Tribulations by Ken Shufeldt

Author:Ken Shufeldt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

16

WHEN JOHN TYLER woke up, Brother Dalmatius was missing. As he had suspected, he found him busy reading the passages on the church’s wall.

“You’re up early,” John said.

“I was having a hard time sleeping. So I decided to try and finish reading about my ancestors, and I’m glad I did. The final section was added several years after they had left the tunnels.”

“Is there anything that’ll help us out?”

“Not really, but it details the terrible destruction they found when they returned to the surface, and the struggles they experienced.”

“That’s all very interesting,” John said impatiently. “But we really need to get going.”

“You’re the boss. I just wish we could stay here a little longer.”

“You can always come back, once I’ve rescued Linda.”

“I’m afraid the elders would never allow it, but I guess I could ask.”

After they ate breakfast, John told Brother Dalmatius, “We need to follow the shoreline for about two miles in that direction.”

As they neared the far side of the cavern, the sound of the waterfall faded away, and all they could hear was the crunch of the sand under their feet and the rhythmic sound of the waves hitting the shoreline.

When they reached the other side, there was only one tunnel.

“It looks like this is going to be little easier,” John said.

He called up the pictures of the map and said, “That’s funny, the map shows two tunnels, and this one looks like it should be the one on the right.”

“Let me take a look at it before we go in,” Brother Dalmatius said.

As he carefully inspected the tunnel’s entrance, John asked impatiently, “What are you looking for? We need to pick up the pace.”

“I don’t know where the other one is, but this isn’t the right one.”

After John had studied the map for a few seconds, he said, “What if the water level has changed over the years and the other cave is under water?”

“If that’s the case, I guess we’re finished. We might as well turn around and go back. Maybe I can think of a way to sneak you into the monastery.”

“There’s no way that’s going to work. Let me think about this for a minute.”

They sat down beside the lake and they considered their options.

After he’d thought about it for a few minutes, John came to a decision. He didn’t say a word as unloaded the gear he was carrying, and removed his boots and socks.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to see if the other tunnel is underwater.”

“What good would that do? If it’s underwater we won’t be able to use it.”

“Look at the other tunnel. It looks like it’s starting to angle upward. If the other one does as well, the water shouldn’t go in very far.”

“Okay, but I’ve got to tell you that I can’t swim.”

“That could be a problem, but we’ll deal with that if we need to.”

John waded out until the water was over his head. He treaded water for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and dove out of sight.

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