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Chapter 27 Katrina heard the door thunk shut behind her and let out a pent up breath. It had taken far longer to find the opening and closing mechanicism than she had originally imagined. As every long second ticked by she was sure someone, most likely Madame Zinkrey, would come by and find her. All around her she heard water dripping and echoing, but no other sound. She sighed again. All was dark but Katrina was sure that she would have no difficulty finding her way. She dared not carry a light, no only because she did not have one, but because no matter how far she traveled she worried about being caught. Her footsteps echoed through the wide cavern as she exited the tunnel and entered it. A fat drop of water fell directly on her nose, making her gasp and wipe it away quickly. She was jumpy and that could do her no good. She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. Katrina opened her eyes quickly at the sound of giggling bouncing off the walls. Again she gasped but quickly covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound. She dare not move for fear that her footsteps would give her away. The darkness provided her ample cover, she knew. To Katrina’s horror, however, the cavern slowly began to grow lighter. She searched around only to see a bouncing light drawing nearer, from the same direction she assumed the giggle had originated. Silently Katrina cursed as she madly looked around for somewhere to hide. Natural rock formations fell from the ceiling in long, thick needle-like forms, and similar outcroppings covered much of the floor, but none were large enough to hide the teenage girl. “Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” the group of half a dozen girls stopped in the cavern’s opening, one holding a brightly glowing glowrod above her head. Katrina cringed inwardly as she recognized three of the girls as the ones that had confronted her in the dining hall. It was far too late to try to hide so she straightened to her full height and glared at them. “It seems we’ve caught someone trying to sneak out. Madame Zinkrey would be very happy to know of our little discovery,” one of the girls sneered. “To do so you would have to admit your own little adventure,” Katrina answered haughtily. “We all know that you do not want to do that.” “But to get you in more trouble…” the leader of the original threesome said. “In return for an excuse to get rid of you Madame Zinkrey may just overlook our offense.” Katrina did not show her fear but she did feel it. She knew that the large girl was right but she could sense that the girls weren’t so sure. Maybe she could use that. The sound of rumbling and scraping echoed through the air along with voices and dripping water. The girls looked around frantically, wide-eyed. The large girl, who had acted as the leader for the bunch, looked wearily towards the secret entrance then at Katrina but finally let her fears control her actions. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” she whispered to the others before hurrying away, the girl holding the glowrod muffling its light with the fabric of her uniform. Katrina watched them go just a short way before following behind them, glad for the muted light they provided. The sounds at the entrance were gone; they had been just enough to scare the others into forgetting about Katrina. The girls in a direction opposite that for the little town the mysterious girl had pointed out to Katrina. They were hurrying still, not even bothering to take the time to look over their shoulder, and were soon out of sight. Katrina sighed and looked down at the dimly blinking lights. Very soon, Katrina told herself as she started forward, everything will be different. |
