Cave Dwellers Read Online Free PDF Page B

ifs.’ Not this ‘what if’ though. Mountain climbing might have helped some. When you’re climbing, you always seem to get in some precarious situations that you have to think your way through. My best friend Matt and I go climbing and mountain biking whenever we get the opportunity. He would have been with me today if he didn’t have to work. ”
       Finishing their beef jerky, they ate the energy bars in silence. Ramira took a couple more swallows of water.
       “Would you like some water?”
       “Yes.” Reaching for it in the dark, his hand brushed against hers. A strange tingling and warmth passed through him. “Thanks.”
       “You’re welcome. I feel a little better now that I’ve eaten.”
       “Me too. We should probably be going.” Zaac waited to see if she disagreed. “Hopefully we will find a way out of here today. If not, we need to find a place to spend the night.”
       Zaac turned on his headlamp.
       “Would you like to take the headlamp and lead?”
       Ramira shook her head, “No! You’re doing just fine.”
       Zaac started off again with Ramira close behind. The cave afforded easy walking without any bending. After traveling about 800 feet, they reached a cross-section that offered a branch in each direction. One to the right. One to the left. Another went straight. The one to the right seemed smaller than the other two.
       Zaac checked out each one.
       “Which way should we go?”
       “You’re asking me?” Looking to the right branch, she said, “I don’t like the look of that one. It’s already getting smaller. I don’t think I want to walk on all fours again.”
       “Yeah, I’m with you there. That leaves the left branch and the one straight ahead.”
       They both looked down one branch and then the other, undecided. Glancing downward, Ramira noticed a change in the floor in the branch that led straight ahead. Walking a few steps, she bent down and rubbed her hand on the floor.
       “Isn’t this different from the hard rock we’ve been walking on? It looks like a mixture of dirt and sand.”
       Kneeling beside her, Zaac brushed his hand against the floor bottom. “Yes it is. This is different.”
       He noticed the floor had an upward slant to it. “I think you picked the way we should go.”
       “Okay, Let’s give it a try.”
       The cave widened after about fifty yards, enabling them to walk side by side. Up ahead they noticed a bend that angled toward the right, which they followed. Hanging from the ceiling were a couple of oddly shaped rock formations.
       “What are those?” Zaac asked.
       “I think they’re called stalactites. I’ve seen them in caverns and caves on vacation.”
       Reaching out, Zaac rubbed his hand over one of them. “Those are neat.”
       “It takes thousands of years for them to form. It takes about 200 years for them to grow an inch.” She remembered the tour guide’s narrative.
       After they had traveled another 100 feet, the cave narrowed, and they had to go back to single file. Fifty feet further on, they stopped in amazement. The small cavern they had entered was filled with stalactites. In several spots, there were formations that appeared to grow from the ground.
       “Wow,” Zaac said.
       “This is awesome.” Ramira looked around in amazement.
       She walked over to one strange formation. “Look at this one.”
       Zaac joined her. The stalactite appeared to be growing down from the ceiling and also growing up from the ground. It was joined in the middle.
       “Weird,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
       Ramira ran her hand over it. “Do you think we can spend the night here?”
       “It’s probably as good a place as any.”
       Looking across the cavern, he noticed a formation growing from the ground that afforded a nice rounded back support. It looked almost comfortable. He sat down and leaned against it.