Page 78 of The Path to the Last House Before the Sea

Alyssa flinched when a dusting of earth dropped on her head from the roof. The tunnel had been destabilised by the latest cave-in, not to mention her and Jack moving fallen rubble around, and she didn’t fancy waiting to see how unstable the whole thing had become.

She took a deep breath.‘There’s only one way to find out where this tunnel goes, and to get help.’

‘You’re right.’ Jack inspected the narrow entrance to the shaft. ‘I think I’ll fit into it.’

‘Not you. Me. I can climb up and raise the alarm when I get out.’

‘No way.’ Jack put his hands on his hips and shook his head. ‘It’s too dangerous.’

‘I doubt it’s more dangerous than waiting for the roof to fall in. And I’m smaller than you, so I’ll fit into the space easily.’ Alyssa shivered because ‘easily’ was pushing it. The thought of crawling through that small opening made her feel light-headed. But the creaking of the roof supports nearby made up her mind.‘You know it makes sense for me to climb up, rather than you, Jack. We could wait around for your dad to realise where we are and raise the alarm, but what if he comes in, opens the shop and doesn’t go into the cellar for hours? He’ll think you’re still out somewhere, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I can stay down here much longer, waiting for the roof to cave in, without losing it completely. So, this is worth a shot.’

‘You don’t have to do this,’ said Jack, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her to face him, his grey eyes black in the low light. ‘You really don’t.’

‘Yes, I really do,’ said Alyssa, determined to make up for getting Jack into this mess in the first place. Poor Stan had suffered too much over the years to face another tragedy, and Archie needed his dad.

Before she could change her mind, Alyssa pulled away from Jack, crouched down and pushed her shoulders through the opening in the tunnel wall. She dragged herself fully inside and began to crawl, sweeping the torch ahead of her.

Almost immediately, she realised how bad an idea this might have been. The walls of the ventilation shaft were inches from her body and the roof was only a foot above her head. Bubbles of panic started to rise into her throat. ‘My life has to change,’ she muttered to herself, crawling slowly along the incline, her knees scraped by rough stones. ‘If I get out of here alive, my whole freaking life has to change.’

‘Are you all right?’ Jack’s voice echoed along the shaft. ‘Alyssa, speak to me!’ His apparent paucity of panic had vanished. He sounded almost as fraught as she felt.

‘Yeah, I’m OK,’ Alyssa shouted over her shoulder. ‘And the draught is getting stronger.’

She crawled on up the incline, singing a Taylor Swift song under her breath to push down the panic; singing, and picturing the faces of the people she’d left behind when she fled: Ben, her parents, friends – she’d hardly seen any of them during the last six months. She’d been too busy running from a tragedy she could not escape.

What would smugglers have sung to themselves as they’d built this infernal tunnel? she wondered. What might Charity have sung to herself as she rushed to give Josiah the brooch that could help to secure his freedom? ‘Greensleeves’ was the only old song she could remember, and she only knew the chorus, but she sang that as she climbed ever higher.

The rush of air gradually turned into a strong breeze and Alyssa began to hear booming sounds ahead of her. But the cramped ventilation shaft was still dark, and she found out why when her fingers hit something hard: the way ahead was blocked. And it was at that precise moment that her phone ran out of battery and the torchlight died.

‘You have got to be kidding me!’ she shouted into the blackness, wondering if she could slide back down the way she’d come. Physically turning around would be impossible, and even trying such a risky move might result in her getting stuck. ‘You are in big trouble,’ Alyssa muttered, trying not to panic, though that was nearly impossible seeing as she was now even more trapped than she had been in the tunnel with Jack.

‘Alyssa!’

Jack’s voice, sounding like it was miles away, brought tears to her eyes. She so wanted to see his face again, to feel his fingers on her lips, to kiss him senseless. Who cared if he still loved Miri? She should have kissed him while she had the chance.

‘Stupid! Stupid!’ she berated herself, hitting out at the blockage ahead of her in frustration. Her hand hit cold, hard stone and she ran her fingers across it. A huge rock was blocking the ventilation shaft.

But, when she squinted into the darkness, a faint sliver of light caught her eye. A sliver of daylight.

Alyssa hadn’t come this far – braving collapsing tunnels, bones and disclosing her darkest secret – to give up at the final hurdle. She put her shoulder against the rock and pushed with all her might. Nothing happened, so she tried again and again until it shifted a little.

‘Yes!’ she yelled, pushing until her muscles began to cramp and she felt hot enough to burst into flame. But the rock was moving and, as it shifted a little more, the ventilation shaft was suddenly flooded with light. Soil was falling on her head, and she yelled again as bugs and spiders cascaded down around her shoulders.

Jack’s voice sounded from far below. ‘That’s it. I’m coming to get you.’

‘I’m all right,’ she shouted back but she could hear Jack grunting and groaning as he started crawling along the narrow tunnel.

He’s going to get stuck, thought Alyssa. At least Charity and Josiah died in each other’s arms. There’s no way we’re dying apart, rammed into this shaft like trapped peas in a pod.

She shoved the rock again as hard as she could and, though the boulder didn’t move very far, it was enough. Through the gap she’d created, Alyssa glimpsed the most wondrous sight she’d ever seen: sky the colour of cornflowers and pillows of white cloud.One more almighty push, with every last ounce of energy she possessed, and the gap was big enough to squeeze through.

She emerged, blinking, into pale sunlight and gasping in deep breaths of fresh air as she tried to get her bearings. She was above the beach, where the land rose, and the booming noise she’d heard while she crawled was the sound of waves crashing against the cliffs.

Alyssa scrubbed at her cheeks as tears streamed from her eyes. She was safe and Jack soon would be too. She could hear his voice as he crawled along the tunnel, getting closer. He was calling her name, sounding frantic.

‘I’m here! I’m out!’ she shouted into the mouth of the opening. She could just see the top of his head coming towards her. ‘Keep going. You’re almost there.’

With a lot of grunting and swearing, Jack pulled himself out of the ventilation shaft, into the daylight. He jumped to his feet and, grabbing hold of Alyssa, pulled her tightly against him.

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