Tunnels 01, Tunnels

the house. As far as Will knew, the job had finished there, but his father could be unpredictable. Will felt a pang of resentment -- what was his father doing that meant he had to be so secretive, and why hadn't he asked Will to help him?
    Still groggy with sleep and distracted by thoughts of his own underground projects, Will put it from his mind for the time being and returned to bed.

     

5

    The next day after school, Will and Chester resumed their work at the excavation. Will was returning from dumping the spoils, his wheelbarrow stacked high with empty buckets as he trundled to the end of the tunnel where Chester was hacking away at the stone layer.
    "How's it going?" Will asked him.
    "It's not getting any easier, that's for sure," Chester replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a dirty sleeve and smearing dirt across his face in the process.
    "Hang on, let me have a look. You take a break."
    "OK."
    Will shone his helmet lamp over the rock surface, the subtle browns and yellows of the strata gouged randomly by the tip of the pickax, and sighed loudly. "I think we'd better stop and think about this for a minute. No point in banging our heads on a sandstone wall! Let's have a drink."
    "Yeah, good idea," Chester said gratefully.
    They went into the main chamber, where Will handed Chester a bottle of water.
    "Glad you wanted to do some more of this. It's pretty addictive, isn't it?" he said to Chester, who was staring into the middle distance.
    Chester looked at him. "Well, yes and no, really. I said I'd help you get through the rock, but after that I'm not so sure. My arms really hurt last night."
    "Oh, you'll get used to it and, besides, you're a natural."
    "You think so? Really?" Chester beamed.
    "No doubt about it. You could be nearly as good as me one day!"
    Chester punched him playfully on the arm and they laughed, but their laughter petered out as Will's expression turned serious.
    "What is it?" Chester asked.
    "We're going to have to rethink this. The sandstone vein might just be too thick for us to get through." Will knitted his fingers together and rested his hands on top of his head, an affectation he had picked up from his father. "How do you feel about... about going under it?"
    "Under it? Won't that take us too deep?"
    "Nah, I've gone deeper before."
    "When?"
    "A couple of my tunnels went much farther down than this," Will said evasively. "You see, if we dig under it, we can use the sandstone, because it's a solid layer, for the roof of the new tunnel. Probably won't even need to use any props."
    "No props?" Chester said.
    "It'll be perfectly safe."
    "What if it isn't? What if it collapses with us underneath?" Chester looked distinctly unhappy.
    "You worry too much. Come on, let's get on with it!" Will had already made up his mind and was starting off down the tunnel when Chester called after him.
    "Hey, why are we breaking our backs on this... I mean, is there anything on any of the blueprints? What's the point?"
    Will was quite taken aback by the question, and it was several seconds before he replied. "No, there's nothing marked on the ordnance surveys or Dad's archive maps," he admitted. He took a deep breath and turned to Chester. "The digging is the point."
    "So you think there's something buried there?" Chester asked quickly. "Like the stuff in those old garbage dumps you were talking about?"
    Will shook his head. "No. Of course the finds are great, but this is far more important." He swept his hand extravagantly in front of him.
    "What is?"
    "All this!" Will ran his eyes over the sides of the tunnel and then the roof above them. "Don't you feel it? With every shovelful, it's like we're traveling back in time." He paused, smiling to himself. "Where no one has gone for centuries... or maybe never gone before."
    "So you've no idea what's there?" Chester asked.
    "Absolutely none, but I'm not about to let a bit of sandstone beat me," Will replied resolutely.
    Chester was still flummoxed. "It's just... I was thinking if we aren't heading for anything in particular, why don't we just work on the other tunnel?"
    Will shook his head again but offered no further explanation..
    "But it would be so much easier," Chester said, a tone of exasperation creeping into his voice as if he knew he wasn't going to get a sensible answer out of Will. "Why not?"
    "A hunch," Will said abruptly and was off down the tunnel before Chester could utter another word. He shrugged and reached for his pickax.
    "He's