“Alena’s Cave, right?” Bones said as he bent over and rooting through the refrigerator, his rump raised high in the air.
“How’d you know?” Christopher asked between bites of Cheerios.
“James was already up, probably even up before I was this morning,” Bones said as he continued rummaging through the fridge, clanking glass bottles and occasionally making displeased grunts with each wasted discovery he encountered in its unexplored depths. “Yeah…he asked if he could borrow some flashlights, packed up a few things he got out of the fridge, then he asked what the best way was to get down to the creek.”
“We were supposed to go together…,” Christopher said, shaking his head dejectedly. When he had woken up, James wasn’t in the bedroom, so he had just figured that James was getting an early start on breakfast or getting things ready, since they had agreed to go together.
“I think he just wanted to scout out the area. He said he’d be back for you.” Bones pulled some form of meat out of the fridge, sniffing it cautiously. “I may have to go into town soon; we’re not holding up so well on supplies here.”
“What’s that?” Christopher asked of the meat as he placed his cereal bowl in the sink.
“I’m not sure anymore,” Bones said, fear slowly seeping into his voice. “That’s not a good thing is it?”
Christopher laughed and shook his head, replying, “Probably not.”
“Anyway,” Bones said as he placed the mysterious meat assemblage into a trash bag, being careful as to not let any of questionable mass escape, “be careful out there. I told James, too, but I don’t think he was too keen on the listening part.”
“We will.”
“Caves can be fun places to explore and all that, but just make sure you don’t fall into a hole, or trip on something, or…” Bones paused as he tied up the scary meat package, tossing it at the nearest trash can and missing, where it made a nauseatingly wet plopping sound once it hit the freshly mopped floor. “Well, you know, just use good sense.”
“Okay, don’t worry.”
“Oh, and take one of the dogs with you. It’ll be really good for them to get out, and plus they’ll help scare the snakes away from yuh.”
Outside the air felt a lot more heavy and hot than it had the day before. The sky was crowded with clouds, and the sun peeked out from between them intermittently, causing the world to flicker faintly from light to darkness with every passing moment. Christopher hoped that it wasn’t going to rain today, although it might help with the heat. He made his way to the dog cage, leash in hand. Once he was at the fence he crouched down and let out a short, shrill whistle, causing both Poppy and Kate to come bounding out at once. Christopher pondered for a moment as to which dog he should take. He couldn’t remember. Was Poppy the one with the red collar, and Kate the one with the black collar? Practically, he figured it didn’t matter. He opened the cage door and was immediately assaulted by two overjoyed and overexcited dogs, each one struggling just that much harder than the other to vie for Christopher’s complete attention. Careful to not let the both escape, Christopher quickly hooked the leash to the dog with the black collar on. “Kate, right?” Christopher said as he gently ran his hand across the red dog’s head. “Or is it Poppy?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s Kate,” James said, making Christopher jump slightly. “The one with the red collar is Poppy, I’m almost sure.”
“I thought it was the other way around,” Christopher said, shrugging as he led the excited dog over to James.
“Sit, Kate,” James commanded.
The dog cocked his head for a moment, showing a possible moment of recognition; however, it did not even attempt to do what it was commanded to.
“Hmm…” Christopher gave a short tug on the leash. “Sit, Poppy!”
The dog’s head came around to face Christopher, her ears perked up and once again there was that same look where it cocked its head sideways. However, just as before, the dog did not sit.
“Figures,” James said as he removed one of the two backpacks he had resting upon his back. He rummaged through the sack for a moment, checking to make sure everything was there before throwing the pack over to Christopher. “I managed to find a couple of flashlights. Grandpa Bones let me down into the basement. There’s all kinds of junk down there. There should be enough food in the pack for lunch, too. I didn’t know how long we’d be out, but it should be everything we need for this trip, anyhow.”
“Thanks….” Christopher maneuvered the pack over his shoulders while maintaining his grip on the leash that held either Poppy or Kate. “Did you find the cave earlier?”
“Yeah, it’s real close.” James pointed out into the woods. “Took me like fifteen minutes or so to walk there earlier, so it’s cool.”
It didn’t look as though there was any kind of trail or anything to go by, just a general direction. Christopher could make out the sound of a creek or stream up farther ahead, in the distance, remembering that Bones had spoken of it being down by the creek. The two brothers started off into the woods, James leading the way with the dog following closely at his heels. Christopher spent most of the walk looking at the things around him, wondering if he had spent too long living in the city. It was a strange thing to think about, given how young he was. Yet, he wondered how and when he had become desensitized to the appreciation of a natural, beautiful world that existed here and mere moments away from his old home. It’s not that he felt that he lost any kind of appreciation for nature: it was more like he forgot how wonderful it could be.
“It’s nice out here,” Christopher said, although more to himself than to James. He felt oddly comforted underneath the patchy, dark green ceiling of the forest, almost as though the trees were there to catch him if he fell off the world and up into the endless sky.
