The Cavern Page 6

  “Watch out below,” called her brother.

  Ellie stepped out of the way as he dropped a coiled-up ladder over the edge. The caving ladder unrolled in two sinuous lengths of steel cable, linked by aluminium-bar steps. She reattached herself to the rope so that Max could belay as she climbed, then placed a foot on the bottom rung to begin her climb back to the surface.

  Chapter Nine

  Sam was sitting with Frida and Aaron, eating a late lunch of steak and chips when Ellie and her brother walked back into the hotel. He swallowed a mouthful and waved them over.

  “What happened to you two?”

  A slight blush coloured Ellie’s cheeks at his question and she glanced at her brother like she was seeking approval to answer.

  “They’re bound to find out anyway, you might as well say.”

  Sam’s eyebrows raised. “This sounds interesting. Out with it then.”

  Ellie filled them in on their morning, her face a little sheepish as she mentioned Anastas catching them out.

  “Let’s hope he keeps his mouth shut,” muttered Aaron. “That sort of thing could get us blacklisted by the council, no matter how much money I throw at them.”

  Ellie blew a raspberry at him. “Oh, give it a break! As if Anastas is going to say anything that would risk a steady stream of income from other cavers. It’ll be fine.”

  Aaron took a deep breath, but didn’t seek to further the argument.

  “Anyway, how did you go with the council today? Did you sort out whatever bullshit reason they have for keeping us topside?” asked Ellie, obviously keen to move the conversation away from her transgression.

  “With any luck we should have access within a day or two. I talked to a guy there who seemed to think the hold-up was due to a woman called Karen. He didn’t know of any extra paperwork that needed to be done, so hopefully I can clear up her concerns in our meeting tomorrow.”

  “Couldn’t get hold of her today then?” asked Frida.

  “Nah, she was out of the office this morning, apparently family business or something. I’ve got a ten o’clock meeting booked with her in the morning.”

  “So, that still leaves us with the next day and a half to kill,” said Ellie, stealing a chip off Sam’s plate. “After we’d packed up our stuff at the sink hole, Anastas suggested we explore some of the local mines instead if we were desperate for something to do.”

  Sam filled them in on the one he’d found while on the ambulance call out. “The property was abandoned, so we’d be unlikely to attract any attention.”

  Ellie leant over the table and planted a kiss on his lips. “I knew there was a reason I brought you along, babe. As long as the buttressing looks okay, that sounds like a plan.”

  “What do you want to do tonight?” Sam paused, taking a sip of beer from his glass. “Mia recommended a local guy who does ghost tours, supposedly fairly entertaining.”

  Ellie’s eyes lit up at the idea. “Ooh, I love a good ghost story! Count me in.”

  “Anyone else?” Sam glanced around the rest of the group but got no other takers. “Looks like it’s just you and me then. I’ll give him a call and set it up.”

  ***

  With the Miner’s Mother satisfied for the moment, Kaz walked back to town along the edge of the road. She no longer carried the hessian sack and her sheathed knife was discretely covered by her shirt. At the sound of an approaching car from behind, Kaz walked further onto the verge away from the tarmac, but instead of passing, it pulled up and stopped beside her. She turned, taking in the dust coated Duco of the highway patrol police car, a slight sneer lifting her lip.

  “Your car looks like shit, Trev. It needs a wash even worse than you.”

  The cop ignored her baiting and leant across the cabin to push open the passenger door. “Get in, we need to talk.”

  Kaz considered telling him to fuck off, but instead bit her tongue and climbed into the car. She knew a meeting with the Miner’s Mother always left her frayed at the edges.

  “What’s this I hear about you obstructing access to the cave? If she doesn’t get fed again, and soon, we risk her going in search of a meal herself. And if it’s a choice between a stranger, or one of our own townspeople again, I know who I’d choose.”

