On Saturday morning, Greg, Mr. Simms and Jessie went to the early service at the local synagogue, in anticipation of having as much of the day free as possible to participate in the planned exploration of their cave. Neil and Rosemary were already at the house when they returned home, although initially, Greg only knew that because he saw Neil's car parked out in front. He didn't see either of them when he walked into the house. In fact, he couldn't find Susan or Melody or the boys either.

"I wonder where they could have gone," Greg remarked as he and Jessie looked about.

"Maybe they're in the cave, Papa," Jessie suggested.

"That is a reasonable suggestion," Mr. Simms said.

"Perhaps we should go look?" Greg asked.

"Should I change my clothes first?" Jessie wondered.

"Yes. Actually, I should too," Greg said. "Bobby, are you going to come with us?"

"As far as I can, I will," Mr. Simms said. "Jessie, I don't suppose you could get my walking shoes for me out of my room? They have a much better sole on them for irregular footing."

"Okay," Jessie agreed.

It took a few minutes for everyone from their party to be ready, but once they were, they went through the library bookcase and into the cave, following the route that normally took them to the cottage. That's where they found the rest of the family: standing at the base of the stairs, in the pool of light provided by the open door up above and the florescent lights on the walls.

"Hi. You're back," Susan said with a grin.

"Hello. We've been back for some time. It took us a while to figure out where you went," Greg said.

Mr. Simms cocked his head. "It wasn't too hard. We simply took the opportunity to change our clothing before joining you here. Hello Rosemary; good to see you Neil."

"Hi," Neil said, looking up from the coil of extension cords he had which he was carefully looping over one arm.

"Hi Neil. What are you doing?" Greg asked.

"Trying to get these ready. I've got them connected end to end for the moment. Susan will plug in the end upstairs when we're ready. Then I thought we could use the connections between each of the cords to insert a spotlight. So far, that seems to be working," Neil said.

Greg looked beyond the place where Susan, Neil, and Rosemary were standing, noticing for the first time the extension cord at their feet. It wasn't connected to the coil of cords on Neil's arm, but extended off into the darkness. Greg stepped beyond the edge of the light into the dark to discover it wasn't quite as black as he thought it would be. There was a spotlight set up approximately 25 feet away, illuminating the first drop in the floor.

"How far have you gone?" Greg asked curiously.

"Approximately 100 feet beyond the light you can see from here. That's when we decided we needed to come back to the light to sort these cords out instead of trying to do it in the dark," Neil said.

"Can I do something to help?" Greg offered.

"Please. " Neil handed Greg one of the spotlights sitting in the shadows. He handed another to Matt and still another to Zack and said, are we ready?"

"Susan, what are you doing with Melody?" Greg asked, noticing she was holding the baby in her arms.

"I'm staying here to man the light switch," Susan told him. "Melody and I are hanging out right here, at the base of the stairs."

"Are you just going to hold her?" Greg asked in surprise.

"We've set her playpen up just beyond the stairs. We can stand away from the light so we can see better and listen to what you're doing," Susan explained.

"We're taking turns, Mr. Abernathy," Rosemary added.

"I see," Greg said with an arched brow.

"They've got it worked out, Greg," Neil assured him.

"Very well," Greg said. "After you, Neil."

"Right," Neil said and he set off into the darkness with his coil of extension cords.

Greg lagged behind, intending to help Mr. Simms as far as he wanted to go. Using his cane and Greg's free arm to steady himself, he made it easily to where the first spotlight was set up. It pointed not out into the cave, but back the way they'd come, illuminating each step in their descent, making the smaller drops easier to navigate.

"Now where?" Mr. Simms asked.

"The next one is a bit lower from this one than the last one was," Neil said.

"Yeah, like twice as much," Matt agreed.

"Maybe I'll stay here," Mr. Simms said.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Greg offered.

"I can, Mr. Abernathy," Rosemary agreed, sounding relieved to have an excuse to stay behind.

"I want you to do this with me, Rosie," Neil told her.

