The tunnels were constructed of field stones just like all the stone walls which were found throughout New England. The walls measured approximately seven feet high by ten feet wide at the largest sections but there were smaller areas of the passageways that were constricted by underground rock ledges. Construction had been long and arduous, but critical to the continued success of the school. Coastal Maine winters could be absolutely brutal so the tunnels were essential for the continued day-to-day operations. Rudimentary lighting that had been installed to facilitate the students’ passage through the tunnels had long since stopped functioning, however. Without flashlights, the darkness was darker than dark. An abyss for all light.
A rather nasty smell hung in the damp air and the floor was quite wet from water seeping in through the stones. An occasional drip from the ceiling gave the impression of being in a cave. Over the years, the walls had turned into a patchwork quilt as sections gave way to frost heave and were replaced with brick and, more recently, with cement. From the initial observation, it didn’t look like anyone had done much repair work beyond the wine racks at the bottom of the stairs from the kitchen. Errant stones could be seen littering the floor of the tunnel for as far as the eye could see with a weak flashlight.
Elizabeth started down the tunnel toward Rachel when something brushed softly against her forehead and she jumped back. She aimed her light toward the ceiling and noticed an elaborate spider web, replete with a large black spider that was scurrying away from the giant human intruder. Closing her eyes, she shuddered and rubbed her forehead with the extended fingers of her right hand, trying to remove the sensation that the web was still touching her. Opening her eyes again, she noticed how beautiful the web really was, glittering in her beam of light, and wondered how long it must have taken the spider to construct it. It was truly a work of art.
Elizabeth looked past the web and noticed Rashelle’s light was no longer bobbing in front of her. She was no longer moving. Maybe she was waiting for her to catch up. Elizabeth navigated carefully past the spider and its beautiful home, being careful not to touch the sticky strands again. She resumed her trek down the tunnel toward Rashelle, keeping the light moving back and forth, up and down, not really knowing what she was going to find. Coming up behind Rashelle, she noticed an opening to the right with dining room chairs stacked in columns like a wall, partially closing off the access to a tunnel. This could either be a route that led to another building on the campus or a dead end. Only one way to find out. She couldn’t resist the urge.
Rashelle was standing perfectly still with her back to her, staring straight ahead when Elizabeth came up behind her. Rachel spoke first.
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“I can’t.”
“You can’t what?”
“I can’t do this.”
“What?! Why the sudden change of heart?” An otherwise outgoing, gregarious New Yorker just turned into the Cowardly Lion and they were a long way from Oz.
“I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t do this all of a sudden. It’s like the place has a personality and it doesn’t want us intruding. It just doesn’t feel right.”
“None of this feels right. Since when has that stopped us before?”
“Maybe I just need time to get used to all of this.”
Elizabeth silently wondered if she would ever get used to this. It gave her the creeps, too. “Alright, you stay put. I’ll go for a ways and come back. Okay? Will you be alright?”
Rashelle seemed frozen to her spot on the dirt floor, staring straight ahead.
“Shelle…SHELLE!”
She jumped and turned toward Elizabeth. “Y-Yes. You go ahead. I’ll be fine. I’ll just catch my breath.”
“Okay. Focus on breathing.”
“Okay,” she muttered without really focusing on the words.
Elizabeth turned right to explore the first offshoot from the main tunnel. She turned back to take another look at Rashelle. Hopefully she would be all right. Elizabeth wasn’t very comfortable leaving her behind but she needed to cover some ground. Besides, she had left her near the entrance to the tunnel so she could find her way out if she needed to. She could only be a few yards away from the steps back up to the kitchen. Elizabeth just wished it wasn’t so dark down there.
She headed down the dark passageway, her light projecting a narrow swath. She slowly made her way through the darkness, not sure what she would find with each step. After about twenty feet she could sense the tunnel was starting to take a turn toward the right. She proceeded cautiously. I can’t get lost. All I have to do is turn around and follow the tunnel back the way I came. After several minutes of baby steps forward, she noticed she was slowing down. Her flashlight was getting dimmer and that caused her to walk more slowly. She banged the bulb end of the flashlight on the palm of her hand, trying to coax it brighter. It flickered on and off until finally it went off completely. Elizabeth shook it some more. It was still pitch black. It was so dark in the tunnel; she couldn’t see her hands in front of her face. She banged the lifeless battery holder against her palm again. Nothing. Not even a flicker. “Great!” Time to head back and find Rashelle. She groped to find the wall and kept her hand on it as she crept back toward the main tunnel, keeping her fingers splayed against the cold, damp, sometimes wet stones. She was beginning to think she knew what a bat felt like. One foot in front of the other. It was darker than dark in front of her yet she pressed on, fighting the sensation that she was going to run into something. She didn’t want to think about what might be behind her. Her feet started to head down a slight decline. With the light on earlier, she hadn’t noticed that she had been making her way up a slight hill. Now that she was headed back down without the use of her sight, her remaining senses were heightened. She quickened her pace. Suddenly her left foot slipped on a wet, slippery spot, and it shot out from underneath her. Her upper torso snapped backwards, but she desperately tried to compensate with the rest of her body. Her arms flailing, she managed to snap her body forward again. Unfortunately, she overcompensated and her right foot landed hard on the dirt below. The force of the impact caused her ankle to roll. She gasped when she realized she was going down. She released the flashlight just in time for her hands to break her fall. She landed on the cold, damp ground with very little sound. A soft thud. “Great!” There she was, sprawled out in the dark with a throbbing ankle. Groping around, she located the useless flashlight. Forcefully rubbing her ankle, she hobbled to her feet and continued to make her way in the dark. It can’t be much farther. Then she remembered Rashelle. Suddenly it didn’t seem like such a good idea to have gone off and left her friend on her own. She persevered through the ache in her ankle and kept walking, more like hobbling, with one hand on the right wall. She walked for what seemed like five minutes. She wondered if she should be able to see Rashelle’s light by now. Then she stopped for a moment in the dark to think. It seemed like she had been walking longer to get back than the original trip down the passageway. Was she just taking longer because of her ankle and the lack of light or did she get up from her tumble facing the wrong direction?! Panic was welling up inside of her and she tried desperately to remain calm so she could think.
