drop. Now there was no way out. I had no choice but to make the return trip. Chickening out was unthinkable, the sort of gutless thing a Pommy would do. Eric stayed down in the drain while Nigel and Maxie climbed out.
‘Your turn,’ said Maxie.‘We’ve done it so you have to.’
‘Watch out for the rats,’ said Nigel. ‘You don’t know they’re there until they jump onto you.’
‘They’re as big as cats,’ said Maxie.
Their faces were flushed bright red so I knew they’d run most of the way. But they were laughing and if they were laughing it obviously couldn’t be as scary down there as I feared. I climbed into the shaft.
‘Run your hand along the wall,’ said Maxie, suddenly serious. ‘It’s the only way. You can’t see a bloody thing.’
‘OK,’ I said. I preferred it when they were laughing. Eric stepped back as I reached the bottom rung.
‘You go first,’ he said.
The tunnel had never been so scary. The blackness seemed to swallow everything: light, sound and even life itself. The prospect of going down the tunnel where I couldn’t see any light at all was terrifying.
‘No, you,’ I said. ‘You go first.’ Following Eric didn’t seem quite so bad.
‘I already bagsed going second,’ said Eric, and he had.
‘Just stay close behind, OK?’
‘You bet.’
‘No chickening out, OK?’
‘OK.’
‘We’re going to jog, OK? Jog quickly.’
‘Gotcha.’
I took a deep breath. At least I had Eric with me. I don’t think I would even have climbed down the shaft if I’d had to do it with anyone else—except maybe Gary. I had thought about going through the drain with Gary. His dad had avoided being drowned when his ship went down and I thought maybe the ability to escape drowning ran in the family.
‘OK?’ I said again, just to make sure.
‘Yeah, let’s go.’ Eric sounded keen to start.
I started jogging with my left hand out in front of me, sliding along the wall. Part of me wanted to turn back but I knew I’d never live it down if I did. The other part of me wanted to break into a run. The trouble was I couldn’t see a thing in front of my face, and the path, as I said earlier, sloped inwards and downwards towards the half-pipe.Running was out of the question. It was hard enough jogging. I tried to listen for any sound that might suggest a flood of water was on its way but I could hardly hear the sound of my own feet over the pounding in my ears. I couldn’t even hear Eric.
Couldn’t hear Eric?
‘I’m stopping for a breather,’ I said. There was no reply. My heart leaped into my mouth. I’d gone far enough around the bend that I couldn’t see back to the light from the shaft but, even so, I knew Eric wasn’t behind me. I once picked up an electric kettle that was shorting and was blown across the room. Eric’s absence had the same stunning, paralysing effect. He had to be there! I spun around and tentatively started jogging back, scared for me and scared for him, scared he might have fallen and hurt himself, scared of bumping into him or tripping over him, scared of the dark. But then the light from the shaft came into view along with the unmistakable figure of my best pal scampering up the rungs. He was laughing.
‘What are you doing?’ I screamed. I heard someone laugh and Eric laugh back. Then I heard another sound. I couldn’t believe it. My mind refused to accept it.
‘What are you doing?’ This time I didn’t scream. I shrieked. There was no mistaking what I’d heard. The light from the shaft narrowed and disappeared. Unbelievably they’d shut me in the drain. I’d been scared before but at that moment I understood exactly what blind panic was.
I turned and jogged towards the second shaft. It dawned on me that I had to get there before anyone up top did in case they closed that shaft as well. Panic wanted me to ignore everything and just run. But it was impossible. It’s impossible to run hard when you can’t see where you’re going and
‘Your turn,’ said Maxie.‘We’ve done it so you have to.’
‘Watch out for the rats,’ said Nigel. ‘You don’t know they’re there until they jump onto you.’
‘They’re as big as cats,’ said Maxie.
Their faces were flushed bright red so I knew they’d run most of the way. But they were laughing and if they were laughing it obviously couldn’t be as scary down there as I feared. I climbed into the shaft.
‘Run your hand along the wall,’ said Maxie, suddenly serious. ‘It’s the only way. You can’t see a bloody thing.’
‘OK,’ I said. I preferred it when they were laughing. Eric stepped back as I reached the bottom rung.
‘You go first,’ he said.
The tunnel had never been so scary. The blackness seemed to swallow everything: light, sound and even life itself. The prospect of going down the tunnel where I couldn’t see any light at all was terrifying.
‘No, you,’ I said. ‘You go first.’ Following Eric didn’t seem quite so bad.
‘I already bagsed going second,’ said Eric, and he had.
‘Just stay close behind, OK?’
‘You bet.’
‘No chickening out, OK?’
‘OK.’
‘We’re going to jog, OK? Jog quickly.’
‘Gotcha.’
I took a deep breath. At least I had Eric with me. I don’t think I would even have climbed down the shaft if I’d had to do it with anyone else—except maybe Gary. I had thought about going through the drain with Gary. His dad had avoided being drowned when his ship went down and I thought maybe the ability to escape drowning ran in the family.
‘OK?’ I said again, just to make sure.
‘Yeah, let’s go.’ Eric sounded keen to start.
I started jogging with my left hand out in front of me, sliding along the wall. Part of me wanted to turn back but I knew I’d never live it down if I did. The other part of me wanted to break into a run. The trouble was I couldn’t see a thing in front of my face, and the path, as I said earlier, sloped inwards and downwards towards the half-pipe.Running was out of the question. It was hard enough jogging. I tried to listen for any sound that might suggest a flood of water was on its way but I could hardly hear the sound of my own feet over the pounding in my ears. I couldn’t even hear Eric.
Couldn’t hear Eric?
‘I’m stopping for a breather,’ I said. There was no reply. My heart leaped into my mouth. I’d gone far enough around the bend that I couldn’t see back to the light from the shaft but, even so, I knew Eric wasn’t behind me. I once picked up an electric kettle that was shorting and was blown across the room. Eric’s absence had the same stunning, paralysing effect. He had to be there! I spun around and tentatively started jogging back, scared for me and scared for him, scared he might have fallen and hurt himself, scared of bumping into him or tripping over him, scared of the dark. But then the light from the shaft came into view along with the unmistakable figure of my best pal scampering up the rungs. He was laughing.
‘What are you doing?’ I screamed. I heard someone laugh and Eric laugh back. Then I heard another sound. I couldn’t believe it. My mind refused to accept it.
‘What are you doing?’ This time I didn’t scream. I shrieked. There was no mistaking what I’d heard. The light from the shaft narrowed and disappeared. Unbelievably they’d shut me in the drain. I’d been scared before but at that moment I understood exactly what blind panic was.
I turned and jogged towards the second shaft. It dawned on me that I had to get there before anyone up top did in case they closed that shaft as well. Panic wanted me to ignore everything and just run. But it was impossible. It’s impossible to run hard when you can’t see where you’re going and
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