Adam slid his hand slowly up the wall and the Lumiens responded better than the previous times. The light grew brighter without giving them the feeling of burned retinas they had experienced before.
It was strange walking at first, as they made very little sound now that their footsteps were quiet. Soon they figured out how to step with their arms slightly away from their bodies and legs spread apart. They made no sound that either of them could hear above their own heartbeats.
The tunnel wound back and forth in the same fashion as all of the others, and looked as though they were going to hit a dead end at any moment. Elianora's farm was a long way out of town, even if you went straight across country, so they knew they were in for a long walk.
At one point the tunnel led deeper into the earth and stayed that way for a long time. Once it came back up again, Adam thought they must be getting close to the junction, but it still continued for a long distance. They stopped twice to rest, sitting in silence each time before continuing.
As they were feeling like it would never end, Adam noticed a change and slowed down. "I think we're here, but I want to touch the wall before I'll believe it."
He took a few paces forward and touched the dead end. Finally, he thought. He turned and took a step in the opposite direction, crouched and felt the wall for the opening. A few more steps back he found it. He was amazed how well it was hidden, even though it was big enough for them to crawl through.
"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't feel it for myself," said Adam.
He crawled into the opening. It was dark, since there were no Lumiens in the crawlspace. As he looked to the right he saw some light ahead, so he crawled toward it with Kevin close behind. Soon they had crawled out of the other end and stood in the opposite tunnel.
The tunnel they had exited into was a mirror image of the one they had just left. If you didn't know about the crawlspace, it would be easy to mistake the tunnel as incomplete.
They walked away from the dead end and after a few steps they passed the ring tunnel intersection. Their pace quickened, knowing they were nearly there, and within a short time they stood at the file room door.
Adam followed Elianora’s instructions and it worked. Moments later he was stepping through the door to the file room. Kevin closed the door behind him without a sound as Adam lowered the drawbridge door. The file room ceiling was lit by the Lumiens as well, which made it easier to find the drawbridge door, but the storage room on the other side was dark except for the light streaming from the opening.
"When we get to the storage room door I'll turn on the lights for when we come back, but we'll have to stay in the dark on the other side. I think we should leave the basement lights off, just in case. We can follow the wall to the stairs," said Adam.
Kevin nodded his understanding.
Adam wound his way through the box maze and turned on the lights, soon followed by Kevin. The drawbridge door closed behind him, too soon to have been activated by the timer.
"I just pulled up on the door and it closed," said Kevin. "It’s a habit, I guess."
Adam smiled at Kevin and opened the door. They slipped through and hugged the wall, shuffling along until they found the corner. By luck or by design, the path along the wall was clear all the way to the stairs. Before reaching them, they saw faint light coming from the stairwell. The lights seemed to be on in Town Hall, which meant there might be people inside.
Adam listened at the stairwell for a few moments. He heard faint voices, but they sounded too far off to be inside. Jeff's office was across the hall from the stairs, so it would be easy for them to cross as long as the building was empty.
Adam crept up the stairs and peeked around the corner, looking down the hallway toward the front doors. The lights were off, but daylight was streaming in from the windows. He found it eerie, since it had been nearly dark at Elianora's.
The voices were coming from outside, and one sounded like a drill sergeant choreographing troop movements.
Adam and Kevin wasted no time getting to Jeff's office door. Adam turned the handle, but the door was locked.
Oh no, thought Adam as he started to panic. They couldn't break down the door as the noise would alert whoever was outside. Images of capture began to fill his mind.
After he shook off the fear, a thought struck him. He fumbled through his pocket, pulled out the key he had made for the main door and wiggled it in the lock.
It worked.
They slid inside and shut the door with a gentle nudge, locking it behind them. Their hearts pounded as they looked at each other and nodded while taking a calming breath.
Once inside the office, they could see outside through the window. The window looked out the back of the building and they were happy they couldn't see people in that direction. It was bright but hazy outside and the light was almost as eerie as the darkness they had just left at Elianora’s.
"Where's the ladder?" asked Adam.
Kevin pointed up to the attic access hole and down the wall beneath it. “It has to be there,” he said.
The ladder to the attic was on the outside wall beside the dividing wall to the next room. It had been built out of wall bricks, alternating one recessed with one that was flush. It was difficult to see as it was the same color as the rest of the wall. Both agreed; it didn’t look safe.
"I think I know another reason the clock never got fixed," said Kevin.
Adam walked to the ladder and looked up. He really didn't like the thought of climbing it, but knew he had to. He looked at Kevin, shrugged his shoulders and started to climb. When he reached the attic hatch, he tried to lift the cover. It wouldn’t even budge. There must be something heavy on the other side, he thought. He tried twice more and climbed back down.
“I can’t open it. Hopefully you can,” Adam said to Kevin.
Kevin looked up, then back at Adam. “Really? ...This is gonna suck,” he said, and then climbed the ladder with slow precise movements. At the top, he made sure to secure his feet then pushed hard. He held back none of his power, but had the same luck as Adam. Next, he took a step down and paused while looking up at the hatch. A few seconds later he came back down.
“It has to be locked. There are some scratches on the far side of the hatch, away from the ladder. Do you think it’s locked like the door at the monitoring station?” asked Kevin.
Adam mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it while he was up there the first time. It made sense. Up the ladder he climbed, pin in hand so he didn’t have to fumble through his pockets at the top. As he climbed, he looked at the attic cover. Once he was halfway up he saw the scratches Kevin had mentioned.
At the top, Adam reached out and slid the pin across the scratches, starting from the outside toward the middle, then pushed up on the hatch. Nothing. He tried the pin again and heard some movement on the other side. Again he pushed up and still couldn’t move the hatch. The third time, he tried moving the pin slower while pushing slightly upward at the same time. Once he had moved the pin about an inch, the hatch popped up slightly. Success!
