The Moon Dwellers (42 page)

Cole’s reaction confirms
that he bought it.
His eyes narrow, he looks
at the ceiling, and he thro
w
s his hands over his head.
It’s good to know he is
gullible sometimes.
“I’m just kidding, Cole.
Temper, temper.”

His face softens and he even manages
a
smile.
“Good one,” he admits
.
“So what’s the real plan?”

“Chuck a rock and list
en for the sound.”
Maybe it is
n’t
a
much
better plan, but it i
s still better.

Cole shrugs and pokes
around along the side of the tunne
l with his flashlight until he fin
d
s
a decent-sized rock
.
“Should make plenty of noise,” he co
mments
.

“Do it.”

Hefti
ng it over his shoulder like a miner
, he ge
t
s a running start and launches
it into the waterfall.
We both put our ears clos
e to the streaming water, and a
re rewar
ded a second later when we hear
the rock crack against something hard
.
The sound
come
s so quickly that it is unlikely the rock fell
very far.

“Ladies first,” Cole says
.

“Wuss.”

Cole suddenly scoops me up and mak
e
s like he’
s going to th
row me through the fall.
Yeah—I
scream
.
“No, no, no!”

He put
s
me down.
“Yo
u looked really scared,” he says
.

“Good one.”

Tur
ning back to the waterfall, I get a running start and plow
through it, leading with the w
aterproof flashlight.
I emerge
on the other side amidst a spray of wa
ter.
Surprise, surprise.
It i
s another mini-tunnel, with yet another waterfall at the end.

“C’mon through!” I yell
.

Cole arrives and laughs when he sees
the wall of water cascading down from the roof.
“How much you wanna bet when we try to go back there’s always another waterfall?” he sa
ys
.

The thought of being stuck in an endless cycle of waterfalls and sections of cave,
coupled with the fact that I’m soaked to the skin, mak
e
s
me shiver.
“No bet, but I hope you’re wrong.”

The rock Cole threw i
s lying in front of us, slightly chipped but large enou
gh to be effective again.
It is heavy, but I manage
to heft it with both hands, swinging it from side to side once and releasing it through the waterfall.
A
second later
we hear
the same telltale clatter.

“Same time?
” Cole says
, extending his hand
.

Corny?
Absolutely.
But I’ve
always
wanted to do something like that, so I nod and grab his hand.
We mouth
a count to three and then jump through simultaneously.
This time we a
re in for a surprise.

First of all, we do
n’t need our flashlights anymore.
Dull light
slid
es
into the
tunnel
beyond
us.
There i
s another waterf
all, but not like before.
It i
sn’t a wall of water bloc
king our path.
Instead, the tunnel ends in a small pool of water, which is
fed from underground rivers pouring in on e
ither bank
.
The pool overflows
at the far side
, dropping off
into the cave where the light i
s coming from.

I glance at Cole and then we walk
forward, per
fectly synchronized.
(No, we a
r
en’t still holding hands at this
point, I’m not that corny
.
)
Wi
thout talking about it, we wade straight into the water.
It ri
se
s
above my waist to my belly
button, whereas for Cole it only ge
t
s
to
his hips.

We reach
the end of t
he pool, where the water tumbles
over the edge.
My heart stop
s and I gasp
.
Spectacular!
is the word that co
me
s to mind when I see the view.
We a
re on the edge of a cliff, looking out upon a moon dweller city.
Like most man
-
made moon dwel
ler cities, thick stone beams ri
se high above the buildings, from floor to roof, protecting against major cave-ins.

Around the edge of the c
liff, numerous waterfalls pour
out into a massive reservoir
that ru
n
s
along the edge o
f the cavern.
Each waterfall i
s different, b
ut equally magnificent.
Some a
re thin, high streams, skimming the edge of the cliff and cascading down in an unpredictab
le liquid spray, while others a
re thick, powerful falls, exploding in a thunderous display of
power and beauty.
And there i
s everything in between, too.

