Chapter 3 Scene 8

Tom and Nicole carefully make their way along the left fork of the passage leading from the northeast corner of the cave. For a few minutes they see nothing of interest, and then by the light of the torch Tom is carrying Nicole spots a piece of paper on the floor.

"This must be another piece of the map, Tom!"

Tom bring the torch closer. "I'm sure you're right, Nicole. Let's see if there are any more."

They continue on, and a few minutes later Tom thinks he sees something scuttle across the floor. He lowers the torch, and sees a bug move. He manages to get the bug to crawl onto his hand.

You found a Red Ancestor's Bug!

"What is that?" asks Nicole.

"Some red bug, but it must be a rarity. I'll keep it safe."

A few minutes later they come to a dead end. Nicole doesn't realize it at first and pushes Tom against the wall, and then grabs him to keep her balance..

"Oops, I didn't mean to ..."

"That's all right," reassures Tom. "No harm done."

They hold onto to each other for a minute, then decide they have to go back to the cave entrance. However, another piece of paper is dislodged from the wall at the dead end.

"Tom, look, that's another map piece."

"You think maybe the Spirits led us here for a reason?" Tom chuckles, and they make their way back to the cave entrance.

Meanwhile, Mike and John are following the right fork of the passage. Soon John steps on something that makes a slight crackling noise. Mike hears it and brings the torch down after John has stepped off it.

"John, you just walked over a piece of paper."

"I did? Let's see it."

Mike picks it up, and they see it is another piece of the map. They continue walking, and soon reach another dead end, but it appears to be marked by another piece of paper. John sees this one, and opines,

"There should be a secret passageway around here somewhere."

"Perhaps, but maybe we need the complete map to find it," answers Mike. "There is no more to be found here. Let's see what the others have found."

They all meet at the blocked cave entrance and compare their map pieces.

"There are definitely some pieces missing," notes Nicole.

"Yes ... " and then Stefi yawns.

"It is very late," notes Amy. "We need to sleep."

"That is correct, but someone should stay awake on watch at all times." Mike is taking charge. I'll take the first shift, and keep looking for pieces of the map."

There are no objections to Mike's plan.

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