Chapter 13
Marks in the sand
“How in hell are we going to get across that?” he exclaimed with disbelief, staring at the powerful gushing hurricane of wind enveloping the transience tunnel in front of them.
“It’ll be fine. Come over and I’ll show you what we’re dealing with,” she said as she led him to the entrance and pointed up at the matrix of solid vines that clung firmly to the walls and ceiling. They stretched from the doorway upwards in every direction around the inner surface of the tunnel.
“We need to squeeze between the vines and the walls and make our way over to the entrance on the other side which is about two hundred metres down the way.”
“You’re kidding, right? How is that going to be possible? There’s no way those vines will be strong enough,” pleaded Ed, a little shocked by the proposition and startled at the prospect of crawling through the small space between the vines and the walls.
“Of course they’re strong enough. It’s a bit of a squeeze but it’s definitely okay. I’ve done it a few times before, both directions.”
“That’s terrifying. I don’t like the look of it, but what choice do I have? I guess if we go back, I’ll have to use that ladder again, is that right?”
“Yep, that’s kind of about the shape of things. Well are you up for it?” queried Yedida.
“I guess so. Another bizarre step along the way. Let’s go. I assume you’ll go first?”
“Yes, I’ll go first. Follow me. When we get over the top of the tunnel we have to turn around so we are going feet first. Otherwise by the time we get down to the doorway we’ll be upside down, and it’s then too difficult to turn round and jump out into the side tunnel.”
“Okay, I’ll just copy what you do.”
“Cool. Be careful though. The first bit before you get properly under the vines is the most dangerous. Same at the other end, you need to be really careful jumping into the side tunnel. There are a lot of gusts that side.”
Yedida went to the opening and edged along the ledge slightly into the tunnel with her back to the wall.
“Follow me, Ed,” she exclaimed, as she started to clamber and climb up between the vines and wall, the wind rushing past and pushing her loose clothes tight against her body. Ed followed suit and nervously stepped out onto the ledge and pulled himself up, higher and higher around the curvature of the tunnel. He looked down on the violent gushing river of wind and noticed in the distance the all too familiar bright white light. It was smaller than he remembered.
“Is this a different tunnel than the one Donald got me from, Yedida?” shouted Ed.
“Pardon? I can’t hear you! Shout louder,” yelled the young lady, now almost at the top of the curved roof, and a few feet ahead of Ed.
“Is this a different tunnel from the one Donald got me from?” he shouted again.
“Yes, it is. When you get up here, look down into the stream - it’s quite a sight,” shouted Yedida in a penetrating voice before adding, “We need to crawl along the top in line with the tunnel. Then we’ll turn around and go backwards down towards the door. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can. No problem,” bawled Ed, as he too got to the top part of the tunnel and began to crawl along the vines against the flow of the gushing current. He looked down into the violent wind stream, shocked to see bodies being whisked along in the current, helplessly tossed every way up. He continued to keep an eye on Yedida who was beginning to twist around sideways and descend down the other side, feet first. He followed suit, and before he could even have time to get nervous, he was jumping down backwards and was pulled back into the side tunnel by the assured lady.
Soon they had dusted themselves down in the sheltered area.
“Right, I’ll make some marks in the sand, so if you come back this way on your own, you know it’s the right tunnel,” stated Yedida as she bent down and started to dig a small hole beside the wall. As she dug away so the hole filled in, forging itself back into a smooth surface.
“Oh, I forgot about that. The sand won’t allow us to do that,” she exclaimed despairingly.
“Anyway, it might get disturbed by someone else in time anyway,” replied Ed, before peering in between the vines at the remarkable black wall.
“Look, Yedida, there’s a small crevice in the wall here. We could fill that with sand and that would be another landmark. I could even put my watch in it.”
Ed pointed to a small opening in the rock hidden behind the vines. Yedida got up and looked at the hole.
“Yes, that’s a much better idea. You should check the time on your watch now though, to see how long you have left.”