out and on our asses very quickly.’ Smhee stopped suddenly, and said, ‘Hold it!’
Masha looked around quickly. What had he seen or heard? The fat man got down on
his knees and pushed against the earth just in front of him.
He rose and said, ‘There’s a pit under that firm-looking earth. I felt it give
way as I put my foot on it. That’s why it pays not to walk swiftly here.’
They circled it, Smhee testing each step before taking another. Masha thought
that if they had to go this slowly, they would take all night before they got to
the ridge. But then he led her to a rocky place, and she breathed easier.
However, he said, ‘They . could carve a pit in the stone and put a pivoting lid
over it.’
She said, ‘Why are we going this way? You said the entrances are on the north
end.’
‘I said that I only observed people entering on the north end. But I also
observed something very interesting near here. I want to check it out. It may be
nothing for us, but again…’
Still moving slowly but faster than on the earth, they came to a little pool. It
was about ten feet in diameter, a dark sheet of water on which bubbles appeared
and popped. Smhee crouched down and stared at its sinister-looking surface.
She started to whisper a question, but he said, ‘Shh!’
Presently, something scuttled with a clatter across the solid rock from the
shore. She jumped but uttered no exclamation. The thing looked like a spider in
the dark, an enormous one, larger than the one they’d killed. It paid no
attention to them or perhaps it wasn’t at all aware of them. It leaped into the