“What crazies?” Taylor asked. Emily, who was sitting next to her, could feel her tense.
“The ones who live there,” Coach said. “They’re all bats.”
A couple of people groaned.
“Get it?” Coach asked. “Bats … crazies.” He swung onto the road and headed west.
Haley made a face of disgust and said, “It’s going to be a complete waste of time going into a place that has bats living in it.”
Taylor’s voice shook as she said, “I just wish the cave were out in the open and not underground.”
Maxwell snickered. “Someday, when I’m a famous playwright, I’ll remember this inane dialogue and use it in one of my plays.”
“Good for you,” Haley said. “Then Dr. Weil’s classes can diagram your sentences.”
Some of the people in the van laughed, but Maxwell tugged his cap more snugly over his ears and slid down in his seat, his knees nearly up to his chin.
Emily, at his right side, bent to speak quietly to him. “You deserved that,” she said. “You shouldn’t have made fun of Haley and Taylor. They’re your friends.”
He muttered, “When I’m famous—” but Emily interrupted.
“How about now?” she asked. “Who are you now?”
Maxwell turned to glare at her, but she asked, “What have you written? What are you writing now?”
He sputtered, little bubbles of spit appearing at the corners of his mouth. “You don’t know what it’s like being a playwright.”
“That’s right,” she admitted. “I’ve never written a play, and I bet you haven’t, either.”
For a moment, Maxwell’s mouth hung open. “But I’m going to,” he said.
“Why don’t you try writing one now?”
“I’m too young. I haven’t had enough life experiences,” he said. “The people who publish plays wouldn’t take me seriously.”
“You wouldn’t have to send your play to a publisher,” Emily told him. “You could write for practice, or just because you want to. Don’t writers have to learn how to follow all the rules before they write for publication?”
Maxwell’s forehead wrinkled as he thought. “I haven’t lived an exciting life. I really haven’t done anything. What would I write about?”
“Write about your family. Maybe in your play they could all realize how they had misjudged your main character after he bravely saved a girl’s life.”
“And they’d be sorry.”
“Sure, if that’s the way you want to write it.”
Maxwell sat up straighter in his seat. “You’re telling me I can’t talk about being a playwright. I just have to be one.”
“Something like that,” Emily answered.
He spoke almost in a whisper. “But what if I try writing a play and find I can’t do it?”
Emily touched his hand gently. “On the other hand, what if you try writing a play and find it’s even better than you thought it might be?”
Maxwell’s eyes widened. “I’ll think about it,” he said, and turned to stare out the window.
Haley leaned across Taylor to tell Emily, “I wish you had drawn a rune this morning. It’s bad enough to have to waste time wandering through a cave. I shouldn’t have to worry about you while I’m doing it.”
“What makes you think I’ll be in any more danger inside a cave than out of it?” Emily asked.
Haley gave her a sharp look. “Do you have your potion with you?”
Emily automatically touched the pocket of her shirt and felt the small vial under her fingertips. “Yes,” she said.
Haley drew back, satisfied. “Good. Then you’ll be protected.”
Impatiently, Emily answered, “How can you believe that a little bottle of black inky stuff can—”
“It was inspired by Loki and verified by the curandero,” Haley said smugly.
“This is the real world we live in, not some weird place run by magic stones and people who claim to foretell the future. I don’t understand—”
“That’s exactly it,” Haley interrupted. “There’s a great deal about the mystical side of life that you don’t understand.”
“Longhorn Cavern coming up,” Coach called out as the van bounced into a narrow side road.
Emily felt Taylor stiffen.
“It’s going to be okay,” Emily whispered to Taylor, but Taylor looked as terrified as the young Emily had looked in the photograph. Emily shivered. How could she help Taylor when she couldn’t even help herself?
Some of the vans had already arrived, and within a few minutes the last two pulled into the parking lot next to the administration building with its sturdy stone walls. Some of the teachers had come with the group, among them Dr. Weil.
Firmly holding Taylor’s hand, Emily walked to the spot where everyone was gathering.
