“It’s cooler out of the water,” said Tommy, “but it’s gonna have to go back in soon.” Eevie gently touched the whale and turned to Tommy. “We gotta figure this puzzle out without making any more mistakes.”
“Eevie, if we stay with the idea that the clue is WATER, then what do the numbers stand for?”
Eevie walked back to the clues. She read “1, 12, 2, 21, 19” out loud. “If I add them together, I get 55. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Eevie!” yelled Tommy. “What about the alphabet? They could be letters.”
Eevie looked at Tommy. “You may have regained your genius status.”
She quickly grabbed a rock. “1 would be A, 12 would be...,” she began to recite the alphabet in her head. “L. 2 would be B. 21 would be...” She began reciting the alphabet again. “U. and 19 would be S.... ALBUS?”
“Like ALBUS Dumbledore? If he’s behind one of those doors, we could really use him right now.”
For the thousandth time in her life, Eevie looked at him and shook her head.
“Maybe it’s a word scramble.” She began scrawling out letters on the rock, but nothing made sense.
“Tommy.” Eevie looked up with a smile on her face. “I think Albus is Latin, like the word Retexo on your ring.”
Tommy glanced down at his swollen finger and the serpent that had made his finger its home.
Eevie ran over to the backpack and pulled out her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen as she fired up the World Translate app.
Excitedly, she typed A-L-B-U-S. She nearly dropped her phone with excitement. “Tommy! Albus is Latin for white! The color white! The door that we need is the ‘white’ door.”
“Awesome,” smiled Tommy. “We just need to touch the A-L-B-U-S columns.” Tommy knelt down and touched the water. It was at the point of boiling.
“Eevie, we wouldn’t last but a few seconds in this water. How are we supposed to get to the columns and get to the ‘white’ door?”
They both whipped their heads around as the giant whale lowered itself into the water. It swam to the columns and then returned back to the ledge. Steam rose from its body as it struggled to move onto the rocky ledge out of the water.
“Tommy, I think the whale may know something we don’t know. It just swam a circle around the columns.”
The immense creature was staring at them. It slipped back into the water and swam until it was alongside the ledge where they stood. Still staring, it smacked its tail on the water’s surface.
Eevie turned and smiled at Tommy. “I know what it wants.”
Eevie turned and walked toward the whale. Tommy raised his hand to protest. “Ee...!” She cut him short.
“I’ll be fine,” she said reassuringly.
Eevie climbed onto the giant beast, slipping and sliding on its wet, rubbery skin. Tommy was right, said Eevie to herself as her feet splashed into the water. A few seconds in this water, and I’d be done.
“Whale done,” said Tommy, trying to let Eevie know she was OK, even though his best friend had just climbed on top of a huge aquatic beast that had unintentionally nearly killed him.
Eevie turned and waved to Tommy as the whale carried her toward the columns, and hopefully freedom.
Tommy stumbled backwards over a huge stalactite that had fallen from the cavern’s ceiling. He landed hard on his hands and butt. He shook his head, clearing away the stars that danced across his vision. Then he stopped shaking his head and sat very still. The cave reminded him of a huge mouth, and as his eyes traversed the ceiling of the cave, he realized that the thousands of jagged stalagmites that patiently grew downward toward the surface of the lake looked like shark teeth.
Did one of those rocks just move?
Eevie and Tommy Grow Gills – Well kind-of...
Tommy slowly crab-walked further up the ledge, staring at the ceiling. Whoosh. Tommy could hear Eevie pushing the columns; it was working. No more explosions; no more skin-crawling, screeching things shooting into the air.
There it was again; the rock had moved. Tommy stared at the ceiling, and his body began to shake. The harder he tried to control his body, the more his body betrayed him. The all too familiar pounding of his heart in his ears.... Now Tommy could see it—eight black, saucer-sized orbs staring at him. He was being hunted, and on this ledge, there was no escape.
