“THIS IS HOPELESS!” MAI MOANED, SITTING DOWN ON A FALLEN LOG. She reached down to rub her shin and frowned at her mud-covered hiking boots. “My feet are killing me.”
Grace’s legs were sore too. There were puddles of water everywhere, and moving around felt like trying to walk on a wet sponge.
They had been searching for the PA3 sinkhole for ages, with no luck. It was much harder to find an exact spot than Grace had thought, even with a map. None of them had paid much attention to landmarks the first time they’d come. Who knew they’d want to find it again?
“It took us two hours to get here and we’ve been roaming around at least that long,” Grace complained. “The day will be over and we won’t have accomplished anything.”
“That darn hole is around here somewhere, I know it is,” Fred said, continuing ahead, his eyes glued to the ground.
Grace plunked down beside Mai and pulled out her water bottle. She took a long drink. “Maybe we should just concentrate on trying to find the new site, the PA4. It would be closer to the shore.”
“Why don’t we look at the map again?” Mai suggested. “Maybe it’ll help.”
Grace was feeling discouraged. She’d been so sure the day would be perfect, like it was meant to be or something. She’d come here, find the PA3 and PA4…
Grace grabbed the map from her pack and unfolded it. She and Mai held it between them, examining the area closely. Mai traced out the markings lightly with her finger, occasionally lifting her head to scan their surroundings. It was no use. The map couldn’t help much when they were surrounded by trees.
“Let’s get back to searching,” Grace sighed, dejected.
“Sorry, Grace,” Mai said, reaching out to touch her arm.
Grace shrugged and moved away, avoiding Mai’s touch. She felt like she’d crumple into a ball and never move again if she didn’t keep going. Mai looked hurt and quickly pulled her hand back.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
They both whipped around at the same time. Fred had disappeared.
“Fred, where are you?” Mai cried, running in the direction of his scream.
“Uh, I think I found it!” came his muffled yell. They both looked down. Fred was sprawled on the ground in a sinkhole.
“Oh, there you are,” said Grace. She peered down into the crater. It was so wide—how had they missed it?
“Next time, try not falling in the hole,” Mai shouted down to Fred. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” She turned to Grace. “At least that’s one thing we can scratch off Jeeter’s list of crimes. He didn’t push Fred.”
“Geez!” Fred muttered from below. “It’s not like I fall on purpose!”
Grace felt the excitement well up inside her. She tied her caving rope securely to a nearby oak tree. After pulling on her caving gloves, she carefully lowered herself into the sinkhole. The descent was jerky. Chunks of earth at the edge of the hole kept breaking away, tumbling into the open space below her. Water dripped in steady streams around her from the wet ground above.
Grace’s heart was hammering. Her instincts were screaming that this was a bad idea. The line jerked even more as she lowered herself another metre.
“Grace,” Mai said from above, “all this rain…are you sure—?”
“It’ll be okay,” Grace said. She ignored the uneasiness crawling up her spine.
Grace touched down at the bottom of the hole and tilted her head back to watch Mai’s descent. It started out smoothly, but halfway down the line jerked.
“Help!” Mai cried. She spun crazily in a circle, her eyes wide and frightened.
“Take it easy,” Grace soothed. She grabbed the bottom of the rope to steady it.
More clumps of dirt and grass fell down from the lip of the crater. The ground up top was too wet to hold.
“Come on,” Grace encouraged. The sooner Mai was on solid ground, the better.
Mai slowly descended into the sinkhole. Her hands held the rope in a death grip. When she finally touched down, she sagged against Grace. “Whew,” she breathed. “That wasn’t fun.”
Grace gave her shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Hey, guys,” Fred called, sounding excited. “Look at this!” He emerged from a nearby tunnel and handed something to Grace.
Her heart jumped. It was another fossil. Could it be another clue? She flipped it over. Darn! No code.
Grace retrieved her flashlight from her pack and walked into the tunnel, shining her beam on the floor. Fred and Mai followed behind her.
There were pieces of broken shale everywhere. Bending over to get a closer look, Grace could see outlines of seed ferns, cyclopteris leaves, and calamite tree bark in the shale fragments. The remnants of an entire carboniferous forest were scattered at her feet! She picked up a beautiful stigmaria fossil and carried it back to the tunnel opening to get a better look in the natural light.
“Fred, Mai,” she called. “Come and see this one.”
BBARRUMMBRRGG!!!
Suddenly, the sky was falling. Rocks and earth crashed down from above, blocking out the light. It was another cave-in!
Grace heard a scream. Before she could run toward the sound, pain exploded in her right arm. Instinctively, Grace crouched low and covered her head with her uninjured arm, keeping her other one close to her chest. Debris continued to fall all around her. Dust clogged the air and filled her mouth. It was getting hard to breathe.
Something hit Grace in the shoulder, knocking her off balance. As she tumbled sideways, she saw Mai and Fred collapsing under a pile of earth.
They were all going to die!