The Treasure of Ecarte Island

Dark Entries

Gretchen, having the agility of a dog, could have easily outpaced Petrich, but her sight was apparently hindered far more than Petrich's. His ability to perceive the light of the cave walls kept her in his sight, not to mention upright. The path he followed was littered with anything and everything that could twist an ankle in the dark.
He had absolutely no idea where this 'abyss' could be. If Gretchen came upon it, would she even know to halt, or would she simply pitch herself in? Moreover, how did she even know to cast away the stone there?? How did she know anything about anything??
Before Petrich could ponder any possible answers, a monsterous noise echoed off the walls about him. He could not perceive if whatever made the bone chilling sound was before him or behind, nor if it were near or far away.
"For the sake of the gods, Gretchen!" Petrich shouted, "Please get where you are going, so we can get out of here!!"

It was the strange sound they had heard earlier. . .only louder and nearer. Both Nora and Hilary caught their breath in sudden fright and immediately clasped onto each other, as if they were mere children again hearing a shriek of thunder.
"It sounds too near for us to escape whatever it is," Nora whispered near Hilary's ear.
Hilary scanned the wall where they crouched and spied a small opening looking to be just big enough for himself to squeeze through.
"Come on," he whispered back to her, "Whatever it is surely cannot fit through here."
          Hilary put himself inside the space that was far smaller than even the closet he kept his shoes at Koi House. It was, however, enough room for Nora to slip into as well, but only if they stood closely together.
          There was no room for a torch, much less a lit one. Nora had no choice but to douse it. So, they stood in the pitch dark, breathing each other's breath and listening for the sound of whatever the cave had decided to harbor in its vast dark space. 
           They could hear its breathing now, somewhere out there and the sound of its movement. Whatever it was walked upright, for they could hear the heavy thud of large feet. Then came the eye-watering, nauseating stench.
           Oh gods!! Nora's mind wailed, pressing her face against Hilary's shoulder hoping to filter out the offensive smell. 
           Perhaps it was best not to actually see the creature that made such sounds and radiated a stench that Nora now recognized as the putrid smell of gangrene.  As it drew nearer, Nora and Hilary did their best to calm their breathing. Even the slightest sound tended to bounce off every surface of the cave, echoing it much further than seemed possible.
          The creature's bulk settled just outside their hiding space. They could hear it sniff about the opening, then a sound much like a talon on stone. In the dark, Nora felt the unseen claw gently swipe the arm of her blouse. She drew in breath and held for what felt like an eternity. Her mind begging the creature to please, please go away.
           The claw once again swiped her blouse and this time snagged it. It was all she could do not to scream out loud as the claw continued to tug at her as the creature made grunting noises outside.
            And then from far beyond came another, more familiar noise. It was a loud yet faraway yelp of a dog that was surely Gretchen. The claw immediately retracted, ripping a hole in Nora's sleeve as the monster outside abruptly turned about and made quick steps away from them and on into the cave.
             Both Hilary and Nora took time to breath in large gulps of air, since the creature's stench diminished after its departure.  Hilary slipped out of the crevice and helped Nora out.
              "At least I still have the yarn in hand." Hilary said, "But no light." Then with the sound of a flint wheel lighter, Nora's face illuminated before him. She took up their extinguished torch, wrapped a bit more moss around the end and lit it once more.
               Hilary breathed a sigh of relief.  Nora's expression was even more solemn than before, as she faced the direction the creature had taken.
               "I. . .I don't know what to do," Nora lamented sadly, inspecting the nearly eight inch rent in her blouse.  "It's heading for Petrich now."
              The stench in the air had abated to just nearly imperceptible, leading Hilary to question if there had actually been a creature after all. But, of course there was a creature of some sort standing here only a few moments ago, his mind assured him, but then the more logical part of his brain butted in. You did not actually SEE anything!
              But. . . Ellenora's blouse!
               Snagged on a dangling root, a protruding rock. You SAW nothing!
                But I heard. . . I smelled. . .
                You heard and smelled what? Do you hear or smell anything now??
                 As his mind continued to argue with itself, Hilary did not, or more like, could not concentrate on Nora who had made an escape. She left him with a circle stones with the rest of the long burning moss lit to give him plenty of light. He stared at it, then down at his wrist where the end of the yarn that had once been Petrich's knitted jumper still tied and could lead him out of the cave whenever he chose.
               "Damnation, Ellenora," he grumbled at the dark beyond his reach. "You both deserve to just be left here. . .with the land crabs." Dredging up the childhood memory of the hungry land crabs gave him a sudden, fierce shudder.