by B. C. Harris
When the ferocious animal reaches the outside of the cave, Radwin’s lights will not have the same impact on it as they did in the darkness of the cave.
Drew swings Michael off his back.
Michael begins to run
“Keep moving!” I say with urgency.
We stumble along the path that we had taken to reach the cave, each of us continually falling and scraping our legs and hands on the jagged rocks.
“Go up to the next cave,” comes a voice from behind us. It’s Radwin.
Looking upwards towards the other cave, I know we will never reach it before the fierce creature catches us.
“Frank,” I say as though my life is about to end, “you’ve got to fly us up to the other cave.”
Looking at everyone struggling along the treacherous path, I say, “Take Michael first.”
Frank responds immediately and rushes to Michael. Drew pushes him onto Frank’s back. In the same moment, Squirt pokes his head out of Frank’s pouch.
“Go!” I shout as Frank flies into the air with Michael barely hanging on.
There is a ferocious cry behind me. Turning around, I see that the brute has reached the mouth of the cave even though Radwin is still trying to distract it. His flashing lights no longer bother the creature in the way they did in the dark cave, although the crazed animal is definitely shielding its eye from the bright sunlight.
The shrieking animal will soon reach us. There isn’t enough time for Frank to carry us all to safety.
Jamie says, “I have an idea. Start picking up smooth rocks, especially round ones. We can place them on the path. When the beast reaches us, maybe it will slip on the rocks and fall over the side of the mountain.”
There’s no time to discuss Jamie’s suggestion. We have nothing to lose by trying it.
Quickly, we begin to find round rocks and place them on the path.
Seeing that Frank is returning, I yell, “Take Jasmin next!”
No sooner has Frank left with her, than the roaring animal is almost on us. The hungry creature is trying to cover its eye from the sunlight with one hand while trying to swat Radwin away with the other.
“Over here,” Drew tempts the enraged animal, as he stands defiantly in the middle of the path. Jamie and I are standing a few steps behind him. If the rocks we have placed on the path don’t cause the beast to lose its balance and fall off the ledge, we’re doomed.
“Come and get me, you stupid animal,” Drew taunts. His remarks incense the demented creature. Its cries are deafening.
Radwin continues to buzz around the animal’s head as it rushes at Drew.
At the moment that the beast steps onto the layer of round rocks we have placed on the path, the ferocious creature teeters awkwardly on the rocks that shift beneath its heavy weight. The beast tilts sideways towards the edge of the mountain.
For an instant it is as though the mad monster has lost its footing on a balance beam. Suddenly the creature falls, crashing over the side of the mountain. As I watch the frightening animal tumble over a wall of rocks, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Then the impossible happens. The infuriated animal manages to grab onto another ledge preventing it from falling to its death.
There is an inhuman cry as the tenacious beast begins to pull itself up towards us once again.
- 24 -
THE FIRST DOOR
“Quick, we’ve got to get to the next cave,” I shout. “Jamie, you go next.”
Although Jamie looks like he’s going to argue with me, Drew shoves him towards Frank. Before anything else is said, Jamie is on the back of Frank and on his way to a ledge in front of the other cave above us. Jasmin and Michael are already safely there waiting for the rest of us.
A roar from below me tells me that Drew and I don’t have very much time. Although it will be a struggle for the determined creature to reach us, this animal is much more adept than we are at moving on the rugged terrain. I estimate that we only have a minute or so before it attacks us.
When Frank returns, Drew insists that I go next. In a flash, I’m on Frank’s back and flying towards the cave above me.
When I arrive at the small rocky area where Jasmin, Michael and Jamie are standing, Radwin, who is hovering at the mouth of the cave, says, “I think I should go into the cave to make sure that there are no other dangers awaiting us.”
“Great idea,” I respond, trembling at the thought of what we would do if there’s another dangerous creature inside the cave.
If that happens, we would find ourselves trapped between two wild animals.
The creature from the first cave is relentlessly pulling itself over the treacherous rocks on the mountain to reach us.
Frank pauses to catch her breath before returning back for Drew.
“Frank, hurry!” The enraged animal has almost reached Drew.
Frank immediately launches herself. As I glance downwards at the relentless creature, I conclude that it will likely attack Drew before Frank saves him.
Frantically, Drew begins to climb the rocks in an attempt to escape. With the heavy pack on his back, it’s difficult for him to get very far.
The orange beast roars as it pulls itself onto a ledge not too far away from Drew.
Michael begins to throw stones at the creature. Jamie and I quickly copy his actions. Even though most of the stones that we throw miss, they cause enough of a distraction for Frank to reach Drew first.
Drew pulls himself onto Frank’s back as the animal rushes at him, barely missing as Frank jumps upwards.
Frank and Drew fly towards us although the crazed creature is not about to give up. It’s already scrambling over the rocks as it heads towards us. If the cave before us doesn’t lead to a door where we can escape, we’re in deep trouble.
When Drew and Frank safely join the rest of us, Radwin appears from the cave.
“There’s a door inside the cave,” he says excitedly.