“It’s not bad,” James said. “You remember that time when we all went down to Virginia, at that one forest park?”
“Yeah, wasn’t it Shennen…Shannon-doe-ha, or something like that?” Christopher stopped for a moment to let the dog sniff around at the base of a tree. It was probably interested in some kind of animal’s scent or droppings. Dogs love those kinds of things.
“Yeah,” James said, as though the name sounded right to him as well. “This place reminds me of that park. Remember Mom spotted the baby bear there, along the trail?”
“Oh yeah,” Christopher said, “everyone was so excited, and after a while a crowd had gathered around to watch it. Everyone there was so happy to see it, for some reason.”
“Ha, yeah,” James said, “until someone pointed out that when there’s a baby bear out it’s usually common for the mom to be around as well, and then everyone was all freaked-out ’cause they thought we’d all get eaten or something.”
Christopher laughed a bit, remembering the moment. “I was even scared. I wonder if there are any bears out here. I hope not. Well…I guess if Poppy were there, she would’ve scared them off.”
“Yeah, right before the bear ate her,” James said, chuckling. “That dog would be a small snack for a bear, and then we’d be the main course. Besides, I’m pretty sure that’s Kate.”
“Right…,” Christopher muttered, slightly uncomfortable with the thought of being eaten, and a little annoyed because he was pretty sure that this was Poppy after all.
“Oh…” James pointed up ahead. “We’re here.”
Alena’s Cave was nestled into the face of an exposed bluff. Roots and toppled trees dangled precariously over the entrance of cave, almost completely obscuring it from view. The small yet swift creek seemed to fork off there, with the smaller rivulet flowing directly inside the cave. Indeed, the distant sound of rushing water could be heard beyond the entrance, perhaps telling of a waterfall inside the cave itself. The two brothers stood at the entrance for a moment, gazing into the opening. A soft, cool breeze caressed their faces, and the wind through the cave made an odd humming noise similar to the sound of electricity, or the low whine of a to
y motor.
Flashlight in hand, James carefully pushed back some of the branches and made his way into the cave. The entrance chamber was lit fairly well, and seemed to be large enough to hold a group of about ten or so people. The walls and floor of the cave circled around a large pool, offering space spanning the circumference of the water’s edge where one could either sit or walk around the pool. Christopher slowly shuffled behind James, though he needed had to stop for a moment, as Poppy appeared very hesitant about entering the cave.
“Look at this.” James shone his flashlight on the cave wall. “There are some drawings here.”
Christopher brought his own flashlight’s beam over to join James’. On the wall there were some crude, child-like drawings of a house and what looked like some animals. “I don’t think these are Indian cave drawings.”
“Alena’s then?” James whispered, shuddering for a moment. “These are definitely not Indian drawings, though.”
“She must have played here.” Christopher scanned through all the pictures with his light. A lot of the work was faded, or at some spots smudged so badly that it was nearly impossible to tell what a lot of the works were originally intended to be.
Christopher brought his flashlight’s beam around to focus on the large pond in the center of the entrance chamber. The water was crystal-clear and he could even make out some tiny fish in the slowly rippling water. “I could see why this was a holy place,” he said. “It’s very peaceful-feeling in here. It’s very nice.”
“Yeah….” James probed through the rest chamber with his flashlight. “I wonder if Alena came here to get away.”
“Get away from what?” Christopher asked.
“I don’t know. Just the world, I guess.”
Christopher sat down upon the ground for a moment. For being inside a cave it was surprisingly dry and level enough to be comfortable. Pulling the dog closer, he carefully removed his backpack and picked through it, looking for something to eat. He pulled out a sandwich made with some kind of meat. Christopher wasn’t sure, but he really hoped it wasn’t related to the scary meat had fished out of the refrigerator earlier. He fumbled around for a bit and finally managed to remove the sandwich’s plastic wrapping.
“Hungry already?” James was still running his flashlight beam across the drawings on the wall, as though he was searching for something in particular, something he expected should be there.
“Nah, Poppy looks like she needs a snack.” Christopher tore off a bit of the sandwich and put it down on the ground next to the dog.
Poppy cautiously sniffed at the food for a moment, and immediately after seeing this Christopher was almost assured that this was the scary meat. Poppy quickly cleared his suspicions, though, and handily gobbled down the snack, devouring it in a few bites.
“She likes it,” Christopher said. “You’re a good cook.”
James chuckled. “Nice….”
Christopher wrapped up the portion that was left and placed it back into his pack. Rising back to his feet, he continued the search for whatever it was exactly that they were searching for. He noticed a larger run-off of water from the pool that led into a smaller tunnel. Pointing to the back of the cave, he said, “You think back there is where they found her?”
“Probably….” James swung his flashlight around to join Christopher’s beam. “You ready to go further in?”
