The Secret Cave Read online

  ‘Everyone with me?’ I whispered over my shoulder.

  I heard a chorus of quiet ruffs down the line, even a low croak from Eagle. I hadn’t thought she would follow us into the mountain!

  If I ran into trouble of any kind, I would be blocked by the multiple bodies behind me. Trying not to think about it, I started forwards again – this time into pitch blackness.

  The tunnel grew tighter and tighter around me, until I was forced to push along on my belly. With my arms pressed to my sides, I couldn’t reach my matches anymore. I tried to breathe steadily and deeply, to keep the creeping fear at bay, but instead sucked in dust that made me cough.

  I just wanted to be out.

  I reached the bend and had to twist my body to move around it. The walls pressed against me on either side, scraping my skin. Everything seemed to be closing in. I fought a rising panic, my heart thumping hard against the cold, stony floor.

  I made it around the corner. A faint light that came through an opening ahead seemed like the best thing I had ever seen. I wormed along with renewed strength, desperate to be out.

  I reached the opening and paused. I had no idea what I’d find – I couldn’t risk dropping out into the middle of a squad of soldiers.

  I peeked out and down. Beneath me was a ledge, which I could easily drop down to. I spilled eagerly out of the hole, to land on the ledge on all fours. The backpack thumped down after me.

  The ledge was partway up the wall of a great cavern. It was dark here, but off in other parts of the cavern, rows of hanging electronic lanterns lit up an underground network bustling with activity.

  What had we gotten ourselves into now?

  I told the animals to stay put, and Rupert and I slipped off to scout along the ledge.

  Throughout the cavern were pools of electric light, where teams of adult workers thunked at the rocks, overseen by soldiers. Mine carts were loaded with rocks, and when they were full, a guard pulled a lever and the cart rolled away along one of many tracks.

  The tracks crisscrossed all over the cavern, weaving through different levels – but they all led to a wooden dock beside a big loading zone just inside the cave mouth. Here, workers lugged rocks onto parked trucks.

  This operation was being overseen by a soldier with lots of stars on his shoulder. With him was an angry-looking soldier with a sickle-shaped scar on his cheek and a little man with ratty brown hair, who seemed to bend and scrape eagerly to his every command.

  I silently named them Sickle Soldier and Ratty Minion.

  There was an archway leading off the loading zone into what looked like a sleeping area.

  I’d been right. These poor people were being kept in this cave day and night.

  The ledge ran around the darker half of the cavern, with many pillars between us and all the lights and activity. This made it easier for us to stay hidden, but we were also too far away to clearly see the faces of the workers, which were covered in dirt and grime.

  Many of them seemed exhausted as they shuffled around the cave – but if one ever slacked off, a soldier was quick to step forwards and shout threats.

  ‘Why are they so fascinated with these rocks?!’ I muttered under my breath.

  ‘They want their precious mineral, I guess?’ Rupert said.

  ‘I don’t care how precious it is, they have no right to treat people this way.’ I could almost feel my eyes flash in the dark. ‘We have to put a stop to this.’

  ‘How can we help them?’ said Rupert. He didn’t sound like he was objecting to the idea, but actually working out how to achieve it.

  We approached an area that was well lit. Below us, an underground river flowed along beside the back wall of the cavern, then disappeared into a crevice.

  On the other side of it, a row of workers toiled in the rocks. Our own ledge sloped down towards them before ending. It didn’t seem like a big drop down to the workers from the end of the ledge.

  ‘I could get down there,’ I suggested.

  Rupert followed my gaze. ‘Why?’

  ‘To talk to the workers. Maybe they can tell us something that will help?’

  Rupert bit his lip. ‘It’s a big risk.’

  I gave a little snort. ‘Is there anything we do that’s not a big risk?’

  He laughed, then clasped a hand over his mouth. ‘Don’t make me laugh in life-or-death situations, please, Gwen.’

