This is not good Muffin, but it seems the only way out is to go down.  I think someone is trying to force us to go a certain direction.  Meow, meow!=Yes, so they can kill us in the torture chamber!  Stop worrying Muffin, we’ll be okay.  Now, back up on my shoulder so you can keep watch behind us.  Meow.=Okay.  I didn’t even know we could go this deep.  The stairway was short and led to another room with a low ceiling.  Nothing in the room at all except a lot of dust.  Obviously no one has been down here in a long time.  There are 3 doors in this room and no window.  This place is getting to be like a maze, I hope we don’t get lost.

I open one door and it leads to another small room with no window or door besides this one.  But it does have more broken furniture.  Why would they carry broken furniture all the way down to this room?  It’s probably been here a hundred years or more.  Muffin and I poke around for a while anyway.  Okay Muffin, we better get going, I’m starting to get an uneasy feeling down here.  Meow!=About time!  Back on my should for you.  I open another door and there is a doorway leading up.  Perfect Muffin.  Meow.=Those stairs don’t look safe.  They are stone stairs and definitely crumbling a lot, but I think they are still solid enough Muffin.

Up we go and they finally stop at a spot about 3 x 3 feet (nearly a square meter) in size. Hmm, this makes no sense, unless there used to be a door here and it was blocked off many years ago.  Muffin and I start to look around for any sign of a door and…AAAAA!!!, Meoooow!!  The floor was actually a trap door and it opened causing us to drop into some sort of pit with…4 skeletons!  Meow, meow! See, I told you we are going to die in here!  I must admit, the presence of skeletons is not very comforting, that could mean there is no way out of here.  With these thick stone walls no one would ever hear our calls for help, and perhaps no one wants to hear.

Meow?  Why don’t I phone Rossana?  Um, well, I forgot to bring my phone.  How did you learn to roll your eyes like that Muffin?  Meow.=Practice.  I shouldn’t have asked.  Good thing we have our backpacks though.  I bring out my hammer and start tapping the walls.  Meow, meow?=Are you planning to knock down those stone walls with that little hammer?  I’m looking for a hollow, or weak spot Muffin, I should be able to tell by the sound.  Meow!=Look over here!  What did you find Muffin?  Hey, look at that, good girl Muffin!  Now we just need to find a way out of here.  Hey, a loose stone here.  I get out a chisel and start to slowly pry it out.  I just hope my flashlight lasts long enough, I should have put new batteries in it.

Finally I get the stone out and shine my flashlight through the opening.  Another room, and with stairs going up!  I guess these people were trying to dig their way out but didn’t make it.  After getting that first stone out of the way, it was fairly easy to get another one out.  That gave us just enough room to get through.  Muffin went first, then I pushed our backpacks through.  Muffin dragged them out of the way while I managed to squeeze through the opening.  There was nothing in the room but a few dusty boxes in one corner.  I decide not to check them, we both want to get out of here.  These stairs were very narrow and in really bad shape, but solid enough for us. 

But before heading up we put our backpacks on and I set up Muffin with her slingshot.  Up we go on these winding stairs until we come to a door, which was locked.  Time to go through those keys again and finally found the right one.  I cautiously open the door and…we are at the hallway where we came in!  We step into the hall and…Giuseppe!!

To be continued.

Steve and Muffin.

© 2020 Steve McLeod.