  Kaz clenched her fists, driving the nails deep into her palm in an effort to keep her temper. “You think I don’t fucking know that? I just had her teeth inches away from my neck. She’s hungry, I could feel it. But if we let a second group of cavers go missing without any preparation, we’re going to drag more attention than we can deal with.”

  “What do you mean? No one’s questioned my report on the last pair’s disappearance. Nor are they going to, because there’s nothing to find. I burnt everything, and their car’s at the bottom of a dam.”

  “Which means we have to do something different this time,” said Kaz rolling her eyes at him. “For a police officer, you’re pretty fucking stupid sometimes, Trevor. I’ll ensure they’re granted access to the cave, but I need it to look like the town did everything possible to ensure their safety before they enter and meet a tragic end.

  “Don’t worry. It won’t be our family paying the price for her return to hibernation this time around.”

  ***

  Sam and Ellie followed at the back of the group as the Ghost Tour exited the Pintalba Anglican Church. They were accompanied by a group of self-proclaimed “Grey Nomads”, four retired friends who had driven into town that afternoon towing a pair of matching caravans. So far, Sam was having a good time. Their guide had set the atmosphere by wearing a black suit that wouldn’t have been out of place at the town’s founding. Going by the name Dermot McClean, he had deep set eyes hidden in the shadow of his prominent forehead, coupled with a perpetually severe expression. He’d had an unsettling effect on some of the group, and Sam had felt Ellie recoil before accepting McClean’s handshake on first introduction. From there, the group had trailed past various houses, hearing tales of hauntings and madness before ending up in the church.

  Sam glanced over his shoulder one last time, an unsettling feeling that the crucified statue above the altar had stared at him the whole time. For a small town, the church was surprisingly large. Brick walls soared into shadow-filled arches, while in the absence of daylight, the huge stained-glass windows were reduced to barely distinguishable shapes of severe looking religious figures. McClean had led them through the church with nothing more than a candle, telling them of a vicar who wandered the premises at night, often attending funerals unbidden. Sam suppressed a shiver. Maybe it hadn’t been the sculpture observing their progress.

  From the church steps, McClean led them across a deserted street into an unlit public park. A simple block of parched grass surrounded by malnourished trees, it was home to the local fallen soldiers’ monument. A teenage boy and girl sat on a wooden bench with arms around each other, ignoring the group that shuffled past. McClean led them to a far corner of the park where a statue of a wizened figure stooped at the base of an ancient oak tree. The breeze of earlier had died, leaving an eerie stillness to the night. Above, an occasional wisp of cloud was the only imperfection on a heaven lit by the Milky Way. McClean re-lit his candle, so that the group could see the small statue more clearly.

  It appeared to be some sort of thin humanoid creature, with arms and legs too long for its body, and fingers that were tipped with prominent nails, closer to talons. Its clothes were close fitting, and in some sections, it was hard to tell where cloth finished, and skin began. But it was the eyes that truly captured Sam’s attention. Almond shaped with a vertical setting. Although carved from stone, they held a malevolent glee. Ellie grabbed hold of his hand, pressing herself close to his side.

  “I’d like to introduce you to the Pintalba Knocker,” said McClean, his voice deep like grated rock. “This nasty piece of work was thought to inhabit the mines around the area. Stories of creatures within mines aren’t new, and there’s a good chance our one found its origin in the myt
hs of Cornish miners who moved here to chase opal. However, our imp was decidedly more blood thirsty than any other I’ve researched.

  “Folklore states that Knockers were creatures who would notify miners of danger, by making tapping or creaking noises from deep within the stone. To ignore such a warning would often result in death, whether through tunnel collapse, horrific injury, or for others… disappearance without a trace.

  “Now, despite opposition from the local minister,” said McClean, nodding his head back in the direction of the church, “some within the mining community began to treat the creature as a semi-deity, referring to it as ‘The Miner’s Mother’. Shrines became common at the entrance to opal mines, where the miners would leave small gifts. At the start, it was commonly a bit of the man’s lunch, cold meat or some bread. But as time went by it became more common to leave a thimble of blood from a nicked vein. Mines which didn’t follow this practice experienced a higher number of fatal accidents, cave-ins or plain disappearances.”

