29

It was dark and cold. Noelie was lying on an incline. He ran his hand over the surface of it. It felt rough and there were slimy patches. He could hear gurgling noises from time to time.

‘Meabh,’ he called out, but there was no reply.

He was still wearing his clothes. He had his wallet too. He searched for his phone but remembered that he had left it in his car. Trying to sit up, he hit his head against something overhead, almost knocking himself out. He lay back and put his hand up to feel what was there. More rough concrete. Where was he?

He carefully crawled up the incline but the gap between the floor and the ceiling became so narrow he was unable to proceed. Moving sideways he reached a solid wall. It was rough too, with cracks here and there.

A sudden burst of gurgling followed by the sound of prolonged sucking made him stop and listen. He thought he heard moaning but he wasn’t sure. He called Meabh’s name again.

Returning roughly to where he started from, he crawled in the opposite direction and reached another wall. Again it was not possible to move up the incline.

He sat for a while. There was total darknesss – he had never experienced anything like it. He felt afraid and called again. This time he heard a moan. Crawling down the incline he was eventually able to stand. He figured that he was in some sort of underground cavern. Moving about he called Meabh’s name. Eventually he found her lying on her side. He took her hand. It was very cold.

‘Meabh?’

She shifted and groaned. ‘My head.’

He tried to move her.

‘My feet are in water.’

Noelie moved down the incline some more. He felt about. Her legs were on a ledge with water just beyond it. There was a pool of some sort out there in the dark. It was still. He put his hand into the water. It was icy. He couldn’t touch the bottom.

He helped Meabh crawl up the slope. ‘Where are we?’

‘I don’t know.’

Meabh sat up. ‘My head’s really sore.’

He reminded her that the last time he saw her was in the Donnellys’ family history room. ‘Where did you go?’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why did you go?’ he pressed.

‘To look around the house. I’m sure that’s the place. I went looking for something I would recognise. I’m so sorry, Noelie. That man came up behind me. He hit me with something.’

They were silent for a while. ‘I was drugged. I took one sip of tea. I should’ve known.’

‘I want to get out of here.’

‘Join the queue.’

‘Where are we?’

‘I have no idea but what worries me more is that no one knows we’re here. Who knows that we even called to Albert?’

They made their way around their cold prison on their hands and knees. Overall, the cavern was about twelve feet wide. At the top of the incline the gap between floor and roof was no more than the width of a body; at the bottom Noelie could stand and just about touch the ceiling with raised hands. The incline didn’t extend all the way down the cavern. At the lowest point there was water. They were unable to touch the other side by reaching out and they couldn’t see anything either. When they called out their echo returned sharply.

They huddled close against the cold. The gurgling and sucking sounds became more regular. They wondered what was causing them and figured it had to be something to do with the water at the bottom of the incline. Noelie grew more anxious. He was angry with himself too because he hadn’t followed his instinct. He had known it was a mistake to go into Llanes.

‘Do you think we’re still in the house? Or are we under it? Or where are we?’

Noelie hadn’t even thought about that or that they could be somewhere else entirely. He had blacked out and had no idea for how long. Spontaneously they began to shout for help. When they stopped, Noelie felt a lot worse.

‘We’re so stupid,’ he said bitterly. ‘What the hell were we thinking?’ He paused and then began again. ‘Hannah would come looking for us if she knew where we were … But she doesn’t even know about the Donnellys.’

Eventually Meabh said, ‘I can’t sit like this. It’s like we’re waiting for something to happen and what’s going to happen? If they come back it will only be to finish us off. They’ve already drugged and imprisoned us. I can’t see this ending well if we stay put.’

She made her way down to the water and Noelie reluctantly followed. They reached the water’s edge much sooner this time.

‘That’s strange. I thought the water level was further down.’

‘It was.’

‘Is this place filling up? Is that what’s causing the gurgling and sucking?’

Neither of them said anything.