She could hear herself breathing. She held her breath to see if she could hear anything else. Slow, but steady drops of water were audible. She took a deep breath and made the decision to keep going in the same direction for a while longer. If she didn’t reach the main tunnel after a certain number of steps—a hundred steps, she would turn around and head the other way. She couldn’t panic; she just had to be methodical about this…“one, two, three.” She continued the rest in her head. 19, 20, 21. Elizabeth wondered where Rashelle was and if she would see her light if she got close. 34, 35, 36. I never should have left her. I didn’t like the idea in the first place. She had found the old flashlights…51, 52, 5
3. This had better be working. I need to reconnect with Rashelle, especially since she has the only working flashlight. Or does she? What if hers died too? Oh, Elizabeth, what have you gotten yourself into? 68, 69, 70. Is this working?
Then the smell hit her right in the face as if someone had taken the back of their hand to her nose. She stopped dead in her tracks. What is that? She obviously had not been this far before and she was certainly not walking in the right direction. Her curiosity would not let her turn the other way, though. Now that she knew which direction was the correct one, she really should be heading in that direction. Something kept her from turning away from the smell. A few more steps? Did she dare? What would she find? Not much in the absolute darkness. Without a window in the tunnels or an operating flashlight in her hand, there was no chance of seeing anything. Still she was held fast, not changing direction. The smell that had caught her by surprise was still very strong. It was a sour smell, like the early stages of something decaying. What was the source? She started walking forward again, completely blind. Two more steps. Then one more and she brought her foot up alongside the other. This was insanity. Even if she found something, she wouldn’t be able to see it. It was time to turn around.
Very carefully she pivoted in place, groping for the wall to stabilize her. Just to be sure, in a somewhat irrational moment, she decided to count her steps again, this time backwards. She was fairly sure this was finally the right direction but she wasn’t going to take any chances. Where had she left off before? Somewhere around 70 or 80? She decided to go with 73…72, 71, 70…She just wanted out of this tunnel…66, 65, 64…Hopefully Rashelle was okay… and was not getting lost. She was probably smart enough to stay put…53, 52, 51…Counting her steps was turning into a nonsensical exercise, but it gave her something to do besides panicking. She had reached the decline in the floor again. She slowed her feet to baby steps to keep herself from slipping all over again. Where had she left off counting? She couldn’t remember. Just keep walking. This has to be the right way. Keeping her hand running along the wall, she pressed on. Just one foot in front of the other. Not too fast. But keep moving. The darkness was really starting to get to her. Just keep going. Suddenly the wall felt as if it was turning slightly to the left. Elizabeth felt a wave of relief pour over her. She had to be close to the beginning. She remembered it turning slightly to the right not long after she started. She kept her feet moving but she held them back from going too fast. Just a few more steps. It had to be twenty more? 30? Just keep moving. One foot in front of the other. Then it seemed as though it was getting brighter. Was she just imagining it or was it real? A few more steps. The darkness in the tunnel was starting to get lighter. She could just make out her hand holding the dead flashlight. She pressed on a few more steps.
What she saw next made her stop. She had finally reached the end of the curve in the side tunnel so she could see where it met up with the main tunnel. She stifled a gasp. In front of her was Kurt, walking in the main tunnel toward the direction she had left Rashelle. He was far enough away so he didn’t notice Elizabeth. He was creeping along slowly. As Elizabeth crept closer she could see Rashelle just to the right in the main tunnel. Kurt was moving closer to her. Just a few steps separated them. She didn’t like the looks of this. She quickened her pace, risking slipping again, but she had to catch up to him. A few more steps and he would no longer be in her line of sight. He was getting closer to Rashelle. Elizabeth kept walking briskly. She needed to catch up to them.
