Underworld

by Cathy MacPhail

  Fiona was sure she would never sleep. Not here, with dangers lying in every dark corner. But she did. She closed her eyes and in just a few minutes she was snoring. As if she was sleeping comfortably in her own bed. But her dreams were dark. She was running through a ghost train at the fair, trying to find the way out, and behind her, close behind her, she could hear the slithering and the squishing of the Great Worm. But when she did dare to glance back, the face of the Worm was Angie’s, bright and smiling, and just as scary. The Worm was calling her. ‘Fiona. Fiona.’

  Her eyes snapped open and she almost screamed. The great, fat face of Angie zoomed close to her. Too close.

  ‘Fiona …’ she whispered.

  Fiona shrank back. ‘What is it?’ Still a little caught up in her dream.

  Angie leaned closer. Her voice became even softer. ‘I’m dying for the toilet, Fiona.’

  Suddenly, Fiona realised that she hadn’t been to the toilet for … how long? Too long.

  ‘What are we’re going to do?’ Angie asked her.

  Fiona was thinking. ‘In there can be the boys’ toilet, and that one the girls’ toilet.’ She pointed out two tunnels leading from the cave.

  ‘I can’t go in there on my own.’

  ‘What? Do you think the boys should come with us?’

  Angie clutched at her arm. ‘I’d die if they knew I needed the toilet.’

  No wonder Angie drove her bonkers. ‘Everybody’s got to do the toilet, Angie. It’s a well-known fact.’

  However, even she had to admit that she wouldn’t want Axel playing any of his cruel practical jokes on them in the dark of a cave. ‘We won’t wake them up,’ she said, and she got to her feet quietly. Angie clutched on to her tightly.

  Fiona shone her light into the tunnel, and they stepped gingerly inside. Did it lead anywhere? It didn’t seem to. It curved around and then opened up into another cave.

  ‘This’ll do,’ Angie said. Fiona hoped it would. It gave her a creepy feeling.

  She’d never done the toilet so fast in her life. Her imagination was going haywire, spiders crawling the floor, armies of insects, rats … or … even worse. She talked all the time to keep her mind off it. ‘So where did you originally come from, Angie?’

  Angie was breathing hard. Fiona couldn’t see her in the dark, but she knew she was close beside her. All she could see was her beam moving rapidly all round the tunnel in a panic, from the roof to the floor and back to the roof again. ‘I moved here with my parents. We move all the time.’

  ‘And why is that? You on one of these witness protection programmes? I saw that on a soap once.’

  Angie giggled nervously. ‘No, of course not. We never settle in one place for long. And everywhere I go, things seem to happen. Maybe I’m a jinx.’

  And Fiona remembered her story about her last trip, wanted to ask her more, but not here in this dark place.

  ‘So why do you keep moving?’ Hey, you’ve not been expelled from everywhere else? Is that it? Known troublemaker, bully?’

  That made Angie giggle. If Fiona had been prone to giggle, she might have joined in, because the thought of beaming, enthusiastic Angie ever getting into trouble was ludicrous.

  ‘Actually, it’s really bad luck that we always have to move,’ Angie said.

  Bad luck and Angie? Yes, that sounds right. ‘I can’t wait to hear this story.’ Fiona was beginning to think story-telling was something Angie had a knack for. She always had one to tell. Whether they were true or not was another matter.

  Angie missed the sarcasm in Fiona’s voice. She was ready to tell all.

  She didn’t get a chance.

  ‘Fiona … what’s that up there?’

  Fiona followed Angie’s beam to the roof of the tunnel. The light flickered across it. She held her breath. She felt Angie step close beside her.

  The roof was moving.

  Chapter 17

  ‘What is it?’ Angie’s words came out in whispered gasps. Her eyes never left the roof.

  ‘I don’t know, and I’m not staying to find out.’ Fiona began edging her way out, pulling Angie with her.

  ‘In case of emergency make your way Calmly to the nearest exit.’ Isn’t that what notices always said? in planes, in trains, everywhere. They hadn’t reckoned on this kind of emergency.

  The roof moved again. Something fluttered up there. In that same instant Fiona and Angie realised exactly what was ‘up there’, and Fiona forgot about remaining calm.

  ‘BATS!’

  Their screams echoed high, and the roof came alive.

