Andy was reminded again that Rusty needed medical attention and decided it would be better to just reveal what he’d found rather than drag it out. He walked over to the fireplace mantel and pointed at the bookends that were positioned upon it. They held an old book between them, something titled Beecham’s Guide to Butterfly Collecting.
“Unusual reading for soldier types, don’t you think?” Andy asked.
The bookends on either side of the book were mismatched. One of them was carved into the shape of a bird taking flight, while the other resembled a pyramid with an all-seeing eye on top of it.
Without hesitating, Andy pulled the book forward. As he’d expected, it swiveled on a hinge. It wasn’t a real book at all, but a switch.
The fireplace rotated back to reveal a spiral staircase.
“Well done!” Abigail said.
“Keep your weapons at the ready,” Andy said. “We have no idea what we might find up there.”
This time, Betty and Dotty, who each held a pistol, led the way. Andy followed behind them, and Abigail brought up the rear with Rusty. Andy counted the stairs as they went up. He had just reached 125 when he found himself on a flat landing. Everyone, especially Rusty, was out of breath from the exertion, and the group paused before opening the plain door at the top.
With a little luck, there won’t be anybody waiting for us behind the door.
Andy braced himself as Betty and Dotty turned the knob and pushed it open. Thankfully, there wasn’t any exclamation of surprise when it swung open. The room they entered was empty. But it also looked very peculiar.
Peering over Betty and Dotty’s shoulder, Andy saw a scarred wooden floor with two identical rustic doors made from slats of bamboo on the opposite wall. Aside from the doors and a lone candelabra, the room was empty.
“Strange,” Betty said.
“Yes,” Andy said. “I don’t like it.” There was something about the doors that reminded him of stories he’d read where the hero had to make a choice. One door usually led to freedom, and the other to certain death.
He hoped that wasn’t the case with these doors.
“Should we try one?” Abigail asked.
“We’ll have to choose. I have a feeling that we’ll only get one chance. If the rumors about this dungeon are true, then the Collective probably knows which door to use and which one an escaping prisoner might mistakenly walk through,” Andy said.
Andy walked closer and inspected both doors. Even with his meticulous eye for detail, he couldn’t see a single difference between them.
“Hogwash,” Rusty said. “I’d wager that neither of them is dangerous. One’s probably a closet.”
But Andy had a strong sense of foreboding. Something just didn’t feel right. Before he could again express the need for caution, Rusty stepped forward and twisted the knob on the left door with his good hand.
The floor began to shake.
“Back to the staircase!” Andy yelled.
But he hadn’t taken a single step before the solid-looking marble beneath their feet cracked like thin ice. Andy felt his foot slip through the floor. The next thing he knew, the ground had crumbled away and they were all screaming in terror as they fell down, down, down into darkness.
They landed in an unceremonious heap. Fortunately, their fall was broken by several gigantic ferns. Unfortunately, as Andy found out at that moment, not all ferns are soft, and some of them possess particularly nasty thorns.
Still, with the exception of some bumps, scratches, and bruises, everyone seemed to be okay. Only Rusty hadn’t fared well. He was already weak from his encounter with the Dingonek, and between the fall, the rough landing, and the loss of blood he’d suffered, he appeared to be unconscious.
“We’ve got to do something!” Abigail said, noting the big man’s gray pallor.
“If we had our pack, we could help him,” Betty said. “We always carry a first aid kit. But other than trying to make him as comfortable as we can, I’m afraid there’s not much we can do.”
The sisters looked worried. Dotty folded her silk sash into a makeshift pillow and placed it beneath the bush pilot’s head.
“Maybe there is something,” Andy said. He gazed around at their new surroundings. They’d landed in an immense cavern filled with plant life. High above was an opening that allowed daylight to shine down, giving the plants the sunlight and rain that they needed to survive.
And survive they had. In fact, the foliage had flourished. Andy could tell at a glance that these weren’t just jungle plants. There was an entire forest of deciduous trees and flowers.
“Maybe there are some medicinal plants around here,” Abigail suggested.
“Good idea,” Andy said. “I learned about some of them in Boy Scouts. I’ll be right back.”
“Be careful,” Abigail warned. “We have no idea what might be lurking in this place.”
Andy nodded and determinedly set off toward a nearby grove of thickly clustered palm trees. There were several desert plants in the area, and after searching for a bit, Andy found what he was looking for—a large aloe vera plant.
Why is it purple, though? Every aloe plant he’d ever seen was green. Andy shrugged and broke off several fronds, pocketing a few and carrying the rest.
When Andy brought them back to the others and showed them what he’d found, Betty’s and Dotty’s eyes immediately widened.
“Where did you find purple aloe?” Dotty asked.
Andy gestured to the area. “Over by those palms. I was looking for regular aloe, but I found this stuff. It’s not poisonous, is it?”
Betty laughed. “Poisonous? Are you kidding? Purple aloe has miraculous healing powers. It’s incredibly rare! You couldn’t have found anything better!”
Betty and Dotty took the fronds that Andy had been carrying. Then, unwrapping Rusty’s makeshift bandage, the sisters applied the sap to the open wound. Betty rewrapped the injury using Dotty’s sash, tightening it like a tourniquet above Rusty’s wrist to prevent further blood loss.
“He’s going to