"And I will ... only get a few more of the lights set up first. Okay?" Rosemary said.

"If you're certain you want to stay behind," Neil said uncertainly.

"I won't be behind. I'll be right here. You're not going to be able to go much farther to the big drop off anyway," Rosemary reminded him.

Neil nodded. He didn't look happy about it, but he didn't insist she accompany them. Instead, he connected the end of the extension cord he was carrying and carefully lowered himself down the next step.

Greg followed close after Neil, following his lead. Jessie came with him. Matt was next, and bringing up the rear was Zack.

"This one's about the same as that last one," Neil remarked.

"Where do you plan to set up the next light?" Greg asked.

"One more after this one ... at least," Neil told him.

Repeating what he'd done before, he lowered himself down the next step, unlooping lengths of extension cord as he went. Greg handed him the spotlight he was carrying as soon as he was down. Neil connected it, and suddenly they could see what it was they were standing on.

"That's better," Zack remarked.

"Yeah, it is," Matt said. "Are you okay, Jess?"

"Now I am," Jessie told him.

"You know, I am too, now that I can see where you are," Mr. Simms said from up above.

"Do you want to try this?" Greg asked.

"I think I can ... provided you give me a hand," Mr. Simms told him.

Greg backtracked far enough to stand one step below where Mr. Simms currently stood.

"Can you sit on the edge?" Greg wondered. "Also, keep in mind; you'll have to get back up this somehow again."

"Perhaps if the boys are willing to help?" Mr. Simms said.

"I can," Matt said.

He came to help support Mr. Simms until he got himself in a sitting position. He slid forward until his feet touched the surface Greg was standing on. Greg helped him with his cane, and steadied the old man while he got to his feet. Mr. Simms grinned. "Thank you for humoring me. I'm sure I'm slowing you down ... but this is fun."

Greg arched his brow, turning toward Neil.

"I think you're the oldest spelunker I know," Neil said amiably.

"Thank you, Neil," Mr. Simms said. Then he turned to the step he'd just come from. "Are you coming, Rosemary?"

"You know you just ruined my excuse to stay behind," Rosemary told him.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Mr. Simms wondered.

"Something like that," Rosemary admitted, and she followed him down next the step too, helping until everyone was now standing beside Neil.

"Hold tight, everyone. Let's see what's in front of us," Neil said.

He swung the spotlight he'd just plugged in around, pointing it in front of them instead of behind, illuminating the next drop in the floor. The next one looked about the same as the last two they'd descended. Neil held the spotlight until everyone aside from himself was down. Then he turned it back in the direction they'd come from again before climbing down, again letting out lengths of extension cord behind him.

"Watch the cord, everyone," he cautioned as he made his way around what was effectively a crowd of seven people on the step.

"Where do we go next, Neil?" Zackary asked.

"Hand me your spotlight," Neil said.

Zack did.

He didn't plug it in right away, but instead their guide pulled out a flashlight, pointing the beam of light down the next step. Without saying a word, he descended it, walked a few paces away and set the spotlight down, this time plugging it in, once again pointing it back the way they'd come.

"Thanks Neil," Matt said. "Come on, Mr. Simms, one more."

"Very well, Matthew," Mr. Simms said. "But I believe this will be the last one."

"For everybody," Neil said. "This one is a lot wider, but this is also the edge of the drop off we came to before. Everyone be careful when you get down here."

"Okay," Rosemary said in a less-than-steady sounding voice.

This drop was a bit further than the ones that came before and it took several of them to help Mr. Simms down onto the ledge. Meanwhile, Neil was setting up a second spotlight pointed in the opposite direction. Greg cautiously approached his stepson's side once everyone was down.

"What can you see?" he asked.

"Nothing ... which surprises me. The range of this spotlight is a hundred feet, which means the opposite side of this chamber is more than a hundred feet away. If I turn it forty-five degrees to the right however, I can just barely make out the wall," Neil said.

"I see it," Rosemary commented.

"Yeah, I do too," Matt said. "It looks closer than I expected it to."

