Broken Wing: A million deaths were not enough for Cassandra!

by Konig, Artor

  “Whoever it was made it across.” I told the Doctor quietly.

  He nodded, “Yes, I saw. Shine your torch across for me, will you?” Swiftly and gracefully he climbed over the low rail, his feet in his inevitable formal shoes steady on the flat upper face of that beam. He took those two paces across the metal as if he was walking on the floor. His hands explored the face of stone that was lit by both the cavern lights and the angry white lance of my torch. He found himself a steady handhold, swinging and leaping in a blinding movement. When next I looked he was standing upright and easy in the passage. I shoved my torch into my pocket and stepped over the rail. Ever conscious of the drop beneath me, I stepped over the length of the bar to stand below the hole.

  The Doctor extended his hand for me and I took it gratefully. I clambered up into the hole, almost carried up by his lean strength, to stand beside him in this gloomy hole. The passage was not equipped with lights though the cables were current-carrying ones, some of them. Our torches lanced through the darkness, the krypton beams brooking no let whilst those shadows hovered and danced mockingly around us. Down the middle of the floor there was a line of wear, shiny and smooth, as if this passage had often been used in the past. There was dust on the floor stirred by footprints; I could not tell how many different sorts. Nonetheless they all went into this darkness; none of them came back. The Doctor and I exchanged a glance, significant and worried. When we stood up from our examination, the Doctor had his pistol in his hand. In silence we went on, into that grim darkness.

  The passage went down slightly at first then rather more steeply. There was a slight breeze coming up from wherever the passage went to; one that carried a noxious, musky odour; this prickled and itched annoyingly at my nose, a stench I had come across once before. I called to the Doctor, who was walking a few paces ahead of me, my voice urgent. He turned to me and listened in silence as I related the tale of that other cave where we had encountered that smell before.

  “You found a collection of round boulders in the middle of the floor, just lying there? Then the wall collapsed and the lot of you fled. That seems like a sensible thing to do. But the smell is the same? It’s a musk of some sort; that implies some largish creature, possibly a mammal, but not necessarily so. However it’s beyond me to identify beasties by smell.” He mused, “Maybe we ought to keep our eyes open.”

  “Why would the boys have gone down here, though?” I asked in a plaintive manner.

  “They were just curious, I suppose. But why they chose to become curious all at once is rather curious, I find.” He replied with a chuckle.

  “Do you suppose this passage joins up with the cavern down below or one of those passages leading to it?”

  “Anything’s possible.” He conceded, “Let’s see, shall we?”

  “Alright.” I replied dubiously, “But let’s be jolly careful.”

  “You’re a sensible child, do you know that?” He told me then, his voice light and slightly amused, leading the way down the steep passage. The tunnel floor was rather smooth, the steepness making for uncertain footing. The roof came lower, making me rather uncomfortable. It didn’t bother the Doctor, walking ahead in a catlike semi-crouch, his torch and pistol steady. The breeze became fresher; the stench subdued but still real enough to cause my hair to prickle, especially since I had smelt it before. The passage widened out, levelled off and became damper, a line of small leaks working their way down one wall to collect in a solemn-looking puddle in the middle of the floor. The path went around this, still marked by that line of footprints. There were small holes in the wall here and there, too small for a fellow to make his way down; but it seemed as if some of the stench was coming from those holes because beyond them the odour was not present. I peered suspiciously at the holes, wondering how big whatever it was could actually be to make its way along them. Down one of them I saw what distinctly looked like eyes.

  “Doctor, wait.” I said my torch focussed on the hole. He turned back, taking in the sight at once. The two clusters of sequins moved, making its way forward rather quickly. The pistol in his hand roared once, twice, the heavy-calibre slugs placed more or less between the gleaming clusters of eyes. Whatever it was stopped, hesitated, then began a slow, jerky retreat. Twice more the pistol barked; the creature moved no more. The reflection of my torch in its eyes dimmed. The Doctor went around to the other holes on the sensible assumption that whatever it was didn’t have the cave entirely to itself. Having partially satisfied himself on that point, he came back to where I was standing guard on his trophy.

  “Let’s have a gander at that fellow.” He told me lightly, giving me his torch. I focussed both beams into the hole, rather in two minds about going closer to that grim grot. He advanced with a fair degree of confidence, holding his gun in front of him. There was a trickle of grey slime coming from the hole. I walked up behind him, my eyes searching; the two torches steady in my hands although I wasn’t feeling too confident.

  Within the hole lay the largest spider I had ever seen, its front end shattered by the hammer-blows the Doctor’s weapon had dealt it. Its head was as large as a man’s head, the clusters of eyes as big as small bowls.

  Its sack-like body had been bloated with the foul grey fluid dripping down the wall, its hairy legs rising high above its body before folding down, ending in steel-like claws. It was still twitching slightly, its legs quivering, but it was apparent to even my untrained eyes that it wasn’t going to come stalking after us. Overwhelmed by horror and relief, I folded up and retched miserably.

  “Steady, girl, steady.” The Doctor was beside me at once, his arm over my shoulders. My eyes leaked, my hand shook as the spasm passed, “Oh Lord, poor Craig, poor Andrew and Harry.”

