The Sword In the Grotto
THE PORTCULLIS
Wanda was not good at going around in circles. She did not take it well. "All right, Wanda, " I said. "If we haven't found the sword in five minutes' time, we'll go home. " "Promise?" asked Wanda. "Promise, " I said. I knew we'd have to go home soon anyway, since our string was nearly finished.
Wanda spent the next four minutes and forty seconds staring at her watch and count- ing the seconds in a loud voice. It was very annoying, especially as I still really wanted to find the sword and give it to Sir Horace for his birthday. We were walking down a steep slope. The mushrooms had disappeared, and I knew we had not been here before. Wanda was so busy staring at her watch that she did not notice when suddenly we turned a corner and there it was--the little round grotto with the sandy floor and the sword lying there in the middle of it, just waiting for us, like I had known it would be. Incredible! "Wanda, " I said, "look!" But Wanda was still droning on, "Two hundred and seventy-eight seconds . . . Two hundred and seventy-nine seconds . . . Two hundred and--" "Wan-da, " I yelled.
"We've found it!" At last Wanda stopped counting and looked up. "Wow . . . " She whistled under her breath. Wanda was about to rush in when suddenly I remembered what it said in my Secret Tunnel Handy Hint Handbook.
Handy Hint #3: Watch out for traps, particularly at the beginning and end of a tunnel. How often has an intrepid tunneler battled through the most secret of tunnels only to come to grief in a cunning trap at the end of her journey? Alas, far too often, as we at the Secret Tunnel Handy Hint Handbook know to our cost.
" Miss Know-it-all Wanda Wizzard folded her arms and looked smug. "I know that, " I said. "I didn't say it wasn't a portcullis. I just said it was a trap. Obviously it is a portcullis trap. " "Obviously, " said Miss Smug Pants. "What we have to do, " I told her, "is make sure there aren't any trip wires. " Wanda looked worried. "Why?" she asked. "Because if there is a trip wire and we trip over it, then the portcullis will come crashing down on top of our heads, that's why. " Wanda shuddered. "That's horrible, " she said. I shrugged. "Stuff like that happens all the time in secret tunnels. " "Well, you never told me that when you were trying to get me to come with you, " said Wanda, staring up at the sharp spikes.
"You never asked, " I told her. I crouched down and shone my flashlight along the ground, which was covered in thick sand. "It's okay, " I said. "I can't see a trip wire or anything, so I guess we're safe. " I don't think Wanda believed me. She got down on her hands and knees and had a real good look too. "I guess it's okay. . . . " she mut- tered. "Do you want to go first?" I offered. I was being polite, as Aunt Tabby is always telling me not to rush in front of people. Wanda gave me a funny look and said, "No thank you, Araminta. We'll go together. " She grabbed hold of my hand and yelled, "One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Go!"
So we went. We shot under the portcullis like a couple of bats out of a sack and nothing happened. The horrible spikes stayed just where they were, and there we were--in the grotto at last. "Yes!" I grinned at Wanda. "We did it!" Wanda ran around the cave, kicking up the sand and jumping about, yelling, "We did it, we did it. Yaay!" I think she was pleased too. And then there was a horrible clang and a huge thud. The grotto shook like an earth- quake had struck. But it was a whole heap worse than an earthquake. It was the portcullis trap--it had come crashing down. Now a massive iron grille barred our way home. Wanda and I stared at it. Even Wanda didn't say anything for a while. And then, when she did say something, her voice sounded all squeaky and trem- bling. "We're trapped, " she said. Wanda was right. Again.