The B Girls - By Cari Cole Page 0,54

little scary."

Lucy looked ahead at what she could see of the tunnel as she put her pack back on. It narrowed back down a little but maintained its height as it curved away to the left.

"Ready?" Mae said once Jane had her pack back on.

"No, but let's go anyway," Lucy said. "You first." Now that they weren't faced with vertical challenges, Mae seemed to be comfortable. Lucy wished she felt the same and kept telling herself the walls weren't actually closing in around her. That first bit had been tricky but it was over almost before it started. She refused to think about having to crawl on her belly for any distance more than five feet.

Jane didn't look too happy either but she didn't look like she was going to scream any time soon.

They trudged along for what seemed like hours but when Lucy checked her watch was actually more like ten minutes. Her neck, shoulders and back were screaming at the hunched over shuffle they had to do to keep from banging their heads on the ceiling.

Lucy saw Mae duck her head to go under a ceiling that suddenly dropped two feet.

"Oh." Mae said as her backpack brought her up short. She backed up a step and dropped to her hands and knees looking ahead into the smaller tunnel.

"Tell me it's only a couple feet," Lucy said.

"Longer than that but I can't tell how much." She crawled in a few feet then backed out and stood up. "I don't think it gets any smaller and I don't think it goes like this for very long."

"Do we have to crawl?" Jane asked looking at the smaller opening.

Mae leaned down again. "Maybe not but it would be a lot easier." She looked a Lucy. "What do you think?"

"That I'd really like to go home. But, we don't have a choice. I think I'll be okay if it doesn't get smaller." She wasn't even a little sure she'd be okay but as long as she kept telling herself Belle was in danger she could at least try.

"Okay then." Mae dropped back down to her knees and crawled into the lower tunnel.

Lucy closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before following. She kept her thoughts focused on the pain in her knees and off the tons of rock over head. The extra layer of the coveralls added a little padding but the rock was still as hard as . . . a rock. She repeated "ouch" in her head like a mantra every time a knee came down. How far had they crawled? Twenty-five yards? Fifty? It felt like a mile. Even though the tunnel was smaller, there was room above and to both sides so that she didn't feel like she was being squeezed. Still . . . "How much farther?" She was starting to feel like it was harder to breathe.

"I think we're close. The light is doing something different up ahead."

Jane groaned behind Lucy. "Please. I think my kneecaps are about done."

They shuffled on few more yards. "I see it. We're almost there. It opens up again. I think it's another room."

Skinny Dipping In The Dark

The ceiling rose abruptly to what seemed cathedral height after the Wes Craven horror show of the crack. In reality the ceiling rose to ten feet above the floor.

Lucy scrambled to her feet, gulping in huge draughts of air, and giving her whole body a shivering shake like a dog waking from a nap.

"I've already scouted ahead," Mae said. "The next part looks pretty easy. We have to climb down over there." She pointed to the far right corner. "I don't think we'll have to use the ropes. Lot's of easy holds."

Jane went off to check out the next hole in the floor and Mae turned her attention back to Lucy. "Why don't you sit down, catch your breath and have some water," she suggested.

Lucy found a convenient rock and sat down to pull herself back together. The good new was she hadn't completely lost it. The bad news was she had no idea what was still waiting in this awful place.

Jane came back before she could conjure up much of a mental horror show.

"What about that next hole?" she asked.

"You're right," Jane said. "We probably don't need the gear but I'm going to rig a rope anyway to be safe." She unclipped her pack from the rope, unclipped the rope from Lucy's harness and started to coil it back up.

"By all means let's