  Ellie pointed at the creature’s hand, which held a small bowl. “Is that what I think it is then?”

  A wicked smile briefly lit the guide’s face before it was quickly smothered. “You have a sharp eye, Miss. Yes, that’s the type of bowl the miners would open a vein over. Looks like a dog’s bowl, eh? Just the right size and shape for an animal to drink from.”

  McClean brought his candle close to the statue’s face, holding the dancing flame under its chin so the facial features appeared to writhe with a barely contained fury. Sam winced as Ellie tightened her grip on his hand. He didn’t blame her, the guide had the whole group spellbound, each person silent, eyes fixed on McClean as he talked.

  “It was around the 1940s that superstition about the Miner’s Mother peaked. Deaths were not uncommon, and increasingly blamed on the creature that lurked in the shadows underground. It became feared that the Mother was no longer satisfied by the miners’ bloody offerings. In close huddles, miners began to whisper of seeing loved ones who had been lost to ‘mining accidents’ appear again, beckoning them deeper into the darkness. Those who followed seldom returned.”

  McClean lifted the candle away from the statue and blew it out. “Shortly after that the mines began to close, often without substantive reason, as most were still producing significant amounts of opal. Now they lie dormant, and the town has gradually died alongside.”

  McClean turned and began to lead the group out of the park and back to the street. “That concludes our tour for the evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you’ve found my stories somewhat entertaining.”

  As the elderly members of their tour began a slow walk back to the Pintalba Hotel, Sam hung back for a moment at the edge of the park. “Hey, Dermot, do you have a minute for another question?”

  The guide nodded, buttoning the front of his black jacket against a breeze that stirred the leaves above.

  “A couple of mates and I are set to explore a new cave system discovered under Mr. Anastas’ property. I was talking to the paramedic, Mia, today. She said you’d mentioned a report of a meteorite punching through into a cave system around 1910?”

  “I’ve heard stories,” he said. “Although there isn’t a whole lot of evidence. All the people who could’ve provided firsthand accounts are long dead.”

  “Do you think it could be the same cave system?”

  The guide shrugged. “Anything’s possible. A number of the mines have breached sections connecting with subterranean caves, so they’re probably more linked than we realise.” McClean glanced back over his shoulder into the park, toward where the Miner’s Mother stood concealed in the shadows.

  “Funnily enough, there’s another theory to that creature’s story. Some have said the meteorite deposited an alien life form into the cave system when it struck,” he said with a dark chuckle. “Unlikely, but it is interesting to note that it was only in the years after it hit that miners started to disappear underground, or that the blood tithes became common practice.”

  Ellie gave Sam’s hand a light tug. He turned, noting that her face had taken on an unwell shade of white. “I think I’ve had enough, Sam,” she said quietly. “Can we go?”

  He nodded, a little baffled by her change in mood. Before they’d entered the park, she’d been laughing and poking fun at the different ghost stories. Sam thanked the guide for the tour and they started walking back to the hotel.

  ***

  Stella drew her jacket tightly about herself, and began bouncing her knees on the park bench to keep warm. The last people of the ghost tour were now walking away, leaving her and her boyfriend in peace. Stella looked over her shoulder, into the shadows at the end of the park where Warwick had gone to take a leak five minutes earlier.

  “Hurry up!” she shouted out. “I’m going to have to go soon, my mum will be wondering where I am.”

  Silence.

  Stella searched the shadows between the trees, trying to work out where he was hiding. “This isn’t funny anymore, Warwick.”

  For the first time, she started to feel a little worried. After a kid went missing from school, her parents had forbidden her from hanging about town after dark. She was supposed to be at Warwick’s house ‘studying’, not making-out in a park.

