Page 45 of Tattered Huntress
‘Stay close,’ I told them as I ducked my head and entered the tunnel.
Nothing here appeared to be man-made. The smooth walls and the way the tunnel dipped and dived, rising in one section before descending yet again, suggested that thousands of years of natural erosion had created the space rather than ancient miners looking for precious metals.
I maintained a steady pace, secure in the knowledge thatthe way ahead was safe – at least for now. The four teams ahead of me were testament to that, and that allowed me to take less care than Humphrey and Eleanor who’d gone first. There were benefits to not being at the head of the pack.
I concentrated on the bobbing ball of flame and the distant hum of voices ahead of me and continued to jog. If only my ex-colleagues at SDS could see me now.
My elation didn’t last long.
After several minutes the tunnel roof lowered, forcing me to stoop more and more. I turned a corner and my eyes narrowed; now I had to crouch and shuffle instead of running. My claustrophobia returned with a vengeance.
I concentrated on breathing regularly and moving forward, but I knew I would struggle if the cave continued like this. It didn’t help that I could hear Boonder coming up behind me; there wasn’t enough space for him to pass me, and I didn’t like to think that he would be literally nipping at my heels. My mind drifted to the question of exactly how many tonnes of rock were pressing down on me from above, and my chest began to grow tight.
Breathe,I snapped at myself.This is not a problem. This is new and exciting and exactly what I wanted from treasure hunting. Whatever panic I feel is unwarranted. There is still enough space to move, enough air to breathe. My problems are psychological.
The narrow tunnel curved to the left and the space became even tighter. Reluctantly, I extinguished my little fireball because I didn’t know what was up ahead or if there was enough oxygen to sustain the flame.
I reached behind me for the bag on my shoulders; there was a battery-powered torch in there, though I’d planned to use it only for emergencies. Batteries were a finite resource and I had no way of knowing how long I’d be down here.
I moved my hand away again. I didn’t need the torch yet; itwould be wise to leave it where it was, at least for the time being.
‘There’s an opening ahead!’ Hester screeched suddenly in my ear.
Her shout was so unexpected that I jerked upwards and banged my head on the tunnel roof. I gave a sharp moan of pain. ‘Argh!’
‘Oh,’ Hester said sarcastically. ‘My apologies. I didn’t realise you were actually enjoying this dark, hellish hole. I thought you’d be happy that there’s a large space ahead.’
I rubbed the back of my head and winced, then gritted my teeth and dug deep inside myself for a final spurt of energy. It pushed me forward until I all but tumbled out of the opening.
I landed on solid ground and rolled onto my back. Thank goodness: this was a large cavern with plenty of space. I placed my hand on my chest and pressed it against my heart until my pulse slowed. It was okay. We’d made it through.
The tip of Otis’s wings brushed my cheek as he zipped away from me and then flew back. ‘Everyone else is here! We’ve already caught up to them!’
That was something. I looked at the lights clustered around a spot thirty metres or so in front of me. Otis was right: all the other teams were here. Then I heard a grunt from behind and turned to see Boonder exit the narrow opening in the same manner that I had.
Annoyingly, he bounded to his feet. He placed his hands on his hips as he looked around. ‘That was fun,’ he said. ‘And this is interesting.’ He looked over at me, still sprawled on the cavern floor. ‘It was a tight space,’ he said kindly. ‘But you’ll get used to it. Caves are difficult places to explore when they’ve not been mapped and you don’t know what’s coming next.’
‘Thanks,’ I muttered as I got to my feet and dusted myself off. I appreciated his attempts at reassurance.
He smiled awkwardly. ‘There’ll probably be much worse sections ahead.’
Oh. Great. I gave him a sideways look; was he trying to unnerve me? It didn’t appear that way from his expression, but the tight coil of tension in my tummy suggested otherwise.
‘I have a spare torch if you need one,’ he offered.
I blinked then I gave him a genuine smile. ‘I have one, though I’m trying not to use it unless I have to.’
‘That’s probably wise,’ Boonder said.
‘You should keep your spare torch for yourself.’
He shook his head. ‘In this sort of environment we have to stick together, whether we’re competing against each other or not. Especially when we’re the only solo competitors.’
I realised hewasbeing genuine.
‘She’s not on her own,’ Otis snapped. ‘We’re with her.’
The brownies were too small to provide physical support, so I understood why Boonder had left them out of the equation.
