Read Online The Tunnels of Tarcoola by Jennifer Walsh - Free Book Online

up the cave. The walls were honeycombed in places. Some of the hollows were obviously shallow, but many of them extended into darkness.
    â€˜That’s it,’ she murmured. ‘I’d better not drain the battery.’
    Martin was having some difficulty working on his map in the erratic light. Then he dropped a bombshell.
    â€˜Umm, does anyone remember exactly where we came in?’ he asked casually.

DAVID opened and shut his mouth a few times, but nothing came out.
    â€˜I thought you were making a map,’ he said finally.
    â€˜Yeah, but . . . ’ Martin looked intently at his map. Andrea looked over his shoulder.
    â€˜It doesn’t give much away, does it?’ she remarked.
    â€˜Well, what about your knife, and marking our way?’ Martin said accusingly to David.
    â€˜I was going to, but you were all rushing around taking photographs.’ He glared meaningfully at Andrea. ‘Being tourists.’
    â€˜Let’s have something to eat,’ said Kitty brightly.
    â€˜All right, but we’d better get untied first,’ conceded Andrea.
    They freed themselves and attacked the food, which Kitty had laid out on a flat rock.
    â€˜Don’t eat it all!’ she warned. ‘We may have to go onto rations.’
    Andrea scratched around in her bag and produced a candle which she balanced on the rock and lit. In the flickering light her face was ghostly. Kitty shivered.
    â€˜There’s something about this place,’ she said. ‘We’re not supposed to be here.’
    David wandered around with the torch, trying to find the opening through which they had entered.
    â€˜Look,’ he said, coming back to the others. ‘I’ve found a possibility. I’ve made a mark there, anyway. We’ll just have to have a look.’
    â€˜Okay.’ Martin threw away his apple core.
    â€˜Martin!’ Kitty’s voice was stern. ‘Bring that back here.’
    â€˜All right, Mum.’ He retrieved the apple core and put it in the bag.
    â€˜Aren’t we going to get tied up again?’ demanded Andrea.
    â€˜Oh – I suppose we’d better.’ David untangled the rope and tied it on securely, passing the end to Andrea. She did a double knot around her waist and passed it to Kitty and Martin.
    â€˜Let’s leave the candle burning here,’ Andrea suggested.
    They moved cautiously into the tunnel David had chosen. He started to have doubts almost immediately. It felt a little too narrow, and wound a little too tightly. Then suddenly it was broader and flatter.
    â€˜Sorry,’ said David. ‘Definitely not it.’
    Martin pushed forward to look. ‘There wasn’t a wide bit, was there?’
    â€˜No, and it’s very rough on the ground now.’ David looked down, and his torch swept over rocks and loose stones. ‘I don’t like this. Let’s go back.’
    He turned towards Andrea, and stumbled. A rock rolled under his foot, pitching him into the wall of the tunnel. The rope jerked, pulling Andrea off balance. There was a rumble and, with a flurry of loose stones, the ground opened up beneath her. Andrea screamed and disappeared.
    The rope snapped tight around David’s waist and his legs were jerked from under him. Face-down, scrabbling for something to cling to as Andrea’s weight and momentum dragged him backwards, he could see nothing but a blur of rocks and stones on the ground beneath him. Then his torch went out.
    He could hear dragging and scrabbling noises from the other side of the hole. Kitty was screaming ‘Andrea!’ and Martin was screaming ‘Kitty!’ Were they all sliding into the hole?
    David managed to hook his arm around a rock that was not loose and the rope jerked tight around his waist. He could hardly breathe. He fumbled with his free hand for the switch.
    â€˜Don’t let me go!’ called Andrea’s plaintive voice.
    â€˜Can you grab hold of