“Follow me with two other constables! I’ll explain later.” Matt’s beleaguered command galvanized Sergeant Gupta and the two constables closest to him into action. The echo from Susan’s hurried tread on the stone-concrete and the erratic splashes of light from her flashlight against the ceiling, and walls of the passageway were Matt’s only signposts as he sliced through the darkness. Abruptly, the Doppler effect from her trek diminished dramatically and the light disappeared. He braked. His movement became cautiously slower. “Susan! Where are you?”
“The fork to the right. Hurry!” she cried out.
The floor in front of him disappeared. “Bollocks!” He hit the surface hard, rolling down the incline. At the bottom, he found himself in a puddle of light from the flashlights of his sergeant and the two constables. “No doubt you’re having a good laugh! But not a word! Do you hear me! Not a word!”
He gathered himself up and with a hopping gait pursued Susan’s retreating tread and diminishing light. With each step the pain in his ankle dissipated until it finally bore his full weight. Ahead her torch rolled on the ground. She had stopped. Her head pulled back by a hand that had grasped her long hair, his flashlight thrusted out front to capture her terrified face. Then, she evaporated into darkness.
A gunshot rang out. The bullet ricocheted off the wall. An extra weight pushed against Matt’s back, and he fell hard, his knees slamming into the floor first. Pain exploded in his body. Prostrate, gritting his teeth in agonizing silence, he dared not move. He could still feel and hear the man breathing on top of him. Blood dripped along a line from just behind his ear and pooled on the floor under his chin. He had no idea whether the blood was his or from the person lying on top of him. Several minutes passed. No one moved. Finally, he heard Sergeant Gupta, “Give us a hand Josh.” The weight on his body was lifted off.
“Are you okay, sir?” Gupta asked, down on one knee beside him.
Matt looked up at the anguished expression on Gupta’s face and drew in a deep breath. His hand automatically went to the stream of blood along his neck.
“Not yours. It’s Spencer’s.” Gupta thumbed in the direction of the constable sitting against the wall.
“He’ll be alright,” the other constable said. “Just a flesh wound.”
“Help me up, Sergeant.” Slowly, Matt stood and began to rub his knees vigorously. “Bit of a bang about today, Sergeant.” He peered down the hall.
“That you’ve had,” replied Gupta.
In the distance behind him, Matt heard a familiar voice and the scattered click-clack of several boots approaching. He glanced at Constable Spencer sitting with his back against the wall. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you up to going on?” Matt asked.
“Yes.” And Spencer quickly got to his feet.
Matt glanced at Gupta approvingly. I remember a time when I, too, was a young constable, full of vim and vigor. Though the circumstances were far from ideal, his thought provided a comfort of reassurance. “You’re with Bertie’s group?”
“We are!” answered Josh proudly, eyeing Spencer who was standing tall.
Well, then, Matt thought. I’d better get you back in one piece. With a nod of his head, he and the others moved forward cautiously. When he arrived at the location where he thought Susan disappeared, he found only wall. “I’m sure I gauged the distance correctly,” he mumbled to himself.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Forsythe and the others?” Sergeant Gupta whispered. “They’re not far behind by the sounds of them.”
Matt heard the question and the concern in his sergeant’s voice, but he was preoccupied with examining the wall. “Maybe you’re right Sergeant. Maybe…AHAH! There you are you little rascal!” He pointed their attention to a pentacle-shaped object that had initially been outside his line of sight and that had blended in nicely with the raised stonework. Moving one stride to his right, he pushed on the pentacle. Nothing!
He pushed again. Still nothing!
“Maybe you have to use these in unison,” Josh said, pointing to what appeared to be a four by three panel.
♈︎ ♉︎ ♊︎ ♋︎
♌︎ â™ï¸Ž ♎︎ â™ï¸Ž
â™ï¸Ž ♑︎ ♒︎ ♓︎
“I’ve never given them a thought until now. What are they?” Matt asked.
Josh and Spencer examined them closely.
“Why they’re astrological signs,” Spencer exclaimed. “When Josh and I were kids…Oh, forget it. What’s the date? October what?”
Matt thought for a moment then said, “Nineteenth.”
“That’s the Libra sign, isn’t it Josh?”
“I’m pretty sure it is,” Josh replied, with a slight hesitation.
“I’ll push on the Libra symbol ♎︎ here while you push the pentacle,” Spencer told Matt.
The wall opened enough for entry.
Matt was unable to contain his astonishment. “How do you know this stuff?” Then quickly waved it off. “Josh, you stay here to bring in the others. Spencer we may need your knowledge along the way.”
“How will we know which way to follow?” asked Josh.
“Oh! That could be a problem,” Matt replied, falling into deep thought.
Sergeant Gupta pulled out his notepad. “We could use the blank pages and pen directions on them along the way.”
“That should work,” Josh replied.
Matt peered at Gupta then at Spencer. “We’ll have to move quickly to make up for lost time. Are you ready?” Both nodded. Withdrawing their guns, they disappeared behind the opening.