Adam and the Arkonauts (17 page)

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CHAPTER 25

They held the rope and inched their way forward, trying hard to ignore the awful stench that overpowered their noses the moment they dropped into the sewer. Next to them the walls were clammy, damp and dark. Adam and Anna were suddenly cold – the Buenos Sueños sun could not reach them down here. There were strange scurrying noises. The passages were narrow and low – they had to crouch so as not to bang their heads. All they had was the rope, and the further they went into the sewers, the tighter they gripped on to it.

Every passage they moved down seemed to be the same: dripping water, clammy walls, scurrying and scampering. It felt as though the walls were closing in on them. Panicked, Adam had a sudden urge to charge down a passage, any passage, but he fought it off and calmed down. He told himself that if they just stayed calm and followed the rope, they would reach safety.

And then the rope ran out. Someone had cut it.

Adam gulped.

Next to him, Anna gulped too.

They were lost in the maze of the Buenos Sueños sewer system from which there was no escape. It was going to be a very smelly way to die.

Anna tugged urgently on Adam's T-shirt.

He looked in the direction she was pointing. He couldn't see anything. But Anna could. Sometimes, when a person loses one of their senses, the others improve to compensate for the loss. Anna couldn't hear, but she could see better than almost anyone. And glimmering in the distance, at the furthest end of one of the tunnels, she saw a light.

She dragged Adam after her.

‘What are you doing?' said Adam. ‘We can't just run anywhere. What about the rope? What about the . . . ?'

Adam shut up abruptly. He, too, had just seen the light.

They charged ahead, stumbling and staggering into the clammy walls and banging their heads on the low ceiling. But they didn't care. All that mattered was that they could get to the light before it vanished and left them in this dark underworld for ever.

Adam heard voices.

They were getting closer. Now the first doubts began to surface in his mind. Who were these people? What were they doing down here? Were they friends or enemies? Did they have anything to do with the cutting of the rope?

The last thought struck him hard. But now they were close enough to hear that the voices were raised in argument. What kind of people would possibly be arguing deep in the sewers of Buenos Sueños except the kind that were up to no good? Adam thought of the Doctor locked underground in Scabellax's base. Could it be that Scabellax and his evil henchmen had access to the sewers from that base? Were he and Anna running directly into a trap?

Adam feared the worst, but there was no stopping Anna. He heard a startled cry from the group of figures as she rushed out of the darkness towards them.

Adam dashed after her and was amazed to discover he recognised the figures. It was the Bajapuentalists of Buenos Sueños – the admirers of low bridges. Carla, their leader, remembered him.

‘Welcome, chico!' she said with a warm smile. ‘I see that the bug has caught you.'

‘What bug do you mean?'

‘I can sense when I am in the presence of a fellow admirer,' said Carla. ‘And when I met you the other day I thought instantly, there's a chico who admires a low bridge. But even I did not expect you to come so far in the hobby in such a short time.'

Anna could lipread every word but that didn't mean she could understand a thing that was going on. She gave Adam a very puzzled look.

‘You must be very advanced,' said Carla, idly fingering a recently acquired bump.

Behind her, the other Bajapuentalists nodded.

‘Er, thank you,' said Adam. ‘But how exactly am I advanced?'

‘You are too modest, chico,' said Carla. ‘Normally when one takes up our hobby one admires low bridges above ground for a number of years. It is only when one has been involved in the pastime for a long time that one is prepared to venture into extreme areas, like subterranean bridges. By definition they are even lower than those above ground.'

‘I suppose they are,' said Adam doubtfully.

‘You have arrived at a most fortunate moment,' continued Carla. ‘I believe we may have discovered the lowest bridge in all of Buenos Sueños.'

‘Pah!' said a voice from behind them. ‘You cannot call that a bridge. It is more of a crossing.'

‘This is our difficulty,' Carla explained. ‘My fellow Bajapuentalist, Ezzio, is not convinced that it is a true bridge. We would be grateful for your opinion. It would break the deadlock.'

Anna was beginning to fidget.

‘I'm afraid we're in a bit of a hurry,' said Adam.

‘It will take no time at all,' said Carla.

‘But we really have to –'

‘There is nothing more important than a low bridge, chico,' said Carla a little sternly.

Adam thought about pointing out that the safety of his father, mother, grandfather and dog, as well as the abolition of democracy in Buenos Sueños, might just be considered more important. But when he looked at Carla he knew none of these arguments would convince her. Her obsession with low bridges wasn't just a hobby. It was a way of life.

‘Well, I suppose we could offer an opinion,' said Adam weakly.

Anna stamped her foot in annoyance, which Carla misinterpreted as enthusiasm.

‘I see the little chica is eager to see the low bridge. And who could blame her? Well, we will keep her waiting no longer. Look at what the lamp reveals.'

She raised the lamp.

Adam looked up. This was a mistake. Carla tutted in disapproval.

Adam looked down.

Crossing an extremely smelly stream in the sewer was a small bridge. What it was doing there, Adam hadn't got the faintest idea. But there it was.

‘So what do you think, chico? Is it a bridge?'

‘Of course it's not a bridge,' interrupted Ezzio. ‘Where are the arches? Where are the supports? The beams? The cantilevers? The cable stays?'

Not knowing anything about bridges, Adam didn't have a clue.

‘You see,' said Ezzio, ‘if we cannot identify what type of bridge it is, then we cannot classify it as a bridge. It can only be a crossing.'

The Bajapuentalists sighed with regret. To have come so close to discovering a new low bridge and to have failed. How disappointing.

Suddenly Adam had an idea.

‘Perhaps it's a new type of bridge,' he said.

