Obediently, Whisker followed after her.
The passage seemed to be an endless climb. It continued up and up and up with no sign of levelling off. Whisker began to wonder if they were suddenly going to pop out of the very top of the mountain.
The stairs finally opened out into a small chamber. Its walls were covered with small drawings of fish and bears. Three tunnels extended from the longest side of the musty space. Mr Tribble pointed to the central tunnel and the others followed him through.
The air grew damp as they continued, the heavy humidity making it difficult to breathe. Water droplets clung to the walls and the companions’ clothes were cold and wet when they arrived at a rough set of stairs branching off from the left side of the tunnel.
Mr Tribble checked the symbols.
‘Up we go,’ he said.
They began to climb once again. Whisker knew that if Horace was with them, he’d be counting every step. But Horace wasn’t with them, and the four companions had enough to concentrate on without idle chatter.
The stones beneath them became more perilously slippery with every step. The moss-covered walls provided no handholds, and it was a struggle just to stay on two feet. The rodents reverted to a four paws on the ground approach, with Whisker carrying the lantern between his teeth.
Without warning, the stairs came to an abrupt end. Water seeped from a large rock in front of them, pooling at the top step and trickling over their toes.
‘It’s a dead-end,’ Emmie squeaked.
‘Mmmmmm,’ Whisker responded.
Emmie screwed up her face in confusion. Whisker removed the lantern from his mouth and tried again.
‘Up there,’ he said. ‘Between the rock and the ceiling. It looks like a narrow gap.’
‘Over the rock,’ Mr Tribble read from the sheet. ‘The tunnel must continue through the gap.’ He raised his head and added. ‘If we can ever reach it …’
‘Of course we can reach it,’ Ruby said confidently. ‘We’ve climbed Silver Falls, and that was three times as high.’
‘But we only got halfway up,’ Mr Tribble muttered.
Whisker tried not to think of their previous misadventure and hooked his tail around the handle of his lantern.
‘Avoid the slimy, green patches,’ he said, moving to the corner of the passage. ‘I’d recommend climbing up the side of the rock where it joins the wall. There’s a double set of paw-holds and far less water.’
Placing one foot on the wall and the other on the rock, Whisker began to scale the slippery surface. He concentrated as hard as he could on finding the right holds. It wasn’t the fear of embarrassment that kept him from falling; it was the fear of breaking the only lantern and sending the passage into pitch-darkness.
After several tense minutes of calculated climbing, Whisker pushed off the last slippery foothold and reached the small gap above the rock. He dangled the lantern over the side so the others could see their way up to him.
Mr Tribble came next, his glasses fogging up. Emmie followed a safe distance behind, with Ruby gently coaxing her along. Ruby and Emmie had been cabin mates for several weeks and, although Ruby would never admit it, she seemed to enjoy being a big sister to the little mouse – when no one was watching.
Ruby joined the others at the top of the rock, flicking green spots of slime from her outfit. Slime was one thing Ruby did not enjoy.
‘I’m afraid you’re wasting your time, my dear,’ Mr Tribble said politely. ‘The next passage is riddled with moss and mould. It appears we’re close to an underground water source.’
‘A welcome bath,’ Ruby groaned.
She got down on her paws and knees and crawled after Whisker through the low, wet passage. The sound of running water gurgled up ahead.
Whisker slid from the passage into a wide cavern. A shallow stream crossed the rocky floor, splitting the chamber in two. The occasional stalactite dangled from the ceiling like a giant out-of-place ice cream cone. The cavern had none of the grandeur of the thieves’ cave on the Island of Kings, but the rushing water brought the entire chamber to life.
The golden rays of the lantern bounced off the rippling surface of the stream, scattering light over the broad roof of the cavern. The water flowed from right to left, gushing out of one wall and disappearing through a wide hole on the opposite side of the subterranean space. A narrow bank of rock on the far side of the cavern followed the stream in either direction.
‘Where do we go from here?’ Whisker asked.
‘The next symbols stand for water and a left passage,’ Mr Tribble said. ‘It is my understanding that we need to cross the water and follow the passage upstream to the right.’
