Tunnels 03, Freefall

few seconds, but then Chester saw the funny side of it, too. He shook his head as Elliott turned her full attention on Martha, watching how she was gutting the large beast.
    Elliott's recovery had been nothing short of a miracle. The antibiotics had done the trick and she almost appeared to be back to her old self. There was something different about her -- compared to the taciturn Elliott of the Deeps, Chester had noticed that she was now more forthcoming and, even at times, light hearted.
    Perhaps, as Rebecca One had warned might be the case, the fever had 'cooked her brains'. But Chester liked to think it was because Elliott was just grateful that he, Will and Martha had pulled out all the stops and saved her life. Whatever the reason, she had made the long days cooped up in the WolfCaves bearable for Chester as they chatted together, and played noughts and crosses in the dirt on the floor by scratching it with sticks.
    Elliott also talked to Martha for hours, evidently trying to soak up as much local knowledge as he could. Elliott had insisted that Martha show her how to prepare spider-monkeys for cooking, and became so adept at this that she took over the task each time Martha returned from one of her hunting trips. And now she was learning how to prepare a cave wolf.
    There was the most horrific tearing noise as Martha yanked a forelock from the dead beast and blood pumped in little spurts from the torso.
    "Martha, why did you come all the way down here?" Chester asked as he turned his head away and instead looked around the unfamiliar part of the cave.
    "Because the smell will attract other wolves... and the spiders," Elliott answered, taking the severed limb from Martha and placing it on a flat rock. "And if you want to make yourself useful why don't you get a fire going for us?"
    "Sure," Chester said.
    The wolf was delicious and made a welcome change from the spider meat which was all they'd had for days. After eating their fill, they sat around in contented silence. But Chester was finding it hard to relax. With every day that passed with no sign of Will, he had become increasingly impatient to go back and search for him. He chose this moment to tackle Martha about it again.
    "So what are we going to do?" he asked her, as she sat propped up against the wall with Bartleby at her side. "We can't stay here forever."
    "Now Elliott's stronger," Martha began, as if she had been expecting the question, "we could go back to the shack. We're low on Aniseed Fire, but if we're careful how we use it, there should be enough for the journey home."
    Chester shook his head.
    "Will might be there by now," Martha added quickly. "I can't see him surviving for long if he hung around the void."
    "He survived in total darkness for more than a day with no food or water when he got separated from us in the Deeps. This time he had his kit with him, and his dad. Will's no pushover," Chester said.
    "Well then, we could go back to the void and have a proper scout round the area. You never know, if Bartleby picks up his scent we might be able to track him. But it'll be touch and go if we do find him, and all the time we're there we'll be exposing ourselves to danger. If Will made it through the explosion, then maybe the Styx did too, and don't forget about the Brights. I wouldn't--"
    "I'm going to look for him, even if I have to do it by myself," Chester interrupted her.
    Elliott had come over to listen to the exchange.
    "What do you say?" Chester asked her.
    "I'm with you. We never leave our own behind," she said resolutely. At that instant, Chester realized how much like Drake she sounded, and it lifted his spirits that she was so intent on finding Will. "While there's even a tiny chance he's out there and still alive, we keep looking for him," she added. "He'd do the same for us."
    "Yes, he would," Chester agreed. "Good old Will."

    * * * * *

    "Get a move on, or I'll leave you behind!" Will threatened his father, who yet again had hung back to examine something that had caught his eye. This time it was a mineral formation at the side of the seam.
    "These yellowish-white deposits we keep seeing... I really do believe it's electrum," Dr Burrows said, half turning to Will. "Know what that is?"
    "A mineral?" Will guessed, not showing an ounce of enthusiasm.
    "Not just any old mineral, my boy. It's an alloy of gold and silver -- and there's quite a high proportion of gold in it, at that!"
    "We don't have time for this," Will snapped.