Episode Twentytwo: Someone's There

Autumn clouds blew in overhead. Piku inserted the torch on a small holder just inside the tunnel's opening to keep the flame from blowing out. Then he took out a piece of parchment paper and tried to make a drawing of where they were. Samar walked around for a couple of minutes, trying to look over the area.

Then he pointed North, "That way has, or had, a seashore village and a few inner villages along the river. But they were empty and no one has seen anyone there for a long time." Then he turned around toward the hill and scratched his head. "There is something familiar about this road, but I don't remember what it..."

There was a noise in the tunnel ahead and they all could hear footsteps.

Dodo dropped his bag and ran off into the tunnel.
"Where does the tunnel go?" Jem asked Samar as they picked up Dodo's bag and ran after him.
"To the eastern villages." Samar had a hard time breathing as they ran. "We shouldn't go that way! Even the Guiding Hand doesn't go to the east side of Isola!"

Dodo ran as fast as he could, but couldn't catch up to the footsteps he heard. He saw that part of the passageway dropped off and so he stopped short. Piku was taking a little longer to catch up since he had to grab the torch and run carefully. Soon Jem and Samar caught up and nearly pushed Dodo over the edge of the little ledge. "Where is he?" Jem asked.

"He got away." Dodo said as he was catching his breath. "But I saw him! It was..." Just then Piku ran into them all and Dodo went over the ledge...


There was a path that led away from the shore that was narrow and overgrown. Blanne pulled out a tool from under his robe and began cutting away as they went. "Be as quiet as possible." Blanne told them. "We don't want Paco to find us." So Hong and Lakia kept a look out for movement in the brush.

A dense fog came over the land and Lakia began to feel a little cold. When she pulled the blanket up over her head and shoulders she tripped and fell. She took a hold of a branch as she went down, and let go when it didn't support her. It flung back into the air, hitting other branches. The chain reaction of sound caused a number of animals to take flight in the brush. Before they knew it, Hong, Blanne, and Lakia were surrounded by a group of angry young hunters and gatherers from the nearby village.

Hong leaned over to Blanne, "Aren't you going to do something?" Blanne leaned behind him and brought Lakia forward. Then he pulled the blanket off her head to reveal her face. The villagers all gasped, fell to their knees and began to cry out to them. "We're sorry!" "Have mercy!" "Forgive us, oh Queen!" ...


After Shuka and the Waterfallers dried off they started once again to go into the gong statue. To their surprise the inner chamber's floor was already dry. They walked along the corridor carefully and quietly. Every once in a while they stopped and took a break, and looked at the beautiful paintings on the walls, which seemed to sparkle ever so slightly. The passageway felt like it went on forever, and to the older, slower villagers, it felt like they had gone miles.

They decided to hurry up down the passage when they heard a whistling sound ahead. The tunnel was cool and dark, except for the dim light of the torches. The eerie whistling sound seemed to follow them. They came up to the opening where the path broke into sections and were met by a gentle wind and dense fog.

Shuka motioned for them to turn right and walk toward the south. The fog made it hard for them to see, and the light of the torch was only a little bit of help. When they reached the top of the hill, Shuka stopped them all with a cry, "Oh no!" ...

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