  “Easy now, Cassandra; you can see by the footprints that they passed through here unmolested; they may be right down at the bottom, beyond the cavern you mentioned.” He told me reassuringly. But I wasn’t reassured; I knew as well as he did that he was engaging in a broad slice of wishful thinking.

  “That thing followed them, one after another. Just like it was going to follow us.” I told him, my voice thick with emotion, “They may have passed through the cave but they wouldn’t even have known it was there, even when it attacked them.” I stared at him, my bearing taut, and my eyes wild, “It was unharmed before you killed it; therefore it got them without a struggle.”

  He nodded, conceding the logic of my argument, “We’d better keep our eyes open for any others, just in case.” His rational words calmed me even as they brought my senses tingling back to the potential peril of our position. I straightened up, handing his torch back to him without a word, shining my own beam around that hellish little chamber.

  “Let’s go on; let’s see the worst.” He told me.

  “Wait a moment; let’s report back first.” I replied, taking out my ‘phone. I spoke briefly to Ronald, telling him of the incident and what we both feared.

  “Good Lord, Cassandra, don’t you think you ought to come back for some reinforcements? Maybe pick up a spot of pesticide or something?” He asked, his voice transmitting a sense of overwhelming alarm.

  “We’re in command of the situation at the moment. I think that we’ll find the three missing boys somewhere ahead. If you want to send the troops down the passage, go ahead; but tell them to be damned careful.” I looked at the Doctor, to see if he had any suggestions he wanted to make. He took the receiver from me, speaking briskly. “Have the lads found any traces above here of anything out of the way?” He asked.

  “Nothing’s been reported yet,” Ronald replied, “I assume they have found nothing; hold on, doc.” We heard him speaking rapidly on another line, “Simon’s just reported; nothing doing. I figure it’ll be more or less the same all over.” He came back to our line, his voice still worried, “Look doc, if you need any help, just say so.”

  “We’ll manage.” The Doctor replied, “Get the crews on standby in case there’s a call-out.”

  “The
re is a situation developing that looks rather as if we’ll have to respond to it, doc; I’ll keep track of it. Brett’s lot and Bernhart’s lot have given the old no go; it looks like you’re definitely on the trail of all three of them.” His voice was anxious.

  “Well, we’d better see what there is to see.” The Doctor replied briskly, signing off, “Come along, Cassandra.” I nodded at once but took the time to shine my torch down the small holes once again, just in case another of the creatures was lurking anywhere about.

  “What was it, anyway?” I asked as I fell in step just behind the Doctor.

  “It looks rather like a bird-spider but for its size. It must be eight or nine times larger than the largest bird spider of which I’ve ever heard. It could be a mutant of some sort; some insects, when exposed to certain types of radiation produce giant offspring. Let’s hope it’s a once-off thing though.” He walked ahead, his bearing now focussed and taut. He had been given a target; he knew what to expect; the old grace and power was back.

  Whatever the shock was doing beneath that glacial aspect he had rediscovered I knew not but for now his sense of calm control had a balancing effect on me. I was still nervous; I could not hope to be otherwise but at least I was able to take sensible precautions. I made a point of keeping a watch around and behind, sweeping my torch behind me every few seconds just in case of trouble. I didn’t pay much attention to the passage itself; I was only interested in potential hiding places.

  The Doctor came to a halt, his torch shining on a doorway set into the natural stone of the passage; at first glance it looked as if it was natural. Only after we had looked carefully could the clever joints and subtle bits of mortar be made out. The door was open, the stone from which it was made edged with bands of metal. It was a square of stone with a hinge at the top and on the bottom but in the middle of the square, so the door swivelled on a central axis, presenting two openings. The surface of the door so exactly matched the surface of the passage around it that if it had been closed we would not have seen it. The footprints in the dust clearly went within. No other prints went on, down the passage. The heavy chill and scent of salt came billowing up, possibly straight from the sea somewhere beyond that tunnel, but the air within that doorway seemed dry and dusty.

  I looked both down and up the tunnel while the Doctor cautiously peered within the grim gloom beyond the door. He tested the door, shifting it back and forth on its hinges then closing it properly. Once it was flush with the wall it seemed to vanish completely, but there was no lock or catch holding it in place. Once he put his hand gently on it the door slipped slightly out of alignment, exposing itself to our eyes once more. There were traces of a lock or a catch, perished in the salty air of the tunnel.

  “Nice bit of work, that.” The Doctor mumbled to himself, “But why put a door like this down here? Why do they not have this sort of trick up in the castle? Or maybe there are doors like this upstairs; I must have a look when we get back.” He shoved the door open again, glancing over his shoulder at me, “Let’s go, Cassandra.”

