Part Six

Terror began to settle. He tried to stand up, but his legs seemed to be immobilized. Not only that, but it seemed as though his feet couldn’t even reach the ground. It was so cold, and he was so frightened that he began to panic. Then he felt a grip on his arm pull him to the surface, and he felt the sandy ground beneath his feet.

Sputtering and gasping, he began to calm very slowly as he raggedly dragged in precious air. Bambi slapped his back gently, attempting to free any water that may have filled his lungs from his underwater fall.

“There was a pit there.” She informed softly. “I didn’t know it was there. You should be a little more careful next time.”

Rubbing his runny nose with his sleeve, Spot nodded. “Okay.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“I think I’ll live.”

“Well there’s nowhere to rest from here on in. Once we get to land, I’ll set up camp.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need no doctorin’ or anythin’ like that.”

“Spot, just listen to me for once and don’t argue with me. You panicked while you were underwater. This isn’t something to ignore. Now when we reach the inside of the cave, we’ll rest and not travel till the morning.”

She seemed sincere enough, and Spot knew he couldn’t argue with her. He did, however, feel like he needed some rest. His lungs and throat were still burning from the air he had lacked and the water he had inhaled in its place. His head was aching a little too, and his heart was still pounding wildly. He needed his rest.

Reluctantly, he agreed with her. And for the first time since they had met, he saw her smile. It was one of relief that he had never seen before. When she smiled with serenity, she suddenly seemed very pretty to him. But it lasted too short a time because she turned her back to him after handing him his pack.

“Let’s go.” She said. “Move as quickly as you can, but don’t overdo it. The water lasts at least a mile back. Think you can handle that?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Good.” She began to move through the water. “Let’s go.”

Spot shivered as he complied. Slowly, they tread through the water, feeling the coldness surrounding them growing thicker and colder the further back they went into the cave. He began to cough as the darkness began to dominate the precious light that still remained.

As the water grew shallower, it became a bit warmer, but the coolness of the cave kept him just as cold. His legs were shaking with every step he took. However, the fact that the water becoming shallower only meant that they were closer to dry land. He pressed onward.

By the time the water was knee-length, Spot was so weary that he nearly collapsed. Bambi was there to catch him and had to support him till they reached the shore. And once they reached the shore, Spot sunk to the ground and had to lean up against a rock to aid him in sitting upward.

“How’re you feeling now?” Bambi wondered, setting her pack aside and touching Spot’s forehead.

“I feel like I’m gonna puke.”

She frowned. “Hmm. Sounds like you might have swallowed some saltwater. That’ll make you a little sick.”

“Am I gonna be okay?”

“You’ll just need some rest. But first of all, change out of those wet clothes. That’ll make you sick for sure.”

“Will it be your viewin’ pleasure?” he teased.

She shook her head, not amused. “For your information, I’ll be in the next cavern, looking for some wood to make torches. It looks like there’s some back here. Oh, and do you have the notes?”

His eyes widened, horrified. Groaning, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the notes, soaked through and ink blotched and mussed. They were completely destroyed.

“Bambi, I’m sorry.” He moaned.

“It’s okay, Spot.” She cracked a slight smile. “I memorized those notes. I’ll know where to dig.”

“But which way do we go?”

“I told you that it would probably take three days to find the right place.”

“No, ya said it was a two day hike ‘n’ two day back.”

“You must’ve heard wrong. It’ll take three days for us to search all these caverns to find the right one.”

“But what if we get lucky ‘n’ find th’ right one first?”

“Then I guess we won’t have to worry about a thing. Now hurry up and get out of those clothes.” She opened her pack and pulled out her own clothing. “I’ll be in the next cavern if you need me.”

Bunching her dry clothes into a ball, she moved to a different cavern and left Spot by himself. Heeding her words, he removed his sodden clothing and put on the dry. It felt good to be in dry clothes and underclothing, but Spot was still cold. He yanked his blanket from his pack and draped it around him.

Five minutes passed. Then ten minutes. Bambi was still gone. Spot was beginning to worry about her being gone by herself. What if she injured herself or lost her way? There was hardly any light in the caverns. It was only too easy for one to lose their way in a place as complex as this.

He began to fear the worst. If Bambi was not only injured but lost as well, how could he find her? He was still feeling rather sick and cold, not to mention weak from the trek. And what if there were wild animals down here? Spot shuddered. He pulled the blanket over his head and curled tightly into a fetal position.

A soft noise echoed along the cavern walls. Then the blanket was yanked from his head, and he flipped onto his back to find Bambi leaning over him. She had an armload of thin wood tucked under her arm.

“Thought you were asleep.” She muttered as she turned away.

“Where were ya? I got worried.”

“I told you, I was changing. Then I went to look for some wood for torches.”

“What about firewood?”

“There is none.”

His eyes widened. “No firewood?”

“No.”

“Then how’re we supposed t’ cook or get water ‘n’ wash ‘n’ stuff like that?”

“We’ll manage, Spot. Together, we should have enough water to last us at least three days if we conserve. And we have plenty of food. We’ll be fine. Just sit back and enjoy the trip.”

