Oracles of Delphi Keep (3 page)

Most of the tunnels wound their way through the top part of the cliffs. Some led to caves that opened up to the strait; others led all the way into Castle Dover, through the
host of secret entrances in the mighty structure. Still others came to a dead end and offered little in the way of entertainment.

As Ian walked, he traced on his map some of the branches of tunnels he’d already explored. Theo caught up to him and looked over his elbow. “This tunnel,” he said, pointing to one particularly broad vein. “We never did go down the south fork of that one. I bet there’s a secret outlet, and I bet it’s somewhere close to here.”

“You’ve always had a knack for ferreting out secret entrances,” she said. “So I’ll go along with that.”

The pair continued to walk, and Ian used a staff he’d crafted to poke holes in the soft earth. They were not far from the edge of the cliffs, and the wind swirled the grass around them. Luckily, it was a lovely, warm day, so the wind didn’t bite as it usually did when they were this close to the sea.

While Ian paused again to get his bearings, Theo looked southeast across the strait and said, “Look, Ian. We can see clear to Calais.”

Ian glanced up at the French city, which was just visible. “Yeah, no fog or mist to get in the way today.”

“Someday I’d like to go to France,” she said wistfully.

Ian laughed. “Good ol’ Theo. Always wanting to be someplace other than where she is.” But just as he turned to smile at his sister, Ian’s staff pushed right through the scrub and slipped out of his hand, disappearing under the grass. He heard it clank a moment later. “Theo!” he said excitedly as he knelt down and began to pull at the scrub. “I think we’ve got something!”

Theo came to crouch beside him as he tore at the place where his staff had disappeared, and sure enough a hole barely half a meter wide opened up in the ground before them. “Here’s the torch,” Theo said, handing Ian the flash-light so that he could look inside.

Ian leaned down and pushed his arm and his head into the hole to shine the light about. Quickly, he pulled them out and with a brilliant smile announced, “We’ve hit the jackpot!”

“Another tunnel?”

“Yes!” he said. “And you wouldn’t believe the size of it! There’s plenty of room once we widen this hole. Come on, help me find a rock and we’ll get to work.”

The pair found some stones and began to pound out a larger hole. The rock underneath the scrub was made of white lime—chalk—and was extremely soft. In no time they’d managed to widen the hole enough for Ian to squirm through. “You’ll have an easy time of it, at least,” he said, looking at his much smaller companion.

Theo smiled brightly at him and moved to the entrance. “I’ll go first,” she said. “That way I can pull you in if you get stuck.”

Before Ian could stop her, Theo had slipped easily down into the tunnel. He poked his head in after her, and as he handed over the torch, he said, “Next time let me go first to make sure it’s safe, all right?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s perfectly safe. Now come on. We’re wasting time.”

Ian pulled his head out of the hole and had a moment of uncertainty about whether to go in headfirst or feetfirst, but
he finally decided headfirst might be best. The hole wasn’t quite as wide as he’d hoped, and Theo had to pull on his arms a few times before he made it through and landed inelegantly on the chalky floor.

“Here’s your staff,” Theo said after he’d dusted off his trousers.

“Thanks,” he answered, then looked around the large cavern where he and Theo had landed. Unlike many of the other tunnels, where he’d had to duck his head to explore, this cavern held plenty of room for him to stand up to his full height. Theo bounced the beam of the torch off the walls, and the pair simply stood there for a few beats, amazed that such a large room existed just belowground.

“Do you think this could be a natural cavern?” Theo asked.

Ian reached forward and guided her hand upward so that the beam shone on the ceiling. There were distinct grooves above their heads. “No,” he said. “See that? This was man-made.”

The beam of the torch moved off the ceiling and onto one of the far walls, revealing what looked like large Greek lettering tattooed on the rock. “I’d say you were right,” Theo answered.

Ian walked over and touched the black letters. “This is fantastic!” he said breathily “Theo, come here and have a look.”

But instead of coming over to him, she said, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked, turning to look at her.

Theo cocked her head, listening. “I don’t know, exactly.
But I swear I heard something down there,” she answered, pointing the beam to the tunnel leading out of the large cavern.

“Well, let’s go have a look, then,” Ian said, his enthusiasm building. Not much caused Ian fear or trepidation.