“Line up, line up. First group, follow Dr. Hampton,” Mrs. Comstock called. She pointed, waving a small sprig of honeysuckle. “Go through the building and down the path to the entrance to the cave.”
As Maxwell was herded reluctantly with those sent ahead, Mrs. Comstock sent some of the other kids in a group with Coach Jinks, Dr. Anderson, and Dr. Weil.
Emily stepped forward with Taylor but found Mrs. Comstock in her way. “There’s no need to rush,” Mrs. Comstock said. “Stick with me.”
As they walked into the building, Emily saw a gift shop to her left and a sunny room with a snack bar, tables, and chairs to her right.
Taylor blurted out, “Mrs. Comstock, I could stay here and wait for you. I wouldn’t mind.”
Mrs. Comstock moved to put an arm around Taylor’s shoulders, separating her from Emily. “You’re going to love the cavern,” she said. “It’s really impressive. Just wait until you see it.”
As they left the building and started down the path and steps that led to the cave’s entrance, Mrs. Comstock glanced back at Emily. “There’s nothing to be afraid of in the cave. No one’s ever been lost there … yet.”
Emily gulped and stumbled, grabbing for the handrail. Had Mrs. Comstock meant that as a warning?
Maxwell was out of sight, and Emily had lost track of Haley. Where was Haley?
Glancing ahead, Emily saw that the steps seemed to descend into a black hole, but as she came closer, out of the glare of the sun, she saw that the entrance to the cave was lighted with hidden, recessed lamps.
The group from Camp Excel swarmed into the entrance room, passing a barred iron gate with a padlock swinging from the lock. The gate had been opened wide and pushed to one side.
Taylor stopped so suddenly that Emily nearly plowed into her. Taylor pointed at the gate. Her voice trembling, she asked Mrs. Comstock, “We aren’t going to be locked in, are we?”
“Of course not,” Mrs. Comstock assured her. “That gate is only shut and locked during nighttime hours, when the cave isn’t open to the public. It’s to keep vandals out, not keep people in.”
Slowly Emily descended the rough stone steps into a room that was noticeably cooler than the hot afternoon temperature outside. A short, plump woman in a park ranger’s uniform glanced over the group, then raised her voice, calling them to pay attention.
“I know that your teacher has probably talked to you about the history of the formation of the cavern and how it eventually drained into the Colorado River. I’ll be repeating some of what she said, and I’m going to point out special features of each room as we walk through them, but first we’ve got to go over a few rules.
“Stay on the paths. No pushing or shoving. Some places are slippery, and you could easily fall. Water still drains from the cave, and at the edges of some of the paths you’ll see little rivulets and even pools. There are a few drops, such as the Wishing Well, which is a drainage pit leading into lower caverns.”
Someone interrupted. “Do you mean there are caverns underneath the Longhorn Cavern?”
The ranger nodded. “There is a large area intertwined with caves. We think it covers hundreds of miles. Many caves have
n’t been discovered yet, and many are too difficult to explore. We do have a special tour on Saturdays, when we take visitors to sections of the cavern below the normal tour. It’s a strenuous, rugged trip that takes close to three hours, and you’ll have to rent special safety equipment to take it. Also, you can plan on getting muddy and wet.”
Taylor gave a little moan and reached out again for Emily’s hand, gripping it tightly.
“We aren’t going to go there,” Emily whispered. “We’ll be walking on paths.”
“But we’ll be underground,” Taylor cried out. As a few people turned around to look at her, her voice rose. “I don’t want to be underground!”
“I’ll be right here with you,” Mrs. Comstock said.
The ranger shook her head. “If she’s claustrophobic it’s better that she wait for you in the snack bar. We’ll have to bend over double and walk for a long stretch as we pass under the low ceiling of Lumbago Alley, and she’ll panic.”
A girl near the front turned and began to squeeze toward them. “I’ll stay with her!” she called out. “I’m claustrophobic, too.”
