Chapter 44

Duchess and Lady woke us early in the morning. It was still dark out but both dogs wanted out to do their business. Slowly I extradited myself out of the pile of women who were still asleep. Slowly I pulled on my pants and boots while the dogs wandered back and forth before the exit passage and then grabbed my carbine.

"Sit," I commanded both dogs as I walked over towards where they were waiting. Obediently, they did as I told them. Patting them on the head and telling them both, 'good girl', I walked past them and into the passage. Resting my carbine on the ground, I carefully disarmed the improvised trip flares. Once that was done, I stood up with my carbine and stepped out of the passageway and into the open. It was still dark outside. I took a quick glance about, letting my eyesight adapt to the darkness and then I whistled for the dogs. In a flurry of fur, they rushed out and joined me.

"Okay girls," I said in a low voice, "don't take too long."

I stood in silence for a few minutes, breathing in the crisp, fresh air and listening to the sounds of the dogs sniffing around in the dark. Already I could see the dark outlines of our vehicles and the trees that stood nearby. I could also hear an occasional splash coming from the direction of the lake. I brought my carbine up to the ready and shifted my position so that I was standing directly behind one of the trailers. Once in position, I brought my rifle up and peered through the integrated night sight. A wash of green appeared before my eye.

Slowly I panned my rifle from left to right covering the expanse of the lake. I spotted a couple of dark images floating on the surface of the water. Adjusting my sights let me identify a couple of ducks that were swimming about near the bottom of the lake. I also spotted a couple of those small antelopes that we'd seen before. They were slowly moving south, pausing to drink a little water from time to time. It was obvious that they weren't worried about their surroundings, either certain of their own ability to get out of trouble or sure that there was no danger nearby. They hadn't spotted the dogs yet and the dogs hadn't spotted them. I smiled mischievously as the thought of sending out the dogs to chase that antelope crossed my mind and then thought better of it.

"See anything?" a voice asked from behind me.

It was Vicky. I lowered my carbine and turned towards her voice. She was standing by the entrance to the cave's passageway. A dim glow from the light within back lighted her. She was dressed and armed with a carbine.

"A couple of ducks," I informed Vicky in a low voice, "and a couple of antelope that are wandering south without a care in the world. I was tempted to give the antelope a scare but reconsidered. If they're not worried about our surroundings, then we can take it that we don't have much to worry about ourselves and since we don't need fresh meat, I think I'll let them be for now."

"Sounds good to me," Vicky said, moving over so that she was standing by me. "I just came out to say that the others are awake. Karen has a fire going and she'll have fresh coffee ready in about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, Shell is anxious to go fishing."

"Well," I murmured thoughtfully, glancing about as I did, "it's still quite early and I haven't seen any sun yet. Of course, our back is to the sunrise so maybe it's up but we can't see it yet. Let's give it another half hour and then we can take another look. At worse, we can cover her with our scopes."

It was a plan. Vicky covered me while I went off to the camper to use the facilities and then I covered her. By the time we were done, it was time that we got back into the cave and joined the others. I whistled to Duchess and Lady and they came a running. As they did, they let out a low bark to let me know that they'd heard me. That bark startled the two antelopes that immediately started bounding away. I just smiled and shook my head.

I let Shell go fishing for her breakfast. By the time the coffee was ready, the sky had started to lighten up a bit. I grabbed a cup and went with her. Vicky joined us a few minutes later, armed with her carbine. We stood in silence, watching the surroundings while Shell skirted the shoreline in search of a sign of a fish in the dark waters. It took her a while to find one, but when she did, she skewered it with her trident. The fish thrashed about for a bit while Shell waded out into the lake to reclaim her trident and to collect her prize. She grinned happily as she brought it back, babbling in a mix of English and her own language about the fish being good. Vicky and I just smiled in response and then followed her back to the cave.

Karen had made breakfast for us. There were campfire biscuits, sausages, and scrambled eggs. While we ate, we chatted.

"So what is the plan for the day Adam?" Samantha asked as she finished up her breakfast.