  I wasn’t looking forwards to finding the end of the boy’s trail but I liked the idea of staying in the passage alone considerably less. It occurred to me then that we might be in time to help them though I did not allow that hope to take root. They had been gone for over a day and that was a long time for a spider that size not to notice them. Resignedly I swept the torch up and down the passage one last time before bending my long and lanky frame to fit within the portal. I swept my torch around within the low-roofed chamber, seeing that it must have been a crypt of some sort. There was any number of solid stone doors on the three walls, small doors two foot square each, all lined up one on top of another. Each one had symbols of some fathomless meaning written on them. In the centre of the room there was a low marble table, solid blocks of stone lined up upon each other, polished to a fiery brilliance for all they were shrouded with dust. I turned to the door, meaning to close it when the Doctor sharply forbade me to do so.

  “Why not? I would feel a lot better if any other lurking beasties couldn’t follow us.” I asked him, puzzled.

  “If we need help the others would not be able to find the door from the other side. We may waste precious seconds finding it again ourselves. We don’t know that this place is empty, after all.”

  I subsided, turning my attention to the details of the room. What he said made uncomfortable sense, bringing home to me the real peril we were still in. The room was bare but for the small doors on most of the three inner walls. The wall behind me was smooth and featureless but for the door. From what I saw of the footprints on the floor the people who had come here before had trotted around a bit before heading to the up-slope, inner corner of the crypt, their footprints apparently passing into the wall as if it wasn’t there. On the marble dais in the middle of the room I noticed that the thin slab on the very top was in fact a lid; one that was not set perfectly onto the stone beneath it.

  “This is a sarcophagus.” The Doctor told me, “Rather a smart example of the form. It’s a sort of stone coffin. There’ll probably be someone or other’s mortal remains tucked up within.”

  “Well, they can stay there.” I said positively, “This place gives me the horrors.”

  “Let us press on then.” He replied at once, “The other door is over there.” He pointed his torch at the corner where the footprints had vanished, making light of what should have been a juicy mystery. I flashed my torch behind me through the door to the low passage beyond before following the Doctor. He peered thoughtfully at the section of wall into which the footprints had vanished before taking his gun out of his belt again. “That spider could not have followed the lads through this door.” He told me, “And that means that either there is another method for it to get beyond this door or they are safe beyond or that there is more trouble than we have already dealt with.”

  “They could have found a way out beyond and be on their way up the slope back to the castle.” I told him hopefully.

  “It’s possible.” He conceded, but his voice didn’t carry much conviction. I knew it wasn’t likely; and that the storm that had locked the island would have made travelling up to the castle extremely dangerous. He rested his hand on the wall, pressing gently. The door yielded in silence. He tested it thoroughly before looking within. He passed through; in silence I followed him. With one hesitant backward glance I walked up the low and somewhat steep passage. The walls and the roof were rough; the floor had been levelled and polished with deliberate care. It was slippery; the dust was mussed and scrabbled in places, showing where the lads had slipped and fallen. There was a hint of panic in one of the trails at least, making me believe that whoever it was had caught a glimpse of his follower, slamming that crypt door in its face then scrambling up this chute in a panic. None of the three missing men had taken their pistols with them; the weapons had been found in their rooms.

  The air in this passage was heavy with the scent of mineral-rich water. There was a hint of steam as well, but as the air was flowing up from behind us, through what cracks or vents I had not seen; the trace of steam was tenuous. We followed the passage up, our torches stabbing the dark. The passage levelled off, curving to our left, then opening out within a massive room.

  The floor of this cavern was lit up; there was a large steaming lake taking up most of the floor, its water seething and bubbling.

  Where the light came from I wouldn’t hazard a guess; it seemed as if it was from the very stones that lined the bed of the lake; but the water was cloudy and it was not possible to see the light source clearly. We stood by the lake, our torches going over the features of the cave carefully. The walls were rugged and convolute; many the hiding places we saw. The Doctor went around the lake with the wall to his right, his torch examining every surface. After a moment’s hesitation I followed him. We came to a small pumping station, whirring busily. The pipes that left it went straight up; they were carefully insulated.

  “That’s
where the hot water comes from.” I said brightly, trying to be cheerful.

  “Yes.” The Doctor replied, “There’s another way down to here from the lowest level of cellars and from the Nest. I’ve been down here quite a few times before.”

  “Then this problem is rather recent,” I told him thoughtfully, “If you made the trip without even a hint of a problem then it must have only found its way here since your last trip.”

  “True enough, Cassandra.” He answered, looking beyond the beam of his torch at the place where the pipes entered the roof of the cavern. The hole was rather wide, I perceived; wider indeed than the hole that the spider had been on its way down when we had terminally interrupted it. I joined my beam to his, peering apprehensively up at the murky hole. It occurred to me that the spider could well have followed the pipes right up into an obscure part of the castle, wherefrom it could conduct its little campaign much more satisfactorily.

  I swung the torch around the wet chamber, following the beam into the hidden crannies of the weird room. The eldritch light from the lake by no means dispelled the shadows from the gloomier corners; rather it emphasized the cloak of dimness. I trotted after the Doctor as he continued with his investigation. He was looking into the shadows and following the tracks in the dust. “I don’t understand it; why didn’t they just go up the stairs; why did they go this way round the lake?” He asked of the seething waters, stabbing the unanswering depths with the white lance he bore.

  “Did they know the way up?” I asked.

  “Harry did; if Craig and Andrew did I’m not sure.” He replied.