brain.
âWhat are we going to do, Gerald?â Ruby said.
Gerald didnât respond. Instead, he tried to fix the broken finger back into place.
âGerald?â
The fractured knuckle wouldnât stick. Gerald clambered closer, his shoulders up against the low rock ceiling as he tried to wedge the fragment back on.
âWhat are you doing?â Ruby asked.
âStrange way to lie if youâre about to cark it, donât you think?â Gerald said, concentrating on repairing the skeletonâs hand. âIf I was starving to death, Iâd probably curl up in a ball. There. Thatâs got it.â Gerald nodded with satisfaction. âGood as new.â
âWhat are you talking about?â
Gerald looked down at his handiwork. âItâs almost like heâs pointing at something.â He then banged the back of his head on the low rock ceiling.
Sparks filled his eyes at the pain stabbing into his brain. Geraldâs cursing filled the chamber. But it stopped abruptly when his torch lit the spot where heâd struck his head.
âWill you look at that,â he said in wonder.
Carved into the surface of the rock, just above Luciusâs outstretched hand, was a string of symbols:
âThe number ten, a circle with a line through it, a Y, an arrow and a triangle,â Gerald said. âThatâs what was written on the envelope that Great Aunt Geraldine left for me. Remember? The one that the thin man stole from the house in Chelsea. This is definitely Lucius. And heâs left us a note.â
âBut what does it mean?â Ruby said.
Gerald had no idea. But his great aunt had thought it was important enough to write down. He rubbed his hand across the lump that was now bulging out from the back of his skull. The smack against the ceiling wasnât the only thing giving him a headache.
âUh, Gerald,â Sam said, his voice floating up from below the stone platform. âWe have a problem.â
Gerald turned to face Sam. There was something different about him, but Gerald couldnât quite place it.
âMy torch has just gone out,â Sam said.
There was a momentâs silence.
âDid we pack batteries?â Ruby asked, tearing her pack from her shoulders and rifling inside.
âI donât remember buying any,â Gerald said. He cast the beam from his torch onto his outstretched hand. It was dimming before his eyes.
âMineâs fading now!â Ruby said. She looked at Gerald, lighting his face in the dying beam. âWhat are we going to do?â
Gerald fished around inside his pack and pulled out a small box on the end of a knotted lace. âA flint,â he said. âI knew weâd bought one.â He pulled out a metal pin the length of a match and struck it along the side of the box. A spark burst into the air.
âWe can light a fire,â Gerald said. Relief flooded through him. It would be impossible to find a way out without any light.
âGerald,â Ruby said. âWeâre in a cave. Thereâs nothing to burn in here.â
In an instant, the relief that had lifted Gerald was gone. Ruby was right. They were in a dank cave that hadnât seen the sun in a million years. He watched as his headlamp faded to nothing.
And the cave was lost to an all-consuming darkness.
Chapter 9
G erald tried to control his breathing. But in the black cloak of nothingness that had wrapped itself around him, it was almost impossible.
âSit down,â he called out to Sam and Ruby. âTry not to move around.â
Gerald couldnât see a thing. He pressed his hand to the end of his nose but his eyes couldnât register any movement. The darkness was complete.
He tried the flint but the spark just hurt their eyes, and revealed nothing. Gerald blinked, trying to clear the arcing burn from his retinas.
âI guess this is how Lucius sat it out.â Samâs voice sounded from
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