minimum limit. You only weigh eighty-five pounds. Maybe…?’
‘Forget it,’ she said.
‘ Right you are,’, he said, grinning. ‘But Masha, if you are to be a master
thief, you must think of everything.’
She thought of reminding him about the extra torches he’d forgotten but decided
not to. They went on ahead through an enormous cavern and came to a tunnel. From
its dark mouth streamed a stink like a newly opened tomb. And they heard the cry
that was half-grunt, half-squall.
Smhee halted. ‘I hate to go into that tunnel. But we must. You look upward for
holes in the ceiling, and I’ll look everywhere else.’
The stone, however, looked solid. When they were halfway down the bore, they
were blasted with a tremendous growling and roaring.
‘Lions?’ Masha said.
‘No. Bears.’
12
At the opposite end were two gigantic animals, their eyes gleaming redly in the
light, their fangs a dull white.
The two intruders advanced after waiting for the bears to charge. But these
stayed by the doorway, though they did not cease their thunderous roaring nor
their slashes at the air with their paws.
‘The bears were making the strange cry,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen dancing bears in
the bazaars, but I never heard them make a noise like that. Nor were they near
as large.’
He said, ‘They’ve got chains around their necks. Come on.’
When they were within a few feet of the beasts, they stopped. The stench was
almost overpowering now, and they were deafened by the uproar in the narrowness
of the tunnel.
Smhee told her to hold her torch steady. He opened his belt-bag and pulled out