"Probably because the wall to the right of us is relatively close. It just extends out in front of us a long ways," Neil said. He shone the spotlight along its surface to illustrate his point. From what they could see, the wall kept on going, beyond the range of their light, disappearing into the gloom.

"What about the other way, Neil?" Greg asked.

Neil swept the light around to left. This time it was obvious the ceiling was becoming lower overhead in that direction, forming a protrusion over the abyss with an irregular shape that also more or less made up the wall.

"The reason we heard the stone hit close by when we threw it in that direction," Greg observed.

"Yes," Neil said.

He set down the light so that particular part of the cavern remained illuminated, before connecting another extension cord and reaching for the last of the spotlights they'd brought with them.

"Now what?" Zack asked.

"Now we look down. Be careful not to get too close to the edge. We know there are some loose rocks around here," Neil said.

"What are you going to do, Neil?" Rosemary asked in a worried tone.

"Do you have my bag?"

"Yes," Rosemary said. She swung a backpack Greg hadn't noticed before from her shoulder, handing it to Neil.

Neil began to pull ropes, pitons, and other climbing equipment from the bag, stepping into a harness he already had prepared. Next, he used a small hammer and drove a piton into the nearby wall ... the one that became the ceiling not far away. Once it was secure, he connected a line to it with a clip, linked the other end to the harness around his waist, then he began to carefully make his way along the edge, pointing the spotlight down every few feet.

"What do you see?" Greg asked from a few feet away.

"Nothing at all if I shine the light out into the middle, suggesting it is deep ... something we already guessed from the last time we were here," Neil told him. "But if I shine the light straight down, I see another ledge, almost as long and wide as the one we are standing on."

"How far down?" Greg asked.

"My guess is about twenty feet. I'm going to set a second anchor and repel down," he announced. "I'm taking the extension cord and our last spotlight with me."

"Is it safe?" Rosemary asked anxiously.

"Twenty feet is nothing with the proper lines in place, Rosemary. I'll be fine," he insisted.

Again, they all listened while Neil drove another piton into the wall. He secured his line to this one too. He tied a rope around Greg's waist, drove a third piton in another part of the wall, allowing his stepfather to stand safely on the very edge of the drop-off.

"Hold this, will you?" Neil said as he passed what was left of the coiled extension cords to Greg.

"Sure," Greg said. "What about the spotlight?"

"I'm taking it with me. I'll let you know when to toss the extension cord down," Neil said.

With that, the young man disappeared over the edge. Greg watched him descend into the darkness, lighting his way with the headlamp he was suddenly wearing, which Greg now realized was also in the backpack Rosemary was carrying. Abruptly he stopped, not far away.

"Are you on the ledge?" Greg asked.

"Yup. This one is bigger than it looked like from on top," Neil told him. "Let me drive in another piton, then you can throw down the extension cord."

"Just tell me when," Greg said.

Greg heard Neil at work with the little hammer again, not once or twice but three separate times. There was a short wait and then he said,

"Now, Greg."

Greg tossed most of the coil of one of the extension cords towards Neil and his light. The other end he held in his hand, waiting for Neil to catch the cord before plugging it in.

"Got it," Neil announced.

Greg plugged in the cord. Suddenly the ledge Neil was standing on was clearly visible fifteen to twenty feet below where Greg stood. He watched as Neil swung the beam around, trying to assess the shapes of the rocks around him.

"What do you see? Anything?" Greg asked.

"Yes. I see another protrusion of rock not too far down. I think we could use a few more of those spot lights," Neil said.

"We have more," Greg told him.

"I know. I'm coming up," Neil announced.

Greg backed away from the hole, watching as the lines attached to the nearby rock began to move, evidence that Neil was climbing back to where they were. Behind him, Greg could feel Rosemary anxiously watching it too.

"You know, things would have gone so much better if we had equipment like this the last time," Rosemary remarked.

"You mean during Passover?" Greg said.

Rosemary cocked her head. "Was it during Passover? I suppose it could have been. All I remember is that it rained a lot that year."

