The next day, the Aldens had another clear day for hiking and caving. On top of Little Nose Cliff, a soft, warm breeze was blowing, and the children stopped to enjoy the view.
Benny pointed his binoculars down below. “Hey, I see Miss Hollowell down at the sinkhole entrance. She’s standing next to her truck.”
Henry borrowed the binoculars and took a look, too. “You’re right, Benny. That is Miss Hollowell. She keeps walking back and forth and looking up. Let’s all wave at the same time so she knows we’re on our way down.”
The Aldens began waving wildly.
“I’m not sure she sees us,” Jessie said. “We’d better get down there before she leaves.”
“I haven’t got all day,” Miss Hollowell said when the Aldens joined her down below. “Do you have that shovel you told me about?”
“Sure do. Here it is,” Henry said.
Miss Hollowell grabbed it quickly, then just as quickly dropped it. “That’s nothing but an ordinary dirt shovel,” she said to Henry. “I can’t believe I came all the way over here to look at that.”
“Sorry,” Henry said. “I thought you heard me say yesterday it was only a dirt shovel. It must belong to someone else.”
“Probably one of the many people you told about this cave,” Miss Hollowell said. “Well, if you do find the owner, here’s my phone number. I’d like to know who else is using this cave.”
Henry stared at her. “I tried to call you at the college. They said there was no one by your name working there.”
Miss Hollowell didn’t answer right away. “That’s because I’m not teaching this term. I—uh—I only taught one course there—a night course. I don’t live in the area, so I’m not listed in the phone book, either. Anyway it’s nobody’s business where I work.”
“We just wanted to return the shovel, that’s all,” Jessie explained.
Miss Hollowell stomped with her muddy boots on the ground, climbed into her truck, and drove off without another word.
“At least we won’t run into her today,” Violet said.
“I wonder if she just came out of the cave,” Jessie said. “Her boots were covered with wet mud, but it’s not muddy out here. I’d like to take another look at that spot where we saw her yesterday. If she went there this morning, maybe we’ll find something.”
The Aldens threw their backpacks down the sinkhole along with the mystery shovel, then slipped into the cave one by one.
“Let’s leave the shovel here,” Henry suggested as he cut up pieces of reflective tape. “It’s too heavy to carry very far, and we don’t need it. Now! Where to, everybody?”
Jessie had a plan. “First let’s go to where we saw Crystal Hollowell yesterday and see if we find anything strange there. I still say she wasn’t down here studying animals. After that we’ll come back and follow Benny’s monster tracks.”
Since they had already visited the cave twice, the Aldens moved quickly through its twisting tunnels. Each time they made a turn, Henry marked the spot with silver tape.
“Look, here’s that place that’s a little confusing,” Henry said when the tunnel branched off in several directions. “Let’s pile some of these small rocks on the floor. We’ll use them as markers so we don’t take the wrong turn when we come back.”
The children arranged several rocks by the turn, then marked the spot with a big piece of tape.
“Good, now we can go,” Jessie said. “The place where we met Crystal Hollowell should be just a little farther.”
But very soon, the Aldens couldn’t go another inch. Blocking the tunnel was a large rock. On it, in big white letters, were the words: DANGER! KEEP OUT!
“Hey, this wasn’t here yesterday!” Benny touched the painted letters with his fingers. “And know what else? This paint is still wet!”
Henry shone his flashlight up and down the rock. “Somebody went to a lot of trouble to move this here. I don’t think one person could do it alone.”
Jessie knelt down with her own flashlight to get a better look. “Look, two sets of footprints. Some made with flat boots and the others with heeled boots. Did anybody notice which kind Crystal Hollowell had on?”
The other children shook their heads.
“All I noticed was the wet mud on her boots,” Violet said.
“I don’t see how she could have moved a boulder this big by herself, but I didn’t see anybody else in her truck, either,” Henry said.
“I guess we’d better turn back. This rock is way too big to move without special equipment,” Jessie said. “Let’s check out those monster tracks of Benny’s instead.”
The Aldens couldn’t stop talking about the big rock. Who had moved it? And why? What was the danger sign all about? The four children were so busy discussing the rock, they forgot to check their silver tape markers.
“Wait! Everybody, stop!” Henry said when he realized their mistake. “We forgot to follow the markers.”
All together, the Aldens flashed their lights up and down the walls, looking for the reflective tape.
Nothing.
“Wait here,” Henry said to the younger children. “I’m going to go back. While we were talking, we must have passed our tape markers and those rocks we put down. I bet we took a wrong turn.”
“Be careful, Henry,” Jessie said. “Here, tie the end of this rope to your flashlight. I’ll hold onto the other end. That way we won’t get separated.”
“Good thinking,” Henry said before he disappeared into the darkness.
“Henry won’t get lost, will he?” Violet asked Jessie.
“Not as long as he has this rope,” Jessie answered. She stared at the coil of rope unwinding as Henry went deeper into the cave.
“It’s dark in here without Henry’s light,” Benny whispered.
Jessie put down her flashlight and dug around in her backpack. “Look, Benny, I’ll light one of these candles I brought along for emergencies.”
Benny’s brown eyes looked like shiny lumps of coal in the dim light. “Is this an emergency?”
“Not really,” Jessie said, but her voice didn’t sound as sure as her words.
