16

inside the mountain

‘what’s the matter?’ shouted jack, jumping up. ‘what’s happened!’

lucy-ann had dropped the torch in her fright. the light went out and they were in darkness.

she clutched at jack again and startled him.

‘something touched me!’ she whispered. ‘something ran its fingers all down me. oh, jack,what was it?’

‘yes, and me too,’ said dinah, in a trembling voice. ‘i felt them. they touched my shouldersoftly and then ran all the way down to my feet. what is it, jack? there’s something here. let’sget out.’

‘where’s the torch?’ said jack impatiently. ‘oh, lucy-ann, i hope it isn’t broken. you idiot,dropping it like that.’

he groped about for it on the floor and found it. luckily it hadn’t rolled into the pool. he shookit and the light came on. everyone was very thankful.

‘now, what touched you?’ demanded jack. ‘nothing touched me!’

‘i don’t know,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i want to get out of here, jack. i’m frightened.’

jack swung his torch round behind the girls. he saw something that made him cry out insurprise. the girls didn’t dare to look. they clung to him, trembling.

‘see what touched you? a rope-ladder falling down just behind you!’ laughed jack. ‘well, whata surprise! you’d never dream of that!’

dinah pulled herself together at once, and forced herself to laugh. ‘well! fancy that! i really didthink it was somebody touching me. it felt just like it.’

‘it must just have run down quietly behind you from somewhere up high,’ said jack, flashinghis torch upwards, and following the ladder with the beam as far as he could. ‘well, you made mejump all right when you yelled. i almost went head-first into the pool!’

‘it happened when you turned that wheel down there,’ said lucy-ann, still shivering a little.

‘yes. a very clever little idea,’ said jack. ‘i must say this is a jolly well-hidden entrance to themountain – better even than ali baba’s cave! first there’s the green curtain. then just a crack inthe rock. then you come in and see nothing but a black pool and a roofless cave. most peoplewould just say, “how odd!” and go out again!’

‘yes. they would never, never guess about the ladder that comes tumbling down when you turnthe wheel hidden so cleverly in the water,’ agreed dinah. ‘most ingenious, all of it. somebodywith brains lives in this mountain!’

‘yes,’ said jack thoughtfully. ‘brains that work and produce minor earthquakes and crimsonsmoke, and plan for landing- grounds for helicopters on mountain- tops – and keep packs ofalsatians that would terrorize anyone roaming too near the mountain. very remarkable brains! iwonder exactly what those brains are after!’

the girls stared at him in the dimly lit cave, with the black pool glinting up at them. jacksounded very serious. he felt serious too. there was something very strange about all this.

something very clever. much too clever. what could be going on?

he stared up the ladder. he felt very much inclined to go up it. he longed to see what wasinside the mountain – and he wanted to find philip again too. then a hollow voice made them alljump violently.

‘naughty boy! pifflebunk!’

‘it’s kiki,’ said jack, relieved. ‘you wretched bird, you made me jump! what do you think ofthis cave, kiki?’

‘pifflebunk,’ repeated kiki, and made a noise like a mowing-machine. it sounded terrible in thatroofless cave. the noise seemed to go up and up endlessly. kiki enjoyed the sound. she began allover again.

‘be quiet,’ said jack. ‘goodness knows what will happen if your noises arrive at the top of thisladder, and somebody hears them!’

‘you’re not going up, are you, jack?’ asked lucy-ann, afraid, as she saw jack place a foot onthe lowest rung of the rope-ladder.

‘yes. i’ll just go up to the top and see what’s there and come down again,’ said jack. ‘i don’texpect there’ll be anyone on guard, because nobody would ever dream of us guessing the secret ofgetting the ladder down. you two go out into the sunshine and wait for me.’

‘no. we’re coming too,’ said lucy-ann. they had lost philip. she wasn’t going to lose jack!

so she and dinah began to climb up behind him.

the ladder was well made and strong. it swung to and fro a little as the three of them climbed it.

up they went, and up and up. there seemed no end to it!

‘i’m stopping for a rest,’ whispered jack. ‘you stop too. it’s frightfully tiring, this.’

they clung to the rungs and rested, panting a little with their long climb. lucy-ann didn’t liketo think how far away the foot of the cave was. nor did she like to think how far away the top ofthe ladder was!

they went on again. it was pitch dark, for jack had put away his torch, needing both hands toclimb with. lucy-ann began to feel that she was in a peculiarly horrid nightmare – one in whichshe would have to climb ladders in the dark until she awoke in the morning!

