by P. J. Night
“Ravensburg Caverns is a series of underground chambers constructed out of ancient rock formations,” Mrs. Hallett said as she walked. “Some of these chambers are enormous, with fifty-foot-high ceilings. Others are smaller than a broom closet. There are dozens of twisting tunnels that link these chambers; a few serve as exits out of the caverns.”
“Mrs. Hallett,” Mr. Tanaka said. “Sorry to interrupt, but can you tell us how many chambers there are?”
“I’m afraid not,” Mrs. Hallett said, “because we simply don’t know. There are at least sixty that have been explored, but some of the caverns we’ve found are made of unstable rock formations. They are simply too dangerous to enter, and there’s no way to know what lies on the other side of them.”
Suddenly Mrs. Hallett held up both hands to stop the group from walking further. “I have to ask you to be very, very quiet as we enter the next chamber,” she said in a soft voice. “The Ravensburg Caverns are home to many creatures, including troglophiles, trogloxenes, and troglobites. Who can guess what those are?”
For a moment Bobby looked like he wanted to say something—but one look at Mrs. Hallett’s face convinced him to keep his mouth shut.
“No, they aren’t dinosaurs,” Mrs. Hallett said, wagging her finger at Bobby—even though he hadn’t said a word. She was the only one who laughed at her joke. “A troglophile is an animal that usually lives in a cave, but can leave the cave from time to time if it wants. Troglophiles can include beetles, millipedes, centipedes, and other creepy-crawly creatures. They prefer dimly lit areas and will rarely venture into bright light. Then, of course, there are trogloxenes—animals who live in the cave, but have to leave it to find food. And a troglobite—”
A thin smile snaked across Mrs. Hallett’s face. “Well, we’ll talk about those a little later. The next room of the caverns is home to hundreds of trogloxenes. Or, as they’re more commonly known in this case—bats.”
Some of the girls squealed, but Mrs. Hallett silenced them with a stern look and a finger to her lips. “They’re sleeping right now . . . or, at least, they should be. So if you’re quiet as we pass through their chamber, they shouldn’t bother us. I hope!”
Kristi turned to Olivia and rolled her eyes—but to her surprise, Olivia seemed pale. “You okay?” Kristi whispered.
“Ask her something for me?” Olivia said in a rush.
But it was too late. Mrs. Hallett was already walking into the next chamber and the seventh graders were following. The lights seemed even dimmer here, or perhaps the impossibly high cave ceilings somehow sucked up most of their brightness. There was still enough light, however, for Kristi to see them: bats, hundreds of them, thousands of them, hanging above their heads, from every ledge and rocky outcropping in the chamber. Wrapped in their wings, the bats’ bodies swayed as they slept, rocked by an invisible current of air.
Why? wondered Kristi. How? How is there a breeze in here, underground? Where could it be coming from?
Every so often one of the bats stretched in its sleep, unfurling those leathery wings before wrapping itself up again and falling back into a fitful doze. Kristi had the sense that they slept lightly, very lightly, and that it wouldn’t take much commotion to wake them. To imagine it was awful—the rushing wings beating over their heads as panicked, angry bats fled the cave, flying low with fangs bared and talons tangled in the kids’ hair and hoodies.
Luckily, her classmates seemed to sense that too, and everyone was silent as they moved—faster than usual—through the bats’ chamber.
On the other side, Kristi breathed a sigh of relief. Then she turned to Olivia. “What did you want me to do?”
“Can you ask her about moths?” said Olivia.
“Huh? Ask her what about moths?” Kristi replied.
“You know. If there are moths in the cave,” Olivia said impatiently. “Those troglo-whatevers she wouldn’t tell us about. Maybe they’re a kind of horrible moth like that thing that was in my grab bag.”
“Ohhhh,” Kristi said, nodding. No wonder Olivia looked so pale. Kristi had never really understood her best friend’s phobia of moths, but she knew what it was like to be so terrified of something that it was hard to even talk about it. So she didn’t hesitate to raise her hand.
“Yes, girl in the red sweater?” Mrs. Hallett said.
