While everyone else was preoccupied with their opponents, Darren and Lewis chased Vincent through a stalagmite maze on the far end of the cavern.
Darren and Lewis split up and tried to corner
him. Vincent, on the other hand, just
stopped and spun around to face his opponents.
"Aha!" exclaimed Darren. "Ready to meet your doom?"
Without flinching, Vincent gave up. "Don't hurt me. Just don't punch me." Vincent clutched his hands together and
begged. "I promise I won't give you
any trouble."
Darren and Lewis watched as sniveling Vincent got down
on his knees. "Please don't hurt
me."
Darren was stunned, looked at Lewis. "Really?
Really? This is our reward. To catch the coward of the bunch?"
Lewis was shaking his head. "Hey, we came all this way for a fight
and we pick the one who immediately gives up.
What's up with that?"
"Sorry, Lewis," said Darren, patting Lewis
on the back. "It doesn't look like it's
going to happen. But cheer up. Maybe something
else may come up."
Looking pitiful, Vincent just stayed on his knees, while
his captives tied him up. "I'm so
sorry that I've let you down." He
sympathized with Lewis.
"It's alright," said Darren. "He'll get over it. Oh, and sorry, we don't have any rope to tie
you up."
"That's fine.
I can pretend to be tied up."
Vincent clasped his hands together behind his back, and then tried to
get up. "Umm... I need a little help here."
Lewis and Darren watched Vincent struggle to get up,
before finally helping him.
Behind the waterfall, Rose took Sam over to the secret
chamber's entrance.
"OK, Sam," said Rose. "This is it. This is your part of the
mission. In this bag are the books. You are to go through the secret entrance and
put the books... well... wherever."
Rose had no idea what Sam would find on the other side of the wall.
"What will I..." started Sam.
Rose cut him off.
"I don't know. It may be
another room or another passageway.
Whatever it is. You, Samuel
Henry, are about to go into a place very few people have been. Remember what I taught you about orbs. Remember the incantations that takes you
home." She wanted to encourage
him. "Don't be afraid to use
them."
Sam nodded his head.
"I get it." He looked
at the stone archway. To him, the wall
looked like any stone wall. They
couldn't see in. Rose touch of one of
the stones to prove the shield of energy was real.
"Leave the books. Even the bag if you want to. This is so
important to all of us and so many others.
We've waited a long time for this moment. More than you know." Rose held back her tears, fearful for Sam's
life. She hugged him hard and whispered.
"Be brave.”
They hadn’t seen Tinean fall into the shallow
pool. Just as Rose let go of Sam, Tinean
had gotten out and was reaching out to grab him. Rose pushed Sam into the wall,
shutting her eyes as a bright flash of light flared from the stones. Then she
heard a snapping, crackling, and sizzling like a raw steak first hitting the
grill. The sounds ended just as quickly as they started. She couldn't look, but then the smell of
something burning hit her nose. Now, it even
smelled like a steak.
Meanwhile, everyone stopped fighting as the brilliant
light filled the cavern. Mrs. Steers shielded
her eyes from the flash. Dr. Herkeimer
took this opportunity to form an orb and throw it at her. She was quick,
jumping to one side to miss it. The orb
whizzed past her and hit Bruno’s left arm.
"Awwww..." screamed Bruno. Uncle Griff and Xavier fell back from him as
he took off running.
Bruno ran into the passage that went back out into
Fingal's Cave. Eventually, he reached
the opening and came to a halt. The icy
waters were churning, violently splashing up over the walls, freezing as it hit.
Slipping and sliding, Bruno nearly lost his balance
several times as he climbed out of the cave's entrance. Outside, it was a white squall. He could barely make out the walkway but
grabbed hold of the railing and leaned into the wind and snow. He struggled along until he could see the
fishing boat.
Jumping on board, Bruno made his way into the
wheelhouse. Brushing the ice and snow
from his coat and hat, he rubbed his arms to get warm.
Fan rushed in. "We must get out of here,"
said Fan, grabbing Bruno's arm and disappearing.
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