‘I’m ready for my ice bath,’ Ruby said, removing her swords. She held them above her head. ‘The water looks shallow enough. Let’s hope it’s not strong enough to sweep us away.’
‘Hang on, Ruby,’ Whisker said, pulling her back. ‘It’s safer if we link arms and go across together.’
‘Alright,’ she reluctantly agreed, sticking her swords back in her belt. ‘My swords are half rusted anyway.’
Whisker passed her the lantern.
‘You go first with the lantern,’ he said. ‘The mice can follow you and I’ll take up the rear.’
Ruby linked arms with Mr Tribble. Mr Tribble linked arms with Emmie. Emmie linked arms with Whisker and together the rodent-chain slipped into the icy water.
The current was strong but the water only rose as high as their waists. Emmie, the shortest of the party, was up to her neck. Her companions held on to her tightly, inching their way over the slippery rocks at the bottom of the stream. They crossed the stream without mishap and sloshed out on the opposite bank.
‘I’m half clean, at least,’ Ruby muttered, drying her swords on her vest.
‘Let’s keep moving before we catch a chill,’ Mr Tribble said hastily.
Ruby passed Emmie the lantern. ‘Here, hold it close and you’ll warm up in no time.’
‘Th-th-thanks,’ Emmie shivered.
The dripping companions followed the water upstream, walking single file along the narrow bank of rock, with Whisker leading the way. Although Emmie walked at the rear of the group with the lantern, there was enough light reflecting off the water for Whisker to see where he was going.
The stream led them through the wall of the cavern and along an echoing tunnel. The rocky bank became muddier as the companions went on and they had no choice but to squelch through large puddles alongside the stream. The tunnel widened, giving them enough room to walk two abreast.
Whisker could see the riverbank coming to an end further ahead. A solid wall of rock spanned the entire width of the tunnel. Water spurted from a hole in the wall, gushing out into a small pool. Whisker wondered if they had reached the very source of the mountain spring, the pure water meandering its way through the foothills and past the Rock of Hope to the sea.
To the left of the spring, a large rock archway framed two sets of crudely carved stairs. The right stairs ascended upwards through the wall. The left set of stairs twisted downwards.
‘Right or left?’ Whisker asked from a distance.
Mr Tribble adjusted his glasses and examined the symbols as he walked.
‘Left stairs down,’ he said hesitantly, ‘though it appears we’ve missed a turn. There’s a symbol here for a central passage with an arrow above it. I believe we have to go up and over a passage.’
‘Brilliant,’ Ruby scoffed. ‘More climbing up ghastly green rocks.’
‘Maybe there’s something up there,’ Whisker said, pointing to the top of the wall.
Ruby looked up, Mr Tribble kept his head buried in the symbol sheet and Whisker took another step forward. His foot never touched the ground.
He felt his stomach in his mouth as he fell through the air. Suddenly the lantern light was gone and everything was dark. He threw his arms above his head, grabbing desperately for a hold. His paw gripped something long and leg-like and the next moment
he was sliding over slippery rocks and descending at pace with Ruby and Mr Tribble gasping beside him.
With a SQUISH and a THUD, the fall was over.
‘Arrrr,’ Whisker groaned, trying to sit up. ‘What happened?’
‘I think we found our missing passage,’ Mr Tribble moaned. ‘Or should I say hole?’
‘I hardly call this up and over,’ Ruby muttered, looking above her. ‘It’s more like down, down, down.’
‘Where’s Emmie?’ Mr Tribble said frantically.
‘I’m up here, silly,’ Emmie shouted down. ‘I was watching where I was going.’
Her three companions groaned in unison.
Whisker looked around at his surroundings. He was lying in shallow mud at the bottom of a deep hole. The wall on one side of the hole was slightly sloped. The opposite wall was dead straight and contained a deep alcove extending into the rock. The curved roof of the alcove was speckled with tiny blue lights, glowing like distant stars. Silk-like threads dangled beneath them.
‘Glow worms,’ Whisker exclaimed.
Mr Tribble picked up his glasses and positioned the muddy frames on his nose.
