Chapter Twenty
Into the Passageway
“Jasper’s after… your secrets?” Jack asked his uncle.
“The results of my experiments,” Lefty clarified. “The hard data, the fruits of my research!”
“But… but doesn’t he work for the middle school? Who could he possibly be spying for? Surely, he isn’t spying for the school!”
“No time to explain, m’boy!” Lefty exclaimed. He leaped from his armchair, tablet in hand. “We must go investigate the source of the intrusion!”
“Oh, uh… right!” Jack agreed.
He had been taken off guard by this recent string of rather startling revelations, but he was rallying nicely. Putting his own cookie and mug of hot chocolate aside, he leaped from the armchair, and prepared for adventure.
Nibbler woofed in assent, releasing a hearty bark. He had now completely shaken the cobwebs from his head, dispelling those doggy dreams and phantom tennis balls. The Labradoodle stood at full attention beside Jack. His tail wagged from side to side, and his snout pointed this way and that, presumably sniffing out any forthcoming trouble.
“Woof!” Nibbler opined, encouraging them on. His claws clicked upon the hardwood floor as he jogged in place, ready for adventure. “Woof!”
“This way!” Lefty declared.
With Nibbler at his side, Jack followed his uncle… although it appeared that he was headed straight toward the fireplace. But as Lefty stepped in front of the hearth, he reached to the side, and rested his hand on one of the bookcases. Without so much as a word of explanation, Lefty tilted a hardback upon its place on the shelf, angling it toward himself.
Jack watched in bewilderment, and he read the title on the spine of the book that Lefty had selected: A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway. As Lefty tilted the book, there came the noise of whirring, and clicking, and gears becoming engaged.
Jack’s jaw dropped as the bookcase began swiveling about. In a matter of moments, it had spun to reveal a cleverly hidden passageway. It was built from heavy stone, and lit by torches that burned inside of sconces.
“Gears and sprockets,” Jack whispered, his eyes wide with wonder.
This was one of the greatest things he had ever witnessed. His uncle’s home had a secret passageway, the type of thing ten-year-old boys dream about, but rarely have the opportunity to see in real life.
A substantial draft emanated from within, and Nibbler poked his head closer for investigation. He smiled in the unique way that dogs often do, and chuffed in approval. Even Labradoodles could appreciate the genius of secret passageways, it seemed.
“Come on, Jack!” Lefty said. “You too, Nibbler! There’s no time to waste!”
And with that, Lefty plunged into the secret passageway. As he entered, he grabbed the nearest torch, to light his path. After just a couple of seconds, he had vanished down the corridor, although his sprinting shadow could still be seen on the stone walls, growing smaller with each passing breath.
Jack hesitated, standing just outside the passageway. He looked at Nibbler, as if to determine the dog’s opinion of matters. Nibbler looked back at Jack and tilted his head to one side. He stretched his forelegs, and squatted down on his haunches, as if ready to pounce. His tail wagged from side to side, and his rump shook about with barely restrained excitement. Nibbler’s expression seemed to say: Come on, what are we waiting for? This looks like fun, let’s go!
Jack giggled at Nibbler’s response, and shrugged his own shoulders in return. “Well, it’s not as if we haven’t seen weirder things, right, boy?”
“Woof!” Nibbler agreed, wagging his tail.
And with that, the boy and dog plunged into the secret passageway, hurrying to catch up to Lefty. Jack grabbed a torch from a sconce, in order to light their way. But as he examined the torch, he realized something that he hadn’t yet noticed, in all the excitement.
Though the torch was generating light and heat, there was no fire at its tip… Instead, it was a small, translucent sphere that generated a bright, almost white light. It was like a tiny sun. It was a bizarre device, and Jack considered that perhaps it was one of Lefty’s inventions, and evidence of his strange genius.
Regardless of its unique design, the torch worked quite well, and Jack began winding his way down the passageway, aided by its light. He felt warmth from the weird illumination of the torch against his face, and it contrasted with the cool temperature of the passageway, and the cold stones that had been cobbled together to form the walls.
He raced ahead, with Nibbler at his side. At times, the corridor became rather tight, and they had to squeeze through it, single file. There were quite a few spider webs in the passageway, as well as mice, which scurried off at the approach of the boy and Labradoodle.
Jack tried his best to keep up with Lefty, who had a considerable head start (and who also had the advantage of being familiar with the layout of the passageway). Jack could see his uncle at times, but then would lose sight of him as he rounded a corner or a bend.
But even when he couldn’t see him, Jack could hear Lefty muttering to himself, and chuckling from time to time, which echoed weirdly within the passageway. The occasional beep could be heard from his tablet, as well.
“Where’s he leading us?” Jack wondered aloud, to which Nibbler had no reply.
Jack could feel his breath accelerating and his pulse quickening, as he raced to catch up to Lefty. Nibbler bounded beside him, wiggling his rump and wagging his tail, sniffing at the stone floor as he trotted along.
After what seemed to be several minutes of plunging through the torch-lit passageway, Jack could feel a breeze blowing against his face. It seemed to be coming from outdoors!
Sure enough, he soon came upon an arched, wooden door, which had been shoved open by Lefty. His uncle now stood to one side, and Jack could see the forest that lay beyond.
“Ah! There you are, m’boy,” Lefty said. He smiled widely as Jack and Nibbler caught up to him. “What did you think of my secret passageway, eh? Pretty nifty, wouldn’t you say?”
“Are you kidding me?” asked Jack. “This is bananas! I can’t believe you built that into your house!”
Lefty chortled, and scratched the enthusiastic Nibbler behind his ears. “I always like to plan ahead, nephew. This passageway exits roughly fifty yards from the house, near the edge of the property line. It’s well hidden, as you can see.”
Jack took several steps away from the door, and turned around. He saw that what his uncle said was indeed true. The arched door emerged from a sloped hill, and it was entirely obscured by shrubs and vines.
“And this is only one passageway, of several,” Lefty explained. “There are many that I can use to quickly access various points around the property, should my attention be required.”
“But what about these torches?” asked Jack. “What are they? I’ve never seen anything like them before.”
“Hah! An excellent question, m’boy. I do so appreciate an inquisitive mind, you know. But there’s no time to explain, right at the moment…” Lefty held his torch high, illuminating that which lay before him. “For we have company, you see.”