Dr. Anderson stepped up to Mrs. Comstock. “I’ll go with the girls,” she said. With her arms around their shoulders she shepherded them to the stairway. Within minutes they were out of sight.
The ranger said, “Everyone stick together. This is a large group, and we can’t keep counting noses. As I turn on the lights ahead of us, I’ll turn off the lights in the rooms we leave. We don’t want anyone left in the dark.”
She paused only a moment, then said, “Everyone ready? Okay. Take another good look at the large hole that formed the cavern’s present entrance. This came about when part of the ceiling of this room collapsed.”
Clattering down the steps, Haley burst into the entrance room. “Sorry I’m late,” she said to Mrs. Comstock. “They had the most wonderful polished-rock jewelry in the gift shop. I mean, I just had to get a pair of earrings. And then I—”
“If you’ll please quiet down back there,” the ranger interrupted, “I’ll finish my explanation.” She waited, eyes boring into Haley’s, until Haley squirmed. Then she went on. “On our tour we’ll make a long loop, traveling through a number of rooms, all the way to what we call Rock of a Million Layers. Then we’ll retrace our steps back a short way until we turn off on the other side of the loop. Our tour will end back in this spot. We’ll travel through the crystal rooms first. They consist of two passageways that form a loop on either side of the main trail. We like to call them Crystal City because the walls are encrusted with large crystalline masses of calcite, which gleam like crystal in the light.”
She stepped ahead, touching a switch that had been hidden in the wall, and the first room of the cave burst into a wild pattern of glitter and shadows.
The ranger went on to explain about pools of calcium-saturated water, but Emily became lost in her own thoughts. Maxwell was somewhere ahead. Taylor had left the cave. And Haley had moved on to join two of the other girls who were all busy trying on the pendant and earrings Haley had bought in the gift shop. For the moment Emily was on her own.
Maybe I should leave the cave, too, she thought. There’s still time. She glanced back to the bend, around which was the entrance to the cave, then turned, taking two steps toward it, before Mrs. Comstock grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Taylor will be all right. Someone’s with her,” she said, and Emily found herself being tugged around and pulled toward the group, which had begun following the ranger.
“I’ve decided I don’t want to go through the cave,” Emily said.
“Nonsense. It’s a marvelous experience,” Mrs. Comstock insisted.
“But—”
Mrs. Comstock’s voice became firm. “No excuses, Emily,” she said. She thrust the sprig of honeysuckle at her. “Here. Take this. Isn’t the fragrance heavenly? Somehow this pale little flower reminds me of you.”
Emily shivered, wishing Mrs. Comstock would let go of her arm. Was the honeysuckle a message, too? Emily wondered if Mrs. Comstock was aware of the honeysuckle in the photograph and this was her way of telling her. That would mean that Mrs. Comstock was the one who had called to her and threatened to find her.
Emily knew she couldn’t accuse Mrs. Comstock to either Dr. Isaacson or the police. She still had no proof. Emily fingered the vial of potion in her pocket.
Suddenly Mrs. Comstock released her. “Come along,” she said. “We have to keep up with the others.”
The ranger paused and pointed out a formation called the Queen’s Watchdog, in which limestone had naturally eroded into the shape of a dog, and the Queen’s Throne, a massive flowstone. Above and around them the striped, layered walls were scooped and gouged out in impressive whorls and surrealistic carvings. Emily felt as if she were floating in an unreal world without time or meaning.
The group turned to the right, entering a narrow stretch the ranger said was called Lovers’ Lane. Emily reluctantly trailed the group, trying to stay as far away from Mrs. Comstock as possible. She jumped as the lights turned off in the room they had left, plunging it into total blackness, and scurried to keep up with the rest, who were listening to the ranger’s description of the history of the cave. But she couldn’t keep from glancing over her shoulder at the dark mouth that seemed to be swallowing their footprints.
To Emily’s surprise, she thought she saw a small, wavering light moving through the darkness. She blinked and looked again, but it had disappeared.
The group filed through one of the narrow bends, Emily at the rear. Again she looked back. Again she spotted the light, which seemed to be following them.
