Cave Dwellers (6 page)

   Finally, they came to a junction with only one possible way to go, but they had to do the bear crawl again to get through it.

   Ramira sat down and turned to Zaac. “Do you mind if I use the headlamp? It will make it easier to crawl.”

   “Sure. Hold on a sec.” Zaac located the lamp and handed it to her. He slipped the flashlight into his pocket.

   Ramira started crawling with Zaac close behind her. The progress was slow and tedious.

   The cave bent to the right, and fifty feet further on, it opened up. They could stand. Another twenty minutes’ walk brought them to the entrance of a huge cavern.

   Unfortunately, however, they had exited onto a ledge that rimmed the cavern. The bottom appeared to be about thirty feet below them with one ledge approximately twenty feet down. There wasn’t any way to scale to the bottom or even the ledge without ropes or a ladder.

   There were two ledges between them and the roof of the cavern. It was hard to judge but they appeared to be two to three feet wide. Each ledge had tunnels going off it. The ledge at their level was about three feet wide. It had two tunnels opening onto it. One was on their right side and the other
was just about directly across from them across the cavern.

   “Do you think one of these will give us access to the tunnels higher up?” Ramira asked.

   “It’s worth a try. Let me have the headlamp and I’ll lead the way,” Zaac offered.

   Ramira took off the headlamp and passed it to him. He started carefully along the ledge. One obstacle stood in their path: a boulder that was higher than Zaac’s waist. There was no way to walk around it. They had to crawl over it. He handed his backpack to Ramira.

   “I’ll go first. You can pass me both backpacks. Then I’ll help you across.”

   It took only a few seconds for Zaac to get to the other side. Ramira passed the packs to him and climbed up onto the boulder with some difficulty. She was adjusting her body to scoot to the other side when her foot slipped and she began to slide toward the thirty-foot drop. Zaac grabbed her arm and reached for her nearest leg. Leaning back, he pulled until she was over the rock and was able to scramble onto the ledge.

   “That would have been a nasty fall,” Zaac said, peering over the edge.

   Ramira looked over the ledge with him. “Yup,” she said. “Thanks.”

   “Don’t mention it. I told you that I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you.”

   They started along the ledge. The first tunnel didn’t look good. Instead, they entered a tunnel on the far side, but by the time they had traveled forty feet, they met a dead end. There was just a narrow crawl space on the left side.

   “Let me take a peek in there, see if it offers any possibilities,” Zaac said. He crawled into the opening. Entering a space the length of his body, he managed to turn until he was on his back.

   Flipping back over and pushing his body back out of the hole, he said, “I think I might have found a way up to the next level. There’s a chimney with an opening at the top. We’ll have to hold our packs ahead of us and find a way to crawl up.”

   Ramira shook her head. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

   Zaac paused for a moment. What would make this possible for Ramira? He took off the headlamp and gave it to her. “You go first. I’ll be underneath. I can give you a push if you need one. Just take your time.”

   She put on the headlamp and took off her pack. “I’m not too sure about this, but here goes.”

   Slowly crawling into the opening, she stretched out the length of her body. Pushing her pack as far as it would go, she managed to turn over on her
back. Sticking one arm then the other up into the chimney, she squirmed till she was able to at least sit up. Catching her breath, she wriggled to a standing position. She picked up the pack and held it.

   “I’m standing in the chimney now.” She concentrated on catching her breath.

   Zaac made his way to Ramira and together they examined the next section of chimney.

   “Try crawling on up and I will twist around and stand under you,” Zaac said.

   Ramira took a breath and looked up. Soon she spotted a handhold and felt around till she found a place to step. Pulling her body up, she located another foothold and moved higher. As she climbed, Zaac turned his body over and squirmed till he was standing under her.

   “You’re doing great,” Zaac said. “Just a little higher and I’ll be able to crawl up under you.”

   As Ramira progressed, Zaac advanced behind her. Only once did her foot slip and Zaac was there to support her weight until she found a solid foothold.

   Suddenly she vanished and the light in the chimney diminished. “I’m at the next level.” She looked back at Zaac.

   “Hand me your pack.” Zaac handed it up to her.

   Soon he was sitting beside her. “I’m about ready for a break. Let’s see if this tunnel goes back to the
cavern. It should be very close if it does. We can take a break there.”

   Ramira led the way. They rounded a curve and the cave opened into the cavern. They sat down and Zaac put his pack on the floor of the ledge. “Can I have your trig book?”

   Ramira passed it to him. After the fire was going, Zaac took out the partial bottle of Gatorade and passed it to her. She took a couple of swallows and passed it back, letting him finish off the bottle.

   “Do you want something to eat?” Zaac asked. “I’m starving.”

   Ramira felt her mouth water at the thought of food. “I am too.”

   Zaac pulled out the Energy Bar and broke it in half. He added a couple of pieces of beef jerky. Taking another bottle of water, they started to eat.

   It did not take long to consume their meager rations. They both sat watching the fire, each afraid to voice their thoughts.

   “Are you rested enough to try one of the tunnels?” Zaac asked.

   “Ready if you are,” Ramira said. What she really wanted was to sit and rest but she also knew she couldn’t let Zaac down.

   “Do you want me to lead or would you like to?” he asked.

   “You lead. Don’t go too fast though.” The change occurring within her body was taking a toll on her. “I’m starting to get a little tired.”

  
“How tired?”

   Ramira was unsure of how she felt. “It’s just that funny feeling like something is going on inside of me. It feels really weird.”

   Zaac wished that he could do something about it, but their only hope now was to keep going. “I’ll go slow and if you want me to stop at any point, just let me know.”