‘I’m going to explore.’ Meabh took off her jacket and gave it to Noelie. ‘Don’t worry, I’m a good swimmer.’

‘Glad to hear it because I’m not.’

She slid into the water. He heard her splashing but apart from those reassuring sounds she may as well have vanished into an abyss. He couldn’t see anything at all.

‘Okay?’

Meabh’s reply echoed. ‘It’s deep.’ A moment later, ‘I’m at the far side. It’s not far. Eight or ten feet at the most. But I can’t stand.’

There was further splashing and then a long silence. Meabh’s voice was strained when she spoke. ‘It’s eight or nine feet deep. More than I expected.’

‘Anything over there? Any way out?’

‘Nothing. There’s not even something to hang onto. I’m coming back.’

She found where Noelie was sitting and climbed out. She shivered and he held onto her.

‘It’s river water, I think. It’s really cold.’

‘The Lee?’

‘It must be.’

The incoming water forced them higher and higher up the incline. Noelie had difficulty managing the panic he was feeling.

‘Isn’t the Lee tidal?’ asked Meabh.

‘Depends on where you are on it. But yes. If we’re still at Llanes, definitely.’ He cursed again, adding, as much for his own benefit as Meabh’s, ‘We need to stay calm.’

Another long silence followed. Meabh said, ‘I’m not dying in here.’

‘Great,’ said Noelie flatly. ‘Now there’s two of us.’

She ignored him. ‘If the water’s coming in, there has to be a way out. Our best chance is to find the place. There must be a pipe or something.’

Noelie bit back another negative comment. He was terrified and still angry that he had put himself in this situation. How had he been so stupid?

The water level continued to rise. Meabh declared that she would dive in to get a head start on the depth. Noelie heard her get ready. She went in and there was splashing again. Then it went quiet. When he heard her call again, he was relieved.

‘Any luck?’

‘I reached the bottom but couldn’t find anything. I’ll try again.’

Meabh was right, they had to try. Noelie scrambled around feeling along the walls and joins for anything that might indicate an opening but he found nothing. Air was getting in but where?

She returned to the surface gasping loudly. ‘I found it. In the corner, to the right. It’s an opening, sizable too. I’m coming back.’

She clambered out beside him. ‘It’s a chance, Noelie. Swim around a little with me. Once you are used to the cold it’s a lot easier.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You have to.’

‘No.’

Meabh’s voice rose. ‘There isn’t a choice here.’

He shook his head – not that she could see that. ‘I can’t, I’m not able to. Don’t ask me again. I can barely swim. I won’t make it.’

There was a very long silence. They could hear water lapping just near them.

‘I’ll stay here in the corner. I might be able to ride out high tide. It can’t be long now.’

‘And what then, Noelie? Sit around some more? How long can you hold out? Low tide, high tide, how long?’

He didn’t have an answer. Her hand touched his face. It was cold but it was welcome. Her other hand took one of his. ‘We’ll drown here if we don’t get out. Do you understand? There isn’t any choice.’

He shook his head madly. ‘I’m not able. I can’t.’

‘You are able,’ she said, gripping his hand tightly.

He pushed her away. ‘I’m not.’

There was an even longer silence after that. He felt water at his feet and moved further up the incline. It was becoming confined.

‘I’ll mind you. We can do it. It’s likely to be just a length of pipe and it’ll lead us out into the river.’

‘You don’t know that.’

He felt her shivering feverishly beside him. ‘You go, Meabh. You get help and I’ll hold on here. I will.’

She cupped his cheek. ‘Okay. But I’ll be back.’

He wanted her to go. Anything to put an end to the idea of him getting in the water. ‘Go, get help.’

He heard her gulping volumes of air, filling her lungs again and again with oxygen. She kissed him before she went.

‘Going.’

After she got into into the water he called, ‘Good luck.’ He was crying and couldn’t stop. He heard her swimming and then it went quiet.