‘Arachnocampa to be precise,’ he said. ‘They’re technically not worms but the larvae stage of fungus gnats.’
Ruby rolled her eye. ‘Oh joy. I’m surrounded by geniuses and look where it gets me: stuck in a muddy hole.’
‘You fell in, too,’ Whisker protested.
‘Someone grabbed my leg,’ Ruby hissed. ‘Falling is not the same as being pulled. Look it up, brainiac!’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ Whisker muttered.
‘The question isn’t how we got in, but how are we going to get out?’ Mr Tribble said.
‘You don’t need the IQ of an owl to figure that out,’ Ruby said, positioning herself against the sloped wall. ‘We climb out, of course.’
She tried to pull herself up the smooth surface, grabbing whatever small divots in the rock she could find. One paw, two paw, slip – Ruby slid into the mud.
Angrily, she wiped the mud off her chin and tried again. One paw, one foot, SPLAT – Ruby tumbled down a second time.
‘I’d offer you a boost,’ Whisker said cautiously, ‘but the hole is far too deep, even if we stood on each other’s shoulders.’ He looked up. ‘Now if Emmie had a rope …’
‘Well, she doesn’t have a rope!’ Ruby snapped. ‘And a few strands of glow worm silk are hardly going to cut it. What we need is a giant worm to burrow through the ground and give us a free ride to the surface.’
‘I wouldn’t count on that happening in any hurry,’ Mr Tribble said. ‘The world’s largest earthworm is …’
‘Forget it,’ Ruby groaned.
Mr Tribble forgot it and shut his mouth. Whisker didn’t.
‘What if we could get something else to push us to the surface?’ he said.
‘Like what?’ Ruby asked, mid-frown.
‘Listen,’ Whisker said.
They all listened. The sound of the mountain spring gurgled above them.
‘If Emmie can dig a trench in the mud and divert the water from the stream, we can float our way out,’ Whisker exclaimed.
‘And I’ll finally get a proper bath,’ Ruby sighed.
‘Did you hear that, Emmaline, dear?’ Mr Tribble called out.
‘Yes, Mr Tribble,’ Emmie squeaked back. ‘You want me to fill the hole with water so Ruby can take a bath.’
‘Something like that …’ Mr Tribble muttered.
While Emmie scraped through the muddy ground, the three captives stared, mesmerised, at the small glow worm colony around them.
Whisker imagined he was lying on the top of the mountain, gazing up at the stars in search of new glow worm constellations. He spotted a candy cane galaxy, a watching eye and a bottle of milk. Ruby said the milk bottle was actually a bottle of blueberry juice. Whisker knew she had a thing for berries.
After a soothing session of star gazing, an icy trickle of water splashed over Whisker’s shoulder, shocking his senses.
‘Emmie the mighty mud mouse to the rescue!’ cried a voice from above.
‘Keep digging, wonder paws,’ Ruby shouted back. ‘We need more than a trickle to fill this hole.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Emmie said. ‘I’ve built a dam.’
‘A dam?’ Mr Tribble echoed. ‘Why did you build a dam? You’re not a beaver. What we needed was a channel.’
‘A dam is much better than a channel, silly!’ Emmie squeaked. ‘Ruby will get a shower and a bath. All I need to do is remove one flat rock and …’
SPLASH!
A torrent of icy water hit Whisker from above, knocking him off his feet. He grabbed his pocket to stop the key washing away as the deluge filled the hole. In seconds he was rising upwards in a swirling blue mass of rodent limbs and glow worms.
Before Whisker or his shivering companions had a chance to give themselves a decent scrub, their saturated bodies popped out of the hole. Whisker grabbed a rock to stop himself from being swept into the stream and watched as the glow worms wriggled their way onto dry ground.
‘Well done, Emmie,’ Mr Tribble said, rising to his feet. ‘That was invigorating, to say the least.’
Ruby coughed up a mouthful of water. ‘A warning would have been nice …’
Whisker patted Emmie on the head. ‘Better than a beaver.’
Emmie gave him a proud smile.
‘Let’s keep moving,’ Ruby said, straightening her water-logged vest. ‘Lead the way, water boy.’