   “Okay.”

   Zaac headed for the tunnel on the right. They both had to tread cautiously; the ledge was narrow. Once there, Zaac stopped to check it out. It looked worth a try.

   He set off with Ramira close behind. Respectful of her request, he walked slowly. After about a hundred yards, Zaac heard a strange noise. It sounded like a chattering.

   “Do you hear that?” He stopped abruptly.

   “Yes.” She halted in her tracks, not wanting to ram into him. “What is it?”

   Zaac peered into the darkness, past what the light illuminated. “I’m not sure. It’s coming from up ahead.”

   Traveling slowly up the cave, they rounded a bend to the left and had to turn sideways to squeeze
through, startling a little creature. It jumped past Zaac, and Zaac jumped, too.

   Another one jumped off the wall and then another. Shining his light upon them, he saw his first cave crickets.

   “Is that a little cricket?” he asked as the light lit up one of the creatures.

   “It looks like one,” Ramira said. She walked closer.

   “I think this is a good sign.” Zaac turned toward her. “This makes the third living thing I have seen down here. I ran into some bugs of some type before I met you. Then we both had an encounter with the bats.”

   “Don’t remind me.” Ramira shivered. “I’m trying to forget that.”

   The chattering was getting louder. It sounded as though it was coming from just ahead.

   Zaac headed toward the noise.

   After twenty feet, they came on a chimney that went down. The hole was three feet across and encompassed just about the width of the cave. The chattering sound seemed to emanate up from the chimney.

   Ramira looked down the hole. It was all very curious.

   “I don’t think we want to crawl down there.” Zaac looked at her questioningly. “Do we?”

  
“Nope.” Ramira shook her head. “I am curious, but not that curious.”

   Jumping over the chimney, they advanced further up the cave. They had not traveled far when they met a solid obstacle. A collapse had completely blocked the cave passage.

   Ramira’s face was the picture of despair. “What do we do now?”

   “We could try to dig these rocks out, but there’s no telling how far the collapse goes.” Zaac knew that she wouldn’t care for the only other solution. “I think it would be best to turn around and try another tunnel off of the ledge.”

   “I hate all of this backtracking. It’s so frustrating.”

   “I know. But like you said, what choice do we have.”

   Grudgingly turning around, they reversed course, jumped the chimney and headed back to the cavern. Walking around the ledge, they entered the next tunnel, which had a slight upward slant for fifty yards before leveling off. A little farther, the cave widened out, then, as always, they hit another snag.

   The cave opened into a room with a small underground river running through it. Zaac tested the water.

   “It’s cold but at least it isn’t freezing.”

   “Do we have to cross this?” Ramira asked, fearing the answer.

   “I don’t want to get wet either,” Zaac said. “But the chances of this cave leading somewhere are pretty good. We can see that it goes further. The other might be a dead end.”

   “How would we do it? I don’t want my clothes to get wet.”

   It was clear to Zaac what they had to do, but he pretended to think about it for a while, hoping it would sink in with Ramira as well.

   “Let’s take off our clothes except for our underwear, put the clothes in our packs. We hold the packs above our heads as we cross and on the other
side, we take off our wet underwear and put on our dry clothes. How does that sound?”

   “You sure this isn’t a ruse to see me naked?” Ramira asked.

   Zaac blushed. “When you change, I’ll turn my back. Scout’s honor.” He held up his right hand with three fingers raised.

   Ramira couldn’t think of a better solution. “If we have to do it, we have to do it.”

   “As soon as we get to the other side and put our clothes on, I’ll build a fire to warm us up,” Zaac said. He quickly stripped to his underwear.

   Putting the clothes in his pack, he waited for her with his back turned.

   Since Ramira didn’t promise not to look, she couldn’t help but notice that Zaac was slim with a sinewy musculature. She quickly took her clothes off and placed them in her pack.

   “I’m ready,” she said hesitantly.

   Holding his pack and flashlight above the water line, Zaac stepped into the river. “Eeeewwwww, that’s cold.”

   He looked back to make sure Ramira was not having trouble and saw that she was tentatively stepping in up to her waist. They hurried to the other side.

   Back on land, Zaac turned his back to Ramira. “Take your hand and swipe off as much water as you can before you put on your clothes.”

   “I’ll try. A towel would be nice.” She rubbed as much water off as she could,
then quickly donned her clothes.

   As soon as Zaac was dressed, he got the trig book and started a fire. Looking across at her, he could see her shivering. He took his jacket out of his pack and wrapped it around her shoulders.

   “Get as close to the fire as you can,” he instructed. He put his arm around her so that he could rub her arms and try to increase her body heat. Soon her shivering stopped.

   “Thanks,” she said, pulling the jacket tightly around her. “The water was pretty cold.”

   “Frigid,” he agreed. He added a few more pages to the fire. “Are you hungry?”

   “Yes but let me wait a few more minutes to get a little warmer. I’ve still got a chill.” Ramira started to shiver again.

   “You want me to hold you? Maybe that will help to warm you up faster.” Zaac sat down beside her.

   “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Ramira scooted closer to him.
“Anything to get rid of this chill.”

   He wrapped her in his arms and she snuggled up close. He didn’t think it would take long to warm her up. He could tell his body temperature was already rising. Hopefully she wouldn’t notice his heart beating more rapidly.

   “You’re so warm,” Ramira said. “How did you stay so warm going through that cold water?”

   “I don’t know,” Zaac kept his voice even, trying to hide his emotion. “I guess I’m just hot blooded.”

   Ramira soon warmed up. Zaac took out what was left of the beef jerky and gave her half. They topped it off with some Goldfish crackers.