The overall mood had definitely soured after the failed attempt to find a way out through the pool. Everyone slowly returned to the large bowl-shaped cavern where they’d left their supplies. Sitting on the ground, they all quietly ate some chili, which Pierre had sped ahead to rehydrate and heat on the small camp stove.
After he finished eating, Lewis gathered the water bottles and the pot, deciding to take the stove back to the water where they had all entered the cave earlier. Samantha and Miller were done as well, and both volunteered to help purify a round of drinking water. Lewis found a level spot to light the stove while Miller filled the pot with water. It was the dancing flames of the stove that brought him back around — air flow. Air was blowing out of the hole, and it was blowing from somewhere; they just had to figure out where.
Samantha came over to help. Her time spent in underground mines around the world helped her to immediately grasp the significance of the flickering flame. “Wind…” she whispered.
Lewis nodded, excitement spreading across his face as he elaborated. “Remember how strong it was down in the tunnel? That air is coming from somewhere — it sure isn’t coming from the Toilet Bowl of Death.” A quick shiver passed through his body as Lewis thought back to the near drowning. “We must have missed something up high somewhere.” They finished purifying the water then headed back to camp.
The others gathered around, soaking in the fresh optimism while Lewis went over his theory behind the wind. Pierre smiled as everyone looked to the small climber. “It’s my turn,” he stated, his French accent seeming even more pronounced than usual. “I’ll try to lead us all to safety!”
“I sure hope so, my friend,” Lewis offered, giving Pierre a light punch on the shoulder. “We’re ready for some French luck.”
It was decided they would explore the ceiling area of the last passage as a group. Each person would use their headlamp as well as their dive light to provide as much illumination as possible, hoping nothing would be missed — this was not the time to save batteries. Anything that looked promising would be explored by Pierre. With a basic strategy in place, they got moving, Samantha and Pierre in the lead once again.
They all stuck fairly close together, stopping every few feet to further check some shadow or outcropping that someone spotted. It took over two hours for the group to work their way down to the pool, finding only one 2-foot indent that was even high enough for Pierre to do any climbing. Exhausted and frustrated, they decided to take a break before trying the search again from the other direction.
“My neck is killing me from looking up for so long,” Gonzalez mumbled as she lay on the ground.
Pierre agreed. “Same here. My eyes too, they feel dry and tired from staring.” With that, Pierre shut off his light. One by one, each person turned theirs off as well, and the chamber became completely dark.
Lewis let his mind rest as he embraced the sensory deprivation of total darkness and absolute silence. It didn’t take long before he started dozing off. Just as his last neuron was about to give in to sleep, Samantha’s high-pitched scream nearly launched his heart out of his chest. Lewis and the others immediately turned their headlamps back on to see what was wrong.
“Turn those back off!” Samantha yelled. “Turn your lights off and look up, absolutely straight up!”
Everyone did as they were told. It took a while for Lewis’s eyes to adjust but then he saw it too. “There’s some sort of light up there,” Lewis stated. Sure enough, something was glowing on the ceiling 150 feet over their heads.
Samantha giggled as she responded. “At first I thought my mind was just playing tricks on me. It reminds me of the AllGlow paint my dad uses for marking passages in the mines. I think somebody used something similar on the ceiling up there.”
Stonewood’s voice was boiling over with excitement as he exclaimed, “That’s Sigurd’s head!”
Before anyone could ask a question or Stonewood could elaborate, Miller cut in. “Oh my God! You’re right!” He took a breath and calmed his tone. “Sigurd was a Norse god — the Dragon Slayer. I’ve never seen a drawing of only his head before though…”
Lewis was next to get excited. “I don’t think it is just his head! See the dim glow forming an almost straight line, right through his neck? That doesn’t look like part of the painting to me. I think there’s a ledge there, we just can’t see it from our angle!”
Lewis turned his light back on, jumping straight into the pool of water at the back of the chamber. “Yes! You can see it from here, there’s a gash in the ceiling right there!” Lewis shouted as he pointed upward. The others turned their lights on and walked to the edge of the pool near Lewis, each leaning to try to get a look. Only Gonzalez braved the water, playfully cannon-balling into the pool next to Lewis.
Pierre had a nervous expression as he scanned the walls of the chamber, his beady eyes jumping around as he focused on different possible hand-and foot-holds. Mentally testing different routes, his eyes moved from one hold to the next until he would shake his head, starting over again from a different location. To Lewis, it looked impossible. He wasn’t one to give up easily but the walls seemed so smooth, plus they curved backwards near the top until a climber would be practically walking on the ceiling. Finally, Pierre’s expression transformed to a smile. He rubbed his hands together before repeating his earlier promise. “Pierre will lead us all to safety!”
Lewis followed along as Pierre pointed out his chosen route, describing key moves along the way. He slowly shook his head as he addressed the small Frenchman. “That’s pure Spider-Man material there.” Pierre’s smile grew at the compliment. This was his realm and he was obviously excited.
Stonewood’s renewed energy helped transform him back into full boss-mode. “Miller and I will stay here to study Sigurd and look for other runes. I want the rest of you to go back and get the gear.” He locked eyes with Craig before adding, “Don’t waste time.”
Gonzalez gave Lewis a questioning glance but he could only shrug in response before he played along, walking back up the passage without a word. Getting the gear was the obvious next step anyway, and there was nothing to gain by fighting with Stonewood now. Lewis felt like he knew Craig well enough to speak candidly with him, so he waited a few minutes until they were out of earshot then asked, “So Craig, what’s the deal with your boss?”
Craig’s response was telling yet guarded. “Mr. Stonewood isn’t as monstrous as he seems. Once you get to know him, Mr. Stonewood is a reasonable man. He has worked hard to get where he is, and he expects hard work from his employees. Like you said before, we’re all under a lot of stress here.” Craig gave Lewis a stern look and a curt nod, indicating that this line of questioning was over. He then added, “Let’s keep moving.”
Working together, everyone got the gear repacked into the dry bags and ready for transport back to where they hoped to escape. There was no reason to bring the three empty scuba tanks any further so they were left in a pile, but everything else was brought over to the crack Samantha had found. Pierre and Samantha crawled through the tight area to the other side while Lewis climbed into the crack, waiting on his side of the narrow hole. Craig and Gonzalez worked together, handing gear down to Lewis, who would then push it through to Pierre. Pierre pulled the equipment through before passing things on to Samantha, who then organized everything along the side of the passage. This assembly line system went very smoothly, and it wasn’t long before everyone and everything was through the restriction for what they hoped would be the last time.