Lawhead, Stephen - Bright Empires 03 - The Spirit Well by Lawhead Stephen

Author:Lawhead, Stephen [Lawhead, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2012-09-04T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

In Which Kit Takes a Detour

Cupping his hands to his eyes, Kit blinked at the black stretch of highway as it shimmered gently in the full sun of a blistering summer day. The shock of seeing that road rocked him backwards a step. An image so drearily commonplace in his home world . . . in this world the sight jolted through him like lightning. It was a moment before he could properly frame his thoughts, and then the best he could manage was a feeble and ineffectual How . . . ?

The narrow passage in the cave contained a ley line—that was the only explanation. He had unwittingly crossed over and was now . . . where? Judging solely by the highway, it was somewhere reasonably modern. In other words, a world about as far away from the Stone Age as Marylebone from Mars. Kit gazed at the asphalt artery as it curved through the valley, hugging the sinuous curve of the river, and the sight filled him with dread bordering on despair. Why? he wondered. Why now?

There was a time when his first instinct would have been to run to that dusty band of tarmac, fall on his knees, and kiss it for everything it signified. But he was past that. Now he wanted nothing more than to dive back into the cave and take the leap back to rejoin his clansmen in the cave. His clansmen! Being part of River City Clan, learning their ways, discovering all the little mysteries of their existence, of another form of human life . . . this was his life, and he was not done with it yet, and he was in no way prepared to leave them without so much as a “So long, see ya later.”

“No,” he muttered with a determined shake of his head. “Not now. Not like this.”

He glimpsed a burst of motion far down on the slope below as the cave lion disappeared into the thick brush of the riverbank. “Byebye, Baby,” he murmured. “You go your way, and I’ll go mine.” With that, he turned right around and scrambled back into the cave.

Kit fumbled his way along the interior of the cavern, leaving the world of air and light behind. It was a slow and nerve-wracking process, but stubborn resolve kept his feet moving. When it grew too dark to see anymore, he steadied himself with one hand on the near left wall and worked his way along until he felt the passage straighten out and reckoned that might be the end of the ley.

Bracing himself for a blind leap, he started off. Trying to walk normally and with purpose in total darkness—one hand on the rough rock wall beside him and the other waving out in front—was more difficult than he expected. After a bit of practise he was able to achieve a respectable gait, but to no discernible effect.

He stumbled over the uneven floor, willing the transition to happen. When he reached the end of the straight section, he turned around and hobbled back to start again.

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