She reached the end of her tunnel, pivoted right toward Mitchell, and saw Rashelle just a few feet beyond him. Elizabeth had the element of surprise on her side and she was going to prevent him from hurting her friend. She switched the clunky flashlight to her right hand, raised it above her head as she crept up close behind him. She drove it down onto his head with everything she had. She watched him fall as his legs buckled beneath him. Rashelle spun around and looked into Elizabeth’s eyes, a look of shock on her face.
Chapter 11
“I’m sorry.” Elizabeth didn’t know what else to say. She looked helplessly at Kurt holding an ice pack to the back of his head. He appeared crumpled and disheveled, slouched at the far end of the faded plaid couch. Chief Austin hovered nearby like a doting nanny. “I’m really sorry. How was I supposed to know you’re on our side? I’m sorry I hurt you. I thought you were about to hurt Rashelle.” Rashelle shot her a troubled glance. Confusion and fatigue were competing for front row in Elizabeth’s head.
Kurt perked up. “What were you doing down there in the tunnels anyway?” His voice was half whining, half demanding.
“Oh, they’re my old stomping ground,” she fibbed, not daring to look at Rashelle. “I did grow up here, ya know.” Elizabeth was trying hard to convince him of her confidence. She had a nagging feeling he wasn’t buying any of it. He wouldn’t have if he had caught the look on Rashelle’s face. “I could ask you the same thing,” she tossed back his way; a tone of indignation permeated the air. Things were starting to feel a bit adversarial. The chief mumbled something and headed outside. Now that he had straightened out this mess, he had other, more important, things to attend to.
Mitchell, in his wrinkled and soiled tennis whites, removed the ice pack from his head and cradled it in the palm of his right hand, which was hovering over his lap. He sat forward on the couch, a look of sheer annoyance spread across his face. “Look, we really need to work together here.”
“…We do?” Elizabeth wasn’t sure she liked this idea. She still wasn’t sure she trusted him. She was feeling very angry toward him. What exactly had his intentions been in the tunnel? What would have happened if she hadn’t stopped him? Just because Chief Austin said Kurt was a good guy didn’t mean much in her book. What did the chief really know anyway?
“Yes. I’ve been doing some digging around on my own and I could use your help—both of you.” He glanced from Elizabeth to Rashelle and back again. “You in particular, Elizabeth. As you mentioned, you grew up here. You know the place inside and out.”
Elizabeth was beginning to think she shouldn’t have led him to believe she was quite so comfortable in the tunnels. What was he planning? She needed to try to get more info out of him. She needed to know what his agenda was.
At that moment, a state trooper stepped inside the front door of the inn. The sound of the screen door banging closed caused everyone in the sitting room to turn their attention to him. He paused on the threshold of the sitting room. Elizabeth recognized his voice when he spoke, “Miss Elizabeth Pennington?” It was the same voice she heard talking with Chief Austin while she was clinging to the side of the cliff earlier. His name tag read “Lt. Perkins.” He was a tall slender man with short cropped hair and dark, piercing eyes that exuded maturity and experience beyond his years. Perhaps he had been in the military before he wore the proud, blue uniform of the Maine State Police. Elizabeth figured he was in his mid to late thirties. She imagined he didn’t have much of a sense of humor.
“Yes?” she spoke softly. She blushed, wondering if he knew she had been hiding in the woods when he had walked by earlier.
“Ma’am, I need to have a word with you…in private. Would you mind stepping outside with me, please?” His voice was calm, but firm. He was someone in authority here, to be sure.
Once again she was going to fall short of her objective to extract more info out of Mitchell. That would have to wait. “Sure,” trying to sound more cooperative than she felt. She turned back to Rashelle and Kurt. “Carry on without me, guys. I’ll be back.” She hoped this little chat wouldn’t take long. Maybe she could find out about her car while she was at it. She couldn’t believe they would just take it like that. She stood and walked toward the front door leading to the porch, with the trooper a few feet behind her.
Once outside, Lt. Perkins took the lead and seemed to be heading toward a police car, complete with the rack of lights on top. He wa
lked up to the passenger side and opened the front door. Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide. “Are…are we going somewhere?” She could feel herself putting on the brakes. Where was he taking her?
A brief but detectible smile crossed his face. “No ma’am. We just need a quiet place to talk. I figured this was as good as any.” His voice was low and rough. With a bit of levity, he added, “Step into my office,” while motioning with his free hand.
She still didn’t feel completely comfortable. She had never sat in a squad car before. She guessed that was a good thing. Reluctantly, she slipped into the front seat without a sound. Once her legs were clear, the officer closed the door firmly behind her. The sound made her jump slightly. The silence that followed was deafening. She was beginning to feel guilty without having done anything. It was as if she was sitting in the principal’s office waiting to be scolded. She braved a glance into the backseat, which was empty, but she started to imagine what it must feel like to be back there with your hands in cuffs. She shuddered. Finally the lieutenant reached for the handle of the driver’s side door, opened it with a quick jerking motion, and dropped down into his seat. A strange aroma entered the car with him. She couldn’t place it. She continued to feel uncomfortable. She instinctively glanced toward her door to ascertain where the handle was. She needed an escape route.
The Precipice Page 10