Canoes & Catacombs — 5: Hole in the Wall

The first two tunnels they attempted were no good. After a half-hour traveling each, moving perhaps a little quicker than when they found the larger cavern, the tunnels had continued without arriving at the mouth of the cave where they’d left their other pack supplies.

Back in the cavern the second time, they looked at the markers they’d left, then at the remaining three tunnel entrances. The correct way had to be one of those.

Could they be so unlucky, Trace wondered, that it would be their last of the five before they found the correct one?

In any case, they’d have to check the remaining tunnels, one at a time, until they finally got back outside. He wished now that he hadn’t suggested something in the first place that had turned out to be so obviously dumb.

His nerves were definitely frazzled, with perhaps the worst to come. They’d already been in the cave three hours, and Trace guessed that their journey could take up to another four. As he lifted his water bottle to his lips, his hands shook.

He considered taking one of his anxiety pills, then decided to wait a little longer. Becky would see him do it, and she’d know that he was getting spooked. It would probably make her more worried than she probably already was.