“It’s great, isn’t it?” I said. “Sir Horace is going to love this; I know he will.”
“If he ever gets to see it,” muttered Wanda, “which he won’t. Because tomorrow on his birthday, we’ll still be stuck here. And the next day. And the day after that. We’re always going to be stuck here. I’m never going to see Mom and Dad again, and you’re never going to see your aunt Tabby or uncle Drac again—never mind Sir Stupid Horace.”
“Stop it, Wanda,” I said. “Just stop it right now. We are going to get out of here. There is always more than one way out of a secret tunnel.”
“There used to be,” said Wanda, pointing to the pile of rocks that blocked off the grotto from the cave outside, “but there isn’t anymore.”
We went over to the rock pile anyway. I shone the flashlight everywhere, hoping to see a gap that we could squeeze through, but there was nothing. Nothing but horrible, heavy rocks.
Wanda peered through a tiny gap between two rocks. “This is where I looked through from the other side,” she said. “Maybe if we shine the flashlight through here, some people on the beach might see it. Or there might be someone in the cave exploring.”
Well, it was worth a try. I didn’t mention the fact that you can’t see the end of the cave from the beach, or that it must be getting late by now and everyone would be going home. I just gave Wanda the flashlight.
She shone it through the gap. “Coo-eee,” she called out, sounding just like Brenda does when she calls her cat. “Is anybody there?” Wanda put her ear to the gap and listened hard.
“Can you hear something?” I whispered.
“Shh…yes…yes I can.”
I felt really excited. How lucky was that, someone being in the cave just at that moment? “What—what can you hear, Wanda?” I asked. “Tell me!”
Wanda stood up and gave me back the flashlight. She had a really weird look on her face. “I can hear the sea,” she said. “It’s inside the cave.”
I didn’t believe Wanda at first. I thought she was just doing another Wanda windup. But this time she was dead calm.
“What do you mean, it’s inside the cave?” I asked. “The sea doesn’t come inside the cave. You saw where it was this morning. It was miles away. I’ve never seen it so far away.”
“Then it was low tide,” muttered Wanda. “Now it’s high tide.”
“So?” I asked. I wasn’t really sure what Wanda meant, as I hadn’t been to the beach very much. Aunt Tabby doesn’t like the way the sand gets inside her shoes, and Uncle Drac won’t go out in the sun. In fact, until Wanda came to live with us I had never been to the beach.
“So—the sea was really far out this morning, wasn’t it?” said Wanda. I nodded. “And when it goes far out, that means it’s a really low tide. Okay? But it also means that when it comes in, like it’s doing now, it will be a really high tide.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. “How high?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” said Wanda. “But it’s not high tide until seven o’clock. That’s when Mom was going down for her swim.”
I looked at my watch. It said half past five. One and a half hours still to go.
“Give me the flashlight,” I said. “I want to see the water inside the cave.”
I found the gap in the rocks and shone the flashlight through. At first I couldn’t see anything at all, but I kept the flashlight very still and stared until my eyes got used to it.
“Can you see anything?” Wanda asked in a hoarse whisper.
“There’s something moving…the light…it’s reflecting off something….”
“Water,” said Wanda glumly.
“Yes,” I said. “Waves.”
“Waves,” Wanda repeated in a flat voice.
“Only little waves,” I said, trying to cheer her up.
Wanda didn’t say anything.
I didn’t see the point of just staring at the water, waiting for it to come closer. It was still quite a few feet away, and I didn’t totally believe what Wanda had said about high tide—Wanda can get a bit worked up about things. So I sat down on the sand to think.
“That’s why the sand is damp,” Wanda said, throwing herself down beside me.
“What’s why the sand is damp?”
Wanda laughed in a funny way that I didn’t like. “Because at the last high tide, the sea came in here.”
“You don’t know that,” I told her. She grabbed the flashlight and shone it around the walls of the grotto like she was looking for something. And then she found it.
