"Marco!" yelled Kipper. He was standing in chest-deep water in a pool near the falls.

"Polo!" yelled Geoffrey, Samantha, Eric, Zach and a half dozen other Tunnel children. Lena and Olivia were wading nearby with Cathy and Luke on their hips. Father, Mary, Peter Alcott and William were soaking in the hot springs, a stone's throw away. Most of the men were diving.

"Marco!" yelled Kipper again, confused by the echoes and the laughter. He was laughing, himself. His arms were outstretched, and he was swinging them, searching for another player.

Vincent swam swiftly, silently under the water toward Kipper. He approached from behind and positioned his shoulders under the boy's hips and behind his knees. All in one motion, he grasped Kipper's wrists to balance him and stood up, lifting the boy to sitting on his shoulders, high above the water. Kipper was screaming, but his pitch intensified as Vincent jumped up and fell backward into the water, taking the boy along. They separated under water, and then broke the surface. Kipper shoveled water into Vincent's face and yelled, "You're It!"

Vincent stood and closed his eyes. "Marco!" he called, and the children went wild teasing him with calls of 'Polo!' while swimming toward then away from him, circling close then paddling away.

He sensed Catherine's approach, and knew that she stood on the bank. "Catherine?" he said, "How can you play? I know exactly where-"

Two water balloons exploded, one against the side of his face, and a second later, one high up on his chest. He opened his eyes and looked at her, astonished. She was smirking at him.

"Didja know that, big guy?" she answered.

Vincent spun and grabbed Kipper's shoulders. "You're It," he said, and dunked him. Then he was torpedoing toward the bank where Catherine stood.

She tried to make a break for it, but slipped. That fast, Vincent was on the bank, and had her in his arms. He turned her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her there. He walked her to the coldest part of the pool, where the icy stream water entered.

Catherine didn't waste the energy trying to resist, but merely braced herself. It did no good; when they plunged in, the icy water took her breath away. When they surfaced, she was gasping.

The community, watching, laughed and returned to their activities. She snuggled close to him, desperate for warmth. He held her fast.

"Dear God, Vincent, it's freezing! Let me out!" she yelled at him, but he looked away and shook his head.

"Are you kidding me?"

He smiled, and chuckled. "I'm sorry."

"This is a very modest one-piece," she hissed at him. Her swimsuit was a deep green, one-shoulder style, and very modestly cut.

He raised his shoulders. "It doesn't matter what you wear or don't wear, whether you wear a burka or whether you're naked, I still want—" he nuzzled her neck, "I want you." He lifted her and kissed her.

"Ready to get out?" he whispered. She kept her eyes closed, and brushed his lips with her own.

Every time he kissed her, she felt time stand still. Existence flattened and thinned, and the universe was merely a gray fog containing nothing but her and him. "I need a minute…" she whispered into his lips, and nudged his lips apart with her own.

Water balloons exploded against their heads, backs, shoulders, arms. "Get a room!" screamed the children, and they raced away. Catherine and Vincent were both shocked out of the mood, and gave chase to the romance destroying marauders.

No place in the world could have been more fun for Hide and Seek than the Tunnels. Vincent and Catherine thought themselves so clever to attempt to track the children from their footprints in the sand, but time after time were startled out of the hunt by an actual child streaking from one cavern to another. Inevitably, by the time they reached the den, the child was escaping on all fours through small tunneling that connected the cells.

When Rebecca rang the dinner bell-it was William's day off-Catherine and Vincent stopped in the large cell they were in and called out, "Ollie-ollie-oxen-free!" completely without regret. The children spilled into the chamber, triumphant, elated to have evaded capture. Vincent thought something looked odd about Eric and Samantha, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

They pulled on thick robes and boots and joined the community in the dining hall with the children shouting their rendition of 'We Are the Champions'. Plates of hot dogs and buns, bowls of potato salad and baked beans were set at intervals on the banquet tables, and the adults helped the children with their plates. Vincent noticed water draining from Samantha's hair, running in rivulets down the sides of her face. He glanced, and saw the same rivulets on Eric's face.

"Samantha, Eric, why is your hair still so wet? Catherine's is almost dry," he asked.

"Because we tried to swim through one of the tunnels to get to another cavern," answered Eric. He bit into a hot dog.

"Swim through the tunnel? What do you mean?" asked Vincent. Water deep enough for them to swim in, in the tunneling?

"The last cavern you were in, Eric and I were in it ahead of you, running away from you," answered Samantha. "We went into the tunneling to escape to the next cavern over. We crawled for a little way, but as the tunneling sloped down, it had filled with water. We tried to crawl through it, but it kept sloping down, and the water got deeper."

"It filled up the tunnel," added Eric.

"Water filled up which tunnel?" Mouse, interest piqued, joined the conversation.

"One of the small tunnels that connects caverns on the level below this one. It's two or three feet in diameter. The children can crawl through easily," explained Vincent.

Samantha nodded. "We agreed to try to swim, but if we were still underwater after three strokes, we'd turn around. We had to turn around."

Vincent frowned and looked at Mouse, then Kanin. "Where's the water coming from?" he asked. Mouse shook his head; Kanin shrugged. He sighed. "Let's finish eating, then go try to find out."

Catherine couldn't suppress a sigh of disappointment. "Oh, Vincent, can't it wait until tomorrow? I wanted to spend the day with you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Catherine, why don't you come along? Eric, Samantha, you, too." Before anyone else began begging to be included in the honor of joining an important mission, he added, "We'll need help carrying the equipment while we follow the maps."

"Equipment?" echoed Catherine, brow furrowing.

"Yes," answered Vincent, eyes twinkling as he focused on spearing potato salad on his fork. Now here was some serendipity, teasing Catherine while discouraging more children from clamoring to be included. "And you know, I have the perfect backpack for you."

"Backpack?"

"Let me finish up here, and I'll get it. You'll make an excellent equipment bearer."

"You think?"

"Don't be modest."

"Huh, I wonder what shoes I should wear? I brought my jeweled sandals and my pumps with the stiletto heels?"

"You can borrow my hiking boots, Catherine," volunteered Jamie, oblivious to her sarcasm.

"Thank you," said Catherine, smiling at her.

Later, when they'd finished their lunch, Vincent walked Catherine to their chamber for the backpack. He leaned down and whispered to her, "Maybe you could wear those stiletto heels for me later?"

"That ship sailed, big guy," she answered tartly.

He clasped his hands to his chest and fell back against the rock wall, feigning painful heartbreak. She laughed and shook her head. He put an arm behind her back, she put hers around his waist, and they continued down the passageway.