This time the small beam didn’t turn off, and as it came closer, Emily could see that it was Dr. Anderson, carrying a flashlight. As she walked toward Emily into the lighted alley, she smiled and said, “I thought I’d meet up with you sooner.” She turned off her flashlight and held it down at her side.
“How did you know where we’d be?” Emily asked.
“I’ve been here before. I know the route.”
Emily realized she could no longer hear the ranger’s voice and there was no sign of the others on the tour. “We’d better hurry and catch up,” she said.
“We’ve got time,” Dr. Anderson said calmly. “In fact, this gives us a good chance to talk, Emily. I know that something is bothering you. Would you like to tell me about it?”
“Not now,” Emily said. She began edging down the path. “If they turn out the lights …”
At that moment the lane was suddenly smothered in total darkness. “They don’t know we’re here!” Emily cried. She took a step and stumbled against the rough wall, nearly falling. “Help!” she tried to yell, but her voice wobbled and was weak.
“They can’t hear you,” Dr. Anderson said. “By now they’re in the Indian Council Room.” Calmly she explained, “Lovers’ Lane makes two sharp turns. We’re at the back of the loop, and sound won’t carry as far as the Council Room.”
The voice! Emily thought. In the darkness, Dr. Anderson’s voice stood out, and she remembered it well. Her heart beat faster, and her hands began to sweat. She wiped them on her shorts, fighting the panic that made her want to scream. She put her hands to her face, but the dark was so deep she couldn’t even see the shape of her fingers. She thought she heard whispers and something skittering through the pebbles near her feet. “Turn on your flashlight!” she cried.
“When I’m ready,” Dr. Anderson said. A scolding note came into her voice as she complained, “You didn’t come when I called you. I said, ‘Little girl, come back,’ but you didn’t.”
Emily gasped, pressing up against the cold rock wall. “If I had, you would have killed me, too.”
“So you saw and heard it all. You knew. Everything.”
“You said you’d come looking for me. You told me you’d find me.”
“I tried my best. I was sure you must live in Dallas, and I scoured the nearby neighborhoods.”
&nbs
p; Emily groaned. She remembered Dr. Anderson asking her parents at the reception how long they had lived in Dallas. She should have realized that Dr. Anderson had remembered her. Right that minute she should have known.
“My career has always meant everything to me,” Dr. Anderson said. “My position at the educational center was my dream come true. The only way to get it was to falsify my credentials. No one would have known. No one would have cared. My work was impeccable. When Amelia Foxworth told me she had investigated and discovered the truth and would make my actions public, I reacted out of fear. Don’t you understand? She would have ruined my career, my entire future, but I didn’t plan to kill her. I just reacted.”
Emily, still flattened against the wall, took a hesitant step to the left, away from the sound of Dr. Anderson’s voice. Something seemed to brush against her cheek, and she shuddered, trying to swat it away, but her fingers touched only the cold air in the cave. She reached with her toes for solid footing but couldn’t find it. Where was she? Swallowed up by this inky darkness, she had no sense of direction.
“Please turn on your flashlight!” she begged.
“Have you been listening to me?” Dr. Anderson demanded. “Do you understand how I must continue to protect the outstanding reputation I’ve built for myself?”
Desperately, Emily tried to remember what her surroundings had looked like. Did the trail curve to the left? The right? Was there a drop to one side? The intense blackness that pressed against her eyes was terrifying.
“Answer me! Don’t you understand?” Dr. Anderson’s voice rose in a screech.
“You killed Dr. Foxworth,” Emily said.
“I told you why. I didn’t choose to have her die. And I hope you realize that I have no choice in what I’m about to do now.” Dr. Anderson’s voice grew calmer and more determined. “Just to our right there’s a rise some people try to climb on, even though they’re not supposed to. They’ll find your body below it. They’ll assume that you climbed and fell. I left the girls in the snack bar, fortified with Cokes and sandwiches, and told them I was going to step outside and look around. They think I’m with them. They’ll say I was when they’re asked.”
Nightmare Page 13