Without his consent, she opened his pack and pulled out the thick blanket he used to sleep on. She unrolled it and set it out across a large patch of sand and tossed his pillow on top.

“You’ll sleep over here.” She informed. “Come on over and lay down.”

“Where’ll you sleep?” he wondered as he dragged himself toward his sleeping area.

“I’ll sleep over there on that sandy place.”

“But I thought we’d hafta be closer so we’d be warmer. We ain’t got no fire down ‘ere.”

Her dark eyes glowered like embers. “Don’t raise your expectations.”

“I wasn’t. I got a goil, remember?”

“You’d better not get any more ideas like that or I’ll slap you so hard your first born will feel it.”

He leaned backward onto the blanket. “Look, I was jus’ concoined about bein’ cold, that’s all!”

“That better be, or I’ll live up to my threat!” she reached back into her pack and drew out a small container, then unscrewed the cap and handed it to him. “Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just drink it.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll make you go to sleep.”

His eyes narrowed. “How do I know you’re not gonna poison me?”

“Alright, fine. You caught me. I’ve mixed this with arsenic and want you to drink it so I can take your body to a taxidermist to have you stuffed and propped up in the parlor of my house.” She flicked his ear with a long fingernail. “You still don’t trust me.”

“Ya still din’t give me no reason too.”

“I saved your life. Isn’t that enough?”

“All ya did was pull me away from that pit. I wouldn’t exactly call that life-savin’.”

“Well then trust me as a matter of gratitude.” She held the container close to him. “Please. Just do this for your own good.”

His eyes met hers. Clearly she was unhappy that he still didn’t trust her, but she was also concerned for his fell being as she had been only minutes ago. Maybe there was some good in her.

Remaining silent, he took the container from her fingers and sipped with his eyes still locked with hers. Whatever it was that she given him, it felt warm and seemed to cause his mouth to swell. He swallowed what little he had sipped and gagged, nearly dropping the container and spilling the contents.

“What th’ heck didja give me?” he sputtered.

“It’s just brandy. It’ll help you fall asleep.”

Sleepiness was settling in already, but Spot wasn’t finished yet. “Ya tryin’ t’ turn me int’ a drunk? I ain’t never had a drink in my life!”

“A little bit to help you sleep won’t kill you. And it won’t give you that much of a hangover in the morning.”

She leaned up against the cavern wall with her arms crossed and watched Spot as he slowly grew more drowsy. He watched her as well until his fatigue finally overwhelmed him. Closing his eyes, his consciousness began to subside and he fell fast asleep.

* * *

Spot wasn’t sure whether it was morning or not until he cast his sights toward the mouth of the cavern. Though nearly a mile back, there was light shining from the opening. But somehow it felt late; later than Spot usually slept to. Groaning gutturally, he sat up.

His head ached a little. Rubbing his temples, he attempted to sooth the pain. The massaging did little to help. Afterward, he reached for his back and drew out the sack of corn dodgers. He wanted to eat them, but his stomach was rebelling. To be on the safe side, he broke one in half and forced himself to eat a half.

Remembering Bambi, he glanced over at her sleeping spot. Not surprisingly, she wasn’t there. He knew that she couldn’t have gone to find the bracelet on her own because the key was still around his neck. He grasped it in his fist, content in knowing that he wasn’t going to let her take the bracelet without him knowing it.

Bambi appeared shortly afterward. She had a lit torch with her and that bandana tied around her hair. She was also covered in sweat and black dust.

“Have a nice sleep?” she wondered.

“Was okay.” Spot muttered, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand.

“That brandy certainly did the trick. It’s near noon.”

His jaw dropped. “Noon?”

“Yup. I’ve been spelunking while you’ve been sleeping.”

“What’s spelunking?”

“Cave exploring. There’s a lot of these caves, and we could get lost easily. It could take us a while to find the bracelet.”

“Well how’ll ya know where it is?”

“You had the notes. Don’t you remember?”

“No.”

“The walls are painted. They’re painted green and have Norwegian writing all over. The writing’s supposed to translate where the bracelet is.”

“Do ya know how t’ translate it?”

“I told you that I studied Norwegian. We should be fine.”

He frowned slightly. She had never said anything about studying Norwegian, she had said that she had only had Norwegian translated.

“Are you feeling up to helping me look through these caves?” she wondered.

Nodding, he stretched his arms outward. “Yeah. In jus’ a sec.”

He stretched some more, then rose to his feet and popped his back. Then he grabbed his shoes and pulled them on, tying them carelessly as he eyed Bambi cautiously. She currently had her back turned to him while she doused a torn rag in her brandy, then wrapped it around a stick and lit it.

She handed him the torch and stepped back. “You’d better stick with me. If one of us gets lost, it’ll be worse for us than if we aren’t together.”

“But what if we both get lost?”

“We won’t.”

She stuck her torch upright into the ground and drew out a ball of twine from her sack. Then she tied the end around a nearby rock and tightened it so it wouldn’t untie. With everything in its place, she stuck the ball in her pocket and took up her torch.

“We’ll follow the twine back.” She said. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

Part Seven

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