“Seaweed,” she said, waving the light over a piece of shiny green stuff stuck on the ceiling. “And it’s still wet.”
I tried to remember what Uncle Drac always says about not panicking, but I couldn’t. Even Uncle Drac might panic a bit just now.
I didn’t say anything for a while, and then Wanda—being her usual cheery self—said, “Araminta…”
“What?”
“Can you swim?”
“No. Can you?”
“Yes…with arm floats.”
“Don’t suppose you brought them with you?” “No…”
There didn’t seem much else to talk about after that.
10
RINSE CYCLE
The sea kept on coming, and the sound of the waves washing against the walls of the cave outside got louder. Soon I could smell the sea in the air.
I looked at the green string, which had ended just as we reached the grotto. It lay on the sand beside my backpack, and I thought of the other end tied to the secret door underneath the attic stairs. More than anything I wished I was at that end of the string. And then—
I saw it move.
I didn’t believe it. And then it moved again.
Wanda saw it too. “Something’s eating the string,” she whispered. “And soon it will come and eat us.”
“Don’t be silly, Wanda. How will it get through the portcullis?”
“It probably set the portcullis trap in the first place,” said Wanda. “It will just press a button or something and—”
“Stop it, Wanda!” I put my fingers in my ears.
Suddenly there was a huge tug on the string, and it jumped underneath the portcullis.
“Get it, get it!” yelled Wanda. I dived to grab it, but it was too late—the end was just out of reach. Wanda and I watched the green string move jerkily along the tunnel until it disappeared around the corner.
“Now we’ll never find our way home,” I mumbled, “even if we do get through the portcullis trap.”
“Which we won’t,” said Wanda.
We could hear the sea getting even closer. There was a kind of swishing sound as the water gushed into the narrow cave outside and swirled around the rocks, and then a sucking sound as the water washed out again, and then another swishhhh…and then it happened.
The sea poured in. It came in through the tiny gaps in the pile of rocks like water through a cheese grater. At first all it did was sink into the sand and disappear, but it was not long before there was a pool of water in the sand that didn’t go away. And every time a wave threw itself against the rocks, more water poured in and the pool got deeper. The noise was horrible too. Now I knew how Brenda’s cat, Pusskins, must have felt the day Aunt Tabby ran the rinse cycle while it was asleep in the washing machine. I decided I would never, ever laugh at Brenda’s cat again. If I ever saw Brenda’s cat again…
The rinse cycle in the grotto just carried on. More and more water was coming in and, although Wanda and I were on the high bit of sand by the portcullis, we knew that it would not be long before the water reached us, too—and then kept going right up to that piece of seaweed way above our heads.
Suddenly there was a massive thud against the rocks. A wave of water streamed in and splashed up at us. Wanda screamed and dropped the flashlight. It rolled down the sand toward the water.
“Get it!” I yelled. “Quick!”
We both dived after it. I crashed into Wanda and fell into the
water. Wanda yelled and missed the flashlight, which rolled into the pool.
Any other time I would have thought how pretty it looked. It lit up the water as it sank, and the whole grotto turned a bluey-green. We watched as the light dropped slowly down and came to rest on the sand at the bottom of the pool.
And then it went out. And everything went black.
Wanda grabbed hold of me so hard that it hurt. “It’s dark,” she whispered. “I—I don’t like the dark.”
It wasn’t the dark I minded; it was the water. But I didn’t say that. I just said, “I-it’s okay. I’ve got my key ring flashlight.” I pulled it out of my pocket and pressed the button. But it didn’t work. It was wet.
“Where’s yours?” I asked Wanda.
She fumbled through her pockets for ages, and then she said, “It’s not here. I think I left it in the cave….”
“Never mind,” I said. “There must be some light getting in through the gaps in the rocks. Just wait until your eyes get used to it.”
But our eyes didn’t get used to it.
