Something Down There

by Nancy Widrew

  “Appreciate that,” said Jeremy.

  She left after pouring more coffee, and Jeremy took a taste of the sweet, lumpy mixture in its familiar brown sauce. He licked his lips and began to sing, “‘Beans, beans, the musical fruit.’”

  Karen joined in: “‘The more you eat them the more you toot.’”

  They both grinned, snickered, then guffawed, causing nearby patrons—more curious than annoyed—to turn in their direction.

  Jeremy reached for his wife’s hand, relieved to see her more animated with her mouth an upturned crescent moon, exposing two front teeth, slightly gaped. Jeremy always found this a charming attribute, amusing too, although he was careful to never mention it.

  “Karen,” he said, “if you don’t want to go—if you want to turn around and go home, I’m okay with it. Really! I won’t be mad.”

  Karen raised her eyebrows. “I wish you’d said that yesterday when Carl called, but we’ve come this far so we may as well continue. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even enjoy myself.”

  Jeremy tipped his head, smiled with his eyes. “I love you,” he said. “You’re the best. I’m some lucky guy.”

  Karen took a bite of toast, swallowing it along with a lump in her throat. “I love you too,” she whispered. And as happened many times before, she wondered what he saw in her.

  #

  “Wake up, sleepyhead. We’re almost there.”

  Karen grunted, stifling a yawn. Sitting up straight, she turned her face to the window. Despite the sunny sky, a pattering of rain splashed across the windshield, and the contrast reminded her of something she had heard many years before on a sixth-grade outing.

  “This phenomenon is a sun shower,” Mrs. Frankel pontificated, “and it means something exceptional is about to happen.” Maybe old Mrs. Frankel wasn’t crazy, after all, Karen reflected, imagining the forthcoming day with its plunge into the unknown.

  A sudden swerve and Karen found herself tilting sideways. “Watch out!” she screamed, bracing her arms for impact. Despite the seatbelt, she hit her shoulder against the door.

  “Shit!” Jeremy snapped, turning to Karen as he cut the engine. “Sorry about that. I guess I was driving too fast with the rain. You okay?”

  “I suppose,” she said, her voice rising an octave as if she were unsure. “Why’d you turn on to this two-bit road, anyway? Is this the place?”

  Jeremy nodded. “Yep,” he said. “This is it, and it looks like we’re not alone.” His thumb and forefinger formed a gun which pointed toward an unoccupied car with Pennsylvania license plate, the source of his displeasure.

  Springing out of their subcompact, Jeremy did a 360 loop around a sporty coupe station wagon. “Well, at least they have good taste in cars.”

  Cars, like caves, were not high on Karen’s list of interests and she offered no response; on the other hand, she felt relieved that they wouldn’t be alone after their descent.

  When she didn’t rush out, Jeremy tapped on the window and waved his hand backwards in a beckoning sweep. “Hurry up,” he called. “It’s not getting any earlier.”

  Karen climbed out, zipping up her fall jacket with its faux fur lining.

  “You won’t need to wear that,” said Jeremy, trying not to sound patronizing. “It stays warm below, all year long. You know. Natural insulation.”

  Karen shrugged. She unzipped the jacket and tossed it into the back seat and followed Jeremy to a hole at the base of a hill.

  “That’s the entrance,” he said, pointing to a small opening camouflaged behind shadows of weeds and rocks.

  Her shoulders sagged while her mouth formed a circle of disbelief as she bent down to take a better look. “You’ve got to be kidding. That’s barely a foot high. I’ll never fit through.”

  “You will,” he insisted, “and don’t worry. It gets bigger inside. You’ll be able to stand at first, hunched over, that is, and then we have to crawl a bit.” His dark eyes flashed like the sun’s rays skimming a crystal clear lake, conveying not only his enthusiasm but his self-satisfaction at being the person in charge.

  “Help me pull our gear out of the car, and try not to break the carbide lamps on the helmets,” he warned.

  After bringing their backpacks and hats to the mouth of the cave, Jeremy went under and through in one deft movement. Karen pushed everything in to him from her side. “I’ll be right with you,” she said. “I have one final thing to do.”

