The Smoky Corridor

118

“Careful!” said Zack.

He and Malik were in another tunnel, about ten feet away from the back door to the small chamber.

The floor seemed to shimmy and quiver.

There was a huge sinkhole dead ahead. A thick cloud of dust hovered over it.

Cautiously, Zack crept to the lip of the crater, knelt down, and shone his flashlight into the pit. To his surprise, there was another chamber under the tunnel they were in.

“There’s a lower level!” he whispered to Malik.

Zack swung his beam around the hazy room below. Its floor was littered with chunks of rocky debris. The walls were lined with wooden shelves. Now the flashlight glinted off glass. Zack could vaguely make out several rows of dusty jars. Maybe it was another root cellar.

“We need to be down there!” Zack whispered to Malik.

Then, as quietly as they could, the two boys jumped into the dark room below.