But Theo held his arm, stopping him. “I don’t like it,” she whispered, and Ian caught sight of goose pimples forming along her arm. “I’ve got an awful feeling about exploring this tunnel.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said gently, giving her hand a pat. “We’re probably the only living creatures to be in this tunnel for centuries. Come on, you can stay behind me if it will make you feel better.” And with that he lifted the torch out of her hand and marched forward into the tunnel.

When he didn’t hear her following him, Ian turned and added resolutely, “If you’re that scared, then you can stay here or aboveground if you like, but I’m going to see where this tunnel leads.”

Theo frowned uneasily, and her eyes drifted up to the hole they’d just come through. Ian waited patiently for her to make up her mind, and after a moment she walked stiffly over to him and said, “Very well.”

“That’s my girl.” He grinned, ruffling her hair before leading the way out from the cavern. The tunnel they moved into was narrow and roughly carved out. It also curved and twisted, and Ian held his torch in one hand as they walked so that he could glance at his compass in the other. At some points the path veered sharply east, then straightened out and turned back west, which he found fascinating, as most of the other tunnels they’d explored in the
cliffs were fairly straightforward, with forks or branches where a new direction was chosen.

Theo broke the silence. “This isn’t like the other tunnels. The walls of the others were much smoother and they always took us in a straight line,” she said, as if reading his thoughts.

“Yeah,” said Ian, still staring at his compass. “Which means this one must be older. We could really be in a lost tunnel!”

Just then, Theo stopped abruptly and gave a hard tug on Ian’s shirt. “What’s that smell?”

Ian stopped, but the narrowness of the tunnel prevented him from comfortably turning around to face her. “I don’t smell anything,” he said, taking several whiffs.

Theo hadn’t let go of his shirt, and Ian noticed that her voice was shaky as she said, “I swear I caught the scent of something awful. Ian, I really don’t like this place.”

“Aw, Theo.” Ian tugged himself forward out of her grasp. “You’re just claustrophobic. Take some deep breaths and focus on putting one foot in front of the other. It’ll pass in a bit.”

Slowly, the pair moved ahead and came to a sharp corner. When they rounded it, they stopped short. “Whoa,” Ian breathed. They had arrived in a second large cavern. On the far side of the space was another narrow tunnel, the counter-part to the one they’d just come through.

But Ian wasn’t interested in the opposite tunnel just yet. For now, the cavern captured his full attention. “Gaw blimey!” he exclaimed as he moved the beam of the torch along the walls, which were covered with what looked like
the same ancient Greek script they had seen in the first room. “Would you look at that, Theo?” he said, fascinated.

But when he glanced at her, she didn’t appear to share his enthusiasm. Instead, Theo stood pensively in the cavern’s entryway with a fearful look on her face. “I really don’t like this place,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving the tunnel on the far side of the room.

But Ian was too distracted by the cavern to worry about her. He continued to bob the beam of the torch all about the cavern when suddenly something on the ground reflected the light.

“What’s
that
?” he exclaimed, racing across the large space to stand above a shiny metallic object. “Theo!” he called as he dropped to his knees. In front of him, half buried in the chalky floor of the cavern, lay a small silver box with ornate engravings. “It’s real treasure!”

He heard Theo come over to him, but when he glanced up at her, he noticed that her eyes were still warily darting to the tunnel leading deeper into the cliffs. “Can you get it out?” she asked him.

Ian set his compass down and tried to get his fingers around the edges of the box, but it was firmly planted in the ground. Thinking fast, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. He opened the largest blade. “This could be an ancient artifact,” he said smartly as he chipped away at the chalk, careful to avoid scratching the silver box. “It’s best not to disturb it too much. We don’t want to damage it.”

Just then there was a distinct noise from somewhere deep
within the tunnel opposite. It was lower and more menacing than a dog’s growl but had the same animal cadence. The noise made Ian pause and catch his breath. “What was that?” he whispered, his senses immediately alert.

“That’s what I heard earlier,” Theo whispered back, her hand gripping his shoulder. “And there! Do you smell
that
?”

Ian did smell something. It was a foul scent, a mixture of sulfur and something worse, like rotting meat. “Some animal’s died down here,” he said, but a moment later the growl echoed through their cavern again.

“Or something killed the animal,” Theo said, gripping Ian’s shoulder even more tightly. “And that something’s still here.”

