The Other Side of Midnight

"All right," she said.

They started into the passage. They had traveled only a few feet when the circle of light from the main cave behind them was swallowed up in the blackness. The passage made an abrupt turn to the left and then curved to the right. They were alone in a cold, timeless primeval world. In the beam of Larry's flashlight Catherine caught a glimpse of his face in the reflection of light and she saw that look of animation again. It was the same way he had looked on the mountain. Catherine tightened her grip on his arm.

Ahead of them the tunnel forked. Catherine could see the rough stone on the low ceiling as it split off in separate directions. She thought of Theseus and the Minotaur in the cave, and she wondered whether they were going to bump into them. She opened her mouth to suggest that they turn back, but before she could speak, Larry said, "We go to the left."

She looked at him and said in what she hoped was a casual voice, "Darling, don't you think we should start back? It's getting late. The caves will be closing."

"They're open until nine," Larry replied. "There's one particular cave I want to find. They just excavated it. It's supposed to be really fantastic." He started to move forward.

Catherine hesitated, casting about for an excuse not to go farther. After all why shouldn't they go exploring? Larry was enjoying it. If that was what it took to make him happy, she would become the world's greatest--what was the word?--spelunker.

Larry had stopped and was waiting for her. "Coming?" he asked impatiently.

She tried to sound enthusiastic. "Yes. Just don't lose me," she said.

Larry did not reply. They took the fork that branched to the left and began walking, careful of the small stones that slipped under their feet. Larry reached into his pocket, and a moment later Catherine heard something fall to the ground. Larry kept walking.

"Did you drop something?" Catherine asked. "I thought I heard--"

"I kicked a stone," he said. "Let's walk faster." And they moved ahead, Catherine unaware that behind them a ball of twine wa

s unwinding.

The ceiling of the cave seemed to be lower here and the walls damper and--Catherine laughed at herself for thinking it--ominous. It was as though the tunnel was beginning to close in on them, threatening and maleficent. "I don't think this place likes us," Catherine said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Cathy; it's just a cave."

"Why do you suppose we're the only ones here?"

Larry hesitated. "Not many people know about this section."

They walked on and on until Catherine began to lose all sense of time and place.

The passage was narrowing again, and the rocks on the sides tore at them with sharp, unexpected protuberances.

"How much farther do you think it is?" Catherine asked. "We must be getting near China."

"It's not far now."

When they spoke, their voices sounded muffled and hollow, like a series of continuous dying echoes.

It was getting cold now, but it was a damp, clammy cold. Catherine shivered. Ahead the beam of the flashlight caught another bifurcation of the passage. They walked up to it and stopped. The tunnel running to the right seemed smaller than the one to the left.

"They should put up neon road signs," Catherine said. "We've probably gone too far."

"No," Larry said. "I'm sure it's the one on the right."

"I'm really getting chilly, darling," she said. "Let's go back now."

He turned to look at her. "We're almost there, Cathy." He squeezed her arm. "I'll warm you up when we get back to our bungalow." He saw the reluctance on her face. "I'll tell you what--if we haven't found the place in the next two minutes, we'll turn around and go home. OK?"

Catherine felt her heart lighten. "OK," she said thankfully.

"Come on."

They turned down the tunnel to the right, the beam of the flashlight making an eerie, wavering pattern on the gray rock ahead. Catherine glanced back over her shoulder and behind her was complete blackness. It was as though the little flashlight was carving brightness out of the Stygian gloom, moving it forward a few feet at a time, encapsulating them in its tiny womb of light. Larry stopped suddenly.

"Damn!" he said.