  They screamed as they ran, back into the cave where the boys were. The girls’ screams brought them abruptly awake. Their screams, and the flapping sound of a thousand wings.

  ‘BATS!’ Fiona yelled at them. Axel rolled into the next cave. Liam, with only a second’s glance at the bats, followed him.

  Zesh jumped to his feet. The bats were all around him. The cave was alive with them. ‘Mr Marks.’ He shot to the ground beside the teacher, tried to shake him back to consciousness.

  ‘Leave him!’ Fiona shouted, running after Axel.

  But Zesh couldn’t. She could see that in his face. Even panic-stricken, he still wanted to be Sir Lancelot.

  ‘Cover him with something.’ Angie threw a jacket over his face. ‘We have to get out of here!’

  The bats were flying everywhere. Fiona threw her arms about wildly as she ran. She tripped over a rock, fell headlong forwards, covered her head with her hands, sure at any moment the bats would smother her, suck her dry.

  Feet ran past her. Angie’s darting light steps. Light as a feather. Funny, especially with her being so fat. Even in her terror, Fiona could think that.

  Someone was screaming. Fiona realised it was herself. She couldn’t stop. She would never stop. They’d never get out of here, and what other horrors would they have to face? No wonder she kept screaming.

  After an age, the flapping of the wings moved into a distant cave, although the echoes remained for a long time.

  ‘They’re gone,’ Zesh said, his voice shaking.

  Fiona risked a look. Zesh was lying by the teacher. She tried to sit up, but she was shaking so much she could only drag herself to a wall, lean against it.

  ‘You OK?’ she asked Zesh. He nodded. ‘What about him?’ She meant Mr Marks, but she couldn’t bring herself to say his name. This was his fault. He always said he would get his own back on them – but she didn’t think he would be rotten enough to die on them just to get his revenge.

  ‘He’s cold, but he’s sweating buckets,’ Zesh said.

  Axel and Liam stepped warily back into the cave.

  ‘Thanks so much for staying here and protecting us, Axel. As usual, look after number one.’ Fiona glanced at Liam as if he was dirt. ‘Didn’t expect anything else from you either.’

  ‘Good job we did go in there.’ Liam pointed back at the cave. ‘Axel’s found the way out.’

  Zesh got to his feet. ‘Did you? The way out?’

  ‘It’s a path, well used, leads down into a bigger cave.’

  They all breathed easier. ‘The way out!’ Fiona jumped up. ‘I wish I had a fag to celebrate.’

  ‘Where did you go earlier?’ Axel asked Fiona.

  Angie answered quickly. ‘Me and Fiona were looking for another way out too.’ She said it quickly. ‘That’s what we were doing in that tunnel. Isn’t that right, Fiona?’

  ‘Were we zonks!’ What was wrong with that Angie! Everybody had to do the toilet. It was perfectly natural. ‘We needed the lavvy.’ She said it as coarsely as she could, just to embarrass her.

  ‘Fiona!’ Angie’s voice was full of disappointment in her.

  ‘We went there for some privacy … and a thousand pairs of eyes were clocking us!’

  ‘No wonder you frightened the bats. Seeing you two doing the toilet would scare anybody.’ Axel laughed.

  ‘They were probably more frightened of us than we were of them,’ Angie said.


  Fiona burst out laughing. ‘You didn’t think that when you and me were in there with our knickers at our ankles.’

  ‘Oh Fiona!’ There was even a blush in the way Angie said it.

  Axel joined in. ‘Is it a bird. Is it a plane! Come on, boys, let’s get out of here! It’s Angie and Fiona peeing.’

  And they were all laughing. Axel and Liam and Zesh and Fiona. Even Angie. Laughing almost hysterically. Their laughter winding its way deep into the caves.

  ‘What was that?’ Liam said, his laughter stopping abruptly.

  They all stopped and listened.

  ‘An echo,’ Zesh said, as if he knew.

  But none of them laughed after that.

  Because to them all it had sounded like something stirring, deep in the underworld.

  * * *

  What is that sound?

  Whoosh! Something far away, a slither, a slide, coming closer.

  We both stop, listening in the darkness.

  The Captain dismisses the sound. ‘There are always sounds in caves – echoes from the sea.’

  ‘I am so cold, sir,’ I tell him.

