Not many minutes had passed when the four wanderers began to realize what they had gotten themselves into.
“Um . . . I wonder how long it will take for her leg to heal . . .” Jin said, looking at Tik.
He
shrugged.
Dem, on the other hand, sighed. “Weeks.”
Tir agreed with a single nod.
“Do we . . .” Jin began, but suddenly had to swallow several times. “Are there . . . enough mushrooms growing in this cavern . . . so we can wait that long?”
It was Tir’s turn to sigh. “Not a chance. Just by filling our bags, we put a serious dent in that mushroom garden . . . at least, the edible part.”
Dem frowned for a moment, then smiled. “That means . . . we’ll have to take her with us! That will leave more mushrooms for the male deer. And you, Tik, will have to carry her!”
Tir looked at her brother and frowned, but didn’t say anything.
Jin took a deep breath. “I just hope the Angels like deer.”
Tik gave Jin his bag so he could carry the little creature, and they otherwise made ready to continue their journey. Each person took several mushrooms from those that had been in Jin’s old bag, and they munched as they walked.
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 67
Tir was still frowning as Dem began to lead along the cavern wall again.
Even though she had not yet had a mate, she suddenly felt quite experienced in the matter . . . at least compared to her brother.
She burst out laughing, and was quickly joined by Jin, when Dem acted surprised that the little male deer was following close behind them.
“Did
you
really think we’d have only one deer joining us?” Tir asked, looking at her brother with a big grin.
He squirmed. “Oh . . . whatever. At least he can walk!”
Both girls laughed again. Tik just smiled.
Soon they came to the crawl-hole.
All four travelers frowned as they considered the tiny, jagged passageway that pierced the cavern wall. Even the deer seemed to be frowning.
“I
hope that’s the wrong crawl-hole,” Tik said, looking down at the wounded animal in his arms, the same animal he would have to carry as he crawled and twisted his body through the narrow passageway.
Dem, still frowning, was pretty sure it was in just the right place to be the one. “Let’s finish the circle and find out.”
They continued along the wall of the cavern, around stalagmites, under stone draperies, across flowstones, and between boulders. Another half hour of travel brought them to the river beach, without any sign of another crawl-hole.
“Yep, it’s our beach,” Jin verified, looking at the footprints in the sand.
“No Bel. No Fen. No other crawl-holes.”
Tik
growled.
Dem and Tir looked at each other.
The underground river flowed past smoothly, with just an occasional gurgle to break the silence.
Tik placed the little female on her feet at the edge of the river where the male was already drinking. She drank, then tried to take a step, but only cried in pain and began trembling. Tik soon picked her up and returned to the dry sand where he received a mushroom from Jin.
All six ate in silence, four of them remembering their lost companions.
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 68
Eventually Tik spoke. “I’ll need lots of help with my little friend in that crawl-hole.”
“You’ve got it!” Jin declared.
Tir smiled and nodded.
Dem was frowning as he gazed at the Map. “It looks like a long crawl-hole.”
Less than an hour later, they peered at the jagged little hole again, the only way out of the cavern except the birds’ pool and the river, either of which could mean death, neither of which would take them to the Angels’ camp, according to the Map.
“Jin, will you scout the length of it?” Dem asked. “That way, Tik will be more prepared, and you can help from in front when he starts through.”
“Sure! It doesn’t look all that hard to me . . . I mean, me not carrying anything. What should I expect on the other side?”
“Medium-size tunnel, maybe a lava tube.”
Jin nodded, adjusted the glow-stone protruding from her pocket, and quickly disappeared into the hole.
“I’ll go behind Tik,” Tir offered, “to help from that angle.”
Dem nodded. “I go last, and help the male if he needs it.”
“It’s a meat grinder!” came Jin’s voice from the crawl-hole. “But we can do it. Comes out in a smooth tunnel, old underground river, I think.”
“Not like we have much choice . . .” Tik muttered. “We can do it, right little one?” he asked the small creature in his arms with a tender voice.
She made a sound that might have been a weak agreement, but didn’t express confidence.
Tik took a couple of deep breaths before beginning his crawl.
Tir had been wrong. She didn’t even have a chance to enter the crawl-hole after Tik, because the little male deer jumped in right behind him, and quickly showed that his little hooves were well-adapted to the situation.
A frustrating hour must have passed, which seemed like ten, as Tik crawled with one hand, and tried to keep the female deer from experiencing
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 69
too much pain. Seldom could he move more than a few feet without needing to put her down, or pass her to Jin, while he navigated a tight place. Both situations caused her pain, but it quickly passed when she was once again in Tik’s or Jin’s arms.
Tir and Dem came behind, wishing they could be more helpful.
Finally, Jin exited the crawl-hole and slid down the smooth wall of the larger tunnel, then turned to receive the injured creature.
Tik slid down, felt sand under him, and sighed with relief.
The little male easily jumped down.
Tir slid next, and finally their leader. “Rest time!” Dem announced
“Heck,
nap time!” Tik asserted and curled up on the sand, leaving others to deal with the injured deer for a while.