Tommy’s fear became a reality. The massive spider slowly lowered itself from the ceiling onto the rocky ledge, never taking its eyes off Tommy, its prey.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard Eevie scream. The spider stood as tall as a horse, and its shiny black body gleamed. Its razor-sharp fangs were the size of Tommy’s arms. Tommy screamed as it crawled toward him, and he crawled backwards as fast as he could, his eyes locked onto the spider’s eyes. Venom dripped from the spider’s fangs in anticipation of a delicious human meal.
Tommy watched in horror as the spider reared back and drove his head downward to impale Tommy with its fangs. Tommy balled up his body, throwing his arms over his head. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. His body shook with a sudden impact. The whale had crashed into the ledge where he lay, just as the spider was striking, causing the spider’s fangs to smash into the stone inches away from Tommy’s legs.
Tommy’s eyes flew open—he was still alive! In front of him, the giant spider let out a shriek as it whipped its head back and forth to pull its fangs free of the stone.
“Tommy!” screamed Eevie. “Run!”
Tommy scrambled backwards trying to get his feet under him. The spider twisted and pulled, using its entire body. One fang broke free, showering Tommy with rock. The spider twisted his body, blocking Tommy’s escape. It shrieked again and tore its head backwards, breaking the other fang free.
Tommy ran backwards, tripping over a rock. He fell hard onto his shoulder, pain rocketing through his body, his temples pounding so hard he thought they just might explode.
The spider stopped advancing for a moment and spun around. Eevie was hurling rocks at the spider.
“Eevie! No!” screamed Tommy.
The spider let out a blood-curdling screech and ran toward her. The spider’s speed was incredible, and Eevie barely escaped into the water beside the whale.
In that instant, Tommy saw a chance. Beside him lay a four-foot, razor-sharp stalactite that had broken loose from the ceiling. With the spider distracted, Tommy quickly stood, and struggling mightily, he raised the stalactite with the point facing upward like a spear. He stepped in front of it, hiding it with his body. The spider spun around, its eight black eyes locked in on its prey. Tommy’s body was trembling; he felt like vomiting. Eevie, not able to see the stalactite behind Tommy, was screaming for him to run.
The spider leapt into the air. The blackness covered Tommy. He felt the weight of the spider coming down on him. Quickly he dropped beside the stone spear, as he fought to hold it upright with all his might. The spider screeched as the rock spear ripped through its abdomen and back. Tommy snaked backwards and black inky liquid gushed onto him. The spider, writhing in pain, crawled toward Tommy, its fangs crashing into the rock in front of him. Tommy quickly climbed over a boulder and dove into the water. The spider half crawled and half dragged itself after him, and with an incredible scream it dove into the water on top of Tommy. Tommy tried to go deeper as the spider’s spiky legs fought to wrap around him. Suddenly, there was a powerful rush of bubbles above him as the whale, using its tusks, impaled the spider and then used its head like a battering ram, crushing the spider to bits on the side of the ledge. The water turned an oily black as the carcass of the spider slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.
Tommy kicked up to the surface, sputtering and shaking his head. Eevie swam toward him and threw her arms around him.
“OK. OK,” sputtered Tommy, “you’re gonna make Fred jealous.”
“Who?” said Eevie, a look of confusion filling her face.
“The whale,”
laughed Tommy.
“You named the whale Fred?” gasped Eevie, looking mortified. “That’s the best you could do? This beautiful, epic, immense creature, and you choose Fred? What if it’s a girl?” said Eevie as the whale swam up beside them.
Tommy could see both his and Eevie’s images reflected in the whale’s beautiful, gold-speckled eye. He reached out gently, touching the whale’s head.
“If it’s a girl,” said Tommy, smiling, “I’ll name her Fredericka.”
Eevie rubbed the whale’s head. “We’re sorry to have caused you so much pain. You saved our lives—thank you.”
The whale’s tremendous body vibrated, like a cat purring. The water had cooled, the spider was dead, the white door was open, revealing a massive tunnel, and hopefully it would lead them to freedom.
Tommy and Eevie swam back over to the ledge. Tommy grabbed his backpack and Eevie sat on the ledge, her feet dangling in the water.
