The Demon Conspiracy by R. L. Gemmill Read Free Book Online Page B

headlamp. Every so often it flickered like it
might go out, but Anton always got it to work again.
    We hardly needed our headlamps since the
camcorder had its own bright light. Jon was recording practically
every step we took. He went ahead of the group and got shots of
everyone crawling through a shallow stream beneath a low ceiling.
This was the stream Anton had promised, and the water was cold.
Travis loved it. I didn’t. Parrish wasn’t too crazy about it either
when his glasses got wet. He came out of the stream and gave them
to Travis.
    “Travis? Can you wipe these off? I can’t see
a thing without them.”
    “Sure,” said Travis. He wiped them clean on
a dry part of his shirt and gave them back. Parrish put them on
again and blinked.
    “Much better. Thanks.”
    A half hour into the journey we stopped at a
dead end where a narrow path rose steeply to the ceiling. Anton
took a rope from his pack that had series of knots tied in it.
    Parrish winked at us. “So, Anton, is this
the exciting part you were telling us about? The blank wall, I
mean.”
    Anton just smiled. “Mark, you should do
standup comedy. You’re a real card.”
    “Yeah,” said Chris. “He’s a card all right.
He ought to be dealt with.”
    Chris’ joke was so bad everyone just stared
at him. He looked from person to person hoping for support. All at
once we burst out laughing, the noise echoing eerily around us.
Anton clapped him on the shoulder. “Chris, I beg you. Stay away
from anything related to humor. Please?”
    “Yeah, Chris,” I said. “Please?”
    “It’s funny!” Chris argued good-naturedly.
“You probably didn’t even get it.”
    “Oh, we got it. Along with a case of
heartburn.” Anton pulled hard on the rope to tighten the knots.
Satisfied, he set it down.
    Parrish looked up. “So,
Anton, is there a
way around this wall?”
    “Not around—through.” Anton carefully
crawled up the incline until he reached the top. He looped one end
of the knotted rope around a rock column, then shined his light on
a hole about the size of a truck tire. “This takes us down to the
Cathedral room. You can use the rope to climb up, but coming back
is a breeze. I didn’t name it the Sliding Board Rock for
nothing.”
    Travis looked at me. “Cool!”
    Parrish groaned. “That hole’s small. I hope
we don’t have to leave in a hurry.”
    Anton disappeared over the wall and called
for Chris to follow next. Chris wasn’t very athletic and he didn’t
climb so well, but he used the rope to slide, pull and kick his way
to the top. Eventually we all got up the slope and through the
hole, even Dr. Parrish. Luckily, the hole was bigger than it looked
from below. I’d gotten a little chilly after crawling through the
water, but the climb was a fun challenge and it warmed me up
nicely. I noticed the warmer I was the dryer my clothes got.
    We passed through a dark tunnel to arrive at
a broad underground lake. A natural walkway, like a ledge, curved
off to the left, skirting the edge of the lake until it disappeared
under the water.
    “Have a seat, everyone,” said Anton, as he
shined his headlamp at some amazing rock formations on the wall
just below us. Some of the rocks were as thin and delicate as
toothpicks.
    “Cool,” said Travis. “Those look like
flowers!”
    “They’re amazing!” said Chris.
    “They’re beautiful,” I added. “How’d they
get there?”
    Anton pointed. “See that water dripping on
the flowers? There’s a trace amount of limestone in every drop, and
when it splashes, some limestone settles on the rock. After
thousands of years, the limestone builds up and takes on its own
unique shape. The design is made by the splash or drip pattern. Now
I want everybody to scoot over next to the column on the right and
kill your lights. I’m going to show you one of the most amazing
natural rock formations you’ll ever see.”
    Anton removed some Frisbee-sized spotlights
from his pack while our group moved to the