higher up the tunnel. The creatures were Satan's demons, placed there to test his resolve and prevent him from reaching God's light. They would not deter him. He would find a way.
Watching the stream redden with blood, he peered at Hackett's wounds and Weber's butchered body. Dr Kelly had lied to him that the tunnel was safe. He must have seen the conquistadors' nemeses, and known they were still there.
How much more had Kelly not told him? How much more did he know?
65
Sister Chantal chewed at her gag and shook her head again. Ross glanced over his shoulder at the soldier who had been watching them for the last hour. At this rate, they would have to wait till dark for him to cut Sister Chantal's tie with the shard of crystal he had taken from the cave. The good news was that the light was fading. The bad news was that, though darkness would give them cover, he would be working blind.
Suddenly Sister Chantal was nodding frantically. Ross glanced behind him. The soldier was holding his two-way radio, looking anxiously towards the forbidden caves. Then he put down the radio and rushed away.
Trying not to think about what was happening in the tunnel of blood, Ross reached across to Sister Chantal. She held up her hands to help him, but it wasn't easy with his own wrists tied. The crystal was so small and the plastic so sheer that he found it difficult to get any purchase on it. Eventually he managed to make a nick in the plastic and saw along the groove.
Manipulating the crystal was laborious, finger-aching work and it was impossible to tell whether he was making any progress. He became so absorbed in his task that only when Sister Chantal pulled her hands away did he look up. Torino, Bazin and the others were coming out of the forbidden caves. Two men were dragging Hackett and the soldier who had been carrying the flame-thrower. The latter's mutilated body was limp and covered with blood. At least Hackett was moving.
'Take them to the lake,' Bazin ordered. 'Immerse them in the water. Make them drink.' Hackett crawled into it and began to drink, oblivious of the red cloud blooming around him.
Then Ross saw the sergeant shake his head. 'Weber's gone. Nothing can help him now.'
Ross grimaced. It appeared that even the garden's miraculous powers had limits.
Torino and Bazin were striding over to him, Fleischer following. Torino's face was white and contorted with rage. 'Take off his gag, Marco.'
'How's Nigel?' was Ross's first question.
'He'll live,' said Torino, 'but he was badly injured, thanks to you. And Weber's dead. He was ripped apart by the creatures you failed to tell us about.'
'You killed a good man,' spat Fleischer.
Ross said nothing as he felt Zeb's and Sister Chantal's eyes on him. He hadn't purposely put Hackett in harm's way. He hadn't forced him up the tunnel. Torino and Bazin had done that. And he certainly hadn't killed Weber. But as he watched the soldiers pulling Hackett out of the lake and laying him on the grass, guilt seared him.
'You saw the creatures when you went up the tunnel, didn't you, Dr Kelly?' Torino accused him. 'Yet you came down alive. What did you see? What did you learn?'
Ross remained silent, unable to clear the image of the rock worms devouring the nymph from his mind, imagining Hackett and Weber in its place.
'Tell me all you know,' insisted Torino. His voice was menacingly quiet. 'Who else do I have to push up that tunnel and feed to those creatures before you tell me everything?' He pointed at Sister Chantal. 'Her?' Then at Zeb. 'Her? How many more have to die? Marco, Feldwebel, take their gags off. Perhaps they can help to persuade him.'
'What the hell's he talking about, Ross?' said Zeb, when her gag came off.
'I saw the creatures when I went up the tunnel. They attacked and ate one of the dying nymphs. The others sacrificed it to them. They have a way of controlling the creatures.' He explained how the nymphs had stilled the creatures with their chanting.
As Torino studied him Ross could almost hear his mind working. 'You're suggesting I push the nymphs up the tunnel ahead of us? Let them still the rock worms and follow in their footsteps?'
'I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just telling you what I saw and heard.'
'We can easily round up a few and check it out,' said Bazin.
Two of the soldiers dragged Hackett back to the enclosure. His shoulder and leg were badly wounded, but the bleeding had slowed. His face was pale but he managed a weak smile when Zeb and Ross asked how he was. 'It's not as bad as it looks and I feel a lot better after being in the lake. I got off lightly compared to the other guy.'
Bazin and Fleischer moved to replace their gags, but Torino stopped them. 'No, let them speak. They've a lot to talk about.' He turned to Ross. 'I'm sure your friends will want to ask why you put one of them in peril.' At that moment, the sound of thunder echoed round the garden and rain fell, hitting the taut tarpaulin like stones on a drum. Torino had to shout to be heard above the noise. 'We'll take the nymphs up tomorrow, Dr Kelly. And this time you'll lead the way.'
Torino, Bazin and Fleischer hurried away to their tents, leaving Ross struggling to be heard above the thunderous rain, trying to explain to Hackett and Zeb all that he knew, and how he had inadvertently put Hackett at risk.
As soon as he'd finished, they bombarded him with questions, but now was not the time for talk. He raised his bound hands, revealing the crystal shard on his open palms, and Sister Chantal immediately proffered her bound wrists. In the dying light, during a lull in the pounding rain, Ross said, 'Zeb, Nigel, do you want to waste any more precious time asking questions or do you want to get out of here?'
They fell silent, and Ross went back to work.
66
It took more than an hour to cut through Sister Chantal's ties but once her hands were free she released Ross and helped him to free Hackett and Zeb.
The heavy rain was a blessing and a curse. It prevented anyone's seeing what they were doing but compromised visibility. 'What do we do now?' hissed Zeb, peering out into the dark. There was a glow further up the garden towards the caves where Torino and his men were quartered in tents.
'Our backpacks are piled up over there,' said Hackett, pointing away from the tents, towards the entrance to the garden, 'and they're still packed with the supplies we'll need to make our way back to the boat. I vote we find them and scarper. I doubt there'll be any guards out on a night like this.'
'But what about your wounds?' said Zeb.
He pulled up his trousers and showed his leg. The chunk out of his calf now looked more like a swollen bruise. 'I'm healing. It's incredible. My shoulder's the same.'
'You sure?'
'I'm sure.'
'You three go ahead, then,' said Ross. 'I'll join you later. There's something I need to do first.'
'What?'
He pointed to the forbidden caves. 'I'm not leaving here without the one thing I came for.'
'The crystal for Lauren?' said Zeb. 'I'll come with you.'
'We'll all go,' said Sister Chantal.
'No,' said Ross. 'I'll be better off on my own. One person might be able to do it unseen. Take my backpack with you and I'll meet you beyond the sulphur caves on the other side of the causeway. If you hear anything, or I'm not there within an hour, go on without me.'
