I called to
Sparky. He was having great fun running in and out of the waves and
barking at the seagulls. We all ran along the pebbles towards the caves.
The tide was a long way out now and I could see the cove with its long
sandy beach walled on either side with great boulders. At the base of
the cliff were three caves. We clambered over the rocks and jumped down
onto the sand.
We went
to the largest cave first. Tara took the torch out of her rucksack
again, switched it on and shone it into the mouth of the cave. I felt a
shiver of excitement run up my spine as we went inside. The opening was
small and I had to bend my head to avoid hitting it on the narrow roof.
Once inside I could hear the echoing sound of dripping water.
“Spooky,
isn’t it?” Tara whispered.
The small
entrance to the cave opened out into a high roofed cavern. Drips of
water fell down on our heads and splashed into puddles on the sand. We
walked slowly across the uneven floor, trying to avoid stepping in the
puddles. Sparky stayed close to my heels. He seemed a little unsure of
this cold dark place.
As we
walked further into the cave the sand disappeared and we found ourselves
on a rocky ledge. We scrambled up onto its slippery uneven surface and
continued deeper into the cave, which narrowed as it curved up into the
cliff. Tara shone the torch onto the cave walls and roof. I noticed a
dark eerie shadow with two light patches that looked like eyes.
“Tara!
Over there!” I said nervously.
She shone
her torch onto the shadow and we went over to investigate. I could see a
dark hole in the rock.
“It’s a
small tunnel!” I said in surprise.
“Come on,
let’s see where it goes,” Tara said squeezing into the narrow gap.
As she
disappeared into the tunnel the light began to fade. I fumbled in my
pocket for my key ring torch but could not find it.
“Tara,” I
shouted but there was no reply.
I crawled
cautiously into the dark tunnel. My hands sank into a pile of cold wet
slippery seaweed.
“Yuk!” I
cried, pulling my hands out quickly.
“Peter,
come quick!” Tara’s faint voice echoed down the tunnel, “You won’t
believe this!”
I hurried
along the tunnel as fast as I could with Sparky following closely
behind. As I rounded a bend I saw the faint light from Tara’s torch
ahead.
“Nearly
there, Sparky” I said, quickly scrambling along the last few metres.
When I
reached the end I stopped and stared in amazement. Tara was sitting on
the smooth dry floor of another smaller cave, shining her torch onto the
walls.
“Crystals!” I said breathlessly staring around the cave, “thousands and
thousands of crystals.”
They
covered the walls and sparkled like diamonds in the torchlight.
“Beautiful isn’t it,” Tara said in a hushed tone.
I climbed
out of the tunnel and sat down next to her. Sparky came and sat at my
feet and we all gazed in wonder at the most amazing sight I had ever
seen.
“A
crystal cave,” I said quietly, finally breaking the silence. “It’s
incredible.”
I stood
up and went over to look at the crystals more closely. They ran in
horizontal veins along the walls. Most were clear like small pieces of
glass but some were purple and others white. I reached out to touch
them. They felt sharp and slightly damp.
“Peter,”
Tara cried, “there are fossils over here too. I’ve never seen so many!”
I went
over to her and looked at where she was pointing. I could see countless
tiny fossils embedded in the rocks between the layers of crystals.
“Look!” I
said. “A fossil fish.”
It was a
small fossil, no bigger than my fingernail, but I could clearly see the
tiny backbone and fins.
“And
here’s another,” Tara said excitedly.
We
continued to study the walls, looking with fascination at the crystals
and at the tiny fossil creatures. But then we were suddenly plunged into
darkness.
“Oh, no,”
Tara cried. “My torch! The bulb must have blown!”
I had
never experienced such blackness. It was so complete it felt almost
solid, and pressed in against me. Strangely, I did not feel at all
afraid. I felt safe, protected in this space deep inside the earth.
Sparky barked. The sound echoed round the cave.
“Peter,”
Tara said, holding tightly onto my arm. “Where’s your torch?”
“I don’t
know,” I replied, “I tried to find it earlier.”
I felt
through my pockets again, this time more slowly and carefully. There it
was, tucked away in my back pocket. I switched it on. It gave out a very
weak light but it was bright enough for us to see our way to the tunnel.
Sparky jumped in first, I climbed in backwards and, holding the torch in
my teeth, crawled along the tunnel into the main cave.