“I was wondering if any moths live in the Ravensburg Caverns,” Kristi said.
“Moths?” Mrs. Hallett said. “Oh, probably. Near the entrance of the caves, like the bats. Moths are less adapted for deep cave life than other creatures.”
Kristi glanced at Olivia to give her a reassuring smile, but her friend still looked worried. So Kristi pressed on.
“But what about the, um, troglobites,” Kristi continued. “Are some of them moths?”
“Let me say it again,” Mrs. Hallett replied. “I simply don’t think that moths could evolve that way, which is why they would be found at the entrance of the cavern. But if you’ll all follow me, I can show you a real troglobite. And I’d ask that we have no more questions about them until we reach that part of the tour. Thank you, girl in the red sweater.”
Prickles of embarrassment tingled on Kristi’s face. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, she slowed down so that she was near the back of the group . . . walking next to Bobby. He gave her a knowing smile. “Hiding out back here?”
“Yeah, I guess Mrs. Hallett hates me now too,” Kristi said with a short laugh.
“Then you’re in great company,” Bobby joked. “Seriously, you have to wonder why she gives tours to big groups of kids when she doesn’t like kids, know what I mean?”
Kristi smiled. Maybe some part of her had known that Bobby would make her feel better.
Olivia hung back so that she could join them too.
“Why are you way back here?” she asked as she grabbed Kristi’s wrist. “Come on—I don’t want to face a troglo-whatever all by myself.”
The kids pushed through a narrow tunnel to a wide chamber that was brighter than the bats’ cave. To her surprise, Kristi soon realized that they were standing around a massive underground lake. Its smooth, glassy waters reflected the lights on the cave walls.
“This is Crystal Lake,” Mrs. Hallett announced. “It’s the largest underground lake in North America, so large, in fact, that we’re not even sure how big it really is. We have sent divers underwater and they have confirmed that there is yet another series of chambers within the lake, each one entirely flooded with water. It is impossible to even estimate how far down these underwater chambers go.”
There was a sudden splash far across the lake; Kristi grabbed on to Olivia’s arm as several of her classmates gasped. Mrs. Hallett laughed at their surprise.
“Now, now, nothing to be afraid of,” she said. “The Crystal Lake is home to several varieties of freshwater fish, including a large school of rainbow trout. Of course, fishing is prohibited here. We also know that the darker areas of the lake, where there is no light, are home to several troglobites. You have heard me use that word often today. Does anyone know what it means?”
“Feel free to tell us whenever you’re ready,” Bobby whispered sarcastically to Kristi. She grinned at him and tried not to laugh.
“A troglobite is an animal that has adapted over thousands of years to live in a light-free place,” Mrs. Hallett said loudly and slowly. “Because they spend their entire lives in the dark, most troglobites are blind. In fact, many don’t even have eyes. They’re also usually white or translucent in color, having lost the pigment in their skin. You see, they don’t need it to protect them from the sun’s rays, since they’re never exposed to a light source. In fact, if you tried to take a troglobite out of the caverns . . . it would die.”
Mrs. Hallett paused dramatically. “We have a room over here where part of the lake is partitioned off so that you can see an actual troglobite for yourself! The room is very small, so you must come in groups of two or three, and very dark, so I’ll use my flashl
ight to show you the troglobite.”
Standing at the back of the group, Kristi assumed that she would be among the last to see the troglobite. But Mrs. Hallett pushed her way through the crowd and walked over to a small opening in the cave wall just a few feet from Kristi. It was hardly more than a crevice.
Mrs. Hallett’s eyes focused on Kristi. “Red Sweater, since you’re so interested in troglobites, would you like to go first?” she asked.
“Um, sure, I guess,” Kristi replied as she glanced at Olivia.
The two girls squeezed after Mrs. Hallett into the tiny rock chamber. It was so dark that Kristi couldn’t see anything, but she felt her legs brush against a metal chain near the edge.
“That’s far enough,” Mrs. Hallett said, somewhere in the darkness.
Then she switched on an industrial flashlight and pointed it at a shallow pool near their feet.