It was horrible being in the dark. Really horrible. We couldn’t see the water anymore, so we didn’t know how fast it was coming up toward us, and I kept thinking we were about to get drowned. I opened my eyes so wide that they felt cold around the edges, but it made no difference. I could see nothing at all. It was completely, totally dark.
Another rush of water poured between the rocks, and I felt the spray in my face as it splashed in.
“At least Pusskins could see something,” I said to Wanda. “Aunt Tabby always leaves the light on in the laundry room.”
“What are you talking about?” gasped Wanda.
“Nothing,” I said. “Move back a bit, Wanda, my feet are in the water.”
“I can’t,” she said. “There’s no room. I’m stuck right against the portcullis already.”
“Well, start climbing it then,” I told her. “My feet are soaked. I hate having wet socks.”
The portcullis was quite easy to climb, even in the dark. I hung the sword onto one of the bars and followed Wanda up until we both were as high as we could get. The metal was cold and sharp, but I didn’t care. At least we were out of the water. But for how long?
We didn’t say much after that. The waves kept on pounding outside on the rocks, then pouring into the grotto. The water was right up to our knees and there was no way we could climb any higher when suddenly Wanda said, “A light! I can see a light in the tunnel. Look, look!”
I nearly fell off the portcullis. Wanda was right. At the far end of the mushroom tunnel was a very faint greenish glow. And it was coming toward us.
11
DEEP WATER
I just knew it had to be good old Aunt Tabby. It was Aunt Tabby who had been pulling the string, not some horrible monster, and she was coming to rescue us.
“Aunt Tabby, Aunt Tabby!” I shouted. “We’re here!”
“Help, help!” Wanda yelled, just to make sure.
But there was no reply.
“It might be Dad,” said Wanda. “Dad, Dad—it’s me. I’m here, Dad!”
“I’m here too,” I told Wanda. “Don’t forget about me.”
“Ha!” Wanda gave a funny kind of laugh. I ignored her and just kept on watching the green light flickering at the far end of the tunnel. It was moving slowly, but it was definitely coming down toward us.
Wanda said nervously, “It’s a weird light for a flashlight. It’s not very bright, is it?”
I had been thinking that too. “No,” I said, “it’s not….”
“Dad!” Wanda shouted. “Dad!” We listened for Barry’s reply, but there was nothing. All we could hear was the slip and slop of the water washing around us.
“It’s not Dad, is it?” Wanda whispered miserably.
“No, it’s not,” I said. “I think it’s—”
“It’s the monster, isn’t it—the one that ate the string? And now it’s going to come and—”
“Shut up, Wanda,” I said. “It’s not a monster. It’s Edmund.”
The greenish light was floating along the tunnel toward us in just the way that Edmund floats. As it got closer, I could see that it had a definite Edmund shape to it, right down to the silly haircut.
“It is,” gasped Wanda. “It’s Edmund. He’s come to rescue us!”
“Wanda,” I said, “how exactly do you expect a weedy little ghost like Edmund to rescue us? Or even a big strong ghost? No ghost can lift up the portcullis and let us out, can it?”
But Wanda wasn’t listening. “Edmund, Edmund, help! We’re trapped! Help, help!” she yelled.
Edmund’s hollow, ghostly voice came echoing along the tunnel. “Waaan-da,” he called out. “Aramin-ta.”
I shivered. Maybe it was the creepy sound of Edmund’s voice in the dark, maybe it was the weird green light, or maybe it was the really cold water, which was splashing up to our waists by now—but I started to shiver and I just couldn’t stop.
Edmund floated up to the portcullis and stared at us.
“There’s no need to gape like we’re in a zoo or something,” I told him. “We’ve got to get out of here. W-we’re going to drown if we don’t.”
“I know…” said Edmund in his hollow voice.
“Well, thanks a lot, Edmund,” I snapped at him. “We feel a whole lot better now.”
“I know…” said Edmund, “because I drowned here. With Sir Horace…”
“Drowned?” Wanda squeaked.
