The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (best short novels of all time .TXT) 📕

her eyes to adjust, but when they did she could see another deeper layer of darkness further ahead. Beyond that she could just about make out an entrance not far from her spot in the cool, cavernous space. She walked very slowly towards it and found that it led to a cave within a cave, where Luke stood waiting for her. He ushered her towards an old wooden door, tapping on a lamp lit by several tiny moving lights. He shook it vigorously from side to side and it became brighter and brighter. Cecilia examined it closely while Luke fumbled around looking for a key, and saw that the light came from a collection of small creatures crawling around the inside of the lamp. Cecilia recognised the creatures: they were fireflies.

“Welcome to my palace,” Luke said, bowing and gesturing for Cecilia to enter as he flung the door open. She passed through the doorway and curtseyed back. Cecilia let her eyes roam the room. It was quite beautiful, with a black and white checkerboard floor and rusty brass trimmings about the place and panels of mirror lining the interior walls that reflected light everywhere. It was much bigger and brighter than Kuffi’s cabin. Cecilia examined the ceiling, which appeared quite low at first. However, when she stood in the middle and looked directly skywards, she could see it travelled quite some way up.

“Who’s with you, Luke? I can hear two sets of feet,” said an old crumpled voice in the corner. Cecilia hadn’t seen him propping himself up by the fireplace; the figure was sort of camouflaged by all the stuff hanging on the walls.

“It’s OK, Jasper, she’s a friend,” said Luke.

“What is she doing in here, Luke? Have you lost your marbles?”

“Actually, I have found them, you’ll be pleased to know. Well, one, but quite literally!” Luke said, pleased as punch.

Jasper searched the air for Luke’s voice and approached them slowly, adjusting his hearing by using the ear horn hanging around his neck on a silver chain. It was a silver trumpet-shaped pipe—it was much prettier than Luke had suggested when he’d mentioned it earlier.

“Meet Cecilia. She’s lost and we have entered into a bargain. I’m going to help her find Kuffi—she’s a friend of his—and she is going to pay me with her marble. Quite simple really if you think about it, Jasper.”

“Why are you going to help her find Kuffi?” said Jasper, looking rather worried. “Is he lost?”

“Oh right. Yeah, about that… I think you’d better sit down,” said Luke.

10Breaking News

Jasper made his way over to a door that led from the main cavern into another room.

“Come on in, Cecilia,” said Luke.

“Are you sure I should? I don’t think he likes me very much.”

“It’s fine. He’s just a bit grumpy because he doesn’t like surprises, or visitors!” Luke chuckled. “But he’ll be fine in a bit.”

“I can hear you, you know!” said Jasper.

Luke pulled a face at Cecilia and they followed Jasper into the other room; it was a cubbyhole and Cecilia noticed that there were more doorways that she assumed led on to other small rooms, a bit like how she imagined the inside of a rabbit warren. The floor was covered in rugs and carpets of all different shapes and sizes, colours and textures. It made the space seem quite welcoming, even if Jasper didn’t. There were lots of jugs and teapots, plastic bottles, cups and glasses, most of which contained water, dotted about the place. Some were covered over with cloth or saucers and there was one with a plastic top that might have even been the lid from a can of Pringles.

“Thirsty?” asked Luke.

“Yes, please,” said Cecilia. The last time she’d had a drink was the tea Kuffi had given her. Luke reached for a small green jar. Jasper piped up.

“You’re giving away our supplies… to a stranger… for free?” Jasper grumbled.

“Jasper.” Luke walked over to where he had parked himself and knelt before him. Tenderly placing both hands on his knees, he whispered softly, “Cecilia is a wanderer just like you. We’re not sure how long she’s been gone but she was really lost when Kuffi found her. He’s helping her—well, he was before the Corvus Community took him away. It won’t be long before he’s sentenced by Jacques d’Or and then, hopefully, he’ll just have to pay a big fine and she’ll be out of our fur.”

“The Corvus Community! Oh dear…” A troubled look came over Jasper’s face and rested there for a while as the news settled in. “Aww, poor Koof, I can’t believe they finally got him!” Jasper’s cheeks were red and his face had changed. He turned his glazed eyes to look accusingly in Cecilia’s direction.

“So, this friend of yours, Cecilia… This wanderer got Kuffi into trouble? How do you know she’s not some sort of spy?”

“Because quite frankly, she looks a bit like you, Jasper, and her story is pretty similar to yours,” Luke said.

Jasper began to calm down a bit, mopping his brow with a filthy old rag. “They’ll never let Kuffi go. He’ll be sent to the Black of Beyond for sure, or worse—you know that, don’t you, Luke?”

Cecilia looked at Jasper. He was hunched over and very fair. His white hair was thin and wispy around the edges of his temples. He was wearing a long coat that seemed to have been cobbled together from pieces of carpet. His skin looked almost translucent and in the dim light of the cubby he looked like a celestial being. But he was, Cecilia concluded, definitely a human.

“I never meant to cause any trouble for anyone. Kuffi is such a nice fellow and he helped me when I was in real pickle. I just want to help. Tell me what I can do and I will do it,” Cecilia said softly. Sensitive not to provoke an outburst she continued, “He was trying to remind me of who I was. But I already know. I’m