“You’ve got to be kidding!” Sebastian said, putting voice to the fears of the others. “We’ll drown for sure.”
Doug, who had been staring silently into the black pool, looked up at the others. It was obvious from his expression that he had misgivings of his own. This was undoubtedly the most dangerous task they’d faced thus far. Doug was a good swimmer, but this was different. This time he would be swimming blind with no way of knowing when his next breath would be. The thought of it was terrifying, but the only other option was to go back and give up on ever finding the treasure. Doug wasn’t willing to do that. With a sigh of resignation, Doug said quietly, “I’m going to try it.”
“No, Doug, it’s too dangerous! You could drown!” Emma cried.
“Don’t do it,” Sebastian and Martha both said at once.
“Look, I’ve got to try. Lord Dinswood wouldn’t have left that riddle if it wasn’t possible,” Doug said reasonably. “I’ll go first and see how long the tunnel is. Then I can come back and let you guys know. That is, if any of the rest of you want to try it.” This last was said nonchalantly, but Doug was really hoping that at least one of the others would be willing to come along. He didn’t know if he could complete the rest of the challenges alone.
“Well, I for one am not climbing into that dirty water,” Clarice said with disgust. Then looking over at Reggie, she commanded, “Reggie, I want to go back.”
“I do too,” Susie quickly agreed. She was so relieved, she could have hugged Clarice. More and more the cave had begun to feel like a dungeon, and no one in their right mind wanted to spend time in a dungeon.
Not being a very good swimmer, Reggie was just as relieved. He couldn’t hold his breath more than ten seconds at a time, and he felt fairly certain that the swim through the tunnel would take longer than that. He was about to tell Clarice that he would gladly take her back the way they had come when they all heard something. It sounded far away, but it echoed hollowly indicating that whatever had produced it was in the passage somewhere behind them.
“What was that?” Susie whispered wide-eyed.
Everyone froze and listened to hear if the sound would come again. They didn’t have to wait long. The sound of metal striking metal rang through the passage not once, but twice more. Doug tried to think what it could be and felt the hair rise on the back of his neck as a probable explanation occurred to him. Before removing the key, he had been relocking all of the treasure chests they had encountered thus far. It was possible that, lacking the key, someone was trying to open one of the chests with a sledgehammer. Since this was the first time they’d heard the sound of metal on metal, it stood to reason that the unknown person was working on the first of the treasure chests. If that was the case, they had a little bit of time before the intruder caught up with them. Doug decided he’d better tell the others what he was thinking.
“You mean we can’t go back now?” Susie asked in dismay after Doug told them his hypothesis.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t want to come face to face with these people. They shot at Doug and me,” Sebastian said, thinking back to that day at Cal’s cabin. It still gave him nightmares to remember how close they’d come to being killed that day. He had no desire to give them a second chance.
Sebastian did bring up a good point. There were probably two people in the passage behind them and very likely the same two they’d seen at Cal’s cabin. Doug rubbed the back of his head and thought back to the day in Windland when he’d been clubbed as he came out of the alley. One of those two men was guilty of that as well. Sebastian was right; they needed to stay as far away from those two men as possible, and that left them only two options. “Whoever wants to go back needs to do it now, but you’ll have to go back to where the passage forked and take the left tunnel. Going back the way we came is out of the question. These guys, whoever they are, mean business, and they are very dangerous.”
“But we don’t know where the left tunnel leads,” Reggie said worriedly.
“I’m guessing it just leads out. Remember, years ago these passages were used by the castle’s owners to escape to safety. The part of the passage we’re in now is too dangerous to have been used much, if at all, so I’d say the family used the left tunnel,” Doug said after giving the matter some thought.
“Well, that does sound reasonable,” Reggie agreed. Then looking at Clarice, he said, “We can try the left tunnel, and if that doesn’t pan out, we’ll just have to retrace our steps and go out the way we came in. By then, those guys should have passed the place where the tunnel forks.”