He pushed the hatch open completely and noticed a handle he could grab to pull himself into the attic, so he waved down at Kevin who began climbing. Once he was in the attic, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the low amount of light. He then offered a hand to Kevin and helped him up.
“I’m not afraid of heights, but you have to admit – that’s a scary climb,” said Kevin.
Adam nodded in agreement. “You get to go down first so I’ll have something to land on if I fall,” he said as he closed the hatch.
There were only three windows in the entire attic, two small ones at the front and one at the back. Thankfully, the one at the back was large and let in a reasonable amount of light. The attic was nearly empty, with only a few boxes scattered about. They could see the clock’s mechanical assembly at the front in the center, with a window on either side.
As they took a few steps through the rafters, the r
afters creaked and cracked under the weight, sounding as though they wouldn’t hold the boys for long.
“And now we know one more reason the clock hasn’t been fixed,” said Kevin in a hushed voice.
Adam stopped. “I’ll go the rest of the way alone. There’s less chance of falling through that way. I’ll let you know if I need you.”
Kevin nodded.
Having less weight on the rafters, Adam could walk slow enough that there were no more creaks.
As he approached the front, he saw the box Elianora spoke about. She didn’t tell them that it happened to be located high on the front wall, near the roofline. The closer he stepped to the front, the more Adam realized that he would need to figure out a way to climb up to it, as there was no ladder nearby.
At the front, Adam glanced out the small window. What he saw scared and amazed him. Most of the townspeople stood in a large group facing Town Hall. They stood and swayed together, as if they were snakes hypnotized by a snake charmer. Marius and his family were near the front. The Guptas were near the middle, along with the Chens. Mike and Charity Baranov and the girls were near the back, off to the side, but there was no sign of Kassie. He scanned the crowd, recognizing all of them, but searching out the few he knew best. The Jones family wasn’t there yet, so maybe Kassie was with them. His mother was missing as well.
Four men ran up the side of the crowd toward Town Hall. They wore clothes that seemed to blend into the scenery around them. The clothes had made it difficult to see them unless they moved. They carried a large cylinder with a flat plate on the front. A battering ram!
“Open it,” sounded a voice directly below where Adam stood. The clock tower was built into the overhanging part of the building jutting out from Town Hall. Adam had forgotten about the design of the building and worried that the voices heard him as he walked to the window. He turned to Kevin and signalled for him to stay still and be quiet.
Bang! They heard the men hit the door with the battering ram, but it still sounded solid. Bang! After the second hit, the blunt noise ended with the sharp splintering sound of wood breaking. A few softer blows, probably kicks, sounded through the building, and the double doors could be heard slamming open.
“It’s ready for you sir,” Adam heard a slightly muffled voice say directly below him.
“Give me a few minutes and start bringing them in,” said the voice that seemed to be in charge. He had a distinct accent, however slight. German or Russian, Adam thought.
“Yes sir,” came the reply. Adam watched as the man walked to the front of the crowd, followed by the three other men.
They began lining up the townspeople. Lacey and her family were the first in line, and not far after was Marius and family. Karl was easy to spot near the back. Adam realized the townspeople were being questioned to find the Heartstone, and since Marius knew Elianora, he would point the intruders right to her and the tunnels. They had to act fast.
Adam decided to risk it, so he stepped over to the framework containing the clock mechanism. As he looked at it, he saw that he could use the metal frame and the boards on the wall to climb up to the box. He climbed the structure as fast as he could while still being quiet. When he made it to the box, he couldn’t see where the pin could be used to open the box. He examined all exposed sides and the bottom, finally deciding to climb one step higher and look at the top.
There it was; the mark Elianora had spoken about. He took the pin and tried opening the lid, but it was difficult. Trying to work the pin, lift the lid, and hang on without falling took a lot of effort. He kept trying and was getting tired and frustrated. Finally, he pulled up on the lid while he slid the pin, and it worked. The lid popped open, but in the process it launched the pin in the air, bouncing it against the front wall. Adam grabbed for it and fumbled, knocking it into the open box. Luckily, the pin was small enough that it didn’t make a lot of noise to alert those outside or below.
He reached into the box and felt the pin on top of something soft. He grabbed the pin and put it in his pocket, then reached back inside the box. Next, he pulled out a small bag with a drawstring on the end and shoved it in his pocket too. His hand searched the box again, and when he was satisfied it was empty, he descended the same way he had climbed up.
Adam stepped carefully back toward Kevin. He motioned for Kevin to move to the attic hatch. He heard the odd small creak as he stepped and hoped no one below heard anything. There hadn’t been any talking coming from below which made him concerned.
When he reached the attic hatch where Kevin waited, he stopped, taking a few deep breaths.
“They’re inside,” he whispered to Kevin.
Kevin nodded, “I guessed that. What did you see?”
“The whole town is lined up outside. I think they’re going to question them here,” said Adam.
“My family…”A horrified look came over Kevin’s face.
Adam nodded. Kevin hunched over in sadness for a second then straightened up again, ready to go.
“What do we do?” he asked.
Adam shrugged. He’d been trying to come up with a plan that didn’t require an insane amount of luck. “We just have to go down and risk it. I found the key, so now we have to get it to Elianora.”
Kevin nodded.
“Let’s go,” said Adam reaching for the latch.
Before he touched it, a voice on the main level yelled, “Over here.”
Adam pulled his fingers away.
Bang! The men below used the battering ram on Jeff’s door, shattering it open with the first hit.
Footsteps ran into the room below.
They heard us! We’ve been caught! thought Adam.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE