A Small Town

Chapter Twenty-Six\ The Square Path

Bax settled Lisa back down gently and brushed a stray lock of brown hair from her face, then looked up at Sarah. There was a nasty red welt growing on her cheek and he felt a stab of guilt.

"Did I do that?"

She nodded almost imperceptibly, biting her lower lip.

"Sorry, I guess I... panicked." He finished, feeling stupid.

She was looking at the ground, but now her eyes rose to meet his. "It's okay, I think you got it worse than me." She jutted her chin towards the cut on his face.

Bax's hand rose instinctively and he felt the swollen gash on his cheek and then fingered his brow and checked his hand for blood. Sarah seemed to make up her mind and shuffled over to him pushing his hand away. She used his scarf to wipe away the blood from the wound with a precise but surprisingly gentle touch.

"There," she said, satisfied. "The bleedings almost stopped, just don't touch it.

He gave her a rueful smile as she sat back, her huge doe-like eyes catching his and holding them. Looking into those eyes he suddenly remembered the dream he had had that night back at the hotel. Only a dream, he thought, but so vivid he could almost feel her naked body pressed against him. He looked away feeling a flush of embarrassment and guilt.

Glancing around their hiding place he saw it was more than just a hole. They were sitting in a small open area no more than four feet square but a dark narrow shaft angled downward to his right. He fumbled in his pockets and came out with a pack of matches. They were from the hotel and had the White Birch logo stamped in silver script on the shiny black cardboard cover. He didn't remember taking them but now he flipped open the pack, tore out a match and scraped it to life on the back cover. He crawled over to the opening of the shaft and held the match up, its feeble flicker glow did little, but he could see that it was no dead end.

Behind him, Sarah spoke. "There's a network of tunnels. I've been down here before..."

Bax turned and looked at her incredulously. "Why would there be a tunnel system under a forest?"

Sarah shrugged. "Most of them are natural I think, but some were dug out a long time ago. There's one that goes back to the church, like a monks hole..."

Bax shook his head, this place just got weirder and weirder. "Does Teddy know about these tunnels?"

"No, but he'll figure it out." There was no hesitation in her answer, somehow she was sure of the fact. Sarah pointed a shaky finger at Lisa, "Can you carry her? We should go..."

The match had burned down to his fingertips and he threw it in the dirt as he crouched and slid his arms under Lisa to pick her up. "Do you know the way?"

Sarah stopped at the opening of the shaft "There are... markings." She said, then she turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Bax lifted Lisa, feeling once again like a groom with his new bride but also like a father with a sick child, and followed Sarah. Lisa let out a small groan and her eyes flickered but she did not awaken.

The floor of the tunnel tilted down at a thirty-degree angle and Bax felt his boots slide on frozen earth. This was dangerous, especially carrying Lisa's limp body.

He could sense more than see Sarah moving ahead of him. Eventually, the floor of the tunnel levelled off and Bax had a sickening thought of how deep under the ground they must be... how much rock and dirt hovered menacingly just overhead.

"Matches..." Sarah said in a whisper.

He shifted Lisa onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry so that he could hold her with one arm and then fumbled in his pocket for the small square of cardboard.

Sarah groped, her hand touching his chest momentarily and then took the matches from his outstretched hand.

He heard her open the pack and then strike one. Nothing happened, she struck it again and a tiny flame burst into existence. Bax had expected it to light up the corridor like it would in a movie, but the match cast only the smallest circle of light. Sarah held it up and Bax saw that there were indeed markings scratched into the walls. They were at a fork in the tunnel and an 'X' was etched into the right-hand path while a square was marked on the other. Sarah headed off down the left tunnel without a word holding the match ahead of her. She moved more quickly with the light of the match but after less than a minute she was forced to drop it. Their world went black and she resumed her much slower pace.

Bax wondered why she didn't light another but said nothing. He placed his hand on the shadow of her shoulder and they moved steadily forward.

After what seemed like an hour in the dark, but was probably no more than ten minutes, Sarah stopped again. He listened as Sarah struck another match and the weak flame bloomed. After being in the full darkness for so long, the matchlight seemed much brighter and Bax relished it, knowing it would soon burn out.

Directly in front of them was another branching of tunnels, three this time. The markings consisted of an 'O' to the left, a 'T' to the right and another square marking the centre corridor. Once again they followed the square and again the match was extinguished much sooner than he wanted.

They continued in this way for hours, moving slowly in the pure blackness of the tunnels for long stretches then stopping to light a match and choose the path marked with the square. Bax found that darkness had a weight that he could feel and it pressed down upon him each time the match went out. Bax's hand on Sarah's shoulder felt damp but he would not remove it for fear of getting separated.

The fireman's carry proved ideal, and after a while, Bax barely noticed Lisa's weight on his shoulder but instead focused on her steady breathing which at least seemed hopeful even if she would not wake.

He had no idea which direction they were headed in but, with each match, there was always a square scratched into the wall to guide them. At first, the tunnels had been rough and covered with twisting roots from the forest above, but now they had entered a part of the labyrinth that was obviously man-made. The walls were straight and smooth though still the roots grew through cracks and snaked down into the floor.

They came to another stop and Sarah lit the match. How many does she have left? Bax wondered, now understanding why she had used them so sparingly. She turned left following the square as always and again the match lasted barely thirty seconds before it burned her fingers and she dropped it to the ground with a slight gasp. The darkness settled in, but this time it was different.

Bax strained his eyes and he could see, not much but it was surely lighter than before. As they moved forward the light grew brighter. Not lamplight or firelight but some diffused glow. He took his hand off of Sarah's shoulder and held it up in front of his face. He could count the fingers, five black sticks against the purple glow ahead.

Sarah stopped again but did not light a match.

"Look up, but be quiet." She whispered.

Bax did as he was told and was shocked to see a small circle of sky far above.

"My God..." He shuddered. "We're at the bottom of the well..."