“Look!” exclaimed Titch, pulling himself away from Kaz’s embrace. “There’s a hole up there.” He eagerly pointed out the small opening about two metres up the rocky wall face. Before Kaz could respond he was manoeuvring his way up the small craggy outcrop like a seasoned rock climber.
“Be careful,” advised Kaz, holding up her right hand in an instinctive manner just in case Titch fell. Not that it would help much if he did.
As titch reached the hole he shone his torch into the opening. “Watch out!” he screamed as a torrent of bats streamed wildly from the hole and poured into the cavern. Titch crouched down, and could feel the bats brushing over him. He put a hand on his head in an effort to protect himself. The noise was unbearably intense. Then as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone and all was quiet, save for a distant flutter of wings.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, piece of cake,” said Titch, who was actually scared witless, but did not wish to display further signs of weakness in front of his cousin. He raised himself up off his haunches and took another look into the hole.
“You see a way out?” asked Kaz hopefully.
“There’s some-fin ‘ere but I can’t quite ... poo it stinks like rotten eggs,” he said, as he held his nose, “but I should be able to climb in okay.” Titch got a firm handhold and clambered through the hole which was easy enough due to his small stature.
“Okay, but be careful, because ...,” Kaz paused as Titch had already disappeared like a ferret down a rabbit hole. She waited patiently. A cold shiver went up her back as she realised she was still damp from when she fell into the lake earlier. She winced as she felt her damp, knotted hair which she had spent a small fortune having cut, dyed and straightened only a few days ago. She looked around the lake and the rocky islands within it. Drops of water continually dripped from limestone formations on the roof and plopped into the water. One landed on her forehead. It ran down past her nose and rested on her top lip. She licked at the intruder and relished its purity.
“Look what I found,” said Titch, popping his head out of the darkened opening above.
“Geez! You frightened the crap out of me,” exploded Kaz.
“Oops! Sorry.”
“What have you got there?” asked Kaz, as she watched Titch waving something around in the darkness.
“Hang on ... I’ll come down. Can you catch the torch?” Titch threw his torch down to Kaz and she caught it. Kaz shone the torch to help Titch descend. He seemed to struggle as he climbed down. “What d’yer fink?” Titch asked, as he waved something about.
“Is that a sword?” questioned Kaz, “Let me see it.”
“It’s mine, I found it.”
“Okay, but let me have a closer look,” she asked. Titch reluctantly passed his new toy over to Kaz. “Wow, this is a fancy sword. It’s has like roman letters and numerals along the blade. It looks valuable.”
“Oh good, then I could sell it on ‘eBay’ when I get back and make a fortune,” Titch proudly boasted. Politely ignoring that retort, Kaz handed back the sword. Titch gratefully took the sword which weighed heavily in his hand, more than he was likely to admit. “These are for you,” he said as he pulled out a number of objects from his pocket. “Just some old coins,” he added, as he emptied them into Kaz’s free hand. She shone the torch on them.
“Oh my goodness,” she cried, “they look like gold coins.” She held her hand up closer to her face to examine them. “Is there any more of these?” she asked.
“Yeah, but these big rats keep trying to bite me. But I can have another go.” And with that Titch carefully placed his sword down and picked up his pack. “Shine the torch up here,” he said as climbed back up.
“Check to see if there is a way out … that’s more important,” said Kaz. Titch held out his hand and Kaz obligingly threw up the torch. Within moments Titch had climbed through once again. And once again Kaz waited patiently in the darkness.
“No way out,” said Titch emerging from the hole, “but I got yer some more coins.”
“Thanks,” Kaz sighed. There was no point having a wealth of gold coins if you’re going to die … can’t take it with you, she thought. “Titch, hand me down your pack first, so you don’t fall,” she advised.
“Okay.” Titch did as requested and he soon was back safely on the ledge. Kaz took the small hoard of golden coins that Titch had collected and put them safely into her backpack with the others.
“Well, looks like we’re stuck down here forever then,” said Kaz despondently. “It’s a shame there wasn’t a way out,” she continued.
“I reckon this was a smuggler’s cave as there was once a passageway with a number of steps going up, but it’s now totally blocked by huge rocks. It must ‘ave caved in years ago.”
“That may explain how the sword and coins got here then,” said Kaz.
“I’m so hungry I could eat one of those rats,” said Titch, pointing with torch back up at the hole.
“Me too,” agreed Kaz.
“I’ll go get one then,” Titch said as he turned to climb.