“But what if they decide to come down the left tunnel?” Susie asked. “Martha has the riddle that told which passage to choose.”
“We can go back and leave the riddle by the treasure chest we found it in. It’ll just look like we dropped it after reading it,” Clarice suggested.
“That just might work,” Reggie said, looking at Clarice with admiration.
“Okay, that’s it then. Whoever wants to go back should follow Reggie now,” Doug said.
Reggie beamed in pleasure at being appointed the leader of the second group. He was determined to get those under his care out of the passage safely. He wouldn’t let Clarice down for anything. “Who’s coming with me?” Reggie asked and was surprised to see that only Clarice and Susie came over to stand beside him.
Reggie waited a second or so longer and then said, “Okay then. We’ll be going now. You guys be careful, and good luck.”
“Wait, you need the riddle,” Martha said. Digging into her pocket she brought out all of the riddles they’d collected so far and began looking through them. After locating the riddle about the right and left passages, she walked over without a word and handed it to Reggie.
Doug looked around at Sebastian, Emma, and Martha, his heart swelling with gratitude. Despite their fear of the task ahead, they were going to stay with him. Never in his life had he had friends as good as these. That thought made him more determined than ever to find the treasure and save the school.
Reggie had just turned to leave when Doug stopped him. He approached Reggie and leaning close to his ear so that the others couldn’t hear, he said, “Reggie, when you get out of the passage, you’d better go get help.”
Reggie nodded his understanding and turned once again, motioning for Clarice and Susie to follow. When they had gone, Doug looked at the others and said, “Now, let’s find that treasure.”
Doug stood at the edge of the pool and looked into the dark water. He didn’t know how long he would have hesitated if the sound of hammering hadn’t rung out once again. Whoever was in the tunnel behind them had already come upon the second treasure chest. They were running out of time. Doug looked into the worried faces of his friends and tried to reassure them. “I’ll swim through the tunnel and check things out. Once I get to the other side, I’ll probably have to rest a minute and get my breath back. Then if all goes well, I should be back to tell you all about it in a few minutes. If I don’t come back after a reasonable amount of time, you guys get out through the left tunnel.”
Before the others could say anything to change his mind, Doug quickly waded into the cold water. Taking a hold of the rope, he took several deep breaths and then disappeared.
Emma looked worriedly at Martha and Sebastian. “I don’t care what he says, I’m not leaving here without him.”
“How long is a reasonable amount of time anyway?” Sebastian asked, his concern evident.
“I have no idea,” Martha replied as she stared at the spot in the water where Doug had disappeared.
All was quiet then as they waited anxiously for Doug to return. A few minutes later, they heard more hammering in the tunnel behind them. Whoever it was had now come to the third treasure chest and was probably, at this moment, trying to figure out how to cross the crevasse. Martha had taken the riddle; so unaware of the wider bridge, they would have to attempt to cross on the narrow beam. Emma hoped that that would take them awhile. Maybe they
would give up altogether. With a sigh, Emma realized that that wasn’t likely. In any case, if Doug didn’t return soon, they were going to have to make a decision. Emma didn’t care for either of the two options available to them—they were either going to have to follow Doug into the water and try to swim through the passage, or they could retrace their steps and exit out the left tunnel. Frantically, Emma looked at her watch. It had now been seven minutes since Doug had left. What was taking so long? Why didn’t he come back? Didn’t he know how worried they would be? It was darned inconsiderate of him to make them wait and worry like this. Emma tried to mask her rising anxiety in anger, but she couldn’t sustain it. A few seconds later, unable to take the waiting any longer, she blurted out, “He should have been back by now. Something must have gone wrong.”
Sebastian had been thinking the same thing. “I’m going after him,” he said. Doug was his friend, and he would never be able to forgive himself if he didn’t at least try to find out what had happened to him. Like Emma, he had begun to fear the worst.