Kristi and Olivia leaned forward at the same time to take a closer look. It was just a fish swimming in tight circles around a too-small basin of water, but there was something so wrong about it—
With skin stretched tight over the sockets where its eyes should have been—
With translucent skin that seemed as fragile as a butterfly’s wing—
And the narrow veins under the skin, where the pink blood streamed—
The chunk of muscle in its chest, its very heart, twitching, thumping, pumping—
The fish flinched as if the light pained it, and Kristi wasn’t sure but she thought—she thought—it tried to swim away from the bright beam. And yet there was nowhere for it to go.
“Oh, don’t hurt it!” Kristi cried out before she could stop herself.
Mrs. Hallett gave her a look. “It’s just a fish,” she said as she switched off her flashlight.
Kristi stumbled backward out of the narrow room, with Olivia right behind her.
“That was horrible,” Olivia said.
“Seriously,” Kristi agreed, nodding vigorously. “Why is this stupid field trip not over yet? I can’t believe we were excited to come here. Now I can’t wait to leave.”
The girls crossed to the other side of the massive chamber, where more thin metal chains served as guardrails. Looking over the side, Kristi realized that this side of the chamber was bordered by a steep precipice.
“That must be one of those big drops Mrs. Hallett told us about,” Olivia said. “I wish I had a rock or something. I would throw it down there to see if we could hear it fall.”
“Ugh, at this point I don’t even care how deep it is,” Kristi said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
Olivia gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it will be over soon,” she said. “Remember, Ms. Pierce said our buses will leave no later than two o’clock. That’s only a few hours from now.”
“Hey,” Bobby said as he and Tim joined them. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I’ll ever eat fish sticks again.”
Kristi smiled weakly at him. She tried to ignore the gleeful shrieks of surprise that echoed across the cave from kids who were seeing the trapped troglobite for the first time. It was taking a while for the entire seventh-grade class to see the fish; though Ms. Pierce and Mr. Tanaka tried to keep everyone quiet, the kids started talking louder and louder. Some of the boys were even messing around.
“Hoooo! Look at me!” shouted Nick Vincenzo. “I’m falling to my doooooom!”
Kristi spun around to see Nick standing right next to the thin metal chain that looped around the chasm. “Nick, don’t be stupid,” she said. “Get away from the edge.”
Nick gave her a sly look. “Ooooh, I guess I’m stupid. I guess I should be so scared of this hundred-foot drop,” he said, mocking the worry in Kristi’s voice. Then he stepped over the guardrail and balanced on one foot.
“Help! Help!” Nick cried in a whiny, high-pitched voice as he wobbled back and forth.
Everyone laughed, and Kristi knew that Nick was just goofing around. But the icy fist of fear grabbed her stomach and squeezed. She could see exactly how it would unfold: There would be a sudden crack, and a crumbling of rock beneath Nick’s foot. Panic would careen across his face. His hands would flail, grasping at the rusty chain as, in one fast and terrible motion, he fell. His feet—his legs—dangling into the pit, his waist hovering on the edge. The weight of his very own body would drag him toward certain death as gravity worked against him.
“Nick,” Kristi said hoarsely. “Please.”
He ignored her—or maybe he didn’t even hear her. Either way, she seemed to be the only one who noticed the cloud of dust rising as ominously as smoke beneath his poorly balanced foot, or the clattering of pebbles as they plunged into the abyss.
And yet Kristi couldn’t do a thing for him. As the fear rose into her heart, she could no longer speak; she couldn’t even move. Just like all those years ago in the fun house, her feet were frozen. They would not do what she needed them to do. The horror of bearing witness to something so terrible, the pointlessness of it, the nightmare thought shrieking through her skull:
This is what it looks like when someone is going to die.
CHAPTER 6
A blur of red hair, a stocky body knocking into her, pushing her useless self out of the way, and everyone stared, open-mouthed, as Bobby hauled Nick back from the edge. Bobby clung to the other boy, breathing hard, his hands squeezing Nick’s wrist. “You okay?” he said. “You okay? You okay? You okay?” He sounded like a parrot, or a broken toy, croaking out the only words he could seem to remember.