  She got up and hesitantly walked toward the back of the park, eyes twitching from one shadow to the next. A run of clicks sounded off to the right and her head snapped around, eyes wide, searching for the origin of the noise. She saw nothing besides starved eucalypts, backlit by the moon. The night made the trees seem sentient, witnessing her growing fear with cold indifference.

  Stella reached a waist high fence of latticed wire that formed the rear boundary of the park. On the other side, a concrete culvert plunged into darkness, disappearing underground into the town’s sewer system. The bottom was bone dry, had been for over a decade thanks to the drought.

  Movement. Her gut twisted with cold dread as she saw two legs pulled into the shadows where the culvert dived underground. Unmoving, the heels dragged through the dust without even a twitch of life. A black skate shoe fell off one of the feet, left behind as the carcass disappeared from sight. With cold certainty she knew it was Warwick. Something dark was smeared along the bottom of the culvert and up towards the fence where she stood. Stella forced a dry swallow as she followed the stain. Looking down, she saw glutinous fluid drip from the wire near her hand. Stella turned on the light of her mobile phone, illuminating crimson blood on the fence. She jerked backward in fright, and lost grip of her phone over the edge, the screen smashing as it hit the bottom of the culvert and the light blinking out.

  She wanted to scream, to run, but nothing was working. Stella was frozen to the spot as terror numbed her faculties. A metallic growl vibrated from below. Four green eyes blinked open in the pitch-black of the drain, a demonic gaze locking onto her with palpable hunger. The noise snapped her from inaction. She lurched away from the fence, almost ran straight into a tree trunk before finding free space. Her breath tore in and out with ragged sobs as Stella sprinted for home.

  Chapter Ten

  Ellie leaned out over the edge of the vertical mine shaft and shone a torch down. “Looks in pretty good shape considering it’s been open to the weather.”

  Ellie’s mood of the previous night appeared to be a distant memory. The light of day helped to banish fears, making stories told in the dead of night laughable rather than frightening. When he’d asked her about it in the morning, she’d shrugged it off, so Sam had decided to let it lie.

  The rest of the group’s mood had also improved now that access to the cave system seemed only a matter of time. Banter across the table at breakfast had been lively, smiles easy and laughter infectious.

  Sam planted his hands on one of the railroad sleepers lining the top of the shaft, his gaze following the torch beam. “I didn’t notice the ladder last time we were here. That’ll save us some time.”

  Ellie snorted derisively. “You may be willing to trust that old thing,
but I most certainly am not.” She aimed the torch at a few of the different bolts pinning the ladder to the stone face. “Those two are rusted within an inch of their life, and likely to snap.” She switched off the torch and straightened up. “We can still use the ladder for ease – might as well if it’s there, but we’ll also have a spotter to belay us down, just in case.”

  Ellie shouted out to her brother who was peering through one of the windows into the back of the ruined house. “Hey Max, you want to go rock, paper, scissors for who gets to belay?”

  ***

  Max had a reasonably surly look on his face as he prepared to belay the other three to the base of the shaft. Sam stifled a smile. He got the feeling that Ellie always had the upper hand over her younger brother. “You want me to do it instead, Max? I’m happy to wait until the real cave if you’re keen to check it out.”

  Max shook his head, although his face softened mildly at the offer. “Nah, mate. But thanks. A bet’s a bet, and I lost. All good.”

  Ten minutes later, Sam joined Ellie and Frida at the base of the shaft. He unclipped his harness and stepped away from the ladder. Two tunnels branched off from the shaft in opposite directions. He switched on his helmet light as he joined the girls in the main tunnel that split off to the left. Frida was crouched to the ground, examining a section of moss while Ellie shined her torch into the darkness. At the sound of his footsteps, she glanced briefly over her shoulder, flashing a smile.

  “Looks in okay condition. No recent collapses that I can see, and the roof’s in good shape.”

  Sam aimed his torch down the tunnel, illuminating a shoulder height passage carved from the rock, a low ceiling arcing from one wall to the other. The tunnel’s base was clear and almost… clean.