Greg cocked his head. What she was saying didn't immediately make sense, but he thought perhaps, this wasn't the place to question it.

Suddenly Neil was by his side, and they were starting to talk about going back to the cottage.

"Are we finished?" Rosemary asked.

"Not yet," Neil told her. "Come here. Let me put this line around your waist; then I want you to come look at what I found."

"Okay," Rosemary reluctantly agreed. She allowed Neil to secure a strap-like harness around her waist. He clipped his line to them both then took her with him to look over the ledge.

"Now, what do you see?" he asked when she looked down.

"More rock. It's sort of funny shaped, but that's all I see," Rosemary said.

"Exactly. The line is keeping you safe. We've put in a light. It's going to be okay," he said.

"If you say so," Rosemary said. "Maybe I should give Mrs. Abernathy a chance to look?"

"I'm sure she would like to see it," Greg told her. "Let's all go back and give others a chance."

"Maybe I should make a few handholds to help us get back up?" Neil offered.

"That would be very helpful, thank you," Greg said.

Leaving the lights they'd put in place behind, Neil led the way again, driving in more pitons and leaving short loops of rope attached to them to serve as handholds. Between the rope to help Mr. Simms support himself, and Matt and Zack to give him a leg up, then Greg and Neil to help pull him up from the top, they managed to get their little party back up to where Susan was waiting beside the cottage stairs. Even Jessie, they reflected, had an easier time of it getting to the top than the old man did.

"I believe I will sit this next session out," Mr. Simms told them.

"Maybe we could wait in the cottage where it is light?" Rosemary suggested.

"That's fine with me," Greg said.

"Me too," Susan told him.

"Let me get the lights, Neil," Greg said and he headed towards the garage.

"I take it we're going again?" Susan asked.

"Yes. We can go further ... we just need more lights," Neil said.

"How about more extension cords?" Susan wondered.

"We have three more of them still to use," Neil said. "But if you have more, sure. I'm sure we could use them."

"So what did you see?" Susan asked her boys.

"Not that much, Mom. Greg wouldn't let us get too close to the edge, so we couldn't even see where Neil went," Matt said.

"We'll need a better way to get people down to the next ledge than the way I went," Neil told him. "Repelling in the dark over a rocky abyss isn't the best way to learn."

"Yeah, I guess," Matt said. "Maybe we should take more rope too?"

"Got it," Neil said as he pulled more rope from the duffle bag he'd left by the bottom of the stairs.

By the time Greg returned, they were ready to go again. This time, Rosemary, Jessie, Mr. Simms and Melody all stayed in the cottage, while Neil, Greg, Susan, Matt, and Zack headed down into the cave.

"Neil, is it possible for you to construct the sort of rope ladder we have in the top part of the cave?" Greg asked.

"Yeah. That's what I had in mind, Greg. This one will be slightly longer than that, but it should work," Neil said.

Once more, they reached the edge of the abyss. Neil passed out headlamps for them each to wear, then with Greg and Matt helping while Susan held the spot light, they began to construct the rope ladder which Neil intended to attach to the cave wall. He attached harnesses to the waist of each person, connecting them by lines to pitons in the walls. Then taking the rope ladder with him, he attached one end at the top and secured the lower sections wherever he could find a spot at the bottom of the drop, on the lower ledge. Finally, after what felt like an hour later, they heard the hammering stop.

"Are we ready?" Greg asked.

"Almost. Send me down another spotlight," Neil requested.

Greg did what he said. As soon as Neil connected it, they could all see where they were heading, and he began to give them instructions for climbing down. Matt went first, then Susan, then Zack, with Greg joining them last.

"Wow. This kind of goes back under that part we were standing on up at the top," Matt remarked.

"Yes. The shelf we just came from is an overhang, although we couldn't tell that from the top," Neil said. "Look over there."