Eevie was exhausted, emotionally and physically. But she had surprised herself. Unimaginable things had happened to her and she had stood up to the challenges; in moments of danger where she could have been killed, she chose friendship over her own safety. And because of her bravery, her best friend was now coming over to sit beside her. She smiled to herself. I can’t imagine anything better than a true best friend.
Tommy sat beside her and opened the backpack. He dug down through their clothes to the bottom of the bag, retrieving a couple of power bars and a Gatorade.
Eevie’s eyes grew wide when she saw the power bar. She quickly grabbed one and devoured it in three bites.
Tommy took a swig and handed it to Eevie. “I’m glad I got my fingers off that thing.”
“Are there any more?” asked Eevie.
“There are two more power bars and one more Gatorade.”
Tommy handed her the Gatorade. She quickly drank most of the bottle without stopping to take a breath. She was so thirsty she simply couldn’t stop herself.
“I’m so sorry,” said Eevie, guiltily looking at the almost-empty bottle. “I almost drank the whole thing.”
Tommy smiled back at her, “Eevie, it’s fine. We have another bottle and this water,” said Tommy, nodding his head down at the lake. “It seems to be extremely clean like an underground spring.”
Tommy finished off the last two swigs and was about to fill it with the water from the lake when Eevie grabbed his arm.
“Do you mind swimming out a little farther to get the water? It kind of creeps me out that there is a dead, smooshed spider down there.”
“Just think of it as a protein smoothie,” said Tommy smiling.
Eevie’s face scrunched in disgust. “Gross!”
Tommy swam out to the middle of the lake and filled the bottle. The water looked crystal clear, plus he had swallowed plenty of it swimming around. We’ll just drink this if we need to.
Tommy pulled himself back onto the ledge beside Eevie.
“Eevie, go ahead and eat another power bar. I feel fine,” Tommy lied, “and we’ll ration the last one if we need to.”
Eevie started to say no, but she felt like her blood sugar was low, so she accepted without retaliation.
Grabbing the wrappers, Tommy put them and the Gatorade bottle filled with water into the backpack while Eevie finished her power bar.
“So,” said Tommy looking toward the doors. “I guess we swim to the white tunnel, and fingers and toes crossed, it leads us out of here.”
Eevie nodded. “I’m ready.”
Tommy carefully checked the backpack, making sure it was completely sealed. As he stood, he looked at the deep channels cut into the stone, created by the spider as it dragged itself to the edge of the ledge to launch its final attack on Tommy. Glistening like a black diamond was a razor-sharp hair from the spider’s leg embedded in the rock.
Tommy reached down to grab the hair. Instantly, he let out a cry and pulled his hand away. He had barely touched the top yet it had sliced his finger open. He cradled his hand as crimson red blood dripped from his fingertip onto the ledge.
“Are you OK?” asked Eevie, rushing over.
Tommy nodded. “Don’t touch that hair!” Tommy held his finger above his heart. The bleeding slowed. It wasn’t a deep cut, but enough to remind him that it hurt with every heartbeat.
Tommy dug down into his backpack and pulled out his hoodie, and untied it from Eevie’s. He gently wrapped it around the hair to avoid slicing his hands again. Then, placing his hands on either side, he tugged on the hair, rocking his body from side to side.
“Careful, Tommy, you need your hands!”
Tommy didn’t reply. He was wary of the hair cutting through his hoodie and into his hand. Cautiously, he continued moving the hair in a circle until finally it broke free from the rock. Tommy victoriously raised the spider hair into the air. It was as light as paper, but felt powerful in his hands. Tommy left it wrapped up in his hoodie and carefully placed it in his backpack.
He turned to Eevie. “Just in case.” She nodded, not needing a further explanation.
Tommy swung his arms through his backpack straps and walked with Eevie to the edge of their brief sanctuary, and without another word, they both jumped into the water.
The tunnel wasn’t too far away, but as they swam closer, the current grew more and more intense, and the water became frigid. Each stroke and each kick became a fight as the water from the tunnel began to fight back, pushing them back into the lake. By the time they reached the tunnel’s entrance, they were exhausted.
“Grab those rocks!” yelled Tommy, pointing to a small shelf of rocks just above the tunnel.
