The B Girls

The Crack Of Doom





Lucy let Jane use her for a step stool. Then Mae and Jane pulled her up onto the rock with them.

"See?" Mae said.

Lucy and Jane looked in the direction Mae's light was pointed.

Jane stared and shook her head. "That can't be right."

"Do you see any other openings?"

Lucy swept her light across the wall, praying, silently screaming to the gods or God or the universe or anyone or anything that might be listening, please let there be another way. She didn't see anything except the tiny dark crack mocking her in the combined light of their three lamps.

"Maybe it's not as small as it looks," Mae said.

"Only one way to find out," Jane said in a shaky voice.

Lucy had no words. Well, none that would be remotely helpful. Somehow, she didn't think predicting their deaths was a good idea.

They scrambled around and over the few minor obstacles between them and the ominous crack in the wall.

The crack looked even smaller close up. Lucy wasn't even sure they could squeeze into the three foot wide opening that started at the floor and rose about two feet.

"There really must be a better way," Jane said.

Mae shook her head. "I don't think so." She played her light around the room. Nothing obvious popped up.

"Let's look anyway." Anything to delay thinking about going into that crack. Because Lucy was afraid thinking about it was all she'd be able to do.

Lucy stepped to the right of the crack, deliberately looking away from it. There would be plenty of time to face it if they didn't find another way out.

They searched the entire perimeter of the room taking turns boosting each other up over the taller boulders, slogging through small puddles of water and cursing every turned ankle and rock marble that slid underfoot.

For Lucy, the cherry on that particular cake came when yet another rock took her right foot for a ride and instead of turning an ankle she wound up on her butt in one of those cold puddles.

She sat there for a few seconds while the cold crept into her bones, trying to fight off another bout of dizziness caused by the fact that her light was now pointing toward the ceiling at a crazy angle. She reached up, righted the light, and wished she hadn't.

They made their way back to the crack of doom.

"Great whatever Paul must have been a small guy," Mae said. She stepped up to the crack since Lucy and Jane were both standing frozen in place staring. She dropped her pack, stooped down, and aimed her light into the opening. Before Lucy or Jane could ask what she saw, she dropped to the floor and slid in.

"Wait!" Lucy jumped toward the crack.

Mae slid back out of the hole. "It's okay," she said. "This is sort of like a thick wall. A few feet in it gets higher."

"How much higher?" Lucy asked. "Are we talking inches or feet?"

"Feet. I don't think we can stand up straight but we can stand up."

"Swear?"

"Cross my heart," Mae said.

"Is there something we should know?" Jane asked looking Lucy over.

"I don't like small spaces. I'm not sure I can--" she cut herself off with an impatient shake of her head. "No. I'll just have to suck it up. Belle could be . . ."

"Belle will be just fine," Mae said. "We're going to get the Declaration and then we're going to get her."

"And you are going to be fine too," Jane said. "You're actually a pretty tough broad."

Lucy managed a half-hearted chuckle at that. "Fine but if I die down here I'll never forgive you."

"You can haunt me forever," Jane said.

"We're gonna have to push our packs in ahead of us," Mae said. "I'll go first. We should be able to get the packs back on as soon as we get to the taller part of the tunnel."

Lucy watched, still a little horrified, as Mae pulled her pack in front of her, shoved it into the hole and slid in after it.

"I'll go next," Jane said.

"No," Lucy said as she peeled the straps of her pack off her shoulders. "I'm afraid I'll chicken out if I go last."

Jane made a go ahead gesture. "Be my guest. I'm in no hurry."

"You all coming?" Mae called from the tunnel.

"Keep your pants on," Jane called back.

Lucy dropped her pack in front of the crack, took a deep breath and went down after it. She pushed the pack into the hole and looked back at Jane.

"Go," Jane said. "I'll be right behind you."

Lucy gave her pack another shove and low-crawled into the hole. Head, shoulders, torso. Another shove of the pack. Hips. Spots danced across her line of sight. She reached out and pushed at her pack again. It disappeared as Mae pulled it out of the tiny tunnel. More light bloomed once the pack was free and Lucy could see the end. She crawled toward the opening and her head popped out before her feet were all the way in the tunnel. Yess!

The section of the tunnel she emerged into was wide enough for her to move up next to Mae and out of the way of Jane coming in behind her. She had to hunch over but at least she was on her feet and she didn't feel like she was being smothered, at least not right away.

Jane popped out behind her pack. "Okay that was a little scary."

Lucy looked ahead at what she could see of the tunnel as she put her pack back on. It narrowed back down a little but maintained its height as it curved away to the left.

"Ready?" Mae said once Jane had her pack back on.

"No, but let's go anyway," Lucy said. "You first." Now that they weren't faced with vertical challenges, Mae seemed to be comfortable. Lucy wished she felt the same and kept telling herself the walls weren't actually closing in around her. That first bit had been tricky but it was over almost before it started. She refused to think about having to crawl on her belly for any distance more than five feet.

Jane didn't look too happy either but she didn't look like she was going to scream any time soon.

They trudged along for what seemed like hours but when Lucy checked her watch was actually more like ten minutes. Her neck, shoulders and back were screaming at the hunched over shuffle they had to do to keep from banging their heads on the ceiling.

Lucy saw Mae duck her head to go under a ceiling that suddenly dropped two feet.

"Oh." Mae said as her backpack brought her up short. She backed up a step and dropped to her hands and knees looking ahead into the smaller tunnel.

"Tell me it's only a couple feet," Lucy said.

"Longer than that but I can't tell how much." She crawled in a few feet then backed out and stood up. "I don't think it gets any smaller and I don't think it goes like this for very long."

"Do we have to crawl?" Jane asked looking at the smaller opening.

Mae leaned down again. "Maybe not but it would be a lot easier." She looked a Lucy. "What do you think?"

"That I'd really like to go home. But, we don't have a choice. I think I'll be okay if it doesn't get smaller." She wasn't even a little sure she'd be okay but as long as she kept telling herself Belle was in danger she could at least try.

"Okay then." Mae dropped back down to her knees and crawled into the lower tunnel.

Lucy closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before following. She kept her thoughts focused on the pain in her knees and off the tons of rock over head. The extra layer of the coveralls added a little padding but the rock was still as hard as . . . a rock. She repeated "ouch" in her head like a mantra every time a knee came down. How far had they crawled? Twenty-five yards? Fifty? It felt like a mile. Even though the tunnel was smaller, there was room above and to both sides so that she didn't feel like she was being squeezed. Still . . . "How much farther?" She was starting to feel like it was harder to breathe.

"I think we're close. The light is doing something different up ahead."

Jane groaned behind Lucy. "Please. I think my kneecaps are about done."

They shuffled on few more yards. "I see it. We're almost there. It opens up again. I think it's another room."