  I smiled and padded away. As the ledge sloped downwards, I came to a spot where I could easily jump down to the workers’ area behind a pillar. I dropped off the ledge and quickly flattened myself against the stone.

  There were about fifteen workers spread out in a long line, and a single soldier who paced back and forth behind them.

  The closest worker was a scrawny woman wearing ragged clothes. She grunted as she brought her hammer down on the wall and gouged free a chunk of rock. I waited for the guard to move away, and then …

  ‘Please don’t turn around,’ I whispered.

  The worker tensed, sweat running down her face and her eyes wide … but she didn’t turn.

  ‘Who’s there?’ she said, in a low voice. ‘If they find out you’re missing at roll call, they’ll …’

  ‘I’m not a worker,’ I said.

  ‘Who are you?’ she murmured.

  ‘A friend who wants to help you get out of this terrible place,’ I said.

  ‘He’s coming back,’ whispered the worker.

  Footsteps came towards us. I squashed myself thin against the pillar and held my breath.

  ‘Oy!’ came a harsh voice. ‘You slacking off?’

  ‘No, sir!’ said the woman, and whacked the wall with her hammer as if to prove it.

  His footsteps travelled away. I opened my mouth to speak when a mine cart whooshed past somewhere close by, and gave me a fright.

  ‘Are you still there?’ asked the woman.

  ‘Yes. How can I help free you?’

  ‘If I knew that, I would have escaped myself.’

  I frowned and thought about what I needed to know.

  ‘How long have you been here?’ I whispered.

  The woman sighed. ‘Who knows? Hard to keep track of days down here. At least a year, maybe more.’

  A year?

  ‘How many workers are there?’

  ‘Around a hundred.’

  ‘How many guards?’

  ‘Ten in total, but they’re well-armed.’

  If we could get rid of their weapons somehow, we would outnumber them a hundred to ten.

  ‘What do you—’

  ‘All right!’ shouted the soldier, and I almost jumped out of my skin – but thankfully, he was just making an announcement to everyone. ‘Empty cart incoming. Time to load ’er up!’

  The woman stooped to lift a rock. ‘You should get out of here,’ she muttered over her shoulder. ‘While you still can. You’re only a kid. What can you possibly do to—’

  ‘Oy!’ shouted the guard. ‘What’s the hold-up?’

  ‘Coming, sir!’ said the woman. ‘Right away, sir!’

  She moved off, grunting under the weight. I waited until I heard the soldier shout at someone else further down the line, then ran back to the ledge. As I hauled myself upwards, Rupert grabbed my shoulders and helped me over. Together, we moved back the way we had come, into the safety of shadows.

  ‘What did you find out?’ Rupert asked.

  ‘There are only ten guards in this whole place,’ I said. ‘It’s possible the workers will help us overpower them, if we can somehow get rid of their weapons.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Rupert, frowning. ‘I’m not sure …’

  The sound of the gushing water below gave me an idea.

  ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘remember when those soldiers fell in the river and their guns didn’t work anymore?’

  ‘Oh no,’ said Rupert. ‘What kind of crazy plan have you thought up now?’

  Rupert stood watching the mine carts whoosh about.

  ‘Do you understand the plan?
’ I asked.

  ‘I think so. We’ll need to be going a lot faster than normal for this to work, though.’

  ‘I know,’ I said. ‘So you’d better keep watching until you get it right.’

  Rupert took a deep breath. ‘I get it,’ he said. ‘It’s quite simple, really. The cart has an accelerator and a brake. And the tracks have levers that change the path a cart takes at the next junction,’ Rupert continued. ‘Push a track lever forwards to make the cart go right, pull it back to make it go …’

  ‘And you can keep us moving continuously for as long as we need?’

  Rupert nodded. ‘We’ll need to be going downhill.’

  Suddenly a bell chimed.

