Chapter 57

The women were fussing around getting ready to start thinking about lunch, but no actual cooking was going on. Rose asked me what we were planning and I told her.

"Well, you can get a good look at what things are like with the cameras Sigfried left in place, but I guess a trip to take a look at things would be better. Why don't you take at least a couple of us with you to help keep you out of trouble and to keep you fed," she said.

"Maybe next time. This first trip is just to see what things look like. Can't you just pack us a meal or two and let us get on our way?"

"Sure, but you aren't leaving before lunch are you?"

"No, of course not."

"Then I don't see what you're rushing off today for. You'll barely have time to get to the end, take a look around, and then get back by bedtime."

"We'd planned on taking our bedrolls."

"Oh. Ok, then we'll get you some meals packed and you can leave right after lunch."

Lunch got in motion right away then and we ended up eating and heading out about eleven am. Since we weren't looking to have any confrontation at all we only carried Marlins and our sidearms.

Our first two hours were mostly a slow trip to the end of the plateau. The tunnel was wide enough for us to travel three abreast and we trotted most of the way. Near the beginning of the tunnel there was a place to peel off to the right toward the original bridge down, but we didn't take it.

About half way there was another intersection leading across toward the original bridge and when we got to the end there was another tunnel leading back toward the original bridge down again. We also had a wide winding trail up to the top from near the end which now came out onto the shelf.

We found a small control room type facility at the end of the path and inside there were several screens allowing us to look outside before opening the large door Sigfried had put in place. Looking at the screens caused us not to open the door.

I could see five mounted men in one of the views the cameras showed us and after a little looking around I found a way to adjust the angle and magnification of the cameras.

The mounted men were all locals except one. It was evident he wasn't from this time since he was wearing blue jeans and the others were all wearing furs. He was the obvious leader and they were heading right toward the ramp up to the door we were behind, albeit they were still several miles from it.

I had no way to know what they would see when they made it since the cameras seemed to be almost in the doors or in the wall around it. Never the less we stayed and watched the whole show even though it took over an hour for them to come up the ramp and arrive on our level.

It made me feel a little funny as they dismounted and the leader looked around closely at what I assumed was a blank wall.

It must have seemed that way to him too since they did most of their poking around off to the side. They didn't stay long and we decided not to hang around and watch them depart. We left everything like we'd found it, mounted up, and headed back toward the other ramp up. Presumably it now led to a similar shelf like balcony.

We arrived in less than an hour and we found similar accommodations. There was another control room, this one with a few more screens and obviously more cameras. From the southern most of these we could see the five mounted men. They had crossed the river and were making camp near its edge.

We unsaddled our mounts and put on their nosebags to give them a little something to eat and I decided we were going to have to scatter out some hay along the way, probably building small stacks of bales at both the doorways.

We remembered what we'd forgotten right away. Firewood. We hadn't brought a stick even though I'd made sure to bring the makings for coffee. Well, live and learn. I would have ridden on back tonight if we hadn't wanted to see what the others would do tomorrow.

George was not as willing to do without coffee as I was and besides he said he had seen all the tunnel insides he wanted to for a while. As soon as it was fully dark he was ready to open the door so he could make a trip outside and go forage for firewood.

Hell, after a minute I was convinced. We looked around in the control room and found a place to switch the lights off. After shutting down those near the mouth of the door I used the controls to slide it open, let him out, and then slide it closed again.

George left on his mount and leading mine. We were able to follow him every step of the way since the cameras had remarkable low-light capabilities. He rode about a mile into the wooded area I'd first found the guineas in and he disappeared into the woods.

We kept a keen eye on the camp of the others while he was outside, but they were nearly two miles away and I didn't expect anything out of them during the night. George came riding back up the ramp a little more than an hour after he left and we let him in.

"Hell, you can't tell by looking where the door is after it's closed. I looked back after you closed it and I couldn't see where I'd come out," George told us, as we were unloading the wood he'd tied onto my saddle.

"I guess we're safe in here then, but the next thing to wonder about is where the smoke will go after we get the fire started."

"I hope it goes away, but even if it doesn't I want some coffee," Bill said, as he started a small fire.

The smoke went straight up of course and then it seemed to drift back toward the interior of the plateau. It did make me notice the top of our tunnel and it was high, easily twenty-five feet or so from the floor. Coffee was made in a few minutes and we all had some with our meal, such as it was.

"You know Jack, I think we should have brought a woman or two each along with us. We'd have had a much better supper and I'm sure I could sleep better with one or two of my women along for this drill," George said.