“No! No it’s okay. I was only joking.”
“I wasn’t,” said Titch seriously. “What now then?” he asked, sitting himself down on a suitable rock.
“I think we’ll have to backtrack and hope for miracle.”
“Okay, you’re the boss,” yielded Titch.
“No way, we’re a team remember.” Titch grinned and nodded, then happily collected up his pack and the heavy sword. Kaz took the lead holding the torch outstretched in front. Slowly they ambled back along the ledge passing the old tree stump they had struggled to move earlier, past the light beaming up from the lake, and eventually stopping where the channel was flowing into the wide gap in the rock face. Here there were a number of rocks where they could sit once again. As Titch and Kaz simultaneously sat down, they turned to each other, both let out a defeated sigh, and then turned to silently stare at the lake.
After quite some time Titch broke the silence. ”Not much chance of a miracle then,” he said. Kaz remained fixated on the lake. He pulled a fruit drop from the depths of his trouser pocket. Unwrapped it, and tossed the wrapper into the lake. He got some enjoyment out of watching the wrapper float gently towards the gap where it quickly picked up speed and headed down the dark channel.
Kaz had also watched the wrapper rapidly disappear. She then seemed agitated and looked up and down the lake, and up and down the ledge. Suddenly she leapt to her feet as if she had been sitting on an ant’s nest. “The log!” she exclaimed, “The old tree stump way back there,” she said pointing along the ledge. “We can float the log like a boat and follow the channel. It must go somewhere as it’s flowing now and I’m sure it wasn’t earlier.”
Taking a moment to sink in, Titch also jumped to his feet, “Yeah, wicked idea. I knew you’d fink of somefin’.”
“We’re not out the woods yet,” warned Kaz.
“Woods?”
“Never mind, let’s just hurry up in case the water stops flowing,” urged Kaz.
With renewed vigour they almost raced back to tree stump. Kaz grabbed the branch she had used earlier to free the stump. She used this to pull the stump in closer to the ledge, but was having difficulty.
“Titch, can you free the roots as they are stopping the stump from fully floating?”
“Hang on.” Titch poked at the offending root with the tip of the sword, and then with a swift slice he hacked off a piece off. This was enough to release it. The stump was now fully afloat with Kaz keeping it steady with the branch.
“Okay, hold onto the roots there, so I can get on,” instructed Kaz. Titch put the sword down and then held into the stump as steady as he could. Kaz carefully placed one foot on the stump. “This is harder than I thought,” she said, trying to find the best approach. Eventually she sat down on the ledge and cocked one leg over the stump. The stump sunk a little as she manoeuvred her body enough to finally sit upright.
“Okay here I come,” said Titch as he let go his hold on the root. He quickly followed Kaz’s lead by first sitting on the ledge and then sliding himself onto the stump in front of Kaz. He sat quite heavily and the stumped bobbed up and down which made Kaz hang on tighter.
“Careful, I don’t fancy getting wet again.”
“Oh, sorry,” said titch apologising. Titch pushed at the edge of the ledge. The front of stump slowly floated clear. “We’re off!” he said excitedly as he turned around to acknowledge Kaz. “Me sword!” he cried, as he noticed the sword still perched on the ledge.
Kaz stretched out her left arm and just managed to grasp the handle before it was out of reach, “Got it.” Kaz looked for a place to put the sword, and then decided it would make a good paddle, if a little heavy. Titch pulled out his torch from where he had wedged it in his trouser belt and shone it ahead. Kaz paddled awkwardly with the heavy sword, but it was enough to get up some momentum. As they navigated slowly towards the channel, another eerie screech echoed through the cavern. In reaction, Titch motioned his body in a comical ‘to and fro’ manner indicating ‘go faster’. Kaz paddled faster with the sword, frequently changing hands to keep the log going in the right direction.
“There it is!” exclaimed Titch, pointing to the gap in the rocks with his trusty torch.
“Okay I see it,” replied Kaz, “I can feel the current starting to pull us towards it.” Kaz now used the blade like a rudder to steer roughly in the right direction. Suddenly an enormous screech almost deafened them, followed by a huge splash behind them. “Oh shit! Mummy’s not happy,” said Kaz as she turned to see the adult serpent flapping its huge webbed wings in a bid to catch up with them as quick as it could. Its body lifted out of the water and just skimmed the top of it. Its huge jaws opened and a long, thick, forked tongue flicked about as another deafening screech blasted their eardrums.