Our particular waterfall i
s of average height comp
ared to the others, but still ri
se
s
at least fifty feet in the air.
B
y peering over the edge we can see that we’
re o
n a rock overhang, which allows
the water to pour into the reservoir unobstructed.
Although I’m not really afraid of
heights, I pull
back from the edge, feeling slightly lightheaded.

“
Damn
,” Cole says
.
“The good news: we
’ve
made it to the sixteenth subchapter, also known as
Waterfall
Cave
.
The bad news: there’s no way down.”

“Except to jump,” I say
.

“If you’re crazy.”

I’m not
any
more keen to launch my
self down a waterfall
than
Cole is, but it does
make sense, in a twisted logic sort of way.
“We’ve got to get into the sixteenth
subchapter
,
right?”
Cole nods
, biting back a response.
“So, if we find another tunnel that leads there, an easier one, it will likely end at a travel checkpoint and we’ll have to show our papers.
We don’t have any papers, Cole.
Plus, our faces are all over the news.
We’ll be recognized and apprehended immediately.
Our only choice is to do something a bit crazy.”

Cole looks
over the edge again, bi
ting on his lip as he considers
my proposal.

The
dull light is coming from the city’s
overhead c
avern lights.
The brightness i
s about nor
mal for daytime
in the Moon Realm
, so it might be
anytime between ten in the morning and four in the afternoon.
“We’ll wait until it starts to get dark so we won’t be seen.
It’s a reservoir, Cole, I’m sure it’s deep enough.”

A
t that moment
Tawni and Elsey splash
into the tunnel, panic
written all over
their faces.

Chapter Sixteen

Tristan

W
e awa
ke
to a piercing shriek that echoes
through the caves.
I have no idea where I am or how I got here.
It i
s becoming a bit of a bad habit for me.

“What…was…that?”
Roc says
from beside me.

“I don’t know, but I’m not stic
king around to find out,” I say.
I try to sit up but find it is impossible.
My arms a
re tied to my s
ides, my feet together.
It feel
s
like I’m
in a straitjacket.

“Oh God,” Roc says
.
“What now?”

We hear
another piercing scream and then a high-pitched frantic c
ackling.
The cackling continues
for a bit, sometimes rising in volume an
d other times lessening.
It mak
e
s
it hard to t
ell where and how far away it i
s coming from.

“What do we d
o?” Roc says
.

“Wait,” I say
.
We do
n’t have
much
of a
choice.
We’
re laying in the dark
, bound
as tight as a caterpillar in a
cocoon, with no idea where we are.
Waiting seems
like the only option.
“Do you
remember what happened?” I ask
.

“All I remember is the ground dropping away and then sliding a bit.
Then everything went black.”

“Yeah, me
,
too.”
This i
s not good.
We’
ve
successfully managed to escape one captor, only to find ourselves at the mercy of another.
One that might be much less likely to give us food and water.

“Let us go!” Roc screams
suddenly, scaring the bejesus out of me.

“Bloody hell, Roc.
What was that?”

“Sorry.
I’ve been awake for a while, trying to get you to wake up
,
too.
I guess I’m going a little stir crazy.”

“Ya think?”

“Are my delectable delights ready for tastin
g?” a shaky woman’s voice calls
from somewhere.
More cackling.

Now I know we a
re in rea
l trouble.
Whoever this lady is, she’
s madder than a
wingless bat.
“Roll,” I hiss
, turning over and
forcing my body to move toward Roc’s voice.
I bang into him before he has
a chance to get going.
He finally ge
t
s
the hint.
Two revolutions, t
hree.
Four, five, six.
As I come out of my sixth spin, I’m
blinded by a light shining directly in my eyes.

“Hee hee hee!
Are my scrumptious scamperers scampering again?”
the woman’
s voice says
from
right next to me.

When she shifts the light into Roc’s eyes I ge
t a glimpse of her face.
I’m not usually one to judge based
on appearance, but this woman is hideous.
Her head i
s mostly bald, with only a few wisps of gray hair pro
truding from her scalp.
She has
no eyebrows and a bit of dark s
tubble on her chin.
Her nose i
s
long
,
overhanging and casting a shadow on
her thin white lips.
Her blue
eyes migh
t be pretty were they not
on
her
face
and filled with madness
.