the searchlight out of the saddlebag.
“You can get away if you need to,” she said, stroking the white patch between Sadie’s eyes. “There are black bears up here, but they won’t bother you. The bobcats and the coyotes are too small. You’ll be fine.”
Charlie looked back at Sadie as she stood at the mouth of the cave, took a deep breath, turned on the light, and walked inside. The difference between the piddly flashlight she’d used on the first trip and the spotlight was amazing. She’d decided she would spend as much time as she needed familiarizing herself with the cave. She wanted to know its scope, its depth, its dimension. She wanted to know if there was more than one entrance. She’d spent a great deal of the previous night trying to convince herself that this could be an adventure. Exploring a cave could be fun .
The temperature inside the cave was cooler than it was beneath the cloud cover outside. Again, the only noise Charlie could hear was the sound of her own breathing. Her eyes moved constantly, following the beam of light up the walls on both sides, across the ceiling, and back down to the floor. She reached the spot where the tunnel opened up into the cathedral. The size of it reminded her of the basketball arena on the University of Tennessee campus. Charlie stood there looking, marveling at the formations. She knew enough about caves to know that the formations had grown over thousands, perhaps millions of years and were still growing. She wondered how anything could grow in total darkness. How could a rock grow? It was fascinating, and so, so frightening.
This time, she kept going. Something like a path, about two feet wide, wound its way down through the rock. She kept moving the light, surprised at the colors that surrounded her: splotches of deep red, walls of tan and brown, the sparkle of crystallized oxide. She made her way deliberately, scanning the walls and ceilings, hoping she wouldn’t encounter anything too terrifying.
When she got to the bottom, to what appeared to be the floor, Charlie took a candle from the backpack, lit it, and placed it on the ground. If she could get back to this spot, she knew she could find her way out. So, like Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs, she started lighting candles every twenty steps and working her way along the wall around the cathedral floor.
Five candles in, Charlie’s light illuminated a round opening in the rock about thirty feet ahead of her. It looked very much like the elliptical opening at the mouth, but it was much larger. When she reached it and shined her light through, it appeared to be another tunnel, angling sharply downward. She set another candle down and forged ahead.
Sadie entered her mind. How long had she been in the cave? She took her cell phone out of her pocket. No signal, of course, but it told her the time. She’d been inside about thirty minutes. She kept going.
After twenty-seven steps, the tunnel opened onto yet another space, not as long and wide as the cathedral, but still huge, with a ceiling that was much, much higher, maybe eighty, ninety feet. There was a small crack in the rock almost straight above her through which oozed the faintest bit of daylight. She looked around; something to the left caught her eye. The beam had passed over something that definitely didn’t fit, but it was far enough away that she couldn’t quite comprehend the shape. She held the beam, hesitant. It wasn’t conical or funnel shaped like so many of the rock formations. It didn’t seem to belong. She moved toward it carefully, staring, and she came closer, she realized what it was.
A still.
There was a vat to the right, large and made of wood, shaped like a barrel that had been cut in half. Just to the left of the vat was a pile of neatly-stacked firewood. To the left of that was a cooker, jacked up on columns of flat rocks. It looked like the fuel-oil tanks Charlie had seen sitting on metal stands
“You can get away if you need to,” she said, stroking the white patch between Sadie’s eyes. “There are black bears up here, but they won’t bother you. The bobcats and the coyotes are too small. You’ll be fine.”
Charlie looked back at Sadie as she stood at the mouth of the cave, took a deep breath, turned on the light, and walked inside. The difference between the piddly flashlight she’d used on the first trip and the spotlight was amazing. She’d decided she would spend as much time as she needed familiarizing herself with the cave. She wanted to know its scope, its depth, its dimension. She wanted to know if there was more than one entrance. She’d spent a great deal of the previous night trying to convince herself that this could be an adventure. Exploring a cave could be fun .
The temperature inside the cave was cooler than it was beneath the cloud cover outside. Again, the only noise Charlie could hear was the sound of her own breathing. Her eyes moved constantly, following the beam of light up the walls on both sides, across the ceiling, and back down to the floor. She reached the spot where the tunnel opened up into the cathedral. The size of it reminded her of the basketball arena on the University of Tennessee campus. Charlie stood there looking, marveling at the formations. She knew enough about caves to know that the formations had grown over thousands, perhaps millions of years and were still growing. She wondered how anything could grow in total darkness. How could a rock grow? It was fascinating, and so, so frightening.
This time, she kept going. Something like a path, about two feet wide, wound its way down through the rock. She kept moving the light, surprised at the colors that surrounded her: splotches of deep red, walls of tan and brown, the sparkle of crystallized oxide. She made her way deliberately, scanning the walls and ceilings, hoping she wouldn’t encounter anything too terrifying.
When she got to the bottom, to what appeared to be the floor, Charlie took a candle from the backpack, lit it, and placed it on the ground. If she could get back to this spot, she knew she could find her way out. So, like Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs, she started lighting candles every twenty steps and working her way along the wall around the cathedral floor.
Five candles in, Charlie’s light illuminated a round opening in the rock about thirty feet ahead of her. It looked very much like the elliptical opening at the mouth, but it was much larger. When she reached it and shined her light through, it appeared to be another tunnel, angling sharply downward. She set another candle down and forged ahead.
Sadie entered her mind. How long had she been in the cave? She took her cell phone out of her pocket. No signal, of course, but it told her the time. She’d been inside about thirty minutes. She kept going.
After twenty-seven steps, the tunnel opened onto yet another space, not as long and wide as the cathedral, but still huge, with a ceiling that was much, much higher, maybe eighty, ninety feet. There was a small crack in the rock almost straight above her through which oozed the faintest bit of daylight. She looked around; something to the left caught her eye. The beam had passed over something that definitely didn’t fit, but it was far enough away that she couldn’t quite comprehend the shape. She held the beam, hesitant. It wasn’t conical or funnel shaped like so many of the rock formations. It didn’t seem to belong. She moved toward it carefully, staring, and she came closer, she realized what it was.
A still.
There was a vat to the right, large and made of wood, shaped like a barrel that had been cut in half. Just to the left of the vat was a pile of neatly-stacked firewood. To the left of that was a cooker, jacked up on columns of flat rocks. It looked like the fuel-oil tanks Charlie had seen sitting on metal stands
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