He shined the second spotlight to their right, where the ceiling was tallest. From there, they could see that the ledge they were standing on extended around the side of the shaft at a gentle slope, going roughly down. It got narrower in some spots before widening to a comfortable width once more at a somewhat lower level roughly 15 feet lower than where they stood, also beneath the lip of the overhang.

"We can go further," Greg observed.

"Yes, we can. We couldn't see that ledge from up on top," Neil said. "I'll go first, and install a guide line as I go. I'm also going to set fresh anchors here for each of you," he said.

As they watched and listened, the sound of Neil driving pitons into the rock started once more. Setting these anchors didn't take him quite so long and establishing the guide line he could do while on the move. Everyone watched as he maneuvered himself down the slope of the ledge, past the part where it narrowed to a place approximately a quarter of the way around the perimeter of the shaft.

"Okay, you're attached, Matt. Use the guide and follow me. I'll attach you to a new point when you get here," Neil instructed.

"Okay," Matt said and he made his way carefully towards Neil. Once he was there, Neil switched their lines and he brought the one Matt had been using back to attach to Zack.

"Did you see what Matt did?" Neil asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Zack told him.

"Do exactly that. I'll be right behind you so I can switch your attachment once you get there."

"Okay," Zack said.

Greg and Susan watched, as Zack traversed the distance followed by Neil. Then it was their turn as one by one, Neil guided them safely around to the more distant part of the ledge. The last thing Neil did was to attach additional pitons to the wall, using this set to attach extra lengths of the extension cord. Bringing one of the spotlights with him, he rejoined everyone, attached the light to the cord and switched it on.

"There's another one," Matt said more or less immediately.

"I wondered if there might be," Neil said as they pointed the light a short ways ahead of them along the wall.

There was a three-foot drop, another narrow ledge, then another sloping wider ledge that continued along the far wall.

"Is this the section we couldn't see?" Greg wondered.

Neil shone his light up along the wall. "Could be. It's difficult to tell. The ceiling is lower here, which may account for why it was so difficult for us to make out this far wall. Is everyone up for going further?"

"I am," Matt said.

"Me too," Zack told him.

"Susan?" Greg asked.

"I am too," Susan agreed.

"Then let's do this, just like before," Neil told them. "I'll go first," he announced and immediately the sound of pitons going into the rocks resumed.

"He sure is going through a lot of those," Matt remarked once they were ready to make the descent to the next ledge.

"He's going through a lot of extension cords too," Susan remarked. "Isn't there a limit to how many of those you can keep connecting to one another?"

"I'm sure there is. If we can find an appropriate place to put it, I might consider bringing our generator into the cave to use as a power source," Greg said.

"We can if we have to, but let's keep going with these first," Neil said from where he worked in the dark somewhere in front and below them. "Okay, we're ready. Matt?"

"Coming," Matt said.

Using the guide line and the handholds Neil provided, Matt made his way down to the next ledge. Zack was next, then Greg, then Susan. Neil attached the extension cord to the walls as before and connected the next spotlight. Suddenly they could see that although they were standing on another ledge, this one had a relatively low ceiling as compared to the one above. It continued out in front of them around the shaft in a counter clockwise direction, dropping in elevation at a rate that roughly matched that of the ceiling, which meant that although the ceiling was low, it never got any closer to their heads. Eventually however, the ledge ended when it met a wall.

"Now what?" Greg wondered.

Neil didn't say anything. He just plugged in the next spotlight and shone it around.

"Look there," he said pointing over the edge of the ledge they were standing on.

"Is that the bottom?" Greg asked as they studied the rock surface directly below them, approximately 30 feet down.

"I doubt it," Neil said. He shone his light a little further out away from the wall, and sure enough, the ledge they were looking at disappeared.

"Is it a ledge?" Susan wondered. It looked relatively short to her, side to side.

"I'm not sure. It may be part of a passageway. I see walls connecting to it on at least two sides," Neil told her.

"How do we find out?" Greg wondered.

"We climb down and check it out," Neil said.