Ian glanced back at the box gleaming in the bright light of his torch. It looked like it was worth some money, and for a boy who had nothing, leaving behind a treasure box was out of the question. “Come on,” he said quickly, scraping again at the chalk with his knife. “Help me get this out of the ground.”

“Leave it!” Theo whispered. “Ian, we’ve got to get out of here!”

Ian looked up into her frightened green eyes and felt a pang in his heart. “You go,” he said, handing her the torch. Then he dug into his pocket and pulled out a much smaller pocket torch. “Take the larger light and go. I’ll be right behind you as soon as I free this box.”

Suddenly, there was another growl, even more menacing and quickly followed by the sounds of furious digging and rocks tumbling. Theo took the larger torch but hesitated when Ian put the pocket torch in his mouth and began to
jab his knife with great effort around the edges of the box. A moment later she had dropped down beside him and was helping him by pulling up on the treasure as he scratched at the chalk. “We’ve got to hurry!” she whispered, the smell of sulfur and decay filling their nostrils as they both heard the echo of more rocks tumbling from the second tunnel.

Slowly, inch by inch, the treasure came away from its earthen cradle, but it still wasn’t completely free. Ian heard a sound like a small cave-in coming from the darkness of the western tunnel, and he felt Theo shiver with fear. “We’ve got to go!” she insisted. Letting go of the box, she got to her feet and tugged at Ian’s shirt. “Leave it!”

But Ian wasn’t about to give up. His brow wet with perspiration, he gripped the sides of the artifact and pulled up mightily, and it finally gave way as he fell over backward. A howl louder and more horrible than any he’d ever heard before tore along the walls of the cavern. Ian scrambled to his feet, leaving his pocket torch, compass, and Swiss Army knife behind as he shoved Theo toward the east tunnel.
“Go!”
he said as he pushed her along.

She needed no encouragement. The pair dashed across the cavern and into the narrow opening. Theo was holding the bigger torch in front of her as they ran, the beam bouncing along the walls, and Ian had to squint into the dimness to follow the narrow corridor. Behind them came another vicious howl, and he knew that whatever horrid creature they’d disturbed was on their trail. “Fly, Theo!” he yelled as his thoughts turned to panic. “Run as fast as you can!”

Behind them came the sound of four pounding paws, and it was closing in. Ian gulped for air and tried to temper the
urge to run over Theo to get away. His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest, and a cold sweat trickled down his back. He noticed with a pang that Theo smacked one of the walls with her hand so hard he could hear the
whap
of it against the rock. He knew that by running so close behind her he was pushing her to her limits, but the pounding paws behind them were gaining and his own fear propelled him forward.

Finally, just ahead he could see a small sliver of daylight, and he knew that at last the way out was close at hand. But then he remembered the small hole he’d barely managed to fit through. And with a sudden dread he knew he’d never make it out in time, though Theo still had a chance.

Ian shouted, “Just get out, Theo! I’ll help you through that hole but don’t look back! Run to the keep as fast as you can!”

The thundering paws behind them grew nearer still, and even above the pounding of the blood in his ears, Ian could hear the pant of some great beast as it swept closer and closer to them. They were almost to the opening.
“Go, go, go!”
Ian yelled.

He knew that with his help Theo would make it, but as he eyed the exit, his own chances seemed slim. He and Theo ran the last meter together, and in one swift move he tossed the silver box up through the opening, then hooked his hands about Theo’s waist and heaved her out too. He heard her land on the rough terrain with a thud, but he had no time to apologize. He leapt as he attempted to clamber out, but as he’d feared, he didn’t make it through. He became lodged at the hips.

“Get out of here!” he shouted at Theo when he saw her sprawled on the grass nearby. “I’ve blocked it in for now! Go, Theo, go!”

But she didn’t leave him. Instead, with trembling limbs she crawled quickly to the opening and bent forward, grabbing Ian by his shoulders. While Theo tugged, Ian scratched and clawed at the earth. He imagined that at any moment he would feel the bite of whatever was chasing them on his dangling legs below. That fear spurred him to make one final attempt to dislodge himself. Setting his hands firmly on the ground, he pushed up with all his strength, and with Theo’s help, he pulled free of the hole, tumbling forward on top of her.