It was a relief to slip into the darkness of the...
It was a relief to slip into the darkness of the new passagewayJeb's hand
touched my elbow to guide me, and I did not shrink away from itThe babble of voices didn't
pick up again behind us
“That went better than I expected,” Jeb muttered as he steered me through the caveHis words
surprised me, and I was glad I didn't know what he'd thought would happen
The ground sloped downward under my feetAhead, a dim light kept me from total blindness
“Bet you've never seen anything like my place here Jeb's voice was louder now, back to the
chatty tone he'd used before“It's really something, isn't it?”
He paused briefly in case I might respond, and then went on
“Found this place back in new louis vuitton bags the seventiesI fell through the roof of the big
room–probably shoulda died from the fall, but I'm too tough for my own goodTook me a while
to find a way outI was hungry enough to eat rock by the time I managed it
“I was the only one left on the ranch by then, so I didn't have anyone to show it toI explored
every nook and cranny, and I could see the possibilitiesI decided this might be a good card to
keep up my sleeve, just in caseThat's how we Stryders are–we like to be prepared
We passed the dim light–it came from a fist-sized hole in the ceiling, making a small circle of
brightness on the floorWhen it was behind us, I could see another spot of illumination ladies cartier watch wholesales far
ahead
“You're probably curious as to how this all got here Another pause, shorter than the lastI did a little researchThese are lava tubes–can you beat that? This used to be a
volcanoWell, still is a volcano, I expectNot quite dead, as you'll see in a bitAll these caves
and holes are bubbles of air that got caught in the cooling lavaI've put quite a bit of work into
it over the last few decadesSome of it was easy–connecting the tubes just took a little elbow
greaseOther parts took more imaginationDid you see the ceiling in the big room? That took
meyears to get right
I wanted to ask him how, but I couldn't bring myself to speak
The floor began to slant downward at a steeper angleThe black leather chanel purse terrain was broken into rough steps,
but they seemed secure enoughJeb led me down them confidentlyAs we dropped lower and
lower into the ground, the heat and humidity increased
I stiffened when I heard a babble of voices again, this time from aheadJeb patted my hand
kindly
“You'll like this part–it's always everyone's favorite,” he promised
A wide, open arch shimmered with moving lightIt was the same color as the light in the big
room, pure and white, but it flickered at a strange dancing paceLike everything else that I
couldn't understand in this cavern, the light frightened me
“Here we are,” Jeb said enthusiastically, pulling me through the archway“What do you fine jewelry tiffany think?”
CHAPTER 17
Visited
The heat hit me first–like a wall of steam, the moist, thick air rolled over me and dewed on my
skinMy mouth opened automatically as I tried to pull a breath from the abruptly denser airThe
smell was stronger than before–that same metallic tang that clung in my throat and flavored the
water here
The murmuring babble of bass and soprano voices seemed to issue from every side, echoing off
the wallsI squinted anxiously through the swirling cloud of moisture, trying to make out where
the voices came fromIt was bright here–the ceiling was dazzling, like in the big room but much
closerThe light danced off the vapor, creating a shimmering curtain that almost blinded replica tiffany m