Immediately the process of establishing anchors and constructing another rope ladder was begun. It took them some time, but eventually they were able to descend down to the lower level. Once they were there, they could see Neil was right. Although there was a short ledge, this one with another two foot step, it led to a passageway, which extended back away from the shaft. Its floor ended where it joined the ledge they were on, that hugged the walls of the shaft. If they looked up towards it's center, they could see evidence of the lights on the various shelves they'd left behind, arranged in a roughly spiral pattern back towards the top, although they couldn't actually see the top from where they were. If they looked down ... even with a fresh light, they could see nothing. Behind them, instead of having a solid wall as they did on the ledges above, the floor and walls of the passageway disappeared into the darkness straight ahead. They couldn't immediately tell if that was because the passageway extended more than 100 feet, or because everything was black and it turned a corner somewhere up ahead.

"Where does it go?" Greg wondered.

"I don't know. Would you rather explore that or go down some more?" Neil asked. "I only have enough equipment for one more drop."

"Is there another ledge or something we can stand on that we can get to if we go down?" Matt asked.

"Not looking straight down, there isn't. But this floor is cracked. If I shine the spotlight through that, I do see something directly below us," Neil said.

"Can you get through that?" Greg wondered.

"I think so," Neil said. He immediately began setting anchors of another kind before preparing to crawl through the crack. "This gets wider after only a few feet," he announced as soon as his head disappeared.

"How far down does it go?" Susan asked.

"Another forty or fifty feet," Neil told her, his voice sounding somewhat muffled coming from the space. "Maybe sixty," he amended with a grunt, suggesting he was crawling through a tight space.

"We are now beyond the limits of what we could see with the spotlight from above," Greg commented.

"We are," Neil said from below. "Do you want to come down here?"

"Should we?" Greg questioned. To him, getting through the crack looked like a very tight squeeze.

"Maybe. I think there may be a better way though," Neil told him. "I'm coming back up."

"The crack leads to another passageway directly below this one. They both open to the vertical shaft, so I think I can repel down over the edge and get into it that way more easily than climbing down through the crack," Neil said when he returned to the top.

"Whatever you say, Neil. You're the expert," Greg said.

Neil dropped their final length of extension cord down through the crack, then once again, set anchors in the solid rock, pitons with ropes for guides, and secured their lines. He then repelled down, disappearing from sight, taking the last of their spotlights with him. When he reappeared again, he began talking about directing them over the ledge the same way he'd gone. Meanwhile, Matt wandered along the crack, following the passageway away from the shaft, and shouted back.

"Hey, Neil. Come look at this, will you?" Matt called.

"What did you find?" Greg asked.

"This crack gets a lot wider back here. I can see the light coming through it from down below," Matt said.

"Where?" Neil asked him.

"Back here," Matt said.

Together they investigated the widening gap in the crack Matt found, down the passageway that led away from the shaft, around a bend where it widened significantly.

"Could we go down that?" Matt wondered. To him, that sounded like a better idea than dangling on a rope and dropping 60 feet over the nothingness represented by the shaft.

"We could," Neil said doubtfully. "It's not straight down though."

"But we could check it out, couldn't we?" Matt asked.

"Sure," Neil told him and he began to set some pitons along the crack.

Neil attached himself to them and began to climb down a third time. What he found was a very narrow ledge some twenty feet down and barely six inches wide. It was still in the crack, but the gap was definitely wider here than where he'd crawled through before. The ridge of rock allowed him to balance well enough to drive in another set of pitons, creating a guide line for himself for the way back.

Down he went, another twenty feet before he came to a ridge that was more substantial than the six-inch wide mini-ledge above. Again, he set himself a series of pitons and repelled down. To his surprise, he suddenly emerged into the passageway where he'd left the spotlight some twenty minutes before.

"Hey, it worked," he shouted back.

Neil climbed to the top again much more easily than either time he'd done it before.

After describing what he'd found, Neil constructed another series of rope ladders, set them in place and guided everyone down.

"Now can we see the bottom?" Zack asked.

"Maybe," Neil said.

He walked to where this lower passageway ended at the shaft and shone the spotlight straight down.