  Over in the loading zone, food was being laid out on tables. Immediately, all over the cavern, soldiers began directing the workers into carts. The carts then ran along various tracks until they reached the dock in the loading zone. Workers and soldiers alike spilled out, all eager for a meal.

  ‘Should we wait until they go back to work?’ said Rupert.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘This is perfect. They’re all in the same place.’

  ‘But how are we going to get a cart?’

  I looked down from the ledge to the track that ran underneath.

  ‘We follow that track. No risk of getting run over if all the carts are in the dock.’

  I turned to the pack and was greeted by curious animal faces. Looking into their eyes, I felt conflicted for a moment. Could I ask them to place themselves in danger yet again?

  Just then I saw Ratty Minion shove aside an old man to get to the food table, and my resolve strengthened.

  ‘Everyone know what to do?’ I said.

  Tails wagged, and Eagle gave a low croak. I had shown them where I wanted them to hide. I just had to hope they really understood.

  Now I’m thinking like Rupert, I thought. When have they ever let me down?

  ‘Positions, everyone!’

  Eagle flew up into the air and the dogs ran off along the ledge. I went to the edge and jumped carefully down onto the mine cart track. I looked back to see if Rupert was coming, and was surprised when he landed beside me just a moment later.

  We stayed low as we made our way along the track towards the queue of carts, making sure to keep out of sight of everyone at the meal table.

  We reached the front cart in the queue and crouched down beneath it.

  ‘Once we’re in,’ I whispered, ‘we get this thing moving as quick as we can.’

  Rupert nodded nervously. I could almost smell his fear, but I didn’t blame him. I was impressed with how he did things even when they terrified him.

  That is bravery, I realised.

  ‘Ready?’ I said.

  ‘Ready.’

  I hoisted myself up and flipped into the cart, landing in the back and dropping down out of sight. No one saw me.

  Rupert stood up, flung his leg over the side, and immediately got stuck. He shifted his body awkwardly, and the cart began to clank about.

  ‘Hey!’ someone yelled. ‘Who’s that in the cart?’

  I grabbed Rupert and pulled him in, then kicked the brake lever. We began to click clack along the track.

  Rupert pulled himself up, and I spun around to see the many faces staring at us, both workers and soldiers.

  ‘Stop right there!’ shouted Sickle Soldier.

  I needed to make him mad so he would order his soldiers to chase us …

  ‘Hey, you!’ I shouted. ‘If you really want to find rocks, why don’t you check between your ears?’

  Sickle Soldier turned bright red.

  We’d hit the first descent and were gaining speed.

  ‘Who are they?’ Sickle Soldier demanded.

  ‘I don’t know, sir!’ said Ratty Minion.

  We reached the bottom and shot along the track between our ledge and a line of pillars.

  ‘We’re going to steal your precious minerals!’ I shouted, and my voice boomed off the cave walls.

  Sickle Soldier drew his rifle. ‘Down!’ I shouted.

  We ducked low as we heard the crack of gunfire, followed by the ping of bullets bouncing off the cart.

  ‘You’re gonna have to do better than that!’ I called.

  ‘After them!’ shouted Sickle Soldier.

  Ahead, the path split in two. Rupert reached out, pulled a lever, and the tracks switched to the left.

  We curved and zoomed out through open space.

  I dared to peek out. The guards were piling into the parked carts. Only Sickle Soldier and Ratty Minion remained behind, reloading their guns.

  We hit an incline and slowed. Our cart was heading towards a high but damaged wooden platform. We reached the crest and sped up again as we levelled out alongside the platform. Large parts of it had collapsed.

  The path ahead diverged again. To the right was the platform’s dock, and to the left the track curved towards a pillar and looped down around it. Rupert reached out and whacked a track lever, and we zagged left towards the pillar.

  It felt like we were riding down a corkscrew.

  I clutched the sides of the cart so hard my knuckles were white. Rupert heaved on the brake to stop us flying off into empty space. Beneath our feet, metal began to scream, and sparks shot out around us.