"Well," I replied after a sip of coffee to clear my throat, "we're here to find an access point up the western side of this valley, so we go looking for one. I figure we have two choices in what we do. We can either split up into two teams with one going back down south and one going north to have a look and see, or we all go north. Personally, I'm in favour of all of us going north. I didn't spot anything as we drove up this way and I really don't think that there's a ramp towards the south. I think we have a better chance following the valley north."

"Maybe," Helena said as I shovelled some more eggs into my mouth, "and maybe not Uncle Jack. The way I see it we actually have a third option. I think we should just ask for another ramp from our 'benefactors'. They gave us one already so why not another. It would keep us from wasting time driving around in hopes of finding a way up the other side of the valley."

The others agreed and they all said so as we went on eating.

"It might work," I agreed a couple of seconds later. "At the very least we could ask, although I have to warn you that we might still have to go looking for it. When I asked for the last ramp, I'd hoped that our 'benefactors' would plop it down by our original camp. As you've seen, they didn't. Still, it's worth a try."

I did it while I was scrapping my plate clean over the campfire. I asked for a ramp to access the other side, beyond the western wall of the valley. I asked for it to be placed nearby so we didn't have to go hunting for it. When I was done I went outside to take a look and see if we'd gotten lucky. The women followed me out, silent but anxious. After a few minutes of looking around, it became clear that if our 'benefactors' had given us a ramp, it was no where in sight. I just shrugged my shoulders, accepting that sometimes you don't get what you want. Turning to the women I suggested we clean up and get ready to move.

They were disappointed. It was written all over their faces. Still, other than kvetch about it, there was nothing left to do than what I'd told them we should do. The breakfast dishes were gathered and taken to my camper. Lizzy and Helena cleaned them up while Samantha and Vicky tidied up the cave. In our discussion that morning we decided that we'd keep the caves as a base camp. That would allow us to leave the trailer and the Argo here and let us move a little faster through the valley. The girls had drawn straws and for today Karen and Samantha were going to stay at the camp and keep a watch over things. Shell would stay with them as would the dogs. While the girls took care of the clean up, I took Shell out. I wanted to give her a treat before the rest of us packed up for the day.

Once outside I had Shell hop on the back deck of the Argo. Then I hoped in, secured my carbine, and started the machine up. Slowly I drove out of the area we were parked in and down the rise towards the water's edge. I didn't stop when I got there. When the front tires hit the water I just kept going. In truth, this was a treat for me as much as for Shell. I had always wanted to do this ever since I learnt that the Argo was amphibious. Within a few seconds the axles were under water and then we were floating. Slowly I directed the vehicle into the middle of the lake turning so that we were headed towards the north.

Shell was thrilled. The Argo isn't that fast in water, but for what I wanted it was fast enough, even going against the current that flowed through the centre of the lake. We putted along at about three miles per hour, enjoying the experience. Shell shifted from side to side gazing about in wonder with a big grin on her face. When we reached the head of the lake, I turned about and reduced our speed enough that the current would carry us back down the lake. It was a nice peaceful ride.

I found the women waiting for us when Shell and I reached the bottom of the lake. Vicky had pulled two of our humvee's down to the water covered shore and she was waiting for us. Once I confirmed that everything was packed and ready, I hopped into my vehicle and put it in gear. Today I was driving with Helena. Before pulling away I left instructions with Karen to contact the settlement and let them know that we were okay and to inform them of our plan for the day. She said she would.

We all drove north. We worked our way around the lake and then kept close to where I remembered the river to be. We kept our speed down considering that most of the terrain above the lake was covered in water. I led the way and Vicky followed behind us, keeping back by about fifty yards.

The drive took us a while. It became clear that our 'benefactors' hadn't dropped a ramp near our camp. It frustrated all of us. That frustration grew as we continued along, driving at around ten miles per hour. The terrain went by slowly.

The terrain in general was not much different than the terrain south of the lake. The valley was roughly two miles wide and both walls looked to be at least five hundred feet high. There were trees lining both sides of the valley, although they were all stripped of their foliage. After ten miles or so the land rose slightly and much of the surface water that had covered the ground ran off into the river. It allowed us to drive a little faster, although not by too much. The running water had cut gullies into the land and many of them were both wide and deep. We ended up bouncing about a bit as we continued to progress north. Away from the river itself, the terrain was also rocky. This kept us from moving beyond the river's edge.