“Drowned,” Edmund repeated gloomily.
I must say I didn’t think Edmund was exactly being helpful just then.
“Edmund,” I said, “will you please go back as fast as you can to the house and tell Aunt Tabby where we are? She’ll know what to do. Please. Hurry.”
“It is too late to return to the house,” said Edmund.
“What are we going to doooo?” Wanda wailed.
“Be quiet, Wanda.”
“Do not fret, Wanda,” said Edmund. “We will take the other way out. There is just enough time before the water becomes too deep.” Edmund floated through the portcullis easily, as if it wasn’t there, and hovered beside us, lighting up the horrible little grotto with his ghostly glow.
Now I was glad that we hadn’t had our flashlights for a while, because what we saw was scary—the grotto was almost full of dark, deep water. And every time a wave hit the rocks, more sea swirled in and the water rose a little bit more. I looked up at Wanda’s piece of seaweed on the ceiling, and I knew she had been right. The water was just going to keep on rising. Right to the top…
“Follow me.” Edmund’s voice interrupted my thoughts, which was a good thing, as I had been about to throw a Wanda-sized panic. He floated away toward the pile of rocks where the sea was coming in.
Wanda wailed, “We can’t follow you. We’ll drown.”
I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking, how come Edmund thinks he can rescue us when he obviously couldn’t rescue himself all those years ago?
Edmund’s voice echoed around the cavern. “The water is not yet too deep, Wanda. You must trust me.”
“Ooooh!” wailed Wanda.
Edmund came back toward us. Then he started sinking down through the water until he was up to his neck in seawater.
“Don’t go, Edmund!” yelled Wanda.
“I am not going, Wanda,” he said. “I am showing you how deep the water is. But soon it will be deeper. You must hurry. You must get down from the portcullis and follow me.”
“Come on, Wanda,” I said. “We’ve got to do this.” I started to climb down the portcullis, which was not a nice thing to do, as the water was freezing cold and came to way above my waist. I grabbed hold of the sword and hung on to it to stop myself from falling over.
Wanda hadn’t moved. She looked down at me and said, “But I’m shorter than you. It will be almost up to my head.”
“All the more reason for getting a move on,” I told her briskly.
“
You sound just like Aunt Tabby,” she said. But she began to climb down the portcullis and soon, after a bit of squeaking, she was standing next to me.
And then a really big wave came in and knocked her over. Wanda disappeared under the water.
“Blermphh!” Wanda came up for air and waved her arms about like a crazy windmill.
“Hurry, hurry,” said Edmund anxiously.
Wanda was still doing her windmill impression, so I grabbed hold of her with my other hand and towed her along behind Edmund until he stopped at the big pile of rocks that blocked the grotto off from the rest of the cave.
Now it was getting really difficult to stand up, as the water was up to my chin, and it was still coming in. Wanda tried to put her feet down and disappeared right under again. I pulled her up and said, “Just keep on swimming, Wanda.”
“B-but I can’t swim without arm floats.”
“You just have been, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Edmund had floated to the top of the pile of rocks. “Climb up here,” he said.
“How?” spluttered Wanda.
“Just do it, Wanda,” I told her. “Just grab hold of a rock and climb.”
So Wanda did. She heaved herself out of the water and climbed right up. I dragged the sword out of the water and followed her, although I didn’t really see the point. We’d looked everywhere for a way out before, and we hadn’t see anything.
And then our worst nightmare happened. Edmund disappeared.
“Ed-mund,” Wanda wailed in the dark.
“Through here, Wanda,” came Edmund’s hollow voice from the other side of the rocks. And then we saw it. Right at the very top of the rock pile, hidden behind a large flat rock, was the way out.
It may have been narrow, and it may have been full of a weird boy ghost called Edmund, but who cared? All we had to do was squeeze through the gap behind the big flat rock and we would be free.
Angie Sage Page 4