  Below, three carts carrying soldiers whizzed along another track. They’d taken a different route to us, but we were heading for the exact same junction.

  ‘Rupert—’

  ‘I know. I’ll get us there before them.’

  Rupert let go of the brake and we zoomed around the final curve. I felt the cart lift on one side, felt sure we were about to spin off through the void … and then we shot out onto straight, level track and slammed back down.

  As we flew towards the junction, the soldiers were right beside us.

  We whooshed through the junction just ahead of the soldiers. The route ahead curved back towards the loading zone. Sickle Soldier saw us coming and raised his rifle. Suddenly Eagle swooped on him!

  It was probably surprising to be attacked by an eagle in the depths of a cave.

  The other soldiers were just behind us! As they fired, we clicked in and curved along beneath our old ledge for a second time.

  Going around a bend in the shadows made it hard for the soldiers to take aim. As we neared the junction where we’d gone left before, Rupert jumped up to whack the track lever again. This time, we kept following the ledge and emerged out over the river.

  I glanced up at the ledge, trusting that my pack would be there waiting for me. If they weren’t, this was all for nothing. We had no backup plan.

  As Rupert began to slow us down, the first cart of soldiers hurtled round a bend after us.

  ‘Now, doggies!’ I shouted.

  Sunrise burst from the shadows like a snarling, snapping monster.

  The soldiers went screaming towards the river, Sunrise still snapping at them in the air.

  The second cart flew around the bend. The soldiers inside it barely had time to register what was happening before Brutus was flying at them. His front paws slammed against their cart, knocking the whole thing off the rails.

  As the second cart plummeted, I heard someone in the third cart slam the brakes. When it appeared around the bend, Nosey leapt from the ledge but misjudged his slowing target. He whacked the front of it and rebounded. There was a splash as Nosey hit the water. The cart teetered on the rails – inside, the soldiers’ eyes filled with fear – but then it clicked back down into place.

  My heart sank. If any soldiers kept their guns, our plan would fail.

  There was a flash of white from the ledge.

  ‘Zip!’ I shouted. ‘No!’

  He wasn’t meant to be a part of this. He wasn’t ready. But Zip didn’t care. He sprang from the ledge like a rocket. He hit the third cart with a resounding thud. The soldiers cried out as the cart on the track tumbled into the river.

  As Zip twisted in the air, I could tell that he was knocked out cold. H
e fell into the river and sank below the surface.

  I leapt out of the cart and ran back up the track. Soldiers and dogs thrashed about in the churning river. I watched, frozen with fear, as a soldier in waist-deep water pointed his gun towards the dogs. He pulled the trigger … nothing happened.

  I searched the white froth for any sign of Zip. Something pale moved beneath the surface, and I instantly dived down from the track. I plunged into the cold darkness of the water. I opened my eyes, but in the mix of soldier, dog and froth, shapes were hard to make out.

  I burst upwards, gasping for air. Downstream, a soldier had managed to grab Sunrise around the neck.

  I panicked. How many dogs will I lose today?

  A strange shrieking sounded above. I looked up to see Rupert leaping from the track.

  Rupert hit the soldier in a sprawling mess of limbs, driving him into the water.

  The soldier lost his grip on Sunrise. Rupert swam to Sunrise and grabbed her around the chest, then hauled her towards the shore, keeping her face above the choppy waters.

  I only had time for a split second of relief before I dived again, striving to overtake the current that carried Zip away. A rifle butt plunged through the water beside me, narrowly missing my shoulder. I jerked away, then boosted off the legs of the soldier who had tried to hit me.

  As I cleared the struggle, I thought I saw a dog-like shape turning in the flow. I was fighting for breath, but I couldn’t risk losing sight of him! Summoning all my strength, I kicked as hard as I could. My lungs were burning, but I reached out … and my fingers closed around Zip’s collar.