Eventually we reached another lake. This one was twice as big as the lake to the south. It also had two small coves, both of which lay to the western shore of the lake. A pair of streams flowed into the coves, their source emanating out of fissures that broke the flat surface of the western walls. The sight of these fissures filled me with curiosity. I found a spot to ford the river and crossed over it. Ten minutes later we were parked against the western wall and we were out and looking about. As usual, Vicky posted guards. Lizzy climbed up on the roof of my camper and Helena climbed up on the roof of her camper. The two girls watched the surrounding landscape as Vicky and I went exploring.

"Well," Vicky asked as we walked up to the first fissure, "what do you want to do?"

I was looking at the gap in the wall of the cliff. It was actually quite wide; approximately twenty feet across where it broke into the valley. It was dark however and it looked to narrow quickly as it progressed into the wall's side. I paused and thought for a minute before answering.

"Let's take a look at the other fissure first." I said after a moment. "Then we'll decide what to do next."

The second fissure was about two hundred yards up the wall from the first one. Vicky and I walked towards it, carefully winding our way there between the trunks of leafless trees and over rocks and other scattered obstacles. As we went we kept our eyes out for anything that might be lurking about, ready to pounce upon us. Luckily we didn't run into anything.

The second fissure was slightly wider by a couple of feet. The sides of the fissure appeared to run straight back without narrowing. We could see down its length and while the fissure itself was in shadows, it did appear that there was a widening far towards its end that was well lit. I looked at Vicky and smiled.

"Looks like we'll try this one first," I said with pleasure. "With luck, we might have found our way out of here. Let's go back for the vehicles and then check it out."

We did just that. We returned to the vehicles and then together drove back towards the second fissure. Carefully we crossed the first stream and then made our way through the woods and the rough terrain. It took about the same amount of time that it had taken us to walk the route. Once there we parked again and got out of our vehicles so we could gather and discuss our next move.

"It looks like we could drive through it," Lizzy pointed out after taking a closer look at the terrain in the fissure.

"True," I acknowledged willingly, "although we'd have to take it slowly."

"I could ground guide our way through," Vicky suggested, hearing the hesitation in my voice.

"Again," I said with a nod, "true, however I'd like to walk it first to make certain that once in there we'll be able to get out."

"Okay," Vicky agreed eagerly, "so who's going with you?"

We decided that Helena and I would go forward and walk the route. Vicky was going to get the big rifle out and cover us, just in case something nasty took an interest in us. While she kept an eye on us, Lizzy would cover the valley and by default Vicky's back.

I went forward slowly with my carbine at the ready. Helena walked behind me and to one side. I kept close to the flow of the stream. While the ground was uneven, it wasn't that bad. The fissure extended uphill, with the terrain and the stream climbing as I went at a gradual incline. I noted that at its narrowest, the fissure was at least ten feet wide. That would be ample space to drive the humvee's through.

The fissure went on for about two hundred and fifty feet. Near the end of it the walls of the fissure turned outward giving more room and the ground became more even. I could see ahead of me as I neared the end and I could see that there was some form of box canyon just ahead of us. I could tell that the stream ran through the centre of it and that the back wall seemed to curve to the right. Sensing that any further forward travel would take me out into the unknown, I paused and looked about as best as I could. It was while I stood there that I heard the screaming in the distance.

Immediately my carbine came up and I moved away from the centre of the fissure, moving to hug a wall. My action alerted both Helena and Vicky. Helena darted over to join me and to find out what the problem was. Vicky waited impatiently, her big rifle pointed down the length of the fissure. I didn't leave her waiting long. I had a feeling that I'd need that rifle soon and as Helena got to me, I stepped away from the fissure wall and signalled Vicky to join me. Instantly, Vicky took off from her position, leaving Lizzy to cover her as she moved towards me. When she finally got to me we waved Lizzy to join us as well.

"What's up," Lizzy gasped as she caught up to us.