Thist.
“The ceilings of these caves have split themselves some new cracks and water is starting to seep through them.”
“So we might choke to death on this black dust!” said Jem in a panicked tone. “Or we could drown or die of starvation with no way out.”
“Calm down!” said Kelvin in a stern whisper as he tried not to make echoes.
“The best thing we can do now is to keep calm. No amount of speculation or panic is going to solve or prove anything. I think the bottom of the caves has collapsed somewhat but the echoes made it sound worse.”
“I swear!” said Thist in a clear and unmistakable tone. “ I will never…” he paused for effect, “…never come back to this forsaken, smelly, dank, lonely, dusty, dark and cold cave system, you two are my witnesses, there is no way I am coming back to this place, not for any amount of gold or…”
Another rumble sounded in the distance; different this time, like a bull kicking at the gate posts of its pen. The echoes ran up from the depths of the cave in bangs and clatters.
“Light the torches!” said Kelvin in a stern shout-whisper. “Keep your voices down, one torch each, no sparing. We need to make time, no time for mucking about now!”
A deep sense of urgency caused Jem to fumble with the flint.
“Hurry up you imbecile.” said Kelvin.
“What the hell was that sound?” asked Jem. “There is something alive down here.”
“I don’t know, stop fumbling and light the damn torches.” said Kelvin. “Focus on what you have to do. Thist where are you? Bring your torch.”
The sparks that struck from the flint momentarily lit up the room so as to make out silhouetted details. From the sparks Kelvin could see Thist standing in the passage with his mouth hanging open like a lost retarded boy.
“Thist! Thist, focus Thist, where is your mind Jem? Bring the torch, Thist has zoned out again.”
Jem brought the first lit torch. It smelled putrid from the old torch oil and flickered in the dust. The three boys were covered in a thin layer of black dust that made them look comical but filthy. Thist was now standing in the torchlight swaying in and out of balance, his eyes looked vacant but tearing. Kelvin gave him a solid slap on the left cheek, just a little harder than he intended and accidently hit Thist in the eye with his thumb.
Thist stumbled backward and fell onto his back. The slap had brought him clear out of a dreaming trance and back into the real world. He coughed and held his left hand over his eye.
“Thist!” Kelvin shouted, disregarding his previous warning to whisper. “Get up and get moving. There is something in these caves, and I don’t want to find out what it is! Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Thist was on his feet, his left hand cupping his eye. Jem lit a torch for him and forced it into his hand. “Let’s pick up the pace, shall we?”
“Yes, pace up!” said Kelvin in a weak imitation of the old blacksmith’s voice.
The joke was lost on the other two boys as the sense of urgency drove them onward and upward with the cave passage. Every few minutes the strange rumble could be heard from the depths of the cave, fuelling their fear.
“What can that be?” asked Jem as they hastened along the dim cave tunnel.
All Kelvin could muster was denial. “Sheesh! I don’t know what that could be. It sounds alive, but I don’t know what could be living in this place.”
“Thist!” called Jem
“What?” answered Thist.
“I thought you had found yourself, what’s with the zoning out back there again.”
“The voices.” said Thist. “It’s as if they all heard the noises as well and started chattering all at once.”
“The voices in your head you mean.” said Jem.
“Yes, they all seem to agree about one thing.”
“What?” asked Kelvin.
“That it’s bad.” said Thist.
“Now these voices,” asked Jem, “are they all you?”
“No,” said Thist “none of them are me, only I am
“The ceilings of these caves have split themselves some new cracks and water is starting to seep through them.”
“So we might choke to death on this black dust!” said Jem in a panicked tone. “Or we could drown or die of starvation with no way out.”
“Calm down!” said Kelvin in a stern whisper as he tried not to make echoes.
“The best thing we can do now is to keep calm. No amount of speculation or panic is going to solve or prove anything. I think the bottom of the caves has collapsed somewhat but the echoes made it sound worse.”
“I swear!” said Thist in a clear and unmistakable tone. “ I will never…” he paused for effect, “…never come back to this forsaken, smelly, dank, lonely, dusty, dark and cold cave system, you two are my witnesses, there is no way I am coming back to this place, not for any amount of gold or…”
Another rumble sounded in the distance; different this time, like a bull kicking at the gate posts of its pen. The echoes ran up from the depths of the cave in bangs and clatters.
“Light the torches!” said Kelvin in a stern shout-whisper. “Keep your voices down, one torch each, no sparing. We need to make time, no time for mucking about now!”
A deep sense of urgency caused Jem to fumble with the flint.
“Hurry up you imbecile.” said Kelvin.
“What the hell was that sound?” asked Jem. “There is something alive down here.”
“I don’t know, stop fumbling and light the damn torches.” said Kelvin. “Focus on what you have to do. Thist where are you? Bring your torch.”
The sparks that struck from the flint momentarily lit up the room so as to make out silhouetted details. From the sparks Kelvin could see Thist standing in the passage with his mouth hanging open like a lost retarded boy.
“Thist! Thist, focus Thist, where is your mind Jem? Bring the torch, Thist has zoned out again.”
Jem brought the first lit torch. It smelled putrid from the old torch oil and flickered in the dust. The three boys were covered in a thin layer of black dust that made them look comical but filthy. Thist was now standing in the torchlight swaying in and out of balance, his eyes looked vacant but tearing. Kelvin gave him a solid slap on the left cheek, just a little harder than he intended and accidently hit Thist in the eye with his thumb.
Thist stumbled backward and fell onto his back. The slap had brought him clear out of a dreaming trance and back into the real world. He coughed and held his left hand over his eye.
“Thist!” Kelvin shouted, disregarding his previous warning to whisper. “Get up and get moving. There is something in these caves, and I don’t want to find out what it is! Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Thist was on his feet, his left hand cupping his eye. Jem lit a torch for him and forced it into his hand. “Let’s pick up the pace, shall we?”
“Yes, pace up!” said Kelvin in a weak imitation of the old blacksmith’s voice.
The joke was lost on the other two boys as the sense of urgency drove them onward and upward with the cave passage. Every few minutes the strange rumble could be heard from the depths of the cave, fuelling their fear.
“What can that be?” asked Jem as they hastened along the dim cave tunnel.
All Kelvin could muster was denial. “Sheesh! I don’t know what that could be. It sounds alive, but I don’t know what could be living in this place.”
“Thist!” called Jem
“What?” answered Thist.
“I thought you had found yourself, what’s with the zoning out back there again.”
“The voices.” said Thist. “It’s as if they all heard the noises as well and started chattering all at once.”
“The voices in your head you mean.” said Jem.
“Yes, they all seem to agree about one thing.”
“What?” asked Kelvin.
“That it’s bad.” said Thist.
“Now these voices,” asked Jem, “are they all you?”
“No,” said Thist “none of them are me, only I am
Similar Books