There was a collective intake of breath from the Bajapuentalists.

‘Pah!' said Ezzio scornfully. ‘A new type of bridge? What are you talking about? Without beams? Without cantilevers? Without cable stays?'

‘Yes,' said Adam boldly. ‘Exactly that type of bridge.' Before, he might have backed off. But having seen Calico Jack at work, Adam knew that saying things with absolute confidence could work wonders. ‘This is clearly a beamless, cantilever-free, zero-cable-stay bridge,' he announced, hoping he'd remembered correctly all the words Ezzio had just said.

Carla released a low whistle of amazement.

‘Fellow Bajapuentalists, this is indeed a historic moment in bridge observation. With this discovery we have become pioneers in the world of Bajapuentalogy,' she pronounced.

The group stood in silent admiration for a moment.

‘We must celebrate,' Carla continued, ‘in the traditional Bajapuentalist way.'

The Bajapuentalists all immediately banged their heads on the ceiling.

‘Ouch!'

‘The Bajapuentalists are forever in your debt, Adam,' said Carla, rubbing her new bump. ‘If ever you need help, just call us.'

Anna gestured to Adam.

‘Actually,' said Adam, ‘you could help us now.'

‘Really?' said Carla.

‘Yes. We're lost, you see. We were following a rope, but it's been cut –'

‘Because it was an escape route for criminals,' interrupted Ezzio. ‘I spend a lot of time in these sewers and I know what goes on.' Adam noticed a sharp knife in his hand. ‘So I want to know what you chicos were doing following it?'

Adam couldn't think of an answer. But luckily his recent discovery saved him. Carla rounded angrily on Ezzio.

‘I hope you remember, Ezzio, that according to the Bajapuentalist Charter all Bajapuentalists are required to assist each other.'

‘One for small and small for one!' cried the rest of the group.

‘These chicos are honorary Bajapuentalists because of their discovery of the beamless, cantilever-free, zero-cable-stay bridge. We will help them. Should you choose not to help you may leave our society.'

Ezzio obviously had no wish to help Adam and Anna but he could not bear to leave the Bajapuentalists. He turned away, muttering to himself.

‘What can we do for you?' asked Carla.

‘If you could just tell us how to get out,' said Adam.

‘That is no problem,' she replied, reaching into her pocket and producing a folded sheet of paper. ‘In our quest to find the lowest of bridges we have been mapping the sewer system. Where would you like to go?'

‘I don't know really,' said Adam.

Anna made some urgent hand gestures.

‘But we'd like it to be quite a long way from the police station,' he added, trying to keep his voice casual.

Carla nodded.

‘Whatever you like. We can lead you to exits near the hospital – there is quite a low bridge near there – or the theatre, which is also not far from a bridge of only moderate altitude, though to call it low would be a little too generous. Or . . . where are we under at the moment? The dog pound!'

‘The dog pound!' cried Adam. ‘That's the perfect place.'

‘Really?' said Carla, surprised. ‘There are no other bridges of note near the dog pound.'

‘It doesn't matter,' said Adam.

‘It matters to us,' snapped Ezzio suddenly.

‘I didn't mean –' Adam began.

‘Ask them why don't they want to be seen by the police,' Ezzio added. ‘They must be criminals.'

‘Be quiet, Ezzio,' said Carla. ‘These are fellow Bajapuentalists. Remember our motto.'

‘“We all crouch together,”' the other Bajapuentalists quoted dutifully.

But Adam noted that Ezzio did not join in. Instead, he gave Adam and Anna an ugly stare and slunk back into the shadows.

‘Follow me,' said Carla, and she took them down a tunnel. Soon they reached a shaft. A ladder led up it. She checked her map once more. ‘That should bring you out in the centre of the exercise yard of the dog pound.'

‘Thank you,' said Adam.

‘It's nothing.'

Adam and Anna shook Carla's hand and climbed up the ladder. For once, Adam went first. When he reached the top, he carefully pushed open the manhole cover, hoping there wasn't a dog warden waiting for them.

But the exercise yard appeared to be empty.

Anna tugged impatiently on Adam's foot. She didn't like being left out and hated the fact that Adam could see something she couldn't. But Adam refused to move immediately. He wanted to be absolutely sure there was nobody around before climbing out of the sewers, because once they were out they were far more vulnerable to capture.

He turned his head left and right, checking to see he hadn't missed anything. There were cages all the way round the perimeter of the exercise yard, each locked with a large padlock. And in each cage there was a dog. There were all types of dogs: big dogs, little dogs, short stubby dogs, long thin dogs, dogs with short tails, dogs with long tails. And then, in the far corner, there was . . .

Sniffage.

Adam forgot about being extra cautious. He pulled himself out of the manhole and ran towards his dog. Anna came straight out after him. There might not have been anyone around to see them, but the other dogs in the pound noticed immediately and exploded into a cacophony of barks and threw themselves against the doors of their cages. Though she couldn't hear the dogs, Anna could sense all this clamour of activity would attract someone . . .

Then Adam opened his mouth and barked.

The dogs calmed down and were silent.

Anna didn't know what to make of it. She could lipread perfectly, but whatever noise Adam had just produced was completely unintelligible to her. She couldn't believe what she had witnessed. Had Adam had just talked to . . . ?

No. It didn't make sense.

Open-mouthed, she pointed to Adam, then to the dogs, then back to Adam. Then to both of them at the same time. Then she shook her head as though whatever she was thinking was impossible.

Adam smiled. For once,
she
was the one who didn't know what was going on.

One dog, however, was too excited to stop barking. He had his nose pressed up against his cage.