Tommy started undressing as well.
"Right in front of a sheila?" Reece said, still watching in disbelief.
"Don't be shy, Reece," Adriana said.
He turned around to find her in a sports bra and underwear. For a second, he was caught off guard and spun around to avert his eyes.
"What's the matter?" Sean asked. "Her underwear covers more than some bikinis I've seen."
"Fair point." Reece cleared his throat and glanced at Tommy. "Boxers, huh? I always figured you for a briefs kind of guy."
"Not sure how to take that. You coming with us or not?"
Reece sighed. "All right, fine." He began taking off his shirt as the other three dove in.
Tommy surfaced and screeched like a little schoolgirl.
"Cold?" Reece asked.
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, but it feels good. Come on in."
Reece looked around at the gear bags lying on the ground by the rocks. "You know, I think I'm going to hang up here and keep an eye on the stuff. Go ahead and check it out. Let me know what you find."
"Suit yourself," Sean said as he dog paddled in place.
A second later, he twisted around and dove under the water.
He kicked his legs hard and used an underwater breaststroke to swim closer to the churning water of the falls. White bubbles foamed violently for a solid fifteen feet around the base of the falls, making visibility impossible at the epicenter. Sean swam over to the left of churn and examined the underwater rock. After fifteen seconds of looking, he resurfaced and took a breath.
He ran a hand over his face and looked back at Reece still standing on the rock. The big Aussie put his hands out as if to ask if Sean had seen anything. His lips were moving, but Sean couldn't hear him over the constant sound of water crashing into water. He shook his head, and a second later, Tommy and Adriana popped up next to him.
"You guys see anything?" Sean shouted above the sound.
Their heads both tossed left and right.
"No," Tommy said. "The water coming off the top makes it impossible to see anything straight ahead."
"Should we check the other side?" Adriana asked.
"Yeah, just in case. But I've got a feeling whatever it is we're looking for is gonna be behind that mess." Sean jerked his thumb at the white foaming water.
He and the others swam around the churning liquid, and once they were on the other side, dove down again. Thirty seconds of analyzing the rock on the right produced the same results.
Sean pointed to the surface, and the three shot back up again for more air.
Reece put his hands out again, hoping they'd had better luck. Sean shook his head again. Reece was saying something once more, but they couldn't hear him.
"Only one more option," Sean said.
"I don't know, man. That's an awful lot of power right there." Tommy stared into the bubbling mayhem. "Seems a little dangerous."
"Don't worry, buddy. I know what I'm doing."
Before Tommy could protest further, Sean kicked a couple of times and paddled over to the rock face. He grabbed a slippery edge and shifted his hands to the left, moving a few inches at a time.
Tommy and Adriana watched as he neared the point where the water pounded the rock and the pool below.
"You think he knows what he's doing?" Tommy asked, tilting his head to the side.
"No, but you know him better than I do."
Sean's left hand disappeared into the falling water. His head and body followed next. A second later, his right hand was gone as well.
Under the falls, Sean found a momentary respite from the falling water that seemed to come down in a crescent shape. It wasn't much, maybe ten inches at most, but it gave him a second to evaluate the situation.
If there was some sort of hidden underwater cave in the rock, it had to be directly below his feet. He wondered how strong the water pressure was and if he could escape it if he fell backward into the whitewash. Then another thought occurred to him. How do I get out if there is a cave down there?
Only one way to find out.
He lowered his body several inches, gripping the wet ledges like a rock climber descending a mountain face. When his chin touched the water, he took ten short breaths and then a long, deep one.
Sean let go of the rock and dropped fully into the water.
The low, constant sound of the churning water filled his ears. He narrowed his eyes, hoping that would help him see, though it did little to aid his vision. Everything was a roiling white mess. He kept his hands against the rock to use as a guide, feeling his way along as he continued to go deeper into the pool.
He stopped abruptly. His left thumb was the first to feel it. Then fingers on both hands grasped it. He ran his hands along the underside of something that felt like a natural arch carved into the rock.
Sean lowered himself a little more and poked his head into the hole, still gently pushing his finger tips along the ceiling. He felt his shoulder hit something hard and jagged. The opening was only about two-and-a-half feet high and maybe three feet wide, possibly a tad less. He was pretty much going on feel alone at this point.
His lungs started tightening, and Sean knew it was time to go back up for air. Holding his breath for long periods of time had never been one of his better skills. He could go for maybe eighty seconds if he really pushed it, and that was if he wasn't moving much.
He pulled himself up the rock face and broke the surface of the water amid the deluge coming off the falls. He pressed his body against the rocks to keep the force of the falling water from pushing him back out into the pool.
After a couple of quick gasps, he lowered back into the water, this time hurrying to the cavity he'd discovered. When he felt his toes hit the bottom edge of the hole, he flipped his head down and pushed through the opening. He couldn't see much, though it was easier to see in the little tunnel than it was out in the pool. Ahead was nothing but dark, still liquid. He felt his back scrape against the roof. It stung for a moment and made him feel claustrophobic. Visibility grew fainter as he swam from the light, deeper into the underwater cave. Thirty seconds in, he knew he was going to have to turn back soon if he didn't find another opening.
His internal clock hit forty seconds, and still he pushed forward. He swallowed hard to help fight off the natural urge to breathe. At the fifty-second mark, he'd all but passed the point of no return. Every survival instinct in him said to go back. Sean pressed on.
One minute.
He felt his lungs begin to squeeze again. Go back, he thought.
Sean knew it was too late for that. This tunnel went somewhere. It had to.
He felt along the ceiling with his right hand, pulling himself faster with his left along the bottom. Seventy seconds in, his right hand pushed ahead. This time, however, it didn't brush against rock. It punched through the dark liquid and up.
A shaft.
Fueled by a desperate hope, he pulled himself into the new opening and pushed his feet off the bottom as hard as he could. He'd either burst through the surface and into a cavern, or he'd hit his head and die from blunt force trauma.
Either option was better than drowning.
His lungs ached as he shot upward. He winced, fighting back the urge to inhale. Then he suddenly felt the familiar touch of air on his face. He opened his mouth wide and let the air in, in huge gasps. He panted for nearly a minute as he hovered in the water, treading with his arms and legs. When he finally caught his breath, Sean spun around in the darkness, letting his eyes adjust.
He couldn't see anything. The room was pitch black. The realization that he needed some kind of light set in. He'd have to go through the underwater tunnel again. Fortunately, he knew exactly how to do it. The first run was exploratory. Coming back a second time, he could go much faster.