Chapter 15

B-The girls waited a minute but there was no reply from Simon. "Simon," shrieked Betsy, "this is not a laughing matter! Because in case you didn't know I am very afraid of the dark!" She gave a small scream and started to cry. But then she realized that that was not helping at all, she had one last hick and then backed up against the wall trying to not completely break down. Good thing Sarah doesn't freak out every time that someone locks her in a creepy cellar. "Simon?" she tried once more, just in case he hadn't heard the other time or something... Nope, nothing. "Alright, let's think about his logically, we know that someone was here recently so maybe there is a light or something." "Or a murderer! Just waiting for the perfect moment to strike!" shrieked Betsy, and she backed closer into the wall. Sarah searched around and eventually found something that felt like a desk. She opened a drawer and felt around, hoping that nothing deadly was hidden in it's depths. Then, as luck would have it she found a candle! And matches! She struck a match and held it to the wick of the candle...
S-A flame burst into life. The candle was a welcome juxtaposition against the oppressive darkness of the cellar. The girls inspected all the walls, which were made of roughly hewn stone. "There's no other way out," Sarah moaned. "SIMON," Betsy declared shrilly, "I know you can hear me and I think this is a rather foul joke. My high opinion of you is rapidly decreasing. I demand you let us out at once!" Silence. Footsteps. More silence. A loud crash. Broken Glass. Flames. Large hot flames. Large hot flames that eat people if they don't get out of the cellar they are trapped in. Large hot flames that eat people and leave no trace, not even ashes, when they are finished with you. "We need to get out of here, right now."
B-Betsy was screaming her guts out now! There was not way that she was going to be the one so save them. It was all up to Sarah... "Think Sarah think!" Sarah muttered to herself. But the smoke was beginning to cloud her senses. She couldn’t see, her lungs were starting to burn. And right on queue Betsy slumped to the flood in a dead faint. "Well, this is just great. Now I have a 130 pound girl to carry out of here!" But then, out of the smog Sarah hear a faithful bark! "Poppy? What is it girl?" She crawled under the majority of the smoke towards Poppy. Poppy was barking in earnest now, and whining. Sarah looked around the spot but couldn't see anything unusual. But wait! There was the scent of fresh (well fresh-er) air. She gave a shove with all her might against the wall and... Presto! A secret tunnel! She only hoped that it lead outside, not farther in. But anything was better than a burning shack. She grabbed Betsy by the ankles, snatched up the candle (which she found a little holder for, how handy) scooted Poppy inside and shut the door.
B-Write write write write write write write! With a passion! A angry fiery passion! That consumes you, not unlike the fire you were writing about when you were channeling your inner English Major...
S- But I’m not and English Major...
B-But you seemed like one...
S-It was a tunnel made of more roughly cut stone except for this time the ceiling wasn't 6 feet tall--more like 4. This led to a few problems as Sarah was heaving Betsy across the rocks trying to balance the candle and keep an eye on Poppy. Luckily Betsy woke up. Unfortunately she was still hysterical. Her eyes were wild and she stood up in a panic gasping for air as if someone had been strangling her. "What happened?" she managed to gasp out. "Well, you see," responded Sarah, "Our faithful hound managed to get us out of that mess. There was a secret passageway and Poppy found it!" "How convenient," Betsy smirked, "I guess the murderer isn't very clever after all." The girls continued to stumble down the passage way until the came to a dead end. "Great," Sarah muttered. She shoved against it and it creaked open slowly. To the girls surprise, a blithe pastoral scene wasn't before them but rather an old dusty room. An old, ornately furnished, dusty room for that matter.




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