  She spun on her knees and rose. As if trying to freeze the moment, she stared at the world, from scrub and dirt to panoramic sky, taking pleasure in its familiarities. Even with its problems, she felt reluctant to trade them for the mysteries below.

  With autumn’s tableaux spread before her, fixed to perfection like a touristy postcard, she was suddenly aware of the legacy that was hers; yet despite the beauty, she couldn’t help but be reminded that this was a season of endings. Soon Earth would continue on its orbit, making such delights a mere memory, and there was something sad about memories, even pleasant ones.

  Feeling a sudden chill, she tugged down her shirtsleeves, wishing for something warm to drink. A cup of cocoa would be nice, she thought, picturing her mother making it from scratch. If only I had it now!

  Turning back to the cave, she clenched her jaw to stop her clattering teeth. “Well here goes nothing.” Her words were prophetic. In trying to imitate the same swift maneuver as her husband, she hit the top of her head and wound up with dirt falling on her face. “Son of a bitch!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Having few outlets, she loved to curse. Although she saw it as a shortcoming, she did it anyway since it never failed to bring relief.

  Jeremy ignored her outburst but solicitously wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief. “Look,” he said. “Just try to enjoy yourself. Pretend you’re on a geological dig. You liked the dinosaur bones at the natural history museum, remember? But tell you what. Besides tomorrow’s movies, next weekend is your turn. We’ll do whatever you want. Maybe I can even take Friday off. How’s that?”

  Karen twirled a finger in the air. “Woohoo!” she said, thinking of a warm beach with a White Russian in her hand. “It’s a deal. But don’t forget that means anything.”

  Jeremy’s laugh held a mischievous ring as if he were playing with her. “Uh-oh,” he said. “I’m regretting it already.”

  They put on their hard-hats with the lamps attached to the front. In addition, each had a flashlight. In their pockets were candles and matches. Jeremy’s backpack held an emergency kit, rope, and a few other necessities. Karen’s held food.

  They stood inside a narrow tunnel, but after walking a short distance, the ceiling began to drop, gradually at first, then suddenly. They both got down on their hands and knees, and when that proved unworkable, their bellies like snakes.

  Karen inhaled mud and gravel into her nose and mouth. She tried spitting out the grime, but her efforts failed and her teeth crunched on something hard. Using her hand, she began picking out pieces one by one, but that took too long and she found herself falling behind.

  Glancing at the barren gray surroundings, she thought, What am I doing here? A growing fear of the tunnel collapsing took hold in her mind, and again she imagined a lingering death with her screams going nowhere. She called out to her husband for reassurance. “I thought you said this was an easy cave.” Her quavering voice echoed back in her ears.

  From somewhere she heard, “Be patient. We’re almost there.”

  Almost? she thought. Too soon would be a gift, and as for “there” she had no idea what he meant.

  She wiggled along feeling tiny rocks scrape her palms, tear at her nails, and wished she had taken precautions. Why hadn’t Jeremy suggested gloves and knee pads? She remembered the nail polish, “Spicy Rose,” she had purchased for an upcoming job interview and glanced down at her fingertips, filthy and abraded. Ugh! The last thing she’d want would be to call attention to them now.

  A common earwig with rounded pincers scrambled inches from her nose and
provided the final straw. On the verge of screaming she’d had enough, she heard Jeremy cry out a few feet ahead. “There’s the end. See, just like I said. Piece of cake. Was I right or was I right?” Karen clamped her mouth shut, almost biting her tongue. Then picturing his head under water as bubbles rose to the surface, she let out a sigh and relaxed.

  Chapter 2

  The tunnel opened room-size. Karen rose, glad to be able stand to her full height and turned her neck and shoulders in soothing circles. Assuming the worst was over, she examined her clothes with resignation. They were filthy, of course, but that was minor compared to the material, now damp and bristly against her skin. She shook her head in disgust.

  They walked until they came to a ledge. Looking down, she felt her stomach rise into her chest. “Are you nuts?” she cried.

  Jeremy’s eyes narrowed into determined slits. “Listen,” he said, “you’ve come this far. Think of this place as a virtual playground. Would I bring you here if I considered it dangerous? Where are your balls?” He slapped his thighs, laughing at his joke.