Whisker descended the stairs to the left, Emmie shuffled behind him with the lantern and the others kept pace, fixing their eyes firmly on every step. The stairs curved down in a wide spiral, leading the companions back in the direction they had come.
Tap, tap, tap …
A faint sound drifted up the dark stairwell. Whisker’s tail stood on end.
‘Can you hear that?’ he whispered.
‘Sounds like footsteps,’ Ruby murmured.
Whisker drew his sword and crept silently closer. He beckoned for Emmie to stay a few paces behind him, knowing he’d need all the room he could get to swing a sword in a cramped tunnel. Although he wasn’t looking forward to running into a savage cave dweller, he was comforted by the fact that if something was down there, it wouldn’t be much bigger than he was.
The stairs continued to curve downwards and Whisker was unable to see more than a few steps ahead. Nothing emerged from the shadows, but the sound continued.
Tap, tap, tap …
The stairs levelled out and all of a sudden the sound was all around him.
TAP, TAP, CRACK, HISS …
As Whisker watched in horror, hairline cracks appeared in the wall. Rocks vibrated, mud oozed from the ceiling and small jets of water spurted out of crevices.
It took Whisker a moment to figure out what was happening, but when he did, his entire body shuddered in terror. He was right under the flooded hole. The water was forcing its way out and the walls of the passage were about to burst.
The first rock blasted from the wall before Whisker could warn the others. Propelled by a powerful stream of water, it knocked Whisker’s sword out of his paws and sent him sprawling to the ground.
The impact of the fall dislodged the map canister from his belt and it rolled out of reach.
‘RUN!’ he shouted. ‘UP THE STAIRS! GET OUT OF HERE!’
As Emmie turned to flee, a large rock exploded from the ceiling, crashing onto the passage floor behind her.
Emmie jumped clear and Whisker scrambled backwards on his elbows as an avalanche of water and rocks gushed through the hole, separating him from his companions.
He caught a final glimpse of his panicked friends dashing up the stairs, before the entire passage filled with rubble and he was swept away in a wave of inky blackness.
Alone
Whisker was alone. He was lying in a pool at the bottom of a passage with no sword, no lantern and no companions. But despite his predicament, he hadn’t lost hope.
He was within a twist and a turn of reaching the treasure and he still had the key.
Your friends are safe, he reassured himself. You must go on.
He stood up and looked around. The passage was dark, but it wasn’t black. It was more of a greeny-blue colour. Whisker could just make out the shapes of steps rising out of the rippling water. Peering down at his reflection, he was startled to see his left shoulder glowing pale blue. He tilted his head and looked closer. A plump glow worm perched on the top of his shirt.
‘Hello there,’ Whisker said politely.
The glow worm began to fade.
‘Wait, wait,’ Whisker pleaded. ‘Just hear me out.’
The glow worm brightened slightly.
‘I’m, err … terribly sorry for flooding your home and all,’ Whisker apologised, ‘but if you could just keep glowing for a few more minutes, I’m sure I can find you a new home, with a much grander view. How does a treasure chamber sound?’
The glow worm wiggled and cranked its glow up to full strength.
‘Much obliged,’ Whisker said. ‘Now let’s find that treasure.’
Whisker and his new companion ascended the stairs. The passage curved left and then right, continuing to rise steadily before opening out into a small cave. The cave was roughly circular in shape and domed at the top. Its walls were smooth and blank with no markings and no signs of passages or doorways. The floor of the cave was a flat slab of rock.
Whisker removed the key from his pocket and held it in front of the glow worm. The mysterious symbols lit up like a stained glass window. Whisker studied the final two symbols: a clockwise turning arrow and a right paw.
‘I need to find another wheel to turn,’ he muttered.
The glow worm moved its head from side to side as if helping with the search.
Whisker moved into the centre of the cave and tapped his foot on the floor.
‘I can’t dig this time,’ he said in agitation. ‘The ground is solid rock.’ He looked back at the entrance passage, perplexed. ‘There’s one way in and one way out … or is there?’
He recalled something Mr Tribble had said on the opposite mountain.
The Island of Destiny Page 14
