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“It’s a softer material Almost feels like plaster Ita curved wall from a slab of stone And there are no seams We should have noticed it”

“Easy to ht” Summer rubbed the wall as well “Maybe plaster mixed with sand It has nearly the sah it?”

“We can try Stay here, I’ll be right back”

Dirk took the penlight, leaving Summer in the dark for a ed chunks of lieway He passed one chunk and the penlight to his sister Taking the other chunk, he held it on edge and struck it against the wall

The stone sliced a deep gouge into the plaster, kicking up a cloud of white dust Dirk turned and smiled at his sister “Crude, but effective”

Su away at the plaster wall As it fell away, they could see the plaster was about two inches thick Beyond it lay packed sand

Starting at shoulder height, they each cut a sliround first

As he cleared the debris, Summer called him aside “Look at this”

She had knocked away a chunk of plaster at knee level, exposing a slight gap She dug out some of the sand behind it and exposed the lip of a horizontal limestone slab

“A step,” Dirk said as she aiht “That has to be it”

He attacked the plaster above the slab with renewed fervor Together they carved a two-foot-wide opening in the plaster, then began digging at the sand behind it, exposing two more steps

Soon there was roo out the sand while the other scooped it to the side They dug a tight tunnel following the steps upward until they reached a ceiling of lieway Dirk easily broke the light ether and pulled away the pieces

The sand above theh an additional foot with his rock before a sharp jab poked a sht He took a sandy shower as he carved away a larger opening, then poked his head aboveground

There was no sign of the toent had vanished, as had, he supposed, that of the third gunman

He dropped back into the hole “Looks safe up top”