“No, Sebastian. What if something happens to you too?” Martha said on the verge of tears.
“I’m not leaving without Doug,” Sebastian said firmly. Before he could change his mind, he began wading into the water. Martha began crying in earnest now and Emma, feeling the sting of tears behind her own eyes, moved over to put her arm around her. Giving Martha’s shoulders a squeeze, she bowed her head and began to pray silently.
Being careful not to lose track of the rope, Doug pulled himself hand over hand through the water. As he swam, he slowly exhaled the air he’d been holding in his lungs, hoping that by the time he ran out of air he’d be through the passage, but this was not to be. All too soon, he’d emptied his lungs. Trying to remain calm, he continued to swim, but with each pull of the rope, his need for air was becoming more and more urgent. His lungs felt as if they had lead weights on them. Now, desperate for air, he began to swim faster and faster. In his panic, he opened his eyes and saw a faint light up ahead. Letting go of the rope, he kicked strongly toward the light, inhaling sharply as his head broke the surface. Thankful to be alive, he stroked toward the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. He lay there for several moments breathing deeply. Then it occurred to him to wonder where the light was coming from. Abruptly, he stood up and let out a soft cry of amazement at the strange sight that greeted his eyes.
He was in an enormous room, and there in the water at the far end, as incredulous as it seemed, was a pirate ship. Illuminated by the light of the full moon, it sat silently on the water like a ghost ship from the past. The moonlight was coming in through a large opening in the west wall of the cavern about a hundred feet up from the floor.
Doug would have liked to investigate further, but he knew his friends were on the other side waiting for him to return. Feeling suddenly rejuvenated, he turned to get back into the water and spotted another treasure chest a few feet away from where he was standing. He had been so astonished at the sight of the pirate ship that he hadn’t noticed it at first. Deciding to take a quick look before he went back, he took the key from his pocket and hastily unlocked the chest.
Inside were four lanterns full of kerosene and a box of dry matches. Seeing the lanterns gave him an idea. Taking them out of the chest, he set them near the edge of the pool by the peg around which the guide rope was looped. Then he opened the box of matches and lit each of the lanterns. Now there would be additional light to guide them on their swim through the passage.
Doug looked at the rock wall separating the room in which he was standing from the one he’d just left and realized he could have surfaced a lot sooner. If he’d had his eyes open, he would have known that. That little mistake had nearly cost him his life. Well, at least he knew better now, and his friends would have a much easier time of it than he’d had. Realizing that the others were probably beginning to worry about him, he slipped into the water and began the journey back through the passage.
Sebastian was just about to duck under the water when he felt something brush his leg. Thinking some strange sea monster was attacking him, he was just opening his mouth to scream when Doug’s head appeared above the surface. He was so surprised he was momentarily at a loss for words.
“It’s Doug!” Emma and Martha exclaimed in unison. A flood of relief washed through Emma at the sight of Doug safe and sound. However, the feeling was quickly replaced by anger. “What took you so long? We’ve been worried sick!”
“Yeah, you had us pretty scared,” Sebastian agreed as he helped Doug from the water.
“Sebastian was just coming to rescue you,” Martha added accusingly.
Doug looked around at his friends and found it hard to be offended by their anger. He understood that they’d just been worried about him. “I’m okay, guys. It took me a minute to get my breath back, and then I saw something pretty amazing.”
“What?” Emma asked first, her anger momentarily forgotten.
“I think I’ll let it be a surprise,” Doug replied with a smile.
Just then another sound came echoing through the passage behind them. “Sounds like they’re close,” Martha said worriedly.
“You’re right,” Doug agreed. “We’d better get going. The passage isn’t all that long. Just keep your eyes open, and when you see the light you can let go of the rope and kick for the surface.”
“What light?” Sebastian asked.
“There was a treasure chest with lanterns in it on the other side of the passage. I lit them and set them by the edge of the pool to help us find our way a little quicker.”
