Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 113 - Punting, Ladders, and Do's

The Abernathys, the Gaffneys from the west and the Gaffneys from the east all made their way together from the bottom of the vertical shaft in the Abernathys cave, through the lava tube passageway, to the glowing cave at the end, some two to three miles away. To the surprise of everyone who'd ever visited the cave before, it wasn't completely dark inside. More rocks were visible along the waterline than was usual during most of their visits, suggesting the tide was out. The lower water level also exposed a hairline crack on the opposite side of the cavern, right at the waterline. Normally it was invisible in the darkness, and far enough underwater no light penetrated from the outside. But now it emitted a narrow band of filtered light.

That wasn't the only surprise though. They were not alone in the cavern. A seal lay perched on a rock in the dim patch of light. It turned in alarm to look at them when they entered from the lava tube.

"Arr, arr, arr," the seal clambered at them when the first of their group approached.

"A seal," Zack exclaimed in surprise. "What is he doing here?"

"Sleeping?" Alan suggested.

"I thought they usually sleep on a beach," Jessie said.

"I thought that too," Cindy said. "Maybe it's too crowded on the beach today? It is a nice day outside."

The seal barked twice more before diving into the water.

"I think this confirms Neil's suspicion that this cavern is connected to the open ocean underwater, not far away," Greg remarked.

"The opening must be relatively big, for a seal to swim through it. He's bigger than the fish we usually see," Susan said.

"I take it finding wildlife in your cave isn't very common," Liam remarked.

"We do typically see things swimming in the water when we are here, but we've never seen anything as large as a seal before," Greg said.

Everyone watched as the marine mammal surfaced one more time to look at them, before disappearing beneath the surface of the water and swimming away. Their flashlights scanned the water, especially those areas furthest away from where they stood, looking for him.

"I don't think he's coming back," Zack remarked.

"Indeed. I believe we have sufficiently disturbed his resting place for the time being. I doubt he will return," Greg agreed.

"So where is this glowing cave?" Malcom asked once everyone was convinced the seal was gone.

"We're in it," Alan said.

"I don't see anything that glows," Liam remarked.

"You have to turn your flashlights off to see it," Cindy told him.

"Only one of us? Or all of us?" Ali asked.

"Everybody does," Alan said.

"It has to be completely dark. Even then it takes your eyes some time to adjust," Cindy said.

"I don't know if we'll be able to see it with the light coming in through the far wall," Susan said more doubtfully.

"It's not that bright, Mom. I think we still can," Zack told her.

"We can try," Greg suggested.

One by one the flashlights went off. Gradually the things that glowed in the cave became visible, though less distinctly so than they sometimes were. Perhaps not surprisingly, the things that glowed best were the things furthest from the water and the natural source of light, meager though it was.