This is exactly what I need to hear.
“Hurry!” I say. “Follow Radwin. We must reach the door before the beast attacks us.”
We fall over each other as we rush into the cave.
When we hit the darkness, Radwin flashes his lights so we can see where we are going.
We chase after Radwin’s blinking lights.
The rocks on the floor of the damp cave are slippery. In a few short steps, several of us take nasty falls, scraping our knees. Although my jeans were almost brand new when we started our mission, there are now tears in several places, especially around my knees.
I alternate between running and crawling as I try to follow Radwin.
We manage to twist around several bends in the cave when I hear an agitated roar echoing angrily behind me. I guess that the beast has reached the mouth of the cave. I shudder as I realize that we’re trapped.
I increase my speed, although running faster also means more tumbles on the greasy cave floor.
In the distance there is a faint glimmer of light although I’m not sure whether it’s light from Radwin bouncing off the walls of the cave, or whether it’s something else.
Another terrifying scream behind us reverberates throughout the cave.
“We’re not going to make it,” I find myself saying. “It’s going to be on us before we reach the door.”
“I see the door!” Jamie yells from the darkness in front of me.
Somehow he has managed to move ahead while the rest of us slowed our pace to navigate the slippery floor of the cave.
“Go faster,” I say. “We’ve got to reach the door before the creature gets us.”
Picking up my pace, I see Jamie standing beside a massive golden door.
“Jamie, can you open the door?” I say, my words coming out more like a command than a question.
“I’m working on it,” his reply echoes off the walls back to me.
A violent shriek tells me that the terrifying beast has almost caught up to us.
“Keep going,” Radwin says
firmly as he turns away from us. Unexpectedly his lights go out.
“Radwin, what’s happening? Are you okay?” I ask.
Without his lights, we’re immersed in darkness, except for the glowing door a short distance away.
Not hearing any response from him, with all my might I say, “Run! Everyone run to the door. We’ve got to reach it before we’re attacked.”
Behind us, I hear cries of confusion. I turn to see a multitude of flashing lights bouncing off the walls of the cave. I understand what is happening. Radwin is using his bright lights to blind the menacing creature that is pursuing us. This might give us a few extra seconds to reach the door, but in the narrow cave I know there’s also a possibility of the huge animal striking Radwin with its powerful paws.
The door is twice as big as any normal door. It’s glowing.
“Any thoughts on the code?” Michael asks Jamie when we’re almost there.
Both Michael and Jamie are standing close to the door attempting to decipher the puzzle. The door will not open unless we solve the puzzle.
“It looks like a substitution cipher,” Jamie says more to himself than anyone else.
“What?” I respond. Something in Jamie’s tone of voice tells me that this isn’t going to be easy.
“What is a substitution cipher?” I ask, my attention darting back and forth between the walls in front of us and the dark cave behind us where a hungry animal is attempting to reach us. I imagine Radwin is creating problems for the beast with his brilliant flashing lights, but how much longer can he keep it from reaching us?
“In a substitution cipher, the letters are scrambled,” Michael says, answering my question. “You need an algorithm or a key to solve it.”
As I look at the door I see a scramble of meaningless letters. I know we don’t have very much time left before we all become lunch for a hungry beast whose roar is getting closer and closer.
Jamie begins to read the letters on the door aloud.
y, m, j,
l, t, t, w,
b, n, q, q,
t, u, j, s,
b, m, j, s,
d, t, z,
y, t, z, h, m,
y, m, j
k, n, w, x, y,
b
How can they possibly mean anything? I wonder. They look like a random mess of letters.
“What are we looking for?” I say.
“Each of these letters probably represents another letter,” Jamie says. “If we discover the key, this will help us to translate the message.”
“I once had a plastic ring for solving ciphers like this,” Michael says. “There were two circles of letters on the ring. The outside circle of letters could turn while the inner circle was stationary.”
“What are you talking about?” Jasmin screams. “Solve the puzzle!”
I step towards Jasmin, hoping to calm her. Jasmin’s anxiety is not helping us solve the puzzle on the door. At the same moment, Drew appears and gives her a hug.
Jamie says, “Julius Caesar used a code like this to send secret messages. In his code the letter A represented the letter D. The letter B represented the letter E.”
“Everything was shifted by three letters,” Michael adds.
“Take each letter on the door and shift them by three in the alphabet,” I suggest.
Frightening roars continue to echo throughout the cave. The fact that the beast is taking so long to reach us is proof that Radwin has confused it.
“No,” Michael says. “First of all we need to understand the pattern before we know how much to shift each letter.”
“How can we discover that?” I ask.
“Look for a single letter on the door,” Jamie says, much more calmly than I feel. “A single letter would likely represent the word ‘A’ or ‘I’. This could give us the key for solving the rest of the message.”
A quick look at the faces of Drew and Jasmin who are now embracing shows they don’t understand what Jamie said.
Radwin’s bright lights flashing off the walls of the cave are getting closer. The wild creature’s loud roar tells me that it’s advancing towards us.
We need to solve the code, and we need to solve it right now. Our lives depend on it.
