Galain signaled them away from the front end of the crevice, and they returned to where the others waited. The elf knelt and drew in the ground. “We are here, with the bridge here. Somewhere down at the base is a small cave or large fissure, large enough for a gwali to run through, so I’d guess it would be big enough for you to crawl through. It might be a chimney in the rock you can climb up, or it might be connecting caves. But Apalla was emphatic that he and his people had spent more time on that plateau. They didn’t stay long because of the bad thing,” but he remembered enough to convince Tomas and Calin he wasn’t confused about being here.
“I’ve spotted a broken facing on the other side of the canyon, so we’ll work along past the bridge entrance until we have that black building between myself and the bridge guards. You’ll find what appears to be the start of a way down there. Even if you can only get a short way down, you can lower yourself with ropes. Then I’ll pull them up and hide them.”
Jimmy said, “That’ll be real handy when we want to climb back up.”
Galain said, “At sundown tomorrow I’ll lower the ropes again. I’ll leave them down until just before sunrise. Then I’ll pull them up again. I’ll lower then again the next night. I think I can stay hidden in the crack in the broken facing. I may have to scamper into the brush, but I’ll stay free of any moredhel who are looking about.” He didn’t sound too convinced. “If you need the ropes sooner than that,” he added with a smile, “simply shout.”
Martin looked at Arutha. “As long as they don’t know we’re here, we have a chance. They still look to the south, thinking us somewhere between Elvandar and here. As long as we don’t give ourselves away. .
Arutha said, “It’s as good a plan as I can come up with. Let’s go.”
Quickly, for they needed to be down in the canyon before sunrise, they moved among the rocks, seeking to reach the far side of the canyon rim.
Jimmy hugged the face of the plateau, hiding in the shadow below the bridge. The rim of the canyon was some hundred fifty feet above them, but there was still a chance of being seen. A narrow black crack in the face of the plateau presented itself. Jimmy turned his head to Laurie and whispered, “Of course. It has to be right under the bridge.”
“Let’s just hope they don’t bother to look down. “
Word was passed back, and Jimmy entered the fissure. It was a tight squeeze for only ten feet, then opened into a cave. Turning back toward the others, he said, “Pass a torch and flint through.”
As he took them, he heard a movement behind him. He hissed a warning and spun, his dirk almost flying into his hand. The faint light coming from behind was more a hindrance than a help, for it caused most of the cave to be inky black to his eyes. Jimmy closed his eyes, relying on his other senses. He backed up and toward the crack, saying a silent prayer to the god of thieves.
From ahead he heard a scrabbling sound, like claws on rock, and heard a slow, heavy breathing. Then he remembered the gwali talking of a “bad thing” that ate one of his tribe.
Again came the noise, this time much closer, and Jimmy wished fervently for a light. He moved to the right as he heard Laurie speak his name in a questioning tone. The boy hissed, “There’s some kind of animal in here.”
Jimmy could hear Laurie say something to the others and the scramble as the singer moved back, away from the cave entrance. Faintly he could hear someone, perhaps Roald, saying, “Martin’s coming.”
Holding on to the knife with fierce intensity, Jimmy thought to himself, yes, if it comes to fighting animals, I’d send in Martin, too. He expected the large Duke of Crydee to leap in beside him at any moment and wondered what was taking so long.