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CHAPTER TWENTY

"THEY’RE CRAWLINGup ," Spits said after a while He hadn’t lowered his foot and was tre wildly

"And mine," Harkat said

"Let them," I said "Spits - lower your foot, as slowly as you can, and make sure you don’t squash any of the spiders"

"Can you talk to them and - control them?" Harkat asked

"I’ll try in a minute," I said "First I want to find out if these are all we have to deal with" I’d been fascinated by spiders when I was a kid That’s how I gottarantula, Mada with arachnids and had learnt to control thehts But that had been on Earth Would my powers extend to the spiders here?

I penetrated the darkness with my ears There were hundreds,the floor, walls and ceiling As I listened, one dropped on tofrom the noise and the feel of the spider on my head, these were iant spiders, they weren’tfor us to walk into their lair?

I carefully raised ers to the side of my head The spider found them a few seconds later It tested the new surface, then crawled on to htit (even though I couldn’t see it) Taking a deep breath, I focusedto it inside my head When I’d done this in the past, I’d used a flute to help focusit and hope for the best

"Hello, little one Is this your hoh I can tell you’re a beauty Intelligent too You can hearto har to the spider, reassuring it of our peaceful intentions, flattering it and trying to get inside its head, I extended ht and directed my words at the spiders around us It’s not necessary to control every spider in a huge pack, just those nearest to you If you have the talent and experience, you can then use those spiders to control the rest I could do that with spiders in my oorld - were this lot the saround web?

After a couple of , I let the spider crawl off roup around us "We need to move on now, but we don’t want to hurt any of you You’ll have to spread out of our way We can’t see you If you stay bunched together, on’t be able to avoid you Move,happened I feared the worst but kept on trying, talking to the them to part I’d have been more authoritative with normal spiders, and ordered them out of our way But I didn’t kno these would react to direct co the the andoff me"

"Me too," Spits croaked a e of tears

All around us the spiders were retreating, slowly edging out of our way I stood, relieved, but didn’t breakinsidethem on the runted, anxious not to lose my concentration "But slowly Feel in front with your toes everytihts to the spiders Harkat edged ahead, one sliding step after another I followed, keeping close,behind, holding on tohis bottle of poteen to his chest with his other

We walked for a long ti pace with us, new recruits joining theiants It was hard work talking to them for such an extended amount of time, but I didn’t let my concentration slip

Finally, after twenty or thirty minutes, Harkat stopped and said, "I’ve co up beside him, I laid a hand on hard, smooth wood It was covered in cobwebs, but they were old and dry, and brushed away easily at my touch "How do you know it’s a door?" I asked,contact with the spiders "Maybe the tunnel’s just blocked off" Harkat found uided it to a metal handle "Does it turn?" I whispered

"Only one way to - find out," he said, and together isted it down There was al inwards the instant the latch was retracted A soft buzzing noise greeted us from inside The spiders around us scuttled backwards half a o in alone and check it out" Moving ahead of Harkat, I entered the roo on cold, hard tiles I flexed ?" Harkat asked when he didn’t hearthe spiders, I re-established contact and told them to stay where they were Then I took a step forward Soainst ! I ducked sharply - the spiders had guided us into a trap! We were going to be devoured by et out, flee for our lives! We ?

But nothing happened I wasn’t seized by long, hairy spider legs There was no sound of a giant spider creeping towardsme off In fact there were no sounds at all, except for the strange buzzing and the fast, hard beating ofslowly, I stretched out , narrow piece of cord hanging froed softly It resisted, so I tugged again, slightly harder There was a click, then a harsh white light flooded the roo after the blackness of the tunnel Behind lare The spiders took no notice of it - living in utter darkness, they ht some time in the past "Are you OK?" Harkat roared "Is it a trap?"

"No," I htly in front ofers parted Lowering azed around, bewildered

"Darren?" Harkat said When I didn’t answer, he poked his head through the door "What’s ??" He stopped when he sahat I was looking at, and stepped into the room, speechless Spits did the sae kitchen, like any e - the source of the buzzing - a sink, cupboards, a bread bin, a kettle, even a clock over the table, though the hands had stopped Closing the door to the room to keep the spiders out, we quickly searched the cupboards We found plates, lasses, cans of food and drink (no labels or dates on the cans) There was nothing in the fridge e opened it, but it was in full working order "What’s going on?" Spits asked "Where’d all this stuff co froe like this before

"I don’t?" I started to answer, then stopped,on a saltcellar on the table - there was a piece of paper underneath, with a note scribbled across it Re the saltcellar, I scanned the note in silence, then read it out loud

"’Top of the entle splendidly After your narrow escape in the temple, you’ve earned a rest, so put your feet up and tuck into the refreshments - courtesy of this kitchen’s previous owner, who never got round to enjoying theerator It’s a few hundred metres to the surface After that, you face a short walk to the valley wherein lies the Lake of Souls Head due south and you can’tthe obstacles to date Here’s hoping all goes well in the final stretch Best regards, your dear friend and sincere benefactor - Desed the fridge aside and checked behind it Mr Tiny had told the truth about the tunnel, though ouldn’t know for sure where it led until we explored it

"What do you think?" I asked Harkat, sitting and pouring myself one of the fizzy drinks fro and aahing onder at the advanced technology

"We have to do as - Mr Tiny says," Harkat replied "We were heading in a general - southerly direction anyway"

I glanced at the note again "I don’t like the bit about ’here’s hoping all goes well in the final stretch’ It sounds as though he thinks itwon’t !’

Harkat shrugged "He ht have said that - just to worry us At least we knoe’re - close to the?"

We were startled by a shrill cry Leaping to our feet,Spits turning away from one of the cupboards, which he’dand there were tears in his eyes

"What is it?" I yelled, thinking itdreadful

"It’s - it’s ?" Spits held up a bottle full of a dark golden liquid, and broke into a wet-eyed grin "It’swhisky !" he croaked, and his face was as awe-filled as the Kulashkas’ had been when they knelt before their Grotesque god

Several hours later, Spits had drunk hi on the floor Harkat and I had eaten a fillingour adventures, Mr Tiny and the kitchen "I wonder where all this - cae, food and drinks - are all from our world"

"The kitchen too," I noted "It looks to raround shelters and stocked theoods"

"You think Mr Tiny transported an entire - shelter here?" Harkat asked