On the other side of the barrier of stones, the passage was clear, but the roof was considerably lower and they had to walk bent double. Kane followed the Englishman closely, holding the spot-lamp extended in front of him.
They came to the end of the tunnel and crawled out on a shelving bank of shale. It sloped steeply down for fifty or sixty feet into the dark, swirling waters of a river that welled up from the base of the cave and flowed out through a narrow gap between rocks.
Kane swung the spot-lamp in an arc. The roof was shrouded in darkness and must have been of great height, and the stone walls were black and grim and sweated moisture.
Cunningham squatted on his haunches, heels digging into the loose shale. ‘There doesn’t seem a great deal of choice, does there?’
‘That about sums the situation up,’ Kane told him. ‘You wait here and I’ll go back for the guns.’
When he returned, Jamal and the Englishman were at the water’s edge, and as Kane slithered cautiously down the steep bank, the Somali backed slowly into the river, Cunningham grasping both his hands.
The water rose to his waist and then stopped. He advanced carefully, hands extended in front of him. After touching the opposite wall with his fingertips, he waded back, a broad grin on his face.
Cunningham laughed excitedly. ‘It looks as if our luck’s beginning to turn.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Kane said.
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He distributed the guns and gavejamal the spot-lamp. The Somali led the way and he and Cunningham slipped down into the water and followed.
It was bitterly cold, and after a while the water lifted to Kane’s armpits. At first he held the sub-machine gun high above his head, but soon his arms began to ache with the effort and he slung it over one shoulder, allowing it to dangle in the river.
Gradually the current increased in force, as the gap through which the river was running narrowed. He was only a foot or so behind Cunningham and he could see Jamal in front holding the spot-lamp high out of the water.
The roof seemed to come down to meet him and he realized that it was only two or three feet above his head. He pushed furiously as the current lifted him and then he seemed to slide downwards in a rush and the water covered his head.
His feet touched bottom and he kicked upwards, then he surfaced to the light shining in his eyes and his knees banged against a gently sloping bank of shale.
He stayed there for a moment, his chest heaving painfully. After a time, he realized that Cunningham lay beside him, and Jamal gave them a hand up and they stood knee-deep in water, shivering in the intense cold.
The river had emptied into a large round pool, and the only apparent exit, a narrow slot in the rock, was blocked by a wall of dressed stones, which stood some three feet above the surface of the water.
‘This looks as if it’s been here a hell of a long time,’ Cunningham said.
Kane nodded. ‘But what purpose does it serve, that’s the question.’
He took the spot-light from Jamal and pulled himself up on top. The wall was perhaps ten feet high, and water oozed through numerous cracks and ran down a steep incline, the sound of it echoing through the darkness.
‘This must have been the route the river followed originally,’ Kane said. ‘The wall was placed here to change its direction.’
He shone the lamp down on the dark waters of the pool. That means they must have constructed an artificial exit for this lot.’
‘But why?’ Cunningham said.
‘God knows. The reason isn’t important now, but finding a way out of this place is.’ Kane placed his submachine gun on the wall and gave Cunningham the lamp. ‘Let me have as much light as you can. I’m going down to take a look.’
He dropped into the water, took a deep breath and went under. The pool was about ten feet deep, and the light from the spot-lamp filtering down enabled him to find what he was looking for almost at once. It was the entrance to a low arched tunnel some four feet high.