“The final ‘B’ couldn’t be an ‘A’ or ‘I’,” Jamie says.
“I agree,” says Michael. “It’s unlikely that a sentence or phrase would end with either an ‘A’ or ‘I’.”
“Let’s look for any three letter words,” says Jamie. “Three letter words might be the word ‘the’ which could help us to solve the puzzle.”
“There’s a three letter word at the beginning,” I say.
“And another one with the same three letters near the end,” Michael says enthusiastically.
“They might be the world ‘the’,” says Jamie.
Suddenly I notice that Radwin’s flashing lights have disappeared. Has he been killed?
“Shift the letters backwards by five,” Jamie says in a manner that suggests he has discovered the key to solving the puzzle. “The ‘Y’ is a ‘T; the ‘M’ is an ‘H’; and the ‘J’ is an ‘E’.”
“Jasmin, take my pack,” Drew says as he spins around to face the darkness of the cave behind us.
Jasmin takes the backpack as Drew steps into the void.
Without Radwin’s lights, it’s difficult to see what Drew is doing. Our only light is a faint glow from the door.
The silence in the dark is terrifying.
“The door will open…” Jamie says as he deciphers the code.
An inhuman cry fills the care. I turn to see the beast. Its huge eye burns with fury.
“The door will open when you touch…” Michael says, his voice trembling.
The brute raises its huge arms and takes a step towards us.
“The door will open when you touch the first ‘w’,” Jamie shouts.
“Touch it!” Michael yells.
Out of the corner of one eye, I see Jamie touching a letter on the door. I think it’s a “w”, but I’m not completely sure. Out of the corner of my other eye, I see the huge creature preparing to pounce on us. Radwin is nowhere in sight. Where is Drew?
Without warning, Frank, who has been quiet for a long time, starts to jump on the floor of the cave. The next second she’s leaping off the walls. She looks like an out-of-control rubber ball.
I hear the sound of what appears to be a mechanical device on the door. As I turn in its direction, the huge door starts to open.
The creature flails her arms in an attempt to catch the bouncing kabinga. Frank is everywhere. I imagine that Squirt is buried deep inside Frank’s pouch.
“Go through the door!” Michael yells.
Jasmin almost knocks me over as she rushes through the opening, carrying the large backpack. Jamie and Michael follow her. I’m not sure what to do. I can’t abandon Radwin, Drew and Frank.
Someone pushes me towards the door. It’s Drew.
“Go,” he says firmly.
As I rush through the open door, I turn to see Drew lifting his hands high above his head.
I realize that the door is already closing. Drew, Frank and Radwin are still outside it. We can’t leave them behind.
“The door is closing!” I scream.
What if they don’t make it before the door closes?
The hideous beast, her face now distorted in rage, is almost on top of Drew who is holding a large rock above his head.
I watch in horror.
The door continues to close.
Suddenly Frank leaps out of nowhere.
“Get in,” I say to Frank.
Frank makes it to safety.
The wild creature rushes at Drew.
He throws the big rock into the face of the charging animal.
The rock knocks the surging beast backwards.
“Drew!” we all shout at the same time.
The door is almost closed.
In a split second, Drew knifes his way through a small space just
before the door shuts.
- 25 -
A NEW OBSTACLE
With the door closed, we are finally safe.
My relief is short-lived as I don’t see Radwin with us.
“Radwin?” I say anxiously.
“Yes,” a familiar gruff voice answers.
It’s my doadling friend. He’s in Frank’s arms.
“I think that terrible creature must have hit Radwin,” Frank says. “I found him lying on the floor of the cave.”
“You saved him,” I say, full of gratitude. “Frank, you’re a hero.” Looking at Radwin, I say, “You’re also a hero. You were so brave to fight the huge creature by yourself.”
I realize that Jamie, Michael and Drew also played a role in saving our lives. Even Jasmin carried the backpack through the door.
As I look at the faces of my team, there is a mixture of relief and lingering fear.
“I think you’re all heroes,” I say proudly.
At a time like this it would be nice to be able to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished so far, but I know that we have to push on in our search for Shinti.
Although we have solved one problem by escaping an angry beast, we now face another one.
After successfully getting through the first door, we find ourselves on a rocky ledge overlooking a large river that’s twisting through the mountains. On both sides of the river are towering walls of rock. The only way we can possibly continue our quest would be to travel on the river. I have no idea how we will ever do that.
I can’t see any sign of Shinti, the ancient world that Capurni told us we had to find before we would discover the route leading to the Land of Shade.
“Radwin, can I look at the map?” I ask.
Radwin’s face turns ashen.
“Map?” he replies. “Oh no, I think I must have dropped it when I was fighting with that beast.”
I look at the large door we have just managed to get through safely. There is no doubt in my mind that there is no way that any of us are going to go back through the door at this time to try to find the map.
“That’s okay Radwin,” I say, sensing his discomfort in having lost the valuable map. “If you didn’t stop that angry creature, we would have lost a lot more than a map. We will have to figure out on our own how to reach Shinti.”