'
'I don't know.'
'It sounds like rain.'
'Can't be. Keep still!'
We sat motionless, listening.
The pattering sound was nearer now: a sound of a thousand little leathery feet running over pebbly ground. I knew what the rustling sound was. I'd heard it before: only it wasn't one or four, but hundreds.
The rats were on the move!
chapter thirty-one
I jumped to my feet.
'Come on. Let's see how fast you can run.'
'What is it?' Paula said, scrambling up.
I grabbed her hand.
'Rats! Now, come on. Don't be frightened. We'll lose them.'
Bent double, we ran down the tunnel. The pattering sound behind us grew louder. We blundered on, stumbling over stones,
banging against the rough walls, but keeping up some sort of pace. The tunnel curved to the right; turning the corner, we found more head room. After a few yards it was possible to stand upright
'Stretch your legs,' I said, and increased my speed, dragging her along with me.
The going was easier now. We kept on, gasping for breath, running blindly into the darkness. The tunnel seemed endless. Suddenly Paula lurched and would have fallen if I hadn't swung round and steadied her. She leaned against me, sobbing for breath.
'I'm done!' she gasped. 'I can't go any farther.'
'You can, and you're going to!'
I put my arm round her and forced her on, but we had gone only a few hundred yards when her knees buckled and she sprawled on the ground.
'Give me a minute. I'll be all right. Just give me a minute.'
I leaned limply against the wall, my ears cocked, while I struggled to control my laboured breathing. The pattering sound had died away, but I knew we wouldn't have more than a moment's respite.
'We've got to keep moving.'
Away in the distance, the pattering sound began again. Paula staggered unsteadily to her feet.
'Come on,' I said and, supporting her, went forward at a staggering jog-trot.
After a while she got her second wind, and we began to run again. The sound behind us had become ominously close. Somehow, probably spurred on by the squeaking and pattering behind us, we managed to increase our speed. We came to another intersection and without pausing to think, I swung right, dragging Paula with me. We pelted down a long, high tunnel.
Ahead of us the tunnel began to narrow. I flashed the beam of the torch to see where we were going. Before us was an archway, no more than a hole in the wall.
'In here,' I panted, pushed her through the archway and staggered in after her.
We found ourselves in a big, lofty cave. As I swung the beam around, lighting up the walls, I saw a great pile of wooden boxes standing in the middle of the cave.
1950 - Figure it Out for Yourself Page 16