he meant to use this for escape?’
He did something. She heard him breathing heavily, and then there was a splash,
‘I pulled myself up the rock and felt around,’ he said. ‘There is a hole up
there to let air from the next cave into this one. And I’ll wager that there is
a hole in the ceiling. But it must curve so that light doesn’t come in. Or maybe
it doesn’t curve. If it were day above, we might see the hole.’
He dived; Masha followed him. They swam ahead then, putting their right hands
out from side to side to feel the wall. When they came to the next downcropping,
they went through beneath it at once.
At the end of this cave they felt a rock ledge that sloped gently upward. They
crawled out onto it. She heard him fumbling around and then he said, ‘Don’t cry
out. I’m lighting a torch.’
The light nevertheless startled her. It came from the tip of a slender stick of
wood in his hand. By its illumination she saw him apply it to the end of a small
pine torch. This caught fire, giving them more area of vision. The fire on the
stick went out. He put the stick back into the opened belt-bag.
‘We don’t want to leave any evidence we’ve been here,’ he said softly. ‘I didn’t
mention that this bag contains many things, including another waterproof bag.
But we must hurry. The torch won’t last long, and I’ve got just one more.’
They stood up and moved ahead. A few feet beyond the original area first
illuminated by the torch were some dark bulks. Boats. Twelve of them, with light
wood frameworks and skin-coverings. Each could hold three people. By them were