Shaking, Eevie and Tommy pulled themselves onto the small outcrop of rock.
“I feel like I’ve just gotten a year’s worth of cardio in one day,” said Tommy.
Eevie just nodded, still fighting to regain her breath and shuddering from the cold.
“It’s like American Ninja, only underwater,” said Tommy to no one in particular.
“Not helping,” said Eevie. “I think we should just rest for a few minutes, and then try again. I don’t want to die from hypothermia,” she said through chattering teeth.
Tommy nodded and pulled his knees to his chest.
“Maybe the tunnel isn’t long, and we can just hang onto the ceiling?” asked Eevie.
“The ceiling is too high above the water level,” said Tommy, shaking his head. “I wish Fred could fit; he could power us through the tunnel in no time.”
“You mean Fredericka,” said Eevie, glancing sideways at Tommy with mock annoyance. “Anything so amazing and awesome has to be a girl—it’s pretty much a universal fact.”
Tommy was about to reply, but then he smiled.... She’s probably right. “Are you ready to have another go at it, or are you too busy being amazing?” Tommy playfully shook his friend.
“Let’s do it, before I change my mind.”
Tommy and Eevie jumped into the water at the mouth of the cave. They gasped as the cold water took their breath away. Immediately, they were blasted backwards by the current. Eevie and Tommy popped to the surface, bobbing like buoys in the rough water.
“This is impossible. We can’t fight this current!” yelled Eevie.
“Let’s try diving deeper and see if it’s any calmer down toward the bottom.”
Eevie gave a thumbs-up and they both dove to the bottom of the lake. The current still pushed them back, but they were able to make some progress. Eevie swam up for air, but the water almost completely filled the cave. As she came up, the rushing water flung her against the ceiling and the wall of the cave. Eevie let out a scream as she was spit out of the cave bruised and bleeding. Moments later, Tommy fared the same.
He motioned excitedly for them to return to the rock.
“Did you see it?” asked Tommy excitedly. “Did you see the stones?!”
“See what? What stones?”
“Along the edge of the cave.
It’s like a sideways ladder. Like someone carved them into the wall of the cave. I think we can hold onto those and use those to pull our way through the water,” said Tommy, his voice filled with excitement.
“How far down are they?” asked Eevie. She paused. “Because if they are too far below the surface, unless you can sprout gills, we would have to come up for air and we’re just gonna get shot out of the cave again. And I don’t think I can take many more whacks to my head,” said Eevie, tenderly rubbing a huge throbbing knot on her forehead.
“Eevie, you’re a genius!” Tommy exclaimed.
Tommy jumped into the water and reappeared a few moments later with a couple of large reeds.
“Gills,” said Tommy proudly. “We’ll simply breathe through these.” He held out the reeds again for Eevie to see. “That way we don’t have to come up to the surface.”
Eevie looked doubtful.
“Remind me to cancel your Netflix account when we get back to terra firma.”
Tommy ignored her comment.
“We just need to practice before trying it in the tunnel,” persisted Tommy. “Do you have a better idea?”
Eevie grabbed a reed from Tommy and jumped into the freezing water. She was right—breathing through the reed wasn’t easy. Water kept going up her nose, and she had to fight back the panicky feeling like she wasn’t getting enough air. This is what it must feel like to be claustrophobic. But, in the end, she had to agree with Tommy. She wasn’t getting a lot of air, but she was able to breathe underwater, and like it or not, this seemed to be the best option.
She swam up. “Tommy, I just thought of something. We have to be able to hang on to the rock wall with one hand when we take a breath. We can’t let go to take a breath or we’ll get shot out again.”
Tommy nodded. She was right. After a half an hour of trial and error, they finally figured out how to hold the reed at a forty-five-degree angle in their mouths with their bottom three fingers. And using their thumb and index finger, they could pinch their nose simultaneously so they didn’t inhale water.
“Third time’s a charm,” said Eevie as they jumped off their perch into the mouth of the cave.
Quest Chasers: The Deadly Cavern (A Magic Fantasy Adventure Book Series) Page 6