  He looks angry. His eyes are blue and icy. ‘Then be cold. We will find out where these secret weapons are, and we shall destroy them. That is our mission.’

  He talks about our ‘mission’as if we had been sent by God.

  ‘We will blow this whole island to Hell. And we will die for the Führer.’

  * * *

  They had been walking for hours, Axel was sure of it. How long had they been trapped down here? Hours, days? He’d lost track of any kind of time. His legs ached and his temper was growing frayed. He kept glancing behind him. Dragging that stupid teacher was holding them back. They could have been out of here an age ago if it hadn’t been for him.

  This had to be the way out, he was thinking. This path was worn. Many feet had passed here before them. It didn’t even seem so dark here. Had his eyes got used to the blackness? Or was there some kind of artificial light in here? Water trickled down the rock walls. It was as if the water had been tinted. He tried to remember what Marks had said, something about mineral deposits colouring the water. Maybe that was what was giving off the little light they seemed to have.

  I bet Zesh would know, he thought. Or pretend he does. Him and all his rules. Insisting they mark their path, making them use their whistles regularly in case someone was already in the caves searching for them, rationing their food and their use of the lamps, in case the batteries wore out. Axel wouldn’t ask him anything. He hated Zesh more now than he ever had. When they got out of here, he was going to punch his lights out.

  Zesh called out then, ‘I think we should rest soon. Keep our strength up.’

  Axel turned on him. ‘We’d be out of here by now if you weren’t carrying him.’ He spat in the direction of the teacher, missing him by inches. ‘Leave him, I say. We can send somebody back for him.’

  Angie stepped forward. ‘But what if the bats come back, Axel?’

  ‘He’s not got any blood for them to suck.’ He sniggered at his own joke.

  Liam edged closer to Axel. ‘Couldn’t one of us stay with him?’ He looked at Zesh.

  Axel liked that idea. ‘Good thinking, Liam. That gets rid of two birds with one idea. You stay with him, Zesh. We’ll send somebody back … eventually.’

  ‘We are not separating. We’re all staying together.’

  Fiona leaped into the conversation. ‘Hey, wait a minute. Just stop deciding what I’m gonny do. I’ll decide for myself.’

  ‘Who cares?’ Axel said. ‘Come on, Liam. You and me, we’ll just go on ourselves. Forget about them.’

  He watched Liam think about it. Think too long.

  It was Zesh who broke the silence. ‘For once in your life, Liam, make a decision. Your backside must be sore from sitting on the fence.’ He looked breathlessly angry. ‘Axel won’t go on his own. He’s too scared.’

  ‘I am not!’ Axel yelled.

  ‘Yes you are. Or else you would never have waited for the rest of us.’

  ‘I’m gonny make you sorry you said that.’

  Zesh ignored that. ‘You are so stupid, Liam. You can’t even see that he needs you more than you need him. He treats you like an idiot, and you let him. You make me sick. You’ve always made me sick. I can’t stand people like you.’

  It was turning into a tirade against Liam. It even shut Axel up.

  ‘What have I ever done to you?’ Liam asked him, taken aback.

  But Zesh had started now and wouldn’t stop. ‘Do you know what people think about you at school? Nothing. They don’t even remember you. “Liam who?” they’ll say. You are a nothing. A nonentity! Because you just follow on with whoever you think is the boss. Taking orders, doing what you’re told. Do you never get sick of yourself?’

  Axel could see Liam’s eyes flash. Was that anger, or embarrassment? Then, Liam laughed. ‘You know, sometimes when you sit on the fence you can see both sides of the argument.’

  Zesh turned from him in disgust. ‘Oh, do what Axel tells you. That’s all you’re good for.’

  Liam was still grinning. ‘What got up his nose?’

  Axel looked at him in amazement. ‘See, if anybody spoke to me like that, I’d go through him.’

  Liam shrugged his shoulders. ‘You know me, Axel. Laugh it off, that’s my motto.’

  Angie was bending over the teacher, holding a bottle of water to his lips. He stirred and began to cough.

  That made them all alert. ‘Mr Marks!’ Angie leaned closer to him. His eyes fluttered open. He looked around. Angie jumped to her feet. ‘He’s waking up. Everything’ll be fine now.’

