Chapter 7: Problems

  The next day was spent getting the house ready for the guests. Amelia also began some of the Christmas decorating.
  There was a knock at the front door.
  Amelia put down the box of lights and went to get it.
  “Oh! Mother, Father! Come in!” she exclaimed, giving the old couple a warm hug. It was the Grandparents that May had told Andrew about. They had arrived!
  Andrew was asleep when they came, but soon was awakened by the sound of many voices talking, and laughing downstairs.
  His bedroom door was thrown open a minute afterward, and May jumped up and down in excitement as she broke the news to him.
  “Andrew! They're here! Grandpa, and Grandma!” she squeezed his hand, and then ran back down the hall and down the stairs.

  “You are looking well Amelia.” smiled Mrs. Stevens. She was the adoring Grandmother of May, and loving Mother of Amelia.
  May came running down the stairs and leaped into her Grandfather's arms. He swung her around in the air, and then set her down to have a good look at her.
  “My, my, my.” he chuckled. “This couldn't be the little girl we left only two Christmases ago, now could it?”
  May laughed. “Oh, Grandpa.”
  “How did you manage to grow so fast?” he grinned down at her. “Why, when we left, you were only this tall,” he held his hand at her elbow, “and now look at you!”
  “Grandpa! You have to meet Andrew. He is the nicest boy in the world.” she grabbed his hand, and began to climb the stairs.
  “Wait a moment, May.” Amelia called after her. “Did you make sure that he is ready to see them?”
  May nodded her head vigorously, “Yes!”
  “Alright then. Go on.” Amelia smiled at her, then turned back to the living room. “Mother? Would you like to meet Andrew also?”
  “Of course dear, but why can't he come down here?” Mrs. Stevens sipped a cup of hot cocoa. “Is he ill?”
  “Yes. He caught the flu a few days ago. He should be better before the holiday thought.” Amelia straightened the pillows on the sofa, and headed for the kitchen.

  Andrew was hit with a sudden fit of coughs again.
  The door opened, and May peeped in again. “I have a surprise for you.” she grinned mischievous-ly, and opened the door all the way to reveal Mr. Stevens in his gray suit, and white beard.
  “Hello, young man. I do believe you are Andrew.” he held out his hand. “I'm Mr. Stevens, but you may call me Grandpa if you like. That's what May calls me.”
  “Pleased to meet you.” Andrew smiled weakly. He was awfully pale, and looked much more ill than he felt.
  “So, are you enjoying your new family?” Mr. Stevens sat on the edge of the bed, and patted his hand. “I see you've made a good friend in May.”
  May exchanged glances with Andrew, who grinned.
  “Yes.” he replied.
  “Oh, we're great friends! We've done all kinds of fun things together, and―”
  Andrew made a face at May.
  “...Yes, lots of fun things!” May cleared her throat, and grinned sheepishly.
  “I see.” said Mr. Stevens, wondering what was going on between them.
  May led him out of the room, and back downstairs to join the other grown-ups.
  When she was convinced that he was too busy talking to notice, she slipped back upstairs and knocked on Andrew's door.
  “Come in, May.” said Andrew.
  “How'd you know it was me?” she giggled as she closed the door behind her.
  “Well, you are the only person who comes to see me.” he coughed again, and sighed deeply.
  “I'm really excited about Christmas.” May leaned up to his ear. “I saw a bunch of packages in the back seat of Grandpa's car.” she wiggled excitedly.
  Andrew nodded. “How many days away is it now?” he asked.
  “Umm, I think it's five days.” May looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Yep, five.”
  “Hmm. Not long.” Andrew sighed. “I wish I could get out of bed. I had plans, but now they're all ruined since I'm sick.”
  “It's okay. Don't be so glum! Mother said you may get out the night before Christmas, sick or not.”
  “Still wouldn't be enough time.” laying his head back on the pillows, he looked up at the ceiling in thought.
  Just then Amelia called May downstairs.

