When Dem got to work the next day, with three of the Pictures hidden in his lunch bag, he felt a deep sense of excitement and purpose. A large part of him wanted to tell everyone their plans, and get as many boys as possible signed up to storm out of there and leave the Tunnel Leaders to sort their own trash and find their own food on the surface.
Then he remembered the Map.
He and Tir had gazed at it for more than an hour, and they almost had it memorized. Some of the words on it started coming back to Dem as he prepared his trash-sorting cart for the day. It didn’t say Wide Crawl-hole, it said Tight Crawl-hole. Not Easy Ledge, but Dangerous Ledge. No mention of Straight, Level Tunnels, but instead Steep, Broken, or Choked Tunnels.
Dem sighed as he pushed his cart toward his first cleaning job, and began thinking about the boys he most wanted to tell — thoughtful, quiet boys like himself — and how few of them, he now realized, could make the trip.
“Hey, Dil,” Dem greeted as he joined others in the trash room at morning break. “You like challenges, don’t you?”
“Damn straight!” the large, strong boy assured. “As soon as I’m thirteen, they’ll let me be on the excavating crew. And I have plans for some of the eight and nine girls who are about to become mating age!”
Dem tried hard to hide his cringe while he looked around to see who else was in the room. One boy he didn’t trust finished dumping his bins and left.
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 22
The only other one was already signed up. “Dil, how would you like to go on a real, live adventure?”
“Real? Not one of those stupid little games the Tunnel Leaders put on that are so easy?”
“Totally real, with dangerous caverns, tight crawl-holes, sloping tunnels, all using a map no one has ever followed, and at the other end is a world where we can run on the surface, climb trees, hunt animals, and everything! ”
“Count
me
in!”
“It’s top secret until we leave in two days . . .”
“Nooooo
problem!”
When lunchtime had come and gone, Dem had invited two more boys he thought could make the journey. Bim, a strong ten-year-old, had accepted.
The other had not, but Dem knew he would keep his mouth shut.
As he worked his way through the dreaded leaders’ living area, Dem pondered who else to invite. His bins were soon full, so he headed back to the trash room.
Tik was an oddity. A tall twelve-year-old, almost thirteen, he was believed to have already gotten three girls pregnant, all of whom had asked him for the favor. But he never spoke — or at least, only enough to assure everyone that he could, and not a word more.
Dem decided to take the chance. At least there was little risk of Tik blabbing to anyone.
“Hey, Tik, I’ve got one of those sweet yellow mushrooms in my lunch bag.
Want to split it with me? I’ve got something to talk to you about.”
Tik nodded, and followed Dem into a small tunnel where they would not be overheard.
“Part of why I’m telling you this is you don’t push yourself on girls who don’t want you . . .” Dem explained as he broke the tasty mushroom down the middle.
Tik nodded as he received the gift and savored its sweet, nutty flavor.
While they both chewed, Dem brought out the Pictures he had hidden in his bag. He could see Tik searching them with his eyes, taking in the trees and animals, water flowing on the surface, and clear sky with scattered clouds.
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 23
“We’re leaving in two days.”
Tik
nodded.