James again looks over the drop to the ground below. “That’s quite a ways,” he observes.
Jiron holds out his hand and says, “Take my hand and I’ll lower you over the side. That should leave only several feet for you to drop.”
Nodding, James gets down on the floor then turns and lowers his feet over the side. Before his stomach goes over the edge, he takes Jiron’s hand in his good one and pushes himself over the edge.
His left hand isn’t as strong as his right and continuously feels as if he’s going to lose his grip. But Jiron maintains a firm grip as he lowers James down the side of the building. Once he’s been lowered as far as Jiron can reach, Jiron says, “I’m going to let go, brace yourself.”
James gives him a nod and then all of a sudden, Jiron lets go. He hits the uneven ground and stumbles slightly before regaining his balance. “Made it,” he yells up to Jiron.
“Good,” comes the reply. “Here, catch.” The orb sails through the air and James grabs it before it hits the ground.
Looking up, he watches as Jiron swings his legs over the edge and lowers himself as far as he can before letting go. Landing much more gracefully than James, he’s soon standing next to him.
Increasing the luminosity of the orb, they see the area beneath the wall extends in both directions. The one to the right appears slightly less rubble filled than the other. Figuring one way is as good as another, they go in that direction.
The follow the gap provided by the leaning wall, every twenty feet or so another window appears in the wall above them. Every one is clogged with dirt and has a matching mound of dirt directly below it on the ground.
Thirsty, James takes out his water bottle and discovers that he only has half a bottle left. Taking a small sip, he returns the bottle to his belt. “You have any water left?” he asks.
Checking his water bottle, Jiron replies, “Little over half. You?”
“About the same,” he says. Water could be a problem if they don’t get out of here soon.
After passing two more dirt clogged windows above their heads, they find one that’s free of dirt. They pause beneath it as James tries to shine the light from the orb into the opening. “I think there may be a way through here,” he observes.
“Looks like it,” Jiron replies. He glances to where the area they’ve been following continues further into darkness. “Should we continue down or try the window?”
“Continue down,” decides James. “If the rest of the windows have been filled with dirt, it isn’t likely we’ll get too far that way.”
“You may be right,” agrees Jiron. Casting one last look up into the opening, he turns and resumes leading the way.
Not far past the open window, large blocks of stone stand in their way from where the wall that had been their ceiling had broken. Dirt fills most of the passage, leaving only a narrow gap beneath two large stones resting against each other. The gap is large enough to allow a man to pass, barely.
“Well?” asks Jiron coming to a stop. “What do you think?”
James eyes the gap with reluctance. He moves to the edge of the gap and holds his orb so the light shines into it. “It extends further than the light will show,” he says. Turning back to Jiron he adds, “Might be alright.”
Jiron moves to his side and takes the orb. He then squeezes in between the two stones and begins working his way through.
Another orb springs to life on James’ hand. He stands there at the opening and watches as Jiron makes his way through the gap. As he stands there, his stomach grumbles with hunger. He takes out some dried beef from his pack and chews on it while he waits.
Just before he takes his second bite, he catches the scent of fresh baked bread. The aroma makes his stomach cramp even further. Can’t be, he thinks as he takes his second bite. As he chews he sniffs the dried beef but it just smells like dried beef. Thinking his imagination is playing with him, he continues watching Jiron’s progress.
Then the smell comes again, this time with a hint of cinnamon. Holding aloft his orb he glances around, trying to figure out where the mouthwatering aroma is coming from. He finally determines it’s emanating from the passage they just came down.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he begins moving back down the passage as the aroma leads him on. It gradually grows in intensity until he reaches the open window they passed under before. Once he passes by the window, the strength of the aroma begins to diminish. Retracing his steps, he realizes the mouthwatering aroma is coming from somewhere on the other side of the window. Stopping just below, he gazes up and tries to see what lies further beyond the window.
Reaching the far side of the passage, Jiron comes to an open area. Easily a hundred feet wide and two hundred long, it looks to have been the interior of some important building at one time. All four walls are still standing and each shows delicate carvings that the builder had used for embellishment.
Glancing to the roof, he finds most of that is intact except for one of the corners where the side of another building had smashed into it. The roof there had caved in revealing the wall of the building that struck it. A pile of broken stones lies below the impact site. He scans the room and discovers two doors, one to the right and one to the left. The door to the right is closed but the one on the left stands ajar.
“James!” he hollers back through the crevice. “I’m through, come on.” He waits a moment but no answer is forthcoming. “James!” he shouts again. When James again fails to respond, he curses and reenters the crevice to work his way back through.
Exiting from the other side, he’s dismayed to find James gone. “James!” he yells and begins running back down the passage. A knife leaps into his hand as he starts to fear the worst. He slows when he sees the light from James’ orb ahead of him. Illuminated by the orb’s light, he sees James standing there looking up into the window above him.
“James!” Jiron hollers. “You had me worried.”
James ignores him and continues to stare up at the window.
“James?” Jiron asks. Coming closer, he looks up at the window to see what is so interesting but only sees darkness.
When he lays a hand on James’ shoulder James asks, “Don’t you smell it?”
“Smell what?” He definitely doesn’t smell anything other than the earth around them and their own unwashed bodies.
“My grandmother’s cinnamon rolls,” he tells him.
“No, I don’t smell anything,” replies Jiron. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Taking him by the shirt, he pulls James along.
“But…” begins James and the mouthwatering aroma which had been so strong quickly disappears.
“But nothing,” he says as he continues dragging him along.
With stomach growling, he follows Jiron back to the crevice. “Man, that was so real,” he states.
“When you’re hungry, you can imagine all sorts of tasty smells,” observes Jiron.
“I can believe that,” he says.
“Follow me,” Jiron says as he enters the opening. “It isn’t far.”
“Right behind you,” James assures him. Once Jiron has entered the crevice and moved far enough to allow him to follow, he pauses a moment and glances back down the passage. Sighing, he enters the opening.
He works his way through until he reaches the far side. As he exits the crevice, Jiron points out the two exits. James takes a moment to inspect the delicate carvings on the walls but can’t discern any sort of drawings or picture. Kind of reminds him of wallpaper you might find in a doctor’s office, just something used to break up the plainness of the wall.
“Check the one on the right,” James says, pointing to the one that’s closed. “I’ll check the other.” Moving across the room to the open door, he can’t get the memory of his grandmother’s cinnamon rolls out of his mind. Each time he thinks his stomach growls again. It’s been so long since he’s had food from home, he didn’t realize how much he misses it.
Reaching the door, he opens it further to find a hallway clear of debris extending away from it. Glancing back to where Jiron looks to be working on the lock of the other door, he decides to see where this goes while Jiron is busy.
Holding his orb high, he passes through the doorway and enters the hallway. Not far down he comes to