  It didn't take long for Andrew to recover, and soon he was able to get out of bed. Two days before Christmas, Andrew woke just as the sun was rising.
  The orange glow it cast on his bedroom curtains was beautiful, and he gazed at it until it had turned to an almost white piercing light.
  Feeling much better that cool morning, Andrew slipped his bare feet into the dark-blue slippers he always kept at his bedside.
  He found his robe hanging inside the closet door, and slipped it over his thin pajamas. Then he quietly slipped out of  the room, and crept down the hall.
  Loud snoring came from the guest bedroom, and he guessed it was Mr. Stevens.
  He went to the door of his parent's bedroom, and opened it softly, putting his head inside to see if they happened to be awake yet.
  Amelia was sitting upright against the headrest. She appeared to be awake, but suddenly a snore escaped her open mouth, and Andrew had to suppress a giggle.
  He closed the door and headed for May's room.
  As he put out his hand to open it, suddenly the door swung open, and May stood there, fully dressed.
  “Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise, then clapping her hand over her mouth.
  “Shh!” Andrew put a finger to his lips. “What are you doing up?” he asked.
  May looked a him as if to say, 'you've caught me red-handed', then said, “I was just going out.”
  “In the middle of the morning?”
  “Yes, and I'm not saying anything else.” she crossed her arms decidedly, and stood there.
  “Well, since you are going out, maybe you won't want to help me explore anymore then. So, good bye.” and he strutted passed her into the room.
  “Aren't you too sick?” she asked her lower jaw sagging.
  “Not today.” Andrew grinned, “I'm as ripe as a strawberry.”
  May giggled. “Well, then maybe I won't be going out today.” she turned back, and followed him over to the bed.
  “So, what are we gonna do first?” May asked, completely oblivious to Andrew's plan.
  Andrew checked the hallway to make sure no one else was awake.
  “Alright, here's the plan. I'm gonna check out that passageway to see where it goes. Then we're heading straight back here. But I wanna do it all in less than 30 minutes, so I've set my watch for that time. If you're scared you can stay here, I'll be okay by myself.” Andrew coughed a little as he finished.
  “Are you sure you aren't still sick?” May looked at his pale face with worry in her own.
  “No, I'm okay.” Andrew smiled, “You coming?”
  “I—well, okay.” May was hesitant, and if it weren't for an urge for mystery and adventure, she would have surely stayed behind as they let down the rope once again and climbed down into the darkness.
  “I always get spooked in dark places, so if I'm a bit jumpy don't be surprised.” May warned Andrew as they moved forward.
  Andrew pointed his flashlight ahead, revealing the passage they had seen on their last visit.
  May looked around timidly for whatever it was that had attracted her attention the last time they had been there, but there was no sign of anything unusual, and she let out a sigh of relief.
  After going not more than four feet down the narrow passage, both Andrew and May noticed a disagreeable smell in the air.
  “Eeew. Something stinks.” May held her nose as she followed closely behind Andrew.
  Andrew agreed, and they held their noses as they walked, the smell grew stronger the farther they went and it soon became obvious that something lived down there. The tunnel also sloped downward, and Andrew had to walk slower so as not to fall down it.
  Suddenly the tunnel stopped, and they found themselves looking into a huge cavern.
  “Whoa. How did this get here?” May stood next to Andrew with her jaw hanging.
  “My thoughts exactly.” Andrew replied.
  They stood there and looked for awhile, then started forward, watching each step, for the floor was wet from dripping stalactites.
  “I didn't know we had a cave under our house!” May laughed. Her voice echoed, bouncing off the opposite walls and coming back at her.
  “Neither did I, but now we know.” Andrew hopped over a large rock, and stopped suddenly.
  May came up fast behind him, but he stopped her before she reached him.
  He was looking straight down into a sheer drop. It went farther than the eye could see, and even the beam of his flashlight couldn't find the bottom.
  Andrew breathed heavily, “That was close.” he took a deep breath, and stepped back.
  “Whoa, you almost fell down that thing.” May observed. She was very interested in it, and stepped forward onto an unstable rock to peer over the edge.
  She slipped, lost her balance, and would have fallen over the edge if Andrew hadn't caught her arm.
  “How about you not falling in too?” Andrew remarked sarcastically as he pulled her away from the edge.
  “Sorry.” May replied, smoothing her dress. “Thanks.”
  “Ready to go?” Andrew looked at his watch. “Oh, no.”
  “What is it?” May jumped up.
  “We don't have enough time. Guess we'd better head back now.” he replied and started for the tunnel again.
  “No, wait.” May looked back. “I see something over there. It looks like—” her sentence was broken off by the sound of rocks tumbling down the wall above them.
  “Oh, great!” Andrew raised his voice, “Let's get out of here!”
  “Rock slide!” May yelled, and the two children dashed for the entrance of the cave.
  It was a long run, but they had to get out before the rocks reached the entrance.
  He was almost there, when Andrew slid to a stop, and jumped back just as a huge boulder hit the ground where he had been a moment before.
  “Look out!” he yelled.
  Throwing himself down, he grabbed May and they both covered their heads to shield themselves.
  After a few minutes the rocks stopped falling. But it was too late for them. The entrance was blocked completely.
  May looked at the pile of rocks and whimpered, her eyes welling up with tears.
  Andrew just sat there staring at what used to be a passageway, and what was now a huge pile of fallen rocks, stopping up their only way out of there.
  They just sat there, Andrew contemplating how they would get back and wondering if it had even been worth it to explore that day.
  “I'm cold.” May hugged herself, and began to rock back and forth.
  Andrew glanced sideways at her. “Look who's talking. I'm not even dressed.” he snorted.
  May moved over to where he was, and snuggled close to him. She was shivering, and Andrew was almost sorry he had spoken unkindly towards her.
  “Sorry I got us into this fix.” he apologized to her.
  “Oh, you don't need to say that. I like the idea that we're lost in a cave, and that I may never―, never see my Mother again.” she burst into tears.
  “You will see her again. I promise. I'll get us out of here, even if I have to turn into a giant drill.” he joked.
  “Hmm.” May giggled at the silly remark. “I wish you would.”
  They grinned at each other.
  After sitting and thinking for awhile, Andrew looked down at his watch. “Hey. We still have 12 minutes!” he jumped up. “There just has to be a way outta here! There just has to.” he looked all around him at the walls, straining to see an opening, a hole, something to give them hope.
  Andrew grabbed May and they started down a narrow path that encircled the cave walls. It was very narrow actually, so narrow that they had to step along it with their backs to the wet walls, inching along cautiously.
  Don't look down, don't look down. Andrew urged himself. Each step the path grew narrower, each step the wall pushed deeper into his back.
  A huge cavern lay below, threatening to swallow up the small figures that moved along the path above the darkness.