Scones, Skulls & Scams by Leighann Dobbs

first and then if we can’t get one to work we’ll talk about what to do next.”
    “Okay, okay. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Helen waved her hand at Lexy and then picked out another key. She shoved it into the lock, jiggled it, and turned.
    Click.
    Lexy sucked in a breath as the door swung open revealing pitch-black darkness.
    Nans reached into her purse pulling out a small flashlight, which she switched on and aimed into the space behind the door. The thin beam of light illuminated a concrete tunnel, the sides spotted with something green and slimy.
    Helen shrugged and stepped inside. Ruth, Ida and Nans followed.  
    Lexy could hear the slow drip of water from somewhere inside the tunnel, which had a dank, watery smell like the ocean flats at low tide. Her stomach clenched as she stepped through the doorway leaving the relative safety of the basement behind to enter the unknown water logged world of the old underground sewer system.
    The tunnel section from Lexy’s basement angled downhill for about twenty feet, then met up with another, bigger tunnel, which Lexy assumed was the main sewer conduit.
    “Which way do we go?” Helen dug a flashlight, a bit larger than Nans’, out of her purse and aimed the beam to the right illuminating a dark tunnel passage.
    On the other side of Lexy, Nans’ flashlight illuminated another long passage to the left.  
    “Beats me,” Nans said. “If we’re under the street in front of the bakery, then this way heads toward downtown.”
    Nans gestured with her flashlight into the tunnel on the left.
    “And this way,” Helen waved her flashlight toward the right, “leads toward the river.”
    “I vote we head toward downtown,” Ida said.
    “I second that,” Ruth added.
    “Sounds good to me.” Helen shrugged, swinging the beam of her flashlight in the other direction.
    The ladies took off down the tunnel slowly with Nans and Helen shining their flashlights in front of them and to the sides to illuminate the surroundings.  
    Lexy hadn’t put much thought into what the sewer system looked like inside, but now she was getting a firsthand view. It consisted of giant concrete tubes that acted as tunnels. They were about seven feet in diameter—big enough to stand up in, but small enough to make you feel slightly claustrophobic.
    The insides of the tunnels were damp. Shallow puddles of water dotted the bottom. The sides oozed with something wet. Lexy noticed chunks of concrete crumbling here and there and remembered Jack’s warning about the old sewers being likely to cave in.
    “Jack was right about these old tunnels being in disrepair,” Lexy said. “It looks like big chunks could come lose at any time, so be careful.”
    Nans swung her beam of light around the edges. “Yes, I see that. Step lightly, girls.”  
    They continued forward a few more yards until Nans suddenly stopped short, causing Lexy to skid on something slimy and bump into Ruth who turned around and gave her a dirty look.
    Nans had turned to face the side of the tunnel, her flashlight pointing straight in front of her. “Girls, I think our theory was correct.”  
    Lexy craned her neck to look around Ruth whose body blocked her view as the four ladies huddled together in front of whatever Nans had found. Lexy stood on her tiptoes, so she could look above Ruth’s head, her heart skipping when she saw Nans had discovered a small room … and it wasn’t empty.
    There was an opening in the cement sides of the tunnel, and a cave-like room had been carved into the earth beyond. The room measured about ten feet square and was set about two feet above the ground level of the sewer pipe. Lexy assumed that must be above the water line, which would allow the room to remain dry.  
    The beam of Nans’ flashlight illuminated a pile of faded, dirty fabric. The room also contained an old chair, some papers and a few pallets.  
    Nans hopped up into the room and started poking through the debris. “Maybe