The Caves of Fear
Instantly all lights were directed at the back of the cave. Zircon
rushed around the statue and stopped short as his light found only rock
walls.
"He has to be here somewhere," the scientist bellowed. "Hunt for him!"
Rick stood for a moment estimating the direction from which the light
had come. He walked to the part of the wall on which they had seen the
shadow, and stood with his back to it. He flashed his light straight
ahead, and it fell on the broad back of the Black Buddha.
The others had followed his line of thought and were watching.
"Look for a door," Scotty said. He hurried to the back of the statue and
began examining it with his light. Rick joined him. Zircon got out a
jackknife and began to probe into cracks. Chahda got down on hands and
knees and felt along the base.
The back of the statue was seamed with cracks, but they ran
helter-skelter without apparent order. The illumination against which
the shadow was cast had been rectangular.
"There isn't a straight line in the bunch," Rick said, disappointed.
"What now?"
"There must be a way to open the door, wherever it is," Zircon stated.
"That's what we must look for, I think. It may be on the statue itself,
on the floor, or on a wall near by. Rick, you and Scotty take the
statue. Chahda and I will take the walls and floor."
"What are we hunting for?" Scotty asked.
"I don't know. Perhaps a knob, perhaps a keyhole. Look for anything
unusual."
Rick and Scotty began at opposite sides of the statue's back and started
working toward each other, examining every inch of the black stone
minutely. Zircon and Chahda started side by side on the wall behind the
statue and worked away from each other. Rick used his jackknife to probe
every suspicious crack or chip, but without success. He and Scotty
covered the back as high up as they could reach without finding a thing.
Zircon and Chahda worked along the wall until they were thirty feet
apart, then the scientist called a halt on the theory that the secret
lock wouldn't be that far from the door. The door was either in the
statue's back or near its base.
While Zircon and Chahda started examining the floor, Rick and Scotty
started on the statue's sides. There was more decoration along the
sides, so they had to go more slowly and carefully.
After a while, Chahda called, "Something here."
The others stopped what they were doing and hurried to him. The Hindu
boy's light was on a tiny slot in the floor. It seemed shallow. Rick
pointed out that the floor in the area was checkered, almost like a tile
floor.
"There must be a reason for that," Zircon said. He knelt by the slot and
peered into it. "Nothing in the slot, however. Rick, isn't yours a scout
knife?"
"Yes, sir." Rick handed it to him.
Zircon opened the screwdriver blade and pushed it into the slot. Nothing
happened. He moved it from side to side, with no effect.
"There must be some reason for that slot," Scotty said. "Try again,
professor. Push harder."
Zircon shoved the blade down into the hole and pushed. "There must be a
special key of some kind," he said finally. "That is, if the slot has
anything to do with the door. I suggest we continue the search until
we're satisfied that this is the only possibility."
Rick nodded, disappointed. He turned back to the statue and took a step
forward into space!
A wild yell burst from him as he felt himself falling, then Scotty had
him by the jacket and was hauling him back. Rick collapsed on the stone
floor, his heart pounding The others shot their flashlights into the
place where he had stepped.
A section of the floor had swung upward, right at the base of the
statue. It yawned open, and from its lip a flight of steps led downward.
"It worked," Chahda said. "But was so silent we never hear it!"
Scotty gripped his rifle and snapped off the safety catch, then holding
the weapon in one hand like a pistol, he took his flashlight in the
other hand and started down. Zircon was right behind him.
Rick got to his feet and felt for the dark-light camera. It hadn't been
jarred because his body had cushioned it. But he wanted to be sure the
strap was still secure on his shoulder. Satisfied that all was well, he
started down the steps after Zircon. He didn't fancy going into the
underground part of the cave, but there was no choice. This was what
they had come for.
There were ten broad stone steps carved from the rock. Rick shot his
light around and saw that a heavy beam ran from the underside of the
trap door down to the bottom of the stairs where it ended in a stone
block. It was a counterbalance, the weight of the stone evidently just
enough heavier than the door so that moving the latch would let it swing
open. The latch itself was a piece of metal, probably bronze, that slid
in a channel carved in the underside of the door. Rick guessed that the
sideways pressure of the blade in the slot had let the door open rather
than the downward shove Zircon had given. A cord of leather ran from the
latch back along the corridor so that anyone entering the rock tunnel
could tug on it and open the door without climbing the stairs.
Rick joined Zircon and Scotty at the bottom of the steps. Chahda was
right behind him. The stairs ended in a long, low passage, just high and
wide enough for a man to pass. It was perhaps fifty feet long, and it
ended in blackness that indicated a bigger passage, or another cave,
beyond. Rick touched the walls and noted the marks of ancient chisels.
The passage had been cut in the living rock.
"Have your rifles ready," Zircon directed. "Chahda, you have the big
light. Lead the way and we'll cover you."
Chahda switched on his big light and took the lead. The others, rifles
ready for instant use, followed close behind. Big Zircon held his weapon
over Chahda's shoulder as the Hindu boy walked slowly down the passage.
In a moment they were at the entrance to the next passage or cave.
Chahda peered in, turning his light from side to side. Zircon, looking
over his head, said, "A large cave beyond. Very large. Chahda, do you
see anything?"
Chahda shook his head. "Only rock. Nothing inside I can see."
"All right. Go ahead."
The Hindu boy stepped into the cave, the rest following. Rick saw that
Zircon hadn't exaggerated. The cave was even larger than the one that
held the Black Buddha. Chahda's big light picked out the opposite wall
dimly.
The scientist brought his own light into play, turning it on the walls
nearest them. "Odd," he muttered. "The character of the rock changes
completely. This is almost surely limestone."
Rick had to grin. Even chasing Long Shadow through an underground cavern
couldn't quiet Zircon's scientific curiosity. "What do we do now,
professor?" he asked.
Zircon looked up from his examination of the whitish rock. "Eh? Oh.
Sorry, Rick. Why, I suppose we explore a bit more. I don't think we'd
better go far, however. Now that we know that Long Shadow is here, we
had better return to camp and get extra food, batteries, and ammunition.
However, I would like a look at the opposite side. There must be further
passages, because this cave obviously doesn't contain our friend."
"Suppose...." Scotty started to say.
Rick never found out what Scotty was going to say, for at that moment
the four whirled as something grated behind them. They were in time to
see metal rods slam home across the entrance through which they had
come!
Rick and Scotty reached the entrance first. Each of the boys grabbed one
of the rods and tugged. They were rigid.
"We're locked in!" Rick's voice was harsh.
"Let me look," Zircon said quietly.
The boys stood back while he made a careful inspection. From floor to
top of the passage entrance the metal bars blocked the way. They were
about an inch thick, spaced only six inches apart. They had shot out of
holes in one side of the passage and lodged in corresponding holes on
the opposite side.
None of them had noticed the holes. They had been too curious about what
lay beyond the passage.
Zircon put his massive strength against one of the bars. It didn't move.
He tried to slide it either way. There wasn't even a fraction of an inch
of slack.
He turned, and at the expression on his face a shiver slid down Rick's
spine. Long Shadow had caught them neatly.
They were trapped in the Caves of Fear!