Tunnels 01, Tunnels

uncomfortably in his seat -- "with copper thread, your eyelids are stripped off, and you're dropped in the darkest chamber you can imagine, full of Red Hots."
    "Red whats? " Will asked.
    Tam shuddered and, ignoring Will's question, went on. "How long do you think you'd last? How many days of knocking into the wall in the pitch-black, dust burning into your ruined eyes, before you collapsed from exhaustion? Feeling the first bites on your skin as they start to feed? I wouldn't wish that on my worst..." He didn't finish the sentence.
    The two boys swallowed hard, but then Tam's expression brightened up again. "Enough of that," he said. "You've still got that light, haven't you?"
    Still stunned by what he'd just heard, Will looked at him blankly. He pulled himself together and nodded.
    "Good," Tam said as he took out a small cloth bundle from his coat pocket and put it on the table in front of Will. "And these might come in handy."
    Will touched the bundle tentatively.
    "Well, go on, have a look."
    Will untied the corners. Inside, there were four knobbly brown-black stones the size of marbles.
    "Node stones!" Cal said.
    "Yes. They're rarer than slug's boots." Tam smiled. "They're described in the old books, but nobody 'cept me and my boys has ever seen one before, Imago found this lot."
    "What do they do?" Will asked, looking at the strange stones.
    "Down here, it's not like you're going to beat a Colonist or, worse still, a Styx in a straight fight. The only weapons you have are light and flight ," Tam said. "If you get in a tight corner, just crack one of these things open. Chuck it against something hard and keep your eyes shut -- it'll give a burst of the brightest light you can imagine. I hope these are still good," he said, weighing one in his hand. He looked at Will. "So you think you're up to this?"
    Will nodded.
    "Right," the big man said.
    "Thanks, Uncle Tam. I can't tell you how...," Will said falteringly.
    "No need, my boy." Tam ruffled his hair. He looked down at the table and didn't speak for a few seconds. It was totally unexpected; silence and Uncle Tam didn't go together. Will had never before seen him like this, this gregarious and massive man. He could only think that he was upset and trying to hide it. But when Tam raised his head, the broad smile was there and his voice rumbled as it always did.
    "I saw all this coming... it was bound to happen sooner or later. The Macaulays are loyal, and we will fight for those we love and believe in, no matter what the price. You would've tried to do something to save Chester, and gone after your father, whether I'd helped you or not."
    Will nodded, feeling his eyes fill with tears.
    "Thought as much!" Tam boomed. Like your mother... like Sarah... a Macaulay through and through!" He grabbed Will firmly by his shoulders. "My head knows you have to go, but my heart says otherwise." He squeezed Will and sighed. "Pity is... we could have had some times down here, the three of us. Some high times indeed."

    * * * * *

    Will, Cal, and Tam talked well into the early hours, and when he finally got to bed, Will hardly slept a wink.
    Early in the morning, before there was a stir in the house, Will packed his bag and tucked the cloth map Uncle Tam had given him into the top of his boot. He checked that the node stones and light orb were in his pockets, then went over to Cal and shook him awake.
    "I'm off," Will said in a low voice as his brother's eyes flickered open. Cal sat up, scratching his head.
    "Thanks for everything, Cal," Will whispered, "and say good-bye to Granny for me, won't you?"
    "Course I will," his brother replied, then frowned. "You know I'd give anything to come, too."
    "I know, I know... but you heard what Tam said: I have a better chance by myself. Anyway, your family is here," he said finally, and turned to the door.
    Will tiptoed down the stairs. He felt exhilarated to be on the move again, but this was tempered by an unexpected pang of sadness that he was leaving. Of course, he could stay here, somewhere where he actually belonged, if he chose, rather than venturing out into the unknown and risking it all. It would be so easy just to go back to bed. As he reached the hallway, he could hear Bartleby snoring somewhere in the shadows. It was a comforting sound, the sound of home. He would never hear that sound again if he went now. He stood by the front door and hesitated. No! How could he ever live with himself if he chose to leave Chester to the Styx?