  Karen didn’t even pretend to be amused and watched deadpan as he tied a rope to a boulder near the ledge with a bowline and stopper’s knot. “We really don’t need this,” he explained, pointing to the rope. “There’s a path along the wall over to your right. We’ll use it to climb back up. It’s just more fun jumping down. Watch me.”

  Using identical knots, he fastened the other end of the rope around his chest, adjusting it until it fit comfortably under his armpits. “You know how it’s done,” he said. Begrudgingly, Karen grumbled a yes since he had demonstrated the technique numerous times over the previous week until she had mastered it. Now he pulled hard on the rope, testing its grip on the bolder. Satisfied, he inched his way off on a slight incline, counting to twenty as he walked. “See. No problem.” Suddenly, he jumped from the ledge with a loud “Yahoo,” swung into a pendulum, and landed gently on the ground. Untying the rope from his chest, he looked toward Karen, her light a solitary beacon against the dark. “Okay. It’s your turn. Pull it up.”

  Standing at the edge, Karen’s mouth slackened as she stared off into the void, realizing what she had to do. Gripped by a sense of disbelief, she froze in place.

  If not for a sudden flood of resentment, causing the nerves of her spine to tingle, she would have broken down, but imagining her hands around Jeremy’s neck prevented her from losing control, not only of her mind but of her bladder.

  Pretending the rope was his neck, she squeezed hard as she hoisted it up, tightening her grip with each pull before securing the end to her body. She tested its grip on the boulder as Jeremy had done, and then knees shaking, slid down the passageway, her back toward the wall. After counting off twenty paces, she took a deep breath, let out a silent scream, and jumped. With the air rushing past her, she felt as if she were flying and blinked with wonder and surprise, sorry that the experience ended so quickly.

  “I did it!” she screamed. “I did it!” Laughing and crying at the same time, she reached up and wiped tears from her face, embarrassed by her outward display.

  “I knew you could do it,” said Jeremy as he planted a kiss on the tip of her runny nose. Looking up at his eyes, she let hers linger there, moved by the love and respect reflected back. As a result, she forgot her anger and pressed her body against his. After her breathing returned to normal, she looked around, startled by what she saw—an exquisitely sublime unchartered world. Feeling blood pulse through her veins, she acknowledged a sense of pride at being one of the chosen few to see this subterranean wonderland and could understand, for the first time, why people risked their lives to reach the tops of mountains or the depths of the ocean or even the far reaches of space.

  “I know I shouldn’t forgive you so easily,” she said, “but as usual I can’t seem to stop myself. Besides—it really is beautiful here.”

  The walls of the large, cathedral-like room were moist and contained a small smattering of glistening, crystalline deposits that called to her. In response, she reached out and touched an overhang, noting the sparkling droplets from the ongoing seepage. Her fingertips shimmered under her helmet’s light.

  Turning to her husband, she asked, “Why is it wet here?”

  With a tour guide’s precision, he explained, “This type of rock is sedimentary, carried here by wind or water hundreds of millions of years ago. It’s mostly limestone. You brush your teeth with it.”

  Karen smirked in disbelief.

  “I’m serious,” he said, his voice rising on the wave of a laugh. “It originally formed on the ocean floor, by the pressing together of marine life.”

  “‘Marine life’?” she repeated.

  “That’s right. You know … tiny sea creatures, shells, and coral. It’s their deposits that help make all the oddly shaped things you see.” He pointed to the bizarre-looking formations, hanging from the ceiling and growing up from the floor.

  “Stalactites and stalagmites,” she stated, almost raising her hand as if answering a teacher’s question. “But, I can never remember which is which.”

  Jeremy smiled, not only happy to help, but relieved by her sudden interest. “Stalactites grow from the ceiling down and stalagmites from the ground up. Remember the c in stalactites and the g in stalagmites: ceiling, ground.”

  He reached over to touch a column but stopped himself, afraid of disturbing it. Despite his half-dozen trips to caverns, his sense of wonderment hadn’t diminished. He could never get over the fact that it took thousands of years for such formations to add one additional inch. What lay before him was the history of the world, and he momentarily held his breath in reverence.

