Frog Whistle Mine Read Online Free PDF Page B

finding it hardest. She fell several times. Each time Nick would rush forward to rescue her. It seemed to Tony that it was taking longer and longer for them to separate after she was back on her feet. He smiled to himself: Nick might be shy, but Christine had ways of dealing with men like that. He could hear Rose sniggering in front of him—this was exactly why she had come.
    A while later Rose herself tripped, sprawling face down in the sand. She lay groaning as if in agony. The others were too far in front to notice. Tony stopped and watched her, smiling a little. After a while she lifted her head and turned to him. ‘Aren’t you going to help me?’
    ‘Nope. You can get up by yourself.’
    She did so. ‘Why does it work for your mother and not for me?’ she asked with a smile.
    ‘He wants to touch her. That’s the difference.’
    She poked her tongue at him, swivelled, and marched off up the track. Tony chuckled and followed.
    Eventually they came to the end of the line where a single wagon sat. Fred leaned against the wall, breathing noisily. ‘Oh I’m getting too old for this sort of thing,’ he puffed. While they waited, Tony examined the wagon. It looked like a smaller model of one you would find on a normal railway. There were the usual four wheels and a simple brake lever. At the back was a step for the driver to stand on and control the thing. The bucket was wooden, yet it seemed in good shape for something that was probably a hundred years old.
    ‘It’s made out of wood so that it’s lighter and easier to move.’ said Fred. ‘He could push the thing in here empty, fill it and then ride on the step and let it roll back down the slope.’
    ‘Would it still work, if you cleared the track?’ Tony asked.
    Fred chuckled. ‘Yeah, probably. Though I think the brake’s ceased up. Anyway, it would take months to clear the tracks, so it’s not really a danger. It’s been here for seventy years and here is where it will stay.’
    The main cave continued in a straight line from the wagon, but now it led steeply downhill. There was no way the wagon could have been pushed back up this slope, loaded or not.
    After a couple of minutes Fred stopped. ‘Time to turn your lights off,’ he said.
    ‘Why?’ Rose asked anxiously.
    ‘Because! That’s why.’
    One by one the lights went out until they stood in absolute darkness.
    ‘We’ll give your eyes a moment to adjust and then I’ll turn on the black light.’
    ‘I don’t like this,’ moaned Rose.
    ‘Don’t worry girl. The ghosts won’t get you while I’m here.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.
    Fred chuckled. ‘Then let’s drive them away. They don’t like ultraviolet light.’ There was a click and the space was filled with a dim purple light. It was eerie and did little to rid their minds of ghosts.
    The cave narrowed until they all had to duck to get through. In a couple of places they had to squeeze sideways. Then, without warning the narrow passage exploded into a cavern filled with a yellow-green glow. They all stopped and stood and stared in amazement.
    Christine was the first to speak. ‘Wow!’
    ‘Worth coming for, isn’t it?’ said Fred. ‘Bet you haven’t seen anything like this before.’
    Nobody answered: their minds were still absorbing thebeauty. The cavern was cut out of a black, angular rock. Set into the sides were crystals, the source of the light. They were glowing like stars.
    ‘Uranium ore,’ said Nick finally. ‘And the rock is Hawks Crag Breccia.’
    Fred nodded. ‘Well done!’
    ‘Is that really uranium?’ asked Tony.
    ‘Yep.’
    ‘Is it safe?’
    ‘So long as you don’t spend too much time in here,’ answered Fred. ‘It’s not the uranium that’s the problem. It’s the radon gas.’
    ‘Did your grandfather discover it?’ asked Christine.
    Fred nodded. ‘But he never saw it glowing like this. It only glows in UV light. If I turn the light out, it will only glow until the stored energy has