Then she looked down at the rope coil. “I guess Henry is coming back. The rope isn’t unwinding anymore. Henry! Henry!” she called out.
For some time the children heard nothing but water drops dripping, one by one, from the cave ceiling onto the floor.
“Why doesn’t Henry answer?” Violet asked. “He wasn’t going very far.”
Jessie cleared her throat so she wouldn’t sound nervous. “I’m going to tug on this rope and pull Henry in, just like a great big fish!”
Benny tried to laugh at Jessie’s joke, but no sound came out. Pulling slowly, Jessie expected to feel the rope tug. But it didn’t. Instead, she wound up yards and yards of loose rope. But there was no Henry at the end of it!
“Oh, no!” the children said when they saw the dangling rope.
Jessie held it up. Even in the dim light she could see that the end was smooth, as if it had been cut with scissors or a knife.
“Maybe the rope snapped on a sharp rock,” Jessie said. “I’ve got an idea on how we can find Henry.”
“What?” Violet asked.
“Well,” Jessie said, “we have three flashlights and some candles. We’ll walk in the same direction Henry went. At the first place the tunnel branches off, I’ll light a candle and leave it there. Then I’ll light another one a little closer. Henry will see the candlelight and find his way back to us!”
This sounded like a good plan. The children joined hands with Jessie in the lead. They went down the tunnel as far as the first turn. Jessie lit a candle, then moved on ten feet and lit another one.
“Henry!” Jessie called out. “We’re over here!”
“Henry!” a voice repeated back.
But it was only an echo of Jessie’s voice. Jessie didn’t call out for Henry again. The echo made the cave seem so empty.
“Come on,” Jessie said at last. “We’ll just wait for Henry right here. I know he’ll find us. Mr. Howe said no one is ever lost for very long because there are so many ways out of the cave. Now let’s have some lunch to pass the time.”
Eating lunch did pass the time, though none of the children seemed to really taste the food. Henry still didn’t come back.
“All we can do is wait,” Jessie said. “You two can turn off your flashlights. We’ll just leave mine on.” Jessie knew they would need to save their batteries if they were down there much longer.
“The drips from the ceiling sound like the ticks of a clock,” Violet said after a while. “Only it’s such a slow clock.”
Jessie checked her watch. An hour had passed since Henry disappeared, but in the dark, cold cave, the time seemed much longer.
Suddenly Benny nudged Jessie in the ribs. “I hear footsteps coming from the other way.”
“Me, too,” Violet said. “And look, there’s a light. But it can’t be Henry, because that’s not the way he went.”
“Jessie! Violet! Benny!” a deep voice called out.
“Jessie! Violet! Benny!” an echo repeated back.
“It’s Henry!” Benny shouted. “Hooray!”
Jessie raced over and gave Henry a huge hug. “Thank goodness it’s you! How did you get over here? We left two candles down the other way so you could find us.”
“Whew!” Henry said, throwing down his hat and taking a drink from his water bottle. “I searched high and low for our markers, but I couldn’t find any of them—no tape, no rocks, no footprints even. It’s as if something made them disappear.”
“Or someone,” Jessie said in a low voice. “Anyway, how did you find us?”
“Well, the rope snapped. On a rock I guess. I didn’t notice right away and thought it was still connected to your end. By the time I figured out that the rope had snapped, I was lost.”
“Were you afraid, Henry?” Benny asked, holding his breath for an answer.
“Not really,” Henry said, “but lucky for me all these caves connect. I found an exit out of the cave, all the way over by the Dragon’s Mouth Cavern. Then I ran back to the sinkhole entrance we came in and started our first route all over again.”
“How will we get out if the tape is gone?” Violet asked. “We could get lost again.”
Henry held up the roll of tape. “Not to worry. I just stuck on some more pieces as I came in, right up to this spot.”
“Can we go outside now?” Benny asked. “I’m cold, and I want to finish my lunch where I can see what I’m eating!”
“Me, too,” Jessie said.
Just as Henry said, getting out was easy. Soon, the children spotted the daylight coming through the sinkhole entrance. They helped each other out, then plopped down on the grass.
“We sure had a scare, didn’t we, Henry?” Benny asked, now that everyone was safe and sound. Then his eyes opened even wider than usual. “Hey, look! Joe Caveman is climbing out of the sinkhole!”
Sure enough, when the Aldens looked up, Joe Caveman was pulling his sack up from underground.
Benny ran over to him. “We got lost today and had to eat our lunch down there. Did that ever happen to you?”
Joe Caveman didn’t seem to hear Benny. He went right on putting things into his sack. When everything was packed up except for a book, he tied the top of the sack and threw it over his shoulder.
“Were you the one who took down our silver tape and moved our rocks?” Benny asked.
Joe Caveman didn’t answer.
Jessie held up the red shovel. “Is this yours, by any chance? We found it nearby.”
Without answering, Joe Caveman just politely tipped the brim of his hat, walked right by everyone, then disappeared down the road.
The Aldens looked at each other.
“What a strange man,” Jessie said. “He tipped his hat, but he didn’t even stop to talk. I wonder what’s in that old sack of his, anyway.”
“I don’t know,” Henry answered. “But did you see the title of the book he was holding?”
“What did it say?” Violet asked.
“Treasure,” Jessie said. |