"Wow. That's a long ways down there," Matt remarked.

"Can you see it?" Greg asked.

"I can see something," Matt said. "I can't tell for sure, but it might just be another ledge."

"I have a feeling we could keep going down like this for a long ways yet," Neil said.

"How far have we come? Can you tell?" Susan asked.

"My guess is more than 100 feet," Greg said.

"Probably close to 200 feet vertically, if you ask me," Neil told her.

"Two hundred feet from the top?" Greg questioned.

"Two hundred feet from the elevation at the base of the cottage stairs," Neil said.

Everyone thought about that for a moment.

"You mean we're approximately at the same level as our pond?" Matt asked.

"Probably," Neil said. "We may be a little lower than that."

"I wonder if any of these side shafts connect to the one near our tunnel, Greg," Zack said.

"I suppose they could. We haven't properly explored some of those either," Greg said.

"If they do, that might be an easier way to get here," Matt said.

"Perhaps something to do on another day?" Greg suggested.

"Since we are out of extension cords and spotlights, I say yes," Susan told them.

Neil regarded them doubtfully. "You know, true spelunkers generally explore caves without either of those."

"Do you want to go further?" Greg asked.

"No ... not alone. I do want to go further, but now that we know what's down here, I think we need to do some more planning," Neil said. "Maybe this would be a good spot for your generator, Greg."

"Perhaps," Greg agreed.

"Sounds good to me," Matt said.

"Yeah," Zack said. "Maybe we should explore some of those other passageways."

"Maybe," Neil said.

He positioned the last of their spotlights in a place where it could illuminate the area around it the best, then one by one, he began to guide his companions back up to the top, through the crack, up the rope ladder, then ledge by ledge and shelf by shelf, back the way they came. By the time they reached the ledge with the first rope ladder they'd constructed, the boys were already talking about making a wooden one to replace it.

"Why would you want to do that?" Greg asked.

"Because, it would make this first large drop easier to get down," Zack said. "After this, with the lights it's not all that hard to get to the lower passageway under the crack which leads to the shaft. It might make it easier to explore next time."

"It would," Matt agreed.

"If you are seriously considering bringing your generator down here, then I agree," Neil told them. "In fact, a couple of wooden ladders would make this much easier."

They continued to talk as they walked, making their way back to the cottage together. By the time they got there, everyone including Neil felt pleased by what they accomplished.

c

Rosemary had lunch ready and waiting for them when they made their way back into the cottage.

"Thank you so much," Susan said appreciatively, when she realized what she'd done.

"It was no bother. We were happy to help, since we couldn't come along," Rosemary said, looking pleased she'd found something to do the others were happy about. "So what did you find?"

"A lot more ledges, arranged around the perimeter of the shaft we found," Greg said.

They all sat down for lunch and Rosemary passed around the sandwiches she made while they talked.

"We need a ladder to get to the first one, but after that one, it's narrow, but a relatively easy walk," Matt said.

"We thought we might make a ladder after lunch," Zack added.

"You want to do that today?" Neil said in surprise.

"Sure ... unless there is something you need to do," Matt said. "We could get the lumber the same time we pick up more spotlights and extension cords. In fact, we could probably make them right there in the cave."

"Yeah, we could," Zack said eagerly. "Mr. Simms, do you know how to make a ladder?"

"A wooden ladder would be relatively simple to construct," Mr. Simms told him. "How many would you like to make?"

Neil regarded them doubtfully. "I suppose we could do that today. But I wonder if a better use of our time might be to fill up your generator with gas and take that down to the passageway below the crack we found. That way Rosemary can see for herself what we've found."

"The one where we left the last spotlight?" Susan asked.

"Yes. If we did that, we would be much better prepared for going further next time," Neil said.

Greg cocked his head, thinking about what he knew of both Mr. Simms skills and the ladders they needed in order to more easily explore their cave.

