Chapter 18The Wrong Road!

The Wrong Road!

The next day, we left super early. No time to waste. According to me, we had five days of tough work to get back to where the galleries split.

I can't even begin to describe how rough the trip back was. My uncle handled it like someone who knew they were in the wrong - all bottled-up frustration. Hans just went with it, super chill like always. Me? I just complained and lost it. I couldn’t deal with this bad luck.

But hey, at least losing right away would’ve totally tanked the whole journey!

Like I figured, our water ran out on the first day. We were down to Schiedam. Seriously, that stuff burned going down, and I couldn’t even look at it. It was scorching out, and I was totally wiped. I almost passed out a few times.

Everyone stopped, and the awesome Icelander and my uncle tried to cheer me up. But I could tell my uncle was struggling too - exhausted and seriously suffering from the lack of water.

Eventually, I just blacked out - it was one long, crazy, awful dream!

Finally, on Tuesday, July seventh, after crawling on our hands and knees for hours, practically dead, we made it to where the galleries met. I just lay there, a lump of flesh on the dry lava rocks. It was around ten in the morning.

Hans and my uncle were trying to eat some biscuits, while I just groaned and sighed, my lips burnt and swollen. Then I just drifted off into a deep sleep.

I felt my uncle coming closer, and he picked me up gently.

"Poor kid," I heard him say, sounding really sorry for me.

His words totally got to me - I wasn't used to seeing the Professor show any emotion like that. I took his shaky hands in mine and squeezed them softly. He let me, looking at me with kindness in his eyes. His eyes were all watery. Then I saw him reach for the gourd he had hanging at his side.

I was shocked, seriously - totally stunned, actually - when he put it to my lips.

"Drink up, kid," he said. Could I have heard him wrong? Was my uncle crazy? I probably looked like a total idiot staring at him. I just couldn't believe it. I was so scared of being let down.

"Drink," he said again. Did I really hear him? Before I could even ask myself that, a mouthful of water hit my dry lips and throat - just one mouthful, but I swear it brought me back from the brink. I thanked my uncle by holding his hands together. My heart was overflowing, I couldn't even speak.

"Yeah," he said, "just one mouthful of water, the absolute last - you hear me, kid - the very last! I’m telling you, I’ve guarded it like gold at the bottom of my bottle. A hundred times, two hundred times, I fought the urge to drink it myself. But - nope - nope, Harry, I saved it for you."

"My dear uncle," I blurted out, and big tears rolled down my hot, feverish cheeks.

"Yeah, my poor kid, I knew that when you hit this place, this turning point, you’d crash, and I saved my last drop to bring you back."

"Thanks," I cried; "thanks from the bottom of my heart." Even though I wasn't totally quenched, I definitely felt stronger.

My throat muscles loosened up - and my lips felt a little better. At least I could talk.

"Well," I said, "there's no doubt what we gotta do now. Water totally failed us; our trip’s over. Let’s head back."

While I was talking, my uncle seemed to be dodging my gaze. He kept his head down, his eyes darting everywhere but where they should be.

"Yeah," I kept going, getting hyped up by my own words, "we gotta go back to Sneffels. May heaven give us strength to see the sunlight again. I wish we were on the crater's rim right now."

"Go back," my uncle muttered to himself, "does it have to be?"

"Go back - yeah, and no time to waste," I yelled.

There was silence under that dark, creepy ceiling for a bit.

"So, Harry, my boy," the Professor said in a really weird way, "those few drops of water didn’t bring back your energy and spirit." "Spirit!" I shouted.

"I see you’re just as bummed as before - still giving in to feeling down and hopeless."

What was the guy made of, and what other wild ideas were swirling around in his brilliant brain! "You're not giving up, sir?"

"What! Quit just as we’re about to make it?" he yelled. " Never, ever will it be said that Professor Hardwigg backed down."

"Then we have to accept that we’re gonna die," I sighed, feeling helpless.

"No, Harry, my boy, definitely not. Go, leave me, I really don’t want you to die. Take Hans with you. I’ll go on alone."

"You’re asking us to leave you?"

"Leave me, I said. I started this dangerous, crazy adventure. I’ll see it through - or I’ll never make it back to the surface of Mother Earth. Go, Harry - I’m telling you again - go!"

My uncle was seriously hyped as he talked. His voice, which had been soft, almost gentle, turned harsh and kinda scary. He seemed to be fighting super hard against something impossible. I didn't want to leave him down there in that deep hole, but at the same time, I just needed to get out.

Meanwhile, our guide was watching us, totally calm and like, didn't care. But he totally knew what was going on between us. Our gestures showed which way we wanted to go - and which one we were trying to convince the other to take.

But Hans didn't seem to care at all about what was basically a life-or-death situation for all of us. He was just waiting for the signal to either go up or keep going deeper into the earth.

Man, I really wished I could make him understand what I was saying. If I could explain, if I could show him how I felt, that cold, hard guy would get it. I’d point out all the crazy dangers he didn't even see - I’d make him feel it, too. Maybe together, we could convince that stubborn Professor.

If things got really bad, we could even force him to go back to the top of Sneffels.

I quietly went over to Hans. I grabbed his hand. He didn't even flinch. I pointed to the way up to the crater. He stayed still. I guess my shaky breathing and tired face showed how bad I was feeling. Then the Icelander gently shook his head and pointed to my uncle. "Master," he said.

That word is Icelandic and English, too.

"The master!" I shouted, totally losing it - "madman! No - I’m telling you, he’s not in charge of our lives. We gotta get out of here! We gotta drag him with us! Do you hear me? Do you get it, I’m saying?"

I already told you, I had Hans by the arm. I tried to get him to stand up. I wrestled with him, trying to pull him away. My uncle stepped in then.

"Easy, Henry, chill," he said.

"You’re not gonna get anywhere with my loyal follower. Just listen to what I have to say."

I crossed my arms as best I could and stared him right in the face.

"This whole lack of water," he said, "is the only thing stopping my project from working. Seriously, in the entire gallery - made of lava, schist, and coal - we didn’t find a single drop. But it’s possible we’ll have better luck in the western tunnel."

I just shook my head, looking totally unconvinced.

"Listen to me, okay?" said the Professor, using his usual lecture voice.

"While you were just lying there, totally out of it, I took a quick look around this other gallery. I found out it goes straight down into the earth and in a few hours, it’s gonna take us to that old granite area. We’ll definitely find springs there."

The type of rock makes it a sure thing, and my gut tells me the same thing. So, here’s what I’ve got for you. Remember Christopher Columbus? He asked his crew for three days to find the land of promise, even though they were sick, scared, and losing hope.

"They gave him three days - and he found the New World. Now, I’m like the Christopher Columbus of this underground place, and I’m just asking for one more day. If, after that day is up, I haven’t found the water we need, I promise I’ll ditch this whole crazy plan and head back to the surface."

I was seriously annoyed and bummed, but I knew how much my uncle was sacrificing to make this offer, and to be so chill about it. What else could I do but agree?

"Okay," I said. "Let’s do it your way, and seriously, good luck to you. But if we don’t find water, we’re done for, so let’s not waste any time and get moving."