Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16 A short while later, Amy sat back on her heels. "Ken's right. There's nothing here. It was all too long ago." They'd searched the simply furnished room thoroughly, including the small closet. Nothing remained from the home that Bob Troppo had made there. "I hate dead ends," Dan muttered. "I thought for sure we'd lucked out." They got up wearily and went back out into the crazily patterned hallway. Amy turned back for a last look and stopped dead. She pointed to the wall on top of the doorway. "Dan, look!" Amid old postcards from all over the world, crazy drawings, and loopy scrawled messages there was a silly drawing.

"Mom drew this," Amy said breathlessly, pointing to the heart. "I know it. It's drawn with a purple pen! And look, the eyes are red and the smile is blue. She used to make us heart-shaped waffles with strawberries for eyes and a blueberry smile." "Everybody's mom does that," Dan said. "But do they do zucchini curls for hair? Look! Green!" Dan gave her a pained look. "I liked to dip the zucchini in syrup." "HA," Dan said. "Okay, I know it's gross, but—" "No, HA. It could stand for Hope and Arthur. They were here!" Dan shivered with a sudden chill, as though the ghosts of their parents were right there underground with them. "Do you think they knew we'd come here?"

Amy whispered. Dan shook his head. "They'd never think we'd be going on the clue hunt. Did Grace know about the waffle zucchini thing?" Amy nodded. "Sure. She made them for me, too." "It must be a message for Grace, then," Dan said. "They were telling her where to go." "Where?" Dan pointed to the last word. "The old mine." It was late afternoon, but it was still brutally hot. The heat shimmered and bounced. Dan had to squint to see the map that Ken had made for them. They stood on the hill behind Ken's house. Or, Dan corrected in his mind, on top of Ken's house. "It's an old minefield back there, see," Ken had said, "so watch out for mine shafts— they're not all marked. The old ventilation shaft for Fossie's room is still there— you'll see it near the circle of orange flags. Take the first mine shaft past the flags and head down. Then head back the way you

came. Easy as pie, not that pie is easy to make, heh!" They left their bags and Saladin with Ken, who had rooms to rent for the night. Jeff had to get back to work, meeting a busload of tourists, but Shep, Nellie, Amy, and Dan carefully made their way through the field. They saw the orange warning flags, brilliant against the blue sky. "There's the ventilation shaft right there," Shep said, pointing. "So we take the next mine shaft over." "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I agreed to bring you here," Shep added, avoiding a mine shaft. "A little sightseeing, a little relaxation, sure. But climbing into an old mine isn't my idea of recreation." "You don't have to come," Dan said. "You can wait for us at the pub." "I'm not letting you go down alone," Shep said. "I haven't been there for you in the past, but I can do it now." He grinned. "I'm here to protect you against the ghost of Amelia Earhart. Or the principal without a face."

"Assistant principal," Dan corrected. "Here we are," Nellie said. She stopped at a shaft. An iron ladder led straight down to a bottom they couldn't see. "Well, let's get to it," Shep said. "If we don't come up in an hour, Jeff will come looking for us. Unless he forgets." Shep balanced carefully and started to climb down. Dan went after him. His fingers slipped on the metal, and he gripped it harder, his heart pounding. Why did they always end up underground? Caves, train tunnels, catacombs… Were the Cahills vampires? Did they hate the sun? Nellie swung down, and Amy brought up the rear. It was a long way to the bottom. Darkness crept over them, but there was enough light from the top to barely make out the rungs. Finally, Dan heard Shep's voice. "I'm there. It's about forty feet, I'm guessing." A light switched on. When his feet finally hit the ground, Dan let out a shaky breath of relief. Not that he'd tell anyone how he felt. But he was creeped out by being so far below, down a little hole.

They had all bought powerful lights in town, and Dan turned his on. The glow illuminated the shaft. A forgotten lantern lay caked with dust in a corner. The walls themselves looked as though they'd been hacked and gouged out by hand. "All right. If we follow the main tunnel and turn left, we should find Bob's mine," Shep said. Dan felt his lungs begin to constrict. With every step they disturbed more dust, and he felt the familiar tightness in his chest. "Are you okay?" Amy whispered. "Fine," he answered. He never liked to admit when he had trouble with his breathing. Nellie slipped the inhaler into his hand and he took a quick hit. He shot her a grateful look. The tunnel grew narrower. Every few feet they came to another spot that had been worked by a miner. Dan had expected the walls to glitter in many colors like opals, but they were a dull, chalky beige. The tunnel narrowed further and then twisted sharply right. A pile of rubble lay in front of an opening.