“Paddle faster! Faster!” screamed Titch. Kaz took another glance behind and didn’t need any encouragement from Titch. She was terrified. She knew she would be first in line to become a dragon snack.
“Argh! Something touched my leg,” screamed Kaz. Thankfully the current was now much stronger and soon they were upon the channel. The stump swung crazily around as it reached the gap, but not enough to clear the protrusion of the ledge on the far side. It hit hard and Titch and Kaz lurched forward. Kaz screamed as the serpent swooped in, with its head aiming directly at her. She held up the sword behind her head in an effort to protect her. Titch kept his cool. With his right foot extended he put all his energy into kicking against the edge to push them clear. The stump turned just as the serpent arrived. Kaz ducked as its jaws snapped shut. A huge wad of slimy, smelly saliva detached itself from the serpent’s mouth and smacked into the side of her head. Kaz screamed again, thinking the serpent had snapped off her head. As the sticky saliva moved down the right side of her head, she realised she still had one. But now she thought that the gunk was coming out of a hole in her head and in a panic, started to tap at her head with her free hand. As she grabbed a handful of slime, she instinctively put it to her nose and sniffed, “Oh, that’s disgusting!” She flicked the saliva off her hand into the water, and then quickly splashed her hand to rinse it. As they swiftly drifted into the dark tunnel with a quickening of speed, Titch took a quick glance at Kaz to see if she was okay. After giving her his favourite ‘thumbs up’, he confidently concentrated on keeping the torch shining ahead. The ride was not anything spectacular for the first few minutes or so, in fact it was quite mundane. The stump casually careered itself around gentle sweeping bends, like a stick finding its way down a flooded street gutter. The channel itself varied in width, but was always wide enough to allow them to pass easily. An occasional rock protruded from the side wall or roof, but was equally easy to dodge. Titch and Kaz even seemed to be enjoying the experience. They even joked about it being the best water ride they had been on. But then things took a turn for the worse. “We’re picking up speed,” said Kaz, “… and it’s definitely getting narrower.” She was certainly right. The channel had dramatically narrowed and roof was gradually becoming lower.
As titch shone the torch to get a better view, he shouted “Hang on, it’s going to get worse.” The stump started to rock and bob about in the water as it increased speed. “We’re going down. Hang on!” he shouted again. Kaz was finding it hard to see ahead, as not only was Titch blocking her view, but she was also getting water splashed up into her face. “Duck!” shouted Titch as they rounded a sharp left curve with low hanging rocks. Kaz flattened herself onto the stump as much as she possibly could to avoid getting hit. Thankfully Titch’s self-preservation had kicked in, and he too had laid flat. For a frightening moment, Kaz felt a rock rub the top of her head. “Okay, we seem to be out of the worse.” No sooner had he sat back up again, he screamed, “Arggghhhh …” The stump tilted as the water channel took a steep downward course. They gathered speed rapidly and hung on for their lives. They were thrashed this way and that, as they rode out the rapids. Instinctively they ducked and weaved as rocks tried to knock them off like ducks in a shooting gallery. Titch was no longer able to shine the torch, but just kept his face flat against the stump. It seemed to last an eternity yet was only minutes. Titch’s mind raced through all the things he remembered from his torrid childhood, and prayed that he would be a better person if just given another chance. Although travelling quite fast, they suddenly felt the stump levelling out, and within seconds they found themselves being blinded by a dazzling afternoon sun. As the stump quickly slowed, they took their first glimpse at daylight for many hours. The water slide had ended in a narrow bay which opened up to the sea. High cliffs rose stately on both sides. Sea birds were abundant and swooped around in circles catching the welcoming sea breeze. After so long in the cold, damp caverns, the warmth from the sun had a soothing effect. Kaz and Titch were now cheering and clapping and exchanging the obligatory ‘high-fives’. As they drifted closer to the sandy beach of the small cove, they eagerly dismounted off the stump. Kaz looked for the sword and found it wedged tightly into the roots at the back. They waded up onto the shell-covered beach and collapsed onto an adjacent grassy embankment. Silently they took in the fresh salty air and baked in the warming rays of the sun. This was indeed a moment to savour. Kaz thought how lucky she was to have escaped alive from the cavern, and realised what a beautiful sight the sun and the sea really were. However her moment of bliss was interrupted when she noticed Titch looking rather strangely at her.
“Um Kaz,” he said poignantly,”… what’s all that green shit in yer hair?”