Somehow the very act of heading upward, where they knew there were light and fresh air, encouraged the Sleepers.
Wash said, “It was just like going down into your grave when we kept going downhill into that tunnel!”
Beorn said nothing as they trudged upward. He kept his battle-ax unsheathed though, and his eyes were constantly looking ahead.
And then they came to a chasm so deep that the light of Glori’s torch would not permit them to see the bottom.
“I’d hate to fall into that sucker!” Reb whistled softly. He picked up a stone, tossed it over, counted off the seconds, which seemed forever, and finally he heard a faint clink as the stone hit. “Nope—” he shook his head violently “—let’s not fall into there.”
“This way.” Glori held the torch forward.
She was standing on the very brink, and Reb came alongside to peer into the gloom ahead. “Are we supposed to cross on that?” he exclaimed.
What he saw was a fragile bridge that had been constructed across the chasm. It looked so tiny that when Jake joined them he said, “I wouldn’t trust that thing for my cat to walk across!”
“It will be safe enough. We will go one at a time,” Glori announced. To show her confidence, she strode out onto the bridge and stood in the middle of it. “You see? Just come singly. It’s stronger than it looks.” Then she crossed to the other side and stood waiting, encouraging them to make the trip.
One by one they crossed over.
Glori smiled. “Now, from here on it will be better, I trust.”
“That wasn’t much of a bridge,” Reb grumbled. “They make better bridges than that back where I come from.”
The Sleepers and the dwarf hurried after Glori as she led them ever upward. The tunnel twisted this way and that, and soon everyone was exclaiming over the breath of fresh air that struck them.
“I think I see light up ahead!” Sarah cried.
Reb strained to see, and, sure enough, he could make out a pinpoint of light.
Glori laughed. “See? I told you this was the way to come.”
She quickened her pace, the others stumbling after her. The pinpoint of light grew, and then they were almost at the cave entrance.
“Wait!” Beorn commanded gutturally. “Don’t go out there yet!”
“You stay in your caverns if you want,” Glori said coldly. “The rest of us need sunlight.”
She stepped outside into a wooded area, and the Sleepers crowded after her. Reb was almost blinded by the brightness, and he half shut his eyes as he tried to look around.
“This way,” Glori said. “The trail is plain.”
“Just a minute,” Dave said. “I thought I saw something . . .”
“What is it, Dave?” Sarah asked.
“I thought I saw sunlight reflecting on some metal.”
“There’s no metal up here in these woods!” Jake exclaimed. “Wait, I see it too.” Then he cried, “Look out, here they come! They found us!”
Instantly the air was filled with flying arrows. The Sleepers stumbled back into the shelter of the cavern, and Beorn cried, “The rest of you—take the torch and go back! I will hold them here at the entrance.”
“I’ll stay and help you,” Dave said firmly.
“I’m staying too!” Jake said, his jaw pushed out in a daring way.
“So am I,” Reb said. “Wash, take the girls back. Look after them. We’ll give you a chance to get across the bridge.”
Wash didn’t want to leave them, Reb could tell. But he obeyed, and the other three Sleepers and Glori —and the torch— quickly disappeared back down into the cavern.
Beorn said, “Four for one then.” He smiled crookedly. “We have some advantage—the warriors won’t be able to use their bows as well in here. And they’ll be blinded by the darkness.”
The four defenders stood shoulder to shoulder in the darkness. Soon they heard voices. And then they saw that they did have the advantage, for they could see their enemies against the light of the cave opening. Those who came at them could see nothing.
They heard the hissing of Beorn’s battle-ax, though, and felt the slashes of the swords wielded by Dave and Reb and Jake. Shrill cries went up until, it seemed, the warriors could not be urged further into the blackness to face unseen death.
“Now,” said Beorn, “we go.”
The defenders slowly gave way, leaving their attackers—many fallen—behind them. They groped their way back down the unlit tunnel to the bridge, where they found the others on the far side, waiting with the welcome torch.
When the four had crossed, Beorn began hacking at the timbers that held the bridge in place. His sharp ax made the chips fly.
Glori said, “If you destroy the bridge, we can’t get back across!”
“And they can’t get at us!” Beorn answered grimly. Soon the bridge sagged, then with a crash ripped loose from its moorings. It fell into the cavernous depths, turning slowly, and made a tremendous smash at the bottom of the cavern.
“Now we go back,” Beorn said. He stared at Glori as if awaiting a challenge, but she said nothing.
“Just a minute,” Wash whispered. “I. . . I don’t think I can make it. . .” And he collapsed.
“Wash!” Reb cried. “What’s the matter? Bring the light over here!”
Reb leaned over him. “He’s taken an arrow!”
The arrow was a short, stubby one, more a dart than an arrow, but it had pierced Wash’s side. Abbey tried to stem the severe bleeding.
Wash, however, whispered, “No, you’ve . . . got to go on!”
“Wash,” Reb said, his voice breaking, “you’ll be all right.”
Wash reached up a hand feebly, and Reb grabbed it with both of his. “You’re gonna have to go on . . . without me,” Wash said, his voice growing weaker.
Beorn said nothing, for this was a matter for the Sleepers. He and Glori stood back while Dave, Reb, Jake, and the two girls gathered around the injured boy. His head was in Sarah’s lap now, and he was speaking so faintly that they had to lean close to hear.
“Looks like . . . I won’t be . . . at the last battle,” he whispered, “but you guys have got to make it. Don’t worry . . . about leaving me here . . . I’ll see you . . . again.”
“Wash,” Reb said, “you can’t die!” Tears were running down his cheeks. He held the hand of the small boy tightly. “You just can’t, Wash.”
“You been . . . my best friend, Reb,” Wash whispered. He looked around and said, “All of you . . . my good friends.” He closed his eyes, and they thought he was gone, but he opened them and said more strongly. “We’ve had . . . a good time.” He took each hand, then closed his eyes again as one who was weary from long labor. “I wish . . . I could be at the end. . .with you. But Goél . . . he’ll look out for us all.”
Silence filled the tunnel, and then Abbey sobbed, “He’s gone! Wash—Wash is gone!”
They looked at one another.
“We can’t take him with us,” Sarah whispered.
“This will be his burial ground,” Beorn said suddenly, his voice deep, his eyes brooding. “It is a grave for a valiant warrior. No one will disturb him here.”
And so it was. They had no choice. Beorn found a small alcove, and there they placed the body. Afterward, each Sleeper said his good-bye to the small, still form. Then they turned away, eyes blinded with tears, and Beorn closed the alcove opening with stones.
On the way leading back down to the deepest parts of the Caverns of Doom, Sarah said brokenly, “Josh and now Wash—both gone! No matter what happens, things will never be the same again!”