"I suggest we do both," Greg told him. "Bobby, I, and one of the boys can make a trip to the hardware store to get the things we need. We can take Melody with us. You, Susan, Rosemary, and whoever stays to help, can take the generator down into the cave. Our errand won't take us very long. I predict we'll be back before you finish."

Neil arched a brow at his stepdad. "You're on, Greg."

Suddenly their excitement in regards to the cave was renewed. Zack volunteered to be the one to go with Greg and Mr. Simms to the hardware store, while Susan helped Neil retrieve their generator from the garage. They filled it with gasoline, and used the wagon to carry it back through the cave to the base of the stairs coming from the cottage. Susan plugged the extension cord back in, effectively turning back on the lights. Then she, Neil, Matt, Rosemary, and Jessie all helped to carry it down to the drop off with the first of the rope ladders still in place. Neil outfitted them each with a harness, connecting them with lines to the pitons he'd put in earlier. With that done, Neil helped Rosemary down to the ledge at the bottom of the rope ladder. Once they were there, Susan and Matt used a series of straps, also connected by lines and pitons, to lower the generator down the 20-foot drop to the ledge where Neil and Rosemary were standing.

Matt helped Jessie, showing her how to use the rope ladder, while Susan took up the rear. Susan looked around once she was free of the ladder. Jessie was peering curiously beneath the overhang, Rosemary was looking anxiously towards the dark drop off towards the center of the shaft, and Matt was looking at his watch.

"What is it, Matt?" Susan asked when she took in his expression.

"Greg, Zack, and Mr. Simms left for the hardware store thirty minutes ago," Matt remarked. "They're going to be back before we are, I predict."

"Not necessarily," Neil said. "This next bit should go more quickly than it did before, now that we know where we are going."

"If you say so," Rosemary told him. "Which way?"

"This way," Neil said.

He escorted her to the next wide ledge for them to stand on. He took a rope with him, tying it off around a projection made from a lump of solidified lava extending from one part of the wall. He left Rosemary there, returning with the rope, which he tied to a hand full of pitons he first drove into the wall at a higher level. Then with a strap around the handle of the generator, he connected it to a heavy-duty carabineer. He directed Matt to join Rosemary on the next ledge down, across the gap, and then began to use the strap to control the descent of the generator as it slid down the rope until Matt could grab it and the straps at the other end. Releasing it from the rope, Matt carried it to the far end of the ledge to be out of the way and set it on the ground. By that time, Neil and Susan were there too.

The next part of the descent, was wide and gentle enough in its slope, it was possible for one of the men to simply carry the generator from one to the other. This worked well until they came to the level of the second rope ladder.

It took them another thirty minutes to arrange a series of heavy-duty pitons, ropes and straps before they were ready to lower the generator. Working carefully as they did before, they lowered it down the drop, then carried it again until they reached the wide crack in the floor. Lowering it down the crack with it's series of exaggerated steps took some coordination and skill, but eventually they got it all the way down to the lowest level they'd reached that morning.

"Where does that go?" Jessie asked as she studied the passageway adjacent to where they were placing the generator.

"We don't know," Susan told her. "This is as far as we could go."

It seemed to go further than the one directly above them did.

"Are there any more ledges?" Jessie asked Neil as she studied the black drop-off in the other direction, the one beyond the passageway they'd emerged into at the bottom of the last rope ladder they'd all descended.

"Maybe," Neil told her. "We need some more spot lights so we can figure it out."

"Okay," Jessie said. "Will these lights go out if there is a draft?"

"You mean like a candle will?" Neil asked.

Jessie nodded.

"No. They'll only go out if one of the extension cords comes unplugged," Neil said.

Jessie was about to say something more when from somewhere up above, somebody called,

"Hello!"

"Hello!" Matt called back. "We're down here!"

"We're back!" the voice reached them again. Only then did Susan recognize the voice as belonging to Greg.

"Maybe we should go back?" Rosemary suggested.

"After you, Rosie. I'll be right behind you," Neil promised.

He helped her up the rope ladder through the crack. Jessie was next, followed by Matt and Susan, and the five of them made their way to the top again, going back the way they came.

c