Page 66 of The Path to the Last House Before the Sea

Jack drew back his shoulders. ‘In a minute but… let’s go a little bit further. I’ll take the lead.’ He moved past Alyssa and walked on, feeling brave.

* * *

Something about Jack was different, thought Alyssa, flattening herself against the wall of the tunnel so he could squeeze past, his body pressing briefly against hers. He’d been so against her exploring the tunnel and yet here he was, striding ahead like Indiana Jones on a mission.

She watched him walking off into the gloom. He was hard to figure out – one minute he was pooh-poohing everything she said about smuggling, or Josiah and Charity, and the next he was inviting her into his cellar to see a symbol that he’d vaguely remembered. She’d never have found the tunnel without his help.

‘Keep up,’ Jack called, ahead of her.

‘Hold on, wait for me.’ Alyssa hurried after him, not sure why he’d changed his mind but glad of his company. Truth be told, the excitement and bloody-mindedness that had propelled her into the tunnel had started to dissipate. The jewel-like glinting that had caught her eye and encouraged her into the tunnel had turned out to be nothing more than a scattering of old nails, and then there were the silver threads of cobwebs that hung thickly from the ceiling. She rubbed her hands across her shoulders to dislodge any spiders that might have hitched a ride, and shivered.

‘I can’t believe you’re exploring this place with me,’ she said, when she’d almost caught up with Jack.

‘Me, neither,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘But I couldn’t let you hurtle into the darkness on your own.’

There wasn’t much hurtling going on, thought Alyssa, stumbling as her foot hit a brick that had fallen from the ceiling. It was quite worrying that a brick had fallen from the ceiling, actually.

She noticed how much chillier the tunnel had become and wondered if the sharp right-angle they’d taken a while back meant they were now heading towards the ocean.

Jack suddenly stopped dead and asked: ‘Can you hear that?’

‘Hear what?’

‘That strange booming noise.’

Alyssa breathed out slowly, the warm air from her lungs turning to mist in the torchlight. There was definitely a noise in the distance: a faint boom followed by a roar. It sounded like the mythical sea dragon that had dragged Charity and Josiah to their deaths.

‘Could that be the sound of waves hitting against rock?’ asked Alyssa.

‘It might be. Perhaps there’s a hidden entrance to the tunnel in the cave somewhere.’

Jack sounded animated, which was ironic seeing as her excitement was fading in direct proportion to Jack’s new-found sense of adventure.Instinct had led her into the tunnel, and instinct was now telling her to get the hell out.

‘I really think we should go back,’ said Alyssa, putting her hand on Jack’s arm. ‘I should never have encouraged you to follow me in here, though it’s really sweet that you did. And surprising too, to be honest.’

Jack glanced down at her hand. ‘I’m not always a dull, sensible stick-in-the-mud, you know.’

‘I know that,’ said Alyssa, suddenly very aware that they were completely alone, with darkness pressing in around them. ‘You wouldn’t have followed me in here if you were.’

‘It’s strange,’ he said, staring into her eyes as the boom and roar echoed faintly around them. ‘I thought you brought out the worst in me, Alyssa Jones, but I’m starting to wonder if you sometimes bring out the best.’

‘I’m not sure what you mean.’

‘I’m not sure I do either, but I just…’ He tailed off, as if his words were being absorbed by the walls enclosing them.

Alyssa knew they should be heading back to the safety of the cellar, but her legs didn’t want to move as Jack bent his head towards her. Was he going to kiss her, for real this time? She stopped breathing and waited, her eyes never moving from his face. But then he took a sudden step backwards.

‘Did you hear that?’

Alyssa breathed out slowly, forcing herself not to sigh.

‘What?’ she asked, her stomach trembling. Or was her whole body moving? She looked around in alarm, sweeping her torch from side to side.

‘There was a different noise.’

And then she heard it: a low groan that seemed to seep up from the ground and make her legs shake. Then there was another sound: a louder, tearing noise as if the world was ripping in two; and then the walls of the tunnel began to shake and bricks began to fall.

‘Watch out!’ yelled Jack, grabbing hold of Alyssa and pushing her to the floor. He threw himself on top of her, shielding her head with his arms as bricks and earth rained down and the world went black.

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