Read Ghost Cave for Free Online Page A

started.
    Marc cursed Mooney again. Why’d he have to complicate Marc’s life like this? He knew he’d never find the cave if he cut cross-country. He’d have to risk going closer to the road and following it to where the path to the bluffs started downward. If Mooney was waiting there, they’d never get Bluedog out before dark.
    It took him a half hour of tracing and retracing his steps, getting his bearings and hiking carefully, before he made his way safely to the cave entrance. The rope felt like a coil of braided lead on his shoulder. He was wet through. Maybe it would have been easier to carry the rope down to the river, wait out Mooney’s patience, then take it back to the cave. Too late now to make that decision. Marc sighed and looked around. Hermie and Eddie were no place in sight.
    â€œWhere’ve you been?” Eddie appeared like a ghost from behind the clump of rocks.
    â€œHow’d you get ahead of me?” Marc asked.
    â€œThose guys gave up easily,” Eddie boasted. “I hid and waited them out, then rode my bike back to the cutoff.”
    â€œMe too.” Hermie stepped from behind the other side of the rock. “You have trouble?”
    Marc thought of all the trouble he’d gone to, pretending half a tribe of hostile Osage were behind him. All he could do was shake his head and grin. “Some.”
    â€œBluedog has given up on you, too.” Eddie lay down and spoke to the dog. “We could have had her out by now.”
    Bluedog whined and whimpered, tired of the dark and the isolation. Marc spoke into the hole. “We’re coming, Blue. We’re coming, hang on.”
    He looked for a place to attach the rope, not wanting Eddie or Hermie to have to support his weight if they could figure out another plan. There were no trees big enough, but Marc decided one of the rocks was secure. Looping the rope around it, he tied a knot he knew wouldn’t slip. Then he tested it by pulling with all his strength.
    â€œWhy don’t you belay me?” Marc said to Eddie. They hadn’t climbed together, but he knew if Eddie hadn’t learned this from Pops, he’d catch on to the technique fast. He showed both Hermie and Eddie how to loop the rope around their waists and let it run through their hands, playing it out a bit at a time, while Marc climbed down. If they were going to start spelunking without Marc’s dad or Pops, they might as well get used to working as a team.
    â€œI’m ready.” Marc held onto the rope that was circled around his waist, then threaded through his hands. He slid through the narrow opening in the ground and found that it widened out almost immediately. He was able to place his feet on the side wall and half walk, half slide down, until there were some rocks to hold onto. His body blocked the light from above, so he had to pretty much feel his way down. He hadn’t worn his helmet or brought his lamp, and his flashlight was in his pack so he could have his hands free. He could hear Bluedog jumping and whimpering, her toenails scratching on the cave floor.
    The temperature dropped. The cave felt damp and musty even near the air hole. But the smell sent a shiver of excitement over Marc. He wondered how long it’d been since anyone had been in this cave—had humans ever been in it? Was this one of the many undiscovered caves in the Arkansas hills that people often talked about?
    When he reached the bottom, Marc was almost licked to death. “Thought I’d abandoned you, didn’t you, Blue, old girl?” He hugged his dog and held her until she stopped shivering and wiggling. “Now to tackle the problem of getting you out of here,” he whispered in her ear. She sloshed his face again as if to say, “Thank you.”
    He looked at the small circle of light overhead. It was about twenty-five feet to the top. Luckily Bluedog hadn’t broken a leg, but he imagined she had