Chapter 34—The Sanctuary

"This one's smaller and darker." Nikki crinkled her nose in disapproval. They craned their necks to see inside. Jake and Christina still felt good about their choice, especially now that they were standing inside the heart-shaped opening.

"Is everyone ready?" Jake adjusted his headlamp. "Lights on, let's go." He was eager to get this day over with.

"It's freezing in here." Christina said.

For fear of getting chilled, the team moved forward at a good pace as the tunnel floor headed downhill. After what felt like hours inside the musty mine shaft, Jake yelled, "I see a light!"

Encouraged, the team pushed on, down through the hollow with a ceiling that was not much higher than their heads. Ranger barked a warning from the front.

"Stop!" Jake said. He was shining his flashlight on a hole large enough to block their way.

Nikki approached. "We need to find a way around it. See if there's another passage."

Christina backed against the rock wall to let Devin pass. Her spirits remained high thanks to the light ahead. Nikki stepped back and called for Ranger to come to her. He barked and left the guys alone to examine the hole.

"Yee-oww! What was that?" Christina's voice echoed against the walls of the tunnel, and she swiped at her hair.

"Bats, probably," Nikki said. "They live inside caves. I'm surprised we haven't run into any before now."

"Whatever it was, it scared the heck out of me," Christina said in a shaky voice as she swatted her hands around her head and shoulders to be sure the creature was gone.

"We must have flushed them out," Nikki said. "Bats sleep during the day and go outside at night. They won't hurt us; they're probably more scared than we are."

Christina wasn't so sure.

Jake and Devin returned, and Ranger started whining. "We've mapped out the hole," Devin said, bending down to pat and quiet Ranger. "It's an open pit that covers the floor for about fifteen feet—way too long to jump." The girls groaned. "There's a hanging bridge about ten feet down, but it doesn't look safe."

"The hole is deep," Jake said. "I dropped in a small rock and never heard it land. The good news though is that the left side of the cave floor rises up to form a bypass. If we use it, we'll be on the edge of the pit but will be able to stay above it. The bypass is narrow, so we'll go one at a time. And it's slippery, so take baby steps."

"We can do this," Nikki said, feigning confidence, but her insides quivered like a leaf in a storm. What kind of danger have I gotten everyone into? she wondered.

Jake motioned to the others to follow him. "Christina, get behind me, and Nikki get behind Devin."

Everyone took a deep breath and lined up to cross the ledge at the edge of nothing.

"Ranger first," Nikki said, and pointed him to the bridge and then to the other side. The dog crossed easily. He looked back and barked once, his tail wagging as if to say easy.

"Keep your heads down," Jake said as he stepped up onto the ledge. "You'll light up the ground and your feet."

"Good idea," Christina said, trying to sound brave, even though her voice was shaking. Until now, hiking had involved overcoming predictable challenges related to physical strength and coordination. But she had never expected something like this. Her heart thumped inside her ears.

Jake stepped onto the ledge and stuck his pole back. Christina grabbed it, thankful for this token bit of security. Nikki and Devin followed, and the human chain crept forward mere inches from the deep abyss. Holding her breath, Christina felt a primal urge to look into the hole.

"Don't look in it," Jake said, as if reading her mind. "Focus on your feet. If someone falls, we can't save you."

After what seemed like an eternity, but was only several minutes, Jake and Christina reached the other side. Jake handed his pole back for the others to grab as they each stepped off the ledge. Ranger barked his approval, and the sound echoed as if a hundred dogs had replied.

That scary crossing gives us a definite argument for not leaving the crystals behind if we do find them, Nikki thought. She wasn't eager to cross the behemoth again.

Now on the other side of the pit, Christina felt her vision clear, probably because her oxygen levels had increased. "Something's in this tunnel," she said, breathing deeply.

"Then let's get going," Jake said, and the human train crept toward the distant light—their beacon.

For the next hour, the twists and turns sent them deeper and deeper into the mountain. The farther they went, the colder it became but the brighter the light grew. Finally, they saw a bright opening. Jake walked through into a large cave room illuminated by a beam of light streaming from above. A gap in the ceiling allowed in a wide shaft of sunlight. The light turned the walls into an array of colorful, prism patterns.

"Wow, this is beautiful, like a sanctuary," Christina said in wonder.

As their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they realized the radiance came from hundreds of gems embedded in the walls.

"We're in a crystal cave," Christina said, turning slowly. A spectrum of colors surrounded them and moved through the space like a liquid kaleidoscope.

"This is incredible, like being inside a rainbow." Jake pulled off his hat and his hair stood up like lightning bolts. "Our hunch was right," he said, and looked at Devin with a satisfied smile. Devin remained quiet, mesmerized.

Nikki broke the spell. "I could chill here all day, but we need to do something. We don't know how long it'll take us to find the right crystals, but it seems likely they're here." She looked around, thinking this might be a good time to tell the truth.

"It's a good start," Christina said, "but maybe too good since we now have hundreds to choose from."

Ranger moved to Christina and pushed against her, making sounds as if trying to speak.

"Look at Ranger," Jake said, pointing. "He's acting like he knows something."

Right now I wish dogs could talk, Nikki thought.