‘i say – i can see a dim sort of light now,’ whispered jack. ‘i believe we must be coming to thetop. don’t make any noise.’

they got to the top just as lucy-ann felt that her arms would not hold on to the ladder anylonger. as jack said, there was a dim light there. he climbed off on to a rocky floor, and the girlsfollowed. they all lay panting for a few minutes, unable even to look round and see where theywere.

jack recovered first. he sat up and gazed round him. he was in a little chamber, lighted by adim lamp. big stone jugs full of what looked like water stood at the back, with mugs near by.

jack’s eyes gleamed. just what they wanted after their terrible climb! he fetched a jug and threemugs and the three of them drank deeply of the ice-cold water.

‘now i feel better,’ said jack, with a sigh. he put back the jug and mugs. there was nothingelse to see in the room at all. at the far end was an open passage-way, leading into the heart of themountain.

jack went to it. lucy-ann called softly to him. ‘jack! aren’t you coming back? you said you’donly go to the top and look!’

‘well, i’m looking,’ said jack. ‘there’s a narrow passage here. come and see. i wonder whereit leads to.’

the girls went to see. jack wandered along a little way and the girls followed, not liking to beleft alone. they came to another dim lamp, set on a rocky shelf in the passage wall. jack went onand on, following the winding passage, coming to lamp after lamp that lighted the way.

‘come back now,’ whispered lucy-ann, pulling at his sleeve. ‘we’ve gone far enough.’

but jack felt that he couldn’t possibly go back now. why, he might meet philip round the nextcorner! so on he went.

they came to a forking of the passage, which suddenly divided into three. the children stopped,wondering where the three passages led to. they all looked exactly the same to them.

and then, out of one passage capered somebody they knew very well indeed. it was snowy!

the kid was as delighted to see them as they were to see him. he butted them all, rubbed hisnose into their hands, and bleated joyfully. jack felt pleased.

‘we’ll follow snowy,’ he said to the girls. ‘he’ll lead us to philip!’

so they let the little kid dance in front of them, leading the way. he led them down the passage,into a vast, hall-like cave, into another passage, and then, to their great surprise, they came to amost amazing place.

it was like a vast laboratory, a work-room set in the heart of the mountain. it lay below them,and they had to lean over a little gallery to look at it.

‘what is it?’ whispered lucy-ann, awed at the amount of curious things there. there was noenormous machinery – only a vast network of gleaming wires, great glass jars standing together,crystal boxes in which sparks and flames shot up and down, and rows upon rows of silentlyspinning wheels that shone strangely as they spun. the wires ran from these all over the place.

in the middle of the work-room shone a curious lamp. it had many sides, and it glowed first onecolour and then another. sometimes it was so dazzling that the children could hardly look at it.

sometimes it died down to a faint red, green or blue glow. it seemed alive – a monster eye thatwatched over everything in that secret laboratory.

the children gazed, fascinated. there was nobody there at all. everything seemed to work on itsown, never stopping. the wheels spun round, the wires gleamed, and nothing made any noisebeyond a very quiet humming.

and then – and then there began that faint, far-off rumbling they knew so well. far below thelaboratory, deep deep down, came a stirring and a groaning, as something happened in the depthsof the mountain. then, as had happened before, the mountain quivered a little, and shook, as ifsomething tremendous had happened deep underground.

the great lamp in the middle suddenly grew bright, so bright that the children crouched back,afraid. it grew crimson, the brightest crimson they had ever seen in their lives. it began to belchout tiny puffs of crimson smoke.

jack began to choke. he pushed the girls back into the passage, and they breathed the fresher airthere in relief. snowy, frightened, crouched against them.

‘that’s the smoke we saw coming out of a hole in the side of the mountain,’ whispered jack.

‘there must be a chimney-pipe built from that lamp, right away up the mountain to the hole,where the smoke can escape.’

‘what’s going on, do you think?’ asked dinah, in awe. ‘what’s all that wire for, and the crystalboxes and things?’

‘i haven’t the least idea,’ said jack. ‘but it’s plain that it’s something very secret, or they’dnever do all this here, in this lonely, inaccessible place.’

‘atom bombs or something, do you think?’ asked lucy-ann, with a shiver.

‘oh, no – you want enormous buildings for that,’ said jack. ‘no – it’s something very odd andunusual, i should think. let’s go back and peep.’

they went back, but everything was just as it had been, the wheels spinning silently, the crystalboxes sparking and flaming up and down inside, the great lamp watching like an eye, nowcrimson, now blue, now green, now orange.

‘let’s go round the gallery and see where it goes to,’ whispered jack. ‘i feel as if i’m in somesort of aladdin’s cave now – the slave of the ring might appear at any moment!’

they wandered on and came to another extraordinary place. it was really only a high-roofedcave – but it was made into a great, sumptuous hall, with flights of steps leading up to what lookedlike a throne. beautiful hangings hung down the walls from the roof, which glittered with shininglamps shaped like stars.

the floor was laid with a golden carpet, and ranged on each side were beautiful chairs. thechildren stared in astonishment.

‘whatever’s all this?’ whispered dinah. ‘does some king live here? the king of the mountain!’