When Kristi looked at Bobby, she didn’t see the ashen color of his face or the wetness on his cheeks or the sick twitch around his mouth when he swallowed. She only saw him for what he was in that moment: a hero. Bobby had saved Nick’s life; she was sure of it. Those pebbles had crumbled away beneath Nick’s foot. Kristi knew that Bobby had risked himself for another while she had stood by, frozen and silent. Some faraway part of her brain thought with relief that, at last, Bobby would be treated with kindness. With respect.
At least, until Nick shoved Bobby away. He even kicked at him a little. “Get off,” he spat. “You are such a freak. Are you crying? What is wrong with you?”
The echoes of the caverns made all the laughter seem louder than it really was.
Bobby furiously wiped at his face, but Kristi could still see the tear streaks. Bobby was really scared, she thought suddenly. Really, really scared.
Finally unfrozen, Kristi moved toward Bobby. She reached out a hand to help him up, but he shrugged away from her and pushed himself off the earthen floor of the cave.
“Bobby,” she said in a low, urgent voice. “Forget Nick. That was brave. You were brave. It was amazing.”
“Whatever,” Bobby said with a loud sniff. He dragged his sleeve across his face, but he still wouldn’t look at Kristi. “Nick is right—I’m the one who’s stupid. He wasn’t in any danger of falling.”
“I think he was,” Kristi argued. But Bobby had already started to walk away from her, staring at one of the tunnels like it was deeply fascinating. She was about to follow him when Olivia pulled her back.
“Kris, the tour is moving on,” Olivia said. “I think we should get back to the group.”
“Hey, there’s some writing over here,” Bobby said, sounding normal again. “It looks like . . . a sign, maybe? It’s bolted to this giant rock.”
“A sign?” Kristi repeated.
“Yeah,” Bobby said as he stepped over the guardrail. “I’m going to see what it says.”
“Whoa—wait a second. You’re not supposed to cross the guardrail,” Kristi said right away.
“I’m just going to read the sign,” Bobby said. “I’ll be right back. Promise.”
Kristi, Olivia, and Tim waited in silence for a moment while Bobby squinted at the rusty sign. Its faded writing was hard to read. Suddenly Bobby called out, “It’s a maze!” His voice was a little higher than usual. “This tunnel leads to a maze! Come on, let’s chec
k it out!”
“Seriously?” Olivia asked in disbelief. “No way, Bobby. We shouldn’t leave the group. It isn’t safe. Mrs. Hallett said—”
“But look,” Bobby interrupted her, pointing up. “There are lights all through here. She said that we can’t go where there aren’t any lights. The guardrails are just to keep us from falling into the pits and stuff. But there aren’t any pits here. Just”—Bobby took a few steps forward—“just more tunnels.”
Already his voice was sounding fainter and farther away. Something about the thinness of the sound, combined with the way her heart was still pounding, pushed Kristi to follow him. “Bobby, wait up,” she said. “I’m coming with you.”
He turned around to face her, about fifteen feet into the tunnel, with a look of delight on his face. “Really?” he asked, not even trying to conceal his surprise. “Awesome!”
“Yeah, me too,” Tim suddenly said. “This tour is boring. A maze sounds a lot better.”
“Hang on,” Olivia spoke up. “What are you guys doing? Don’t you think we should stay with the group?”
Tim shrugged. “Why would they turn on all those lights if nobody was allowed to go there? It’s a maze. Mazes are for kids, right? I’m sure it’s safe. Maybe they just closed it for today since our whole class is here. But I bet it’s fine for the four of us to explore it.”
Just before she stepped over the guardrail, Kristi glanced behind her. She couldn’t see the rest of her classmates; even the teachers and chaperones had moved on. Kristi turned to Olivia. “You coming?” she asked.
Olivia’s eyes darted back and forth between the maze and the official tour route. Kristi had never seen her look so uncertain. “You said there are lights?” Olivia finally asked.
Kristi nodded. “Yeah. A bunch of them. As far as I can see,” she replied.