So that’s what he’d been doing, Emma thought, ashamed now for having been angry at Doug. He’d just been trying to make it easier for everyone. She should have known he wouldn’t worry them unnecessarily. More sounds from the passage had them all hurrying into the water.
“Sebastian, you go first,” Doug instructed. “Remember what I said; just use the rope until you see the light from the lanterns. Martha, you follow right behind Sebastian, and then Emma goes. I’ll bring up the rear. As soon as you guys have had time to get through the tunnel, I’m going to unhook the rope on this side. That way whoever’s following us won’t have a guide and hopefully won’t even know that there’s a tunnel under the water.”
“How will you find your way?” Emma asked worriedly.
“I’ve been through it twice now. I think I can find my way without the rope.”
“You think?” Sebastian asked with concern.
“I know,” Doug answered in a reassuring tone. “Now, get going. We don’t have any time to lose.”
As if on cue, more noises could be heard behind them. Without any further argument, Sebastian inhaled deeply and disappeared beneath the surface. Martha waited a few seconds and did the same, but Emma hesitated. “Are you sure you can find your way without the rope?” she couldn’t help asking one more time.
“Yes, Emma, I’m sure,” Doug answered gently. Then with a little shove on her shoulders he said, “Now, go.”
Emma looked at Doug a moment longer and then with a gulp of air, she ducked into the water. Quickly, she pulled herself along and in no time, she saw a glow of light and the vague outline of Martha in the water ahead of her. She saw Martha let go of the rope and kick for the surface. Emma followed suit, and soon the three of them were standing on the edge of the pool staring at the strangest thing they’d thus far encountered in their young lives.
“What do you make of that?” Sebastian asked in awe.
Ignoring Sebastian’s question, Martha asked one of her own. “How did it get here?”
“I don’t know, but that is, without a doubt, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sebastian replied. “Do you know what that is?”
“We’re not idiots,” Martha replied testily. “It’s a pirate ship, of course.”
“Yeah, it’s a pirate ship, but it’s also a two-masted schooner with a hundred twenty-one-and-a-half-foot hull, a twenty-three-and-a-half-foot
beam, and a draft of thirteen feet, nine inches. She has a hundred sixty thousand-pound capacity, and she’ll hold a crew of about twenty-seven. She’s not the biggest ship by any means, but she’s a real beaut.”
“And just how do you know all that?” Martha asked.
“My dad and I have been looking into buying a ship almost exactly like it,” Sebastian answered proudly. “Besides, I told you I know all about sailing. It’s a…”
“I know. It’s a hobby of yours,” Martha finished for him.
“Well, what do you guys think of my surprise?” Doug said from the water behind them. Without waiting for an answer, he quickly swam over to the peg where the other end of the rope was secured. Hauling himself out of the water, he immediately set to work reeling in the rest of the rope. Whoever was following them would have to find their own way through the underwater passage, that is, if they even figured out there was a passage. At any rate, Doug felt like he had bought them a little time—hopefully enough for them to get a closer look at the pirate ship. As soon as he’d finished with the rope, he picked up one of the lanterns, and with a big smile said, “Well, shall we go have a look?”
“You bet!” Sebastian answered excitedly. “She’s a schooner, Doug.” Then he repeated what he had told the girls before Doug had arrived, ending with, “Isn’t she great?”
“Yeah, buddy. She’s something all right.” Doug was already heading over to the gangway of the ship.
The others each picked up a lantern and followed. Even without their lanterns, there was plenty of light to see by. The full moon could be seen through the large opening near the roof of the cavern. Emma began to feel like she had just stepped back in time two hundred years. This was, without a doubt, the most exciting thing she’d ever done. She just hoped that it would end well with the treasure safely in hand and the four of them safe and sound. She couldn’t help wondering what Lord Dinswood had in store for them next.
The Secret of Dinswood Page 30