Christopher gulped. “I guess so,” he muttered, though he didn’t feel ready at all. He gripped Poppy’s leash more tightly, and that made him feel a bit safer. “We should have invited Kylie to come along; she wanted to come too.”
“That would have been romantic for you two, wouldn’t it? Here in the dark, looking for the scary ghost girl,” James teased as he made his way to the back tunnel. “She would have probably have run away already anyhow.”
“I don’t think so. She seems really cool,” Christopher said, and he really did wish, in a way, that she was here. Maybe, if she was scared, she could hold on to Christopher’s hand. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t have minded. “Maybe next time we can…”
“Shh…,” James hissed, holding his finger to his mouth and then whispering, “What the hell is that?”
Christopher slowly—very slowly—tip-toed over to James, hoping to see what he was so fixated upon. He inched toward James’ back, cautious and silent with his movements until he could feel James’ hand against his chest, stopping his advance.
“What is it?” Christopher whispered, almost inaudibly. He lightly tugged on Poppy’s leash to bring her closer to him.
“Glowing eyes…,” James said, his voice faint and wavering. “Glowing eyes in the dark ahead.”
Christopher continued to inch Poppy closer and closer, terrified by the thought of something horrible out there in the darkness of the tunnel. What could it possibly be? Some bear, or some other beast? Something evil, ready to tear them to pieces at any moment? His head was full of so many unpleasant things that he thought his racing heart was going to wear itself out, and then Poppy started barking furiously, terrifying both Christopher and James. The dog’s already loud cries were made deafening by the echoes produced from the cave walls.
Both of the brothers’ flashlight beams fixed on the owner of the eyes as it approached them from the dark. James clutched his chest as if he was having a heart attack, and let out a sigh followed by a bit of a laugh when the creature stepped from the shadows. “It’s a damn cat,” he said.
“It’s Stinky!” Christopher exclaimed, happy that he was not going to be eaten after all. “I think that’s Stinky—Bones’ cat.”
“Jesus…,” James muttered as the yellow-eyed, gray-white feline ran past the three. “A cat….”
Poppy whined, as though she had wanted to go off bounding after the cat, nervously pacing around when the cat was well out of view. Christopher brought her close and gently petted her on the head. “Good girl.”
“At least we know there’s nothing bad in here after all; otherwise, it would have got the cat.” James said, forcing his laughter as he continued down the tunnel.
Christopher ran his hand down the side of the tunnel as they walked down further inside. The walls felt wet and slimy against his skin, and it reminded Christopher of something of a frog’s skin. The light from the entrance was all but gone at that point; the only light in the cave emitted from the flashlights he and James had with them. The trickle of the larger rivulet from the pond flowed dully beneath their feet, making the tunnel a little slick and dangerous to walk on. Christopher hoped that Poppy wouldn’t get nervous and try to take off or anything. She’d fall for sure.
“It splits up here,” James said, illuminating the intersecting passage ahead of him.
Ahead of them there were three two other directions, the straighter one leading to a huge drop-off into a black abyss. The water was flowing in from outside, and possibly gushing up from the seemingly bottomless pool in the entrance chamber, and it branched as a result of natural, deep grooves in the floor that created a series of miniature waterfalls that fell down a long way and crashed into jutting rocks below, the sound of it all being audible even from outside the cave’s entrance.
James walked to the edge of the falls and shone his flashlight down into the darkness. He could barely see the bottom—it more resembled a misty gray smudge from this height and, for a second, he could have sworn he saw something glimmer. “I don’t think we’ll be going this way,” he said, stepping backward. “That’s a hell of a long way down.”
“We’ll have to go this way, then?” Christopher asked, pointing his beam away and to the right. Curving counterclockwise just before the drop-off was a smaller tunnel that was much dryer (though small trickles of water still ran down it) and far easier to traverse, as it only sloped down at a slight angle. It was spacious, and from a cursory glance it looked like Christopher and James could walk shoulder-to-shoulder through it, at least a good ways from where it began. Christopher was a little scared about going down this
tunnel, though—in fact, he was more in the mood to turn back already. He imagined that he’d feel better if the sunlight was still shining in from outside, so at least he wouldn’t feel so far away from the outside world.
“Yeah,” James said, “let’s see what’s down here.”
“Hopefully nothing,” Christopher muttered as he reluctantly followed James, keeping Poppy close behind him. “You know, if there are any kid-killing clowns down here or anything like that, I’m going to blame you.”
“It’ll be fine,” James said. “I just want to see what’s down here. Besides, you’ve been reading too many horror stories.”
Christopher, James, and Poppy circled farther down into the darkness of the tunnel. The passageway seemed to go on forever, gradually winding down and to the left and repeatedly circling around and behind the falls as it descended to the bottom. The air around them grew cooler and cooler, yet the walls became narrower as they went down further and further.
Window in the Earth Trilogy Page 5
