Cecilia beamed, already absorbed in the story and so happy that Luke and Kuffi were safe and sitting in front of her.
“The book is a memoir written by Wilma-Rose Newbury. She belonged to a family of explorers and while on a routine expedition to investigate some caves forming on the outskirts of a place called London—if that’s how you say it?” Cecilia nodded. “Wilma-Rose recounts that she was scraping at the walls of the cave when she was distracted by a shaft of light coming from within the rock face. She crossed over a fracture in the ground she had already recorded and remarks in her diary that her ‘ears popped’ due to a change in pressure. Suddenly, she was swallowed up into the tunnels by a sinkhole that opened up beneath her. In her diary she writes of having to shuffle along through an endless darkness.”
“Just like me, I had to do that. It was horrible,” said Cecilia.
“It does sound familiar, doesn’t it?” agreed Kuffi.
“I ran back onto the carriage to get my marble, and I remember my ears popping too, so I guess that’s sort of similar to what happened to me.”
“Well, Wilma-Rose recalls being delirious and exhausted,” Kuffi continued. “She writes of finally coming to an opening and then blacking out. When she came round, she describes introducing herself to an aged, friendly turtle-face called Cuthbert, who helped her navigate the tunnels and who in his time had met with two other ‘wanderers’ as he liked to call them. They worked tirelessly to find a way to return Wilma-Rose to the surface, and she learnt much about the dwellers and how they lived. In the end Cuthbert and Wilma-Rose discovered that all she had to do to get home was to manually pop her ears and she was back where she started.
“Cecilia, how does one pop one’s ears? Is it dangerous?” asked Kuffi.
“You just sort of, hold onto your nose and blow,” Cecilia replied.
“That’s it?” said Luke.
“Yeah.” She nodded.
Cecilia looked at Kuffi and Luke and thought somehow it might be a bit more difficult for them to pop their ears, being as they were put together a bit differently.
Cecilia sat there with her friends, exchanging puzzled looks. She added, “It’s something you do to relieve the pressure in your ears when you go deep underground or really high up. It happens where I come from quite often.”
Kuffi sat and digested what Cecilia was saying for a moment before he returned to his story. “Ms Wilma-Rose wrote this book for people like you. So you would know how to get home. But she must’ve forgotten it the last time she left and I think that’s because she had her sights set on bigger and brighter things.” He paused.
“Like what?” said Luke and Cecilia in unison.
“All in good time,” Kuffi said, tucking the book back in his coat pocket. “Let’s get back to my cabin and we can test it out there and see if popping your ears will get you home!”
The three of them nodded in agreement. “However, right now, Luke, I think we’d better let the next visitors in or they might burst!”
Two figures had just shown up and were dancing excitedly in the doorway.
Kuffi got up and brushed Cecilia’s curly hair away from her forehead. It seemed her two tidy buns had popped out during all the commotion and her wild mane had once again taken on a life of its own. “Be gentle with her,” he said softly to the next set of visitors. “She’s had quite a tumble.”
“In a bit, kiddo!” Luke smiled, swaggering out of the door.
“Later on!” she called out after him.
The two familiar figures of Doltha and Gaia rushed in after Kuffi and Luke had left, and all niceties were dashed aside as they fell on her with open arms.
Doltha went to work checking her over. “You’re looking much better. There’s colour in your cheeks now,” she said, pulling at her ear lobes and inspecting her eyes.
“We are so glad to have you back!” said Gaia.
“I’m glad to be back,” Cecilia laughed.
“Oh, you were amazing. Doltha’s told me all about it!”
“Gaia, I’m sure Cecilia has had enough drama for today,” said Doltha.
“Nonsense, I just want to praise her. She’s a hero, Doltha, well, we all are!”
“Glad I could be of service,” joked Cecilia. “Though there is something I haven’t worked out.”
“Oh, what’s that?” said Gaia.
“How come they didn’t find the elemental sphere on Doltha?” Cecilia was eager to know.
“Ah ha! Because I never had it!” she answered. “Gaia did. In the end we thought it better to send you and the Divers on one part of the mission to act as a distraction whilst also setting Mr Sparks free! Meanwhile, Gaia went off on her own secret mission to Polaris to restore the light to the tunnels and focus its beam directly on the Concave Stadium, which redirects the light all around the tunnels! Clever, huh?”
“And now look,” said Gaia.
“It’s glorious,” said Doltha, stealing her words. Gaia patted them on their backs simultaneously.
“Couldn’t have done it without you,” she smiled, lifting Cecilia’s chin. “You are one brave girl!”
Doltha was clearly becoming quite emotional. Cecilia could see tears forming around the edges of her big friendly eyes and Gaia stepped in. “Come on now, Doltha. I think we’d better go before we are all blubbering messes.”
“One last thing before we go,” said Doltha, sucking back the tears. “I made you this.” Doltha handed Cecilia a small wooden emblem with a crystal gemstone set in it and a pin on the back.
“You’re one of us now… a Diver,” she said.
“Yes, you’ll always be welcome,” added Gaia, and with that they left, Doltha pausing in the doorway to wave goodbye.
“All right, Cecilia, you’ve been given the all clear!”
“Jasper!” Cecilia cried, jumping up and running over to him for a big hug. He patted her on the