  “What are you thinking?” asked Karen, noticing him becoming quiet, lost in thought.

  “Of the Manhattan skyline, actually. It’s funny … Remember our trip there last year?” He turned his face around, his lamp’s beam casting small yellow suns on the wall each time he shifted position. “Well, now I feel the same awe, like we’re in some upside-down city, only this one’s built by God or, at least, something omnipotent.”

  “I think I understand what you mean.”

  “Hey,” he said, taking advantage of her upward shift in mood. “How about we do a little exploring? Last time I was here, Carl and I looked for traces of an underground river.”

  Karen flinched.

  “Don’t worry,” said Jeremy, with a playful jab to her chin. “All we found were puddles. Although some of the back walls appeared to have water marks higher up.”

  “I’d just as soon stay away from there,” said Karen. “I’ve heard of caves flooding quite suddenly.”

  Jeremy spoke in a clipped professorial tone. “Not this time of year. Maybe in the spring when everything melts and you have runoffs. Anyway, it hasn’t rained for weeks.”

  “Still, I’d just as soon stay away.”

  Wisely, Jeremy dropped the subject and they continued arm in arm, examining every crevice and wrinkle as Jeremy pointed out the names of various formations. “Those are called curtains,” he said. “Looks like our living room. Whadayathink?”

  Karen shrugged one shoulder, thinking they looked more like egg cartons with their tiny rows of conical cups between the folds.

  “And those hollow tubes over there are called soda straws. See how they’re not tapered at their ends; no wider than a drop of water.”

  “This place is full of curiosities,” said Karen. Her wide-open eyes as large as soup bowls, revealed just how intrigued she was.

  Jeremy, not giving up on that river, dared to suggest that they explore separately, and this way he could move at his own pace. He assured her that every passageway off the cathedral room circled back. “You can’t possibly get lost.”

  “Okay,” she relented. “But only if we stay within hearing distance of each other.”

  “You got it,” he said.

  Karen called out his name every few minutes, and after walking hunched over through two narrow tunnels (and seein
g nothing but mud for her effort), she sat down on the ground back in the cathedral room to take a break, satisfied that Jeremy was nearby. The beam from her lamp ensconced her in the safety of a golden moon, and she breathed out a peaceful “Om” thinking, I’m starting to like this place. It’s like being part of the infinite. Then … I feel so small … and her mind, once again, took a turn for the worse.

  Hearing the sound of multiple footsteps and rocks being kicked caused her to rise to her feet. Heart pumping double-time, she turned to see her husband approach with three people. The laughter, amid soft voices and calm, friendly faces put her at ease. Oh, yeah, she reminded herself, must be the people from the car.

  Jeremy made the introductions. After meeting this trio of fellow explorers, he had forgotten about the river. Now he went up to Karen and draped an arm around her shoulder. “This is my wife, Karen. Karen, this is Sara and George and their son, Keith.”

  George and Sara were a middle-aged couple, respectable looking but with a touch of the nonconformist. George reminded Karen of a former college professor, with his full red beard and pince-nez glasses. Sara, thin yet muscular, seemed the athletic type, and Karen surmised that they were here at her request. Their son, in well-worn jeans, hair tied back in a ponytail, pretended to be bored with his surroundings, except for Karen’s chest; he couldn’t keep his eyes from straying where they didn’t belong.

  Karen forced herself not to laugh. She couldn’t imagine what he found so fascinating about her two measly protuberances hidden under layers of clothes, no less. Even Jeremy joked that they were not her finest attribute. “Fortunately, I’m as ass man,” he would often say when they were in bed together, gripping a soft handful.

  “Hello,” she said, turning from the parents to son. Caught in the act, Keith dropped his eyes to his shirt tails. To spare him further embarrassment, Karen focused on Sara. “You must belong to the car we saw outside.”

  “That’s right,” said the older woman. “We drove down for the day from Pittsburgh. This is my second time here in Dinky Cave. George told me that’s what the locals dubbed it. He went to high school nearby. Anyhow, it may be small, but it sure is pretty—and fun, too, don’t you think?”