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Show -31- inner walls of the waterfall! The steps had led directly behind it, into a tiny hollow. She crawled as close as she dared to the waterfall to look through a narrow break in it's cascade. Below her lay the small cavern where she had just been. The wall which she had climbed had crashed onto the cavern floor, filling it with rock and dust. Her chicks were unharmed and were scrambling about after the fleeing spiders. She backed up and looked around her. At the rear of the cavity was a continuation of the narrow steps. She climbed the steps, which ended in a small, dark shaft. A narrow beam of light filtered down from a slit at the top of the shaft, illuminating rusty iron rungs which had been pounded into the steep wall. Wearily, the girl climbed the rungs and pushed against the roof of the shaft, which slowly creaked open. Pulling herself out, she lay still, gratefully breathing in the fresh mountain air. When she felt better, she sat up. She was on a ledge several yards below a high mountain peak. The ledge was level, but a few feet ahead of her it tilted sharply. She crept forward, looked over the edge, and dizzily drew back. It was a sheer drop from the ledge to the little vale below! Sandy searched the ledge and discovered a steep, overgrown path leading down to the right, and a crudely fashioned set of steps leading off to the left. Drawing the spoon from her pocket, she asked, "Which way shcald I go, Verus? I'm lost." |