  Axel stepped towards him. Mr Marks’s eyes fastened on him. But Axel knew he couldn’t see him. He couldn’t see anything. ‘He’s still unconscious,’ he said. He’d seen enough people being knocked out to recognise the signs. He was right. Seconds later the teacher’s eyes closed again and his head slumped.

  ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be moving him anyway,’ Axel said, as if he cared.

  He didn’t fool Fiona. ‘We’ve not got much choice, have we? If we kill him because we move him, we kill him. We can’t leave him here.’

  Zesh stood up. ‘I’m going down one of the tunnels to see where it leads.’ He held out his whistle. ‘I’ll whistle every few minutes, and you whistle back.’

  ‘You can’t go on your own, Zesh,’ Angie said.

  Zesh looked around them all, as if deciding who he could ask to go with him. Axel, he dismissed right away. He’d never trust him in the dark. He hardly bothered to glance at Liam. He wouldn’t be able to rely on him. And Fiona? She’d probably tell him to go zonk himself, she wasn’t coming anyway.

  ‘I’ll go with you, Zesh.’ Angie beamed at him.

  ‘Aye,’ Fiona laughed. ‘Take Angie. You’ll be all right there, Zesh. She’s a Girl Guide.’

  He looked at Angie reluctantly. ‘I suppose,’ he said without enthusiasm. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  ‘Missing you already!’ Fiona called, ignoring Angie’s wave.

  And Zesh and Angie disappeared into the black tunnel.

  ‘I hate that guy,’ Axel muttered.

  Liam glanced over at Fiona. She was ignoring them both, slugging her water from her bottle, glancing around her, checking for more bats, probably.

  Liam’s voice was soft. ‘He wouldn’t be such a big man if he didn’t have that inhaler.’

  Axel turned on him. ‘What inhaler?’

  ‘Didn’t you know he’s got asthma? Keeps it well hidden of course. Can’t have anybody knowing big man Zesh has got a weakness, eh? But see if he didn’t have that inhaler, Axel, he’d be as useless as …’ Liam looked over at the unconscious teacher. ‘He started off as the leader as well, didn’t he. And look at him now.’

  Chapter 18

  Zesh could feel Angie tugging on his rucksack as he moved steadily forwards through the cold black tunnel. ‘What is it, Angie?’ He sounded annoyed. Couldn’
t help it.

  ‘Nothing. I’m just holding on, Zesh.’

  She flashed her light along the tunnel. ‘Do you think this might be the way?’

  It has to be, Zesh was thinking. He couldn’t think straight, yet he had to. Trying to remember all that Mr Marks had told him. He took a step forwards and jumped back quickly as rubble broke loose under his feet. He looked all around, waiting for the whole tunnel to collapse.

  ‘I don’t think this is any good here,’ he said.

  ‘If you say so, Zesh.’

  He would never admit it, but he was glad it was Angie who was there with him. She didn’t moan or argue. She just followed quietly. And he didn’t want to be alone.

  ‘You’re probably wishing you’d never come to this school.’ He wanted to talk, to hear their voices in the black tunnel.

  ‘Oh no, I love it here. Everyone’s so nice.’ She giggled. ‘Well, maybe not everyone. But you are, and so’s Fiona.’

  You honestly think Fiona’s nice, Angie? thought Zesh. He didn’t look behind but he could imagine her face, beaming with enthusiasm.

  ‘She’s the best friend I’ve ever had.’

  You’re sad, Angie, he was thinking. If Fiona’s the best friend you could ever get, you are really pathetic.

  ‘What school did you go to before?’ he asked her, realising then that he knew nothing about Angie. None of them did.

  ‘We were abroad,’ she said at once. ‘My dad’s got this absolutely brilliant job. He works for the government.’

  Her words were cut off as Zesh grabbed at her, and tugged so hard on her arm he almost pulled her over.

  ‘My foot’s gone down a hole.’ He tried to say it as calmly as he could, but he was losing his balance, and if he did, he would slip down. ‘Pull, Angie. Help me.’

  Angie turned her light down into a deep dark hole that had seemed at first to be just a crack in the ground. She caught her breath, gripped Zesh and hauled him back on to firm ground.

  Zesh was breathing hard. ‘We’ll have to tell them all to be careful.’

  ‘It’s lucky for you I was here,’ Angie said.