he should say something.
They dragged the heavy box over to the wall, Sandy climbed up and stood looking intently at the point where the pipes disappeared into the stonework.
‘Pass up the metal rod, and standby with the lump to hit it with. A little poke about should reveal something.’
A small shower of stone chips fell on the unsuspecting Ben as Sandy chipped away at the point where the pipes disappeared into the wall.
‘Looks like they have stuck the small pieces back with something.’ Sandy mused as he jabbed away at the wall, finally getting the rod into a position where he thought he could do some real damage.
‘OK, whack it one,’ Sandy called out, ‘but not too hard, I only want to chip away a little of the wall where the pipes go in to see exactly where they go.’
‘They go into the next cave,’ Ben replied, ‘I thought you knew that.’
‘I’m not so sure they do, at least, not directly.’
A few minutes later and they had removed enough of the friable stone to reveal where the pipes were actually going, a large lump slipping out of Sandy’s hand and hitting Ben on the head. This brought forth a very strong expletive which surprised Sandy, and he hastily reinforced his earlier point,
‘Bet you didn’t learn that word here!’
‘I’ve never used it before.’ said a mildly embarrassed Ben, going a dull pink. ‘I’m beginning to see what you mean.’
A few more chips, and the gas pipe mystery was solved.
‘If you look up there, you’ll see the pipes from the gas generator bend upwards, and disappear up into the rock. Another pair of pipes come down besides them, and then go into the next cave, carrying the real gas supply. That’s where the gas supply is really coming from, not the generators down here.’
‘Why would anyone want to do that?’ asked a surprised Ben, after he had taken a look at the two sets of pipes, ‘surely that’s a bit deceitful, and why make us go to all the trouble of working the generators when there’s no need?’
‘This place is all about deceit, nothing is quite what it seems. That’s why I want to solve some of these mysteries, and so get a better idea of what it’s really all about. Come on, we’d better put back as much of this stone a possible, although it’s so gloomy in this corner I doubt anyone will notice our handiwork.’ Most of the stone was wedged back in place, and the exploration reasonably well concealed.
‘What do we tell Nan?’ asked Ben, when they had redistributed the remaining rubble on the floor of the cave into convenient dark corners, ‘I don’t suppose he’ll like it.’
‘It’s about time Nan faced up to some of the odd things which happen here, instead of just accepting everything at face value and then building a mythical ritual around it.’
Sandy turned the gas supply from the generator back on, being careful to leave everything as it was before.
‘Are you going to tell Jez what we’ve found?’ asked Ben, eager to spread the news now that he had had his interest awakened in matters mystical.
‘No, I think we’ll keep that a little secret to ourselves, and Nan of course, the fewer people who know about this sort of thing the better, for the time being. I would like us to get into a position where we can really look after ourselves without the help of any outside force before we show our hand, as it were, ’cos who knows what will happen then.’
Ben promptly assumed his worried look, as the idea of major changes to their regime looked more than likely, if Sandy had his way.
They met up with Nan in the main cavern just before the midday meal.
‘Well, what did you two find out?’ asked a somewhat complacent Nan, not really expecting any disturbing news.
They told him what they had found, and Sandy’s theory that the gas supply had been rigged a long time ago to fool everyone into thinking that it was they who were making the gas for the lights, when the system could not possibly make enough for
They dragged the heavy box over to the wall, Sandy climbed up and stood looking intently at the point where the pipes disappeared into the stonework.
‘Pass up the metal rod, and standby with the lump to hit it with. A little poke about should reveal something.’
A small shower of stone chips fell on the unsuspecting Ben as Sandy chipped away at the point where the pipes disappeared into the wall.
‘Looks like they have stuck the small pieces back with something.’ Sandy mused as he jabbed away at the wall, finally getting the rod into a position where he thought he could do some real damage.
‘OK, whack it one,’ Sandy called out, ‘but not too hard, I only want to chip away a little of the wall where the pipes go in to see exactly where they go.’
‘They go into the next cave,’ Ben replied, ‘I thought you knew that.’
‘I’m not so sure they do, at least, not directly.’
A few minutes later and they had removed enough of the friable stone to reveal where the pipes were actually going, a large lump slipping out of Sandy’s hand and hitting Ben on the head. This brought forth a very strong expletive which surprised Sandy, and he hastily reinforced his earlier point,
‘Bet you didn’t learn that word here!’
‘I’ve never used it before.’ said a mildly embarrassed Ben, going a dull pink. ‘I’m beginning to see what you mean.’
A few more chips, and the gas pipe mystery was solved.
‘If you look up there, you’ll see the pipes from the gas generator bend upwards, and disappear up into the rock. Another pair of pipes come down besides them, and then go into the next cave, carrying the real gas supply. That’s where the gas supply is really coming from, not the generators down here.’
‘Why would anyone want to do that?’ asked a surprised Ben, after he had taken a look at the two sets of pipes, ‘surely that’s a bit deceitful, and why make us go to all the trouble of working the generators when there’s no need?’
‘This place is all about deceit, nothing is quite what it seems. That’s why I want to solve some of these mysteries, and so get a better idea of what it’s really all about. Come on, we’d better put back as much of this stone a possible, although it’s so gloomy in this corner I doubt anyone will notice our handiwork.’ Most of the stone was wedged back in place, and the exploration reasonably well concealed.
‘What do we tell Nan?’ asked Ben, when they had redistributed the remaining rubble on the floor of the cave into convenient dark corners, ‘I don’t suppose he’ll like it.’
‘It’s about time Nan faced up to some of the odd things which happen here, instead of just accepting everything at face value and then building a mythical ritual around it.’
Sandy turned the gas supply from the generator back on, being careful to leave everything as it was before.
‘Are you going to tell Jez what we’ve found?’ asked Ben, eager to spread the news now that he had had his interest awakened in matters mystical.
‘No, I think we’ll keep that a little secret to ourselves, and Nan of course, the fewer people who know about this sort of thing the better, for the time being. I would like us to get into a position where we can really look after ourselves without the help of any outside force before we show our hand, as it were, ’cos who knows what will happen then.’
Ben promptly assumed his worried look, as the idea of major changes to their regime looked more than likely, if Sandy had his way.
They met up with Nan in the main cavern just before the midday meal.
‘Well, what did you two find out?’ asked a somewhat complacent Nan, not really expecting any disturbing news.
They told him what they had found, and Sandy’s theory that the gas supply had been rigged a long time ago to fool everyone into thinking that it was they who were making the gas for the lights, when the system could not possibly make enough for
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