Chapter 2: The Booby-Trapped Cave
Indy, Scamper, and Snowflake were climbing up the mountain. Eventually, the three arrived at the top of the mountain. The cave was there, but, to their luck, it was guarded by brown-feathered birds with vicious looks on their faces.
"Great," said Scamper. "Seagulls."
"Those aren't seagulls," corrected Indy. "They're actually South Polar Skuas."
"Really?" asked Scamper. "Mr. Feather told us that they were seagulls."
"Mr. Feather doesn't have a degree in biology, does he?" said Indy.
"Oh, and you do?" argued Scamper. Indy turned to Scamper.
"I might," said Indy defensively.
"If you're done arguing," said Snowflake. "We do have a plan for getting past them, right?"
"Don't worry," said Indy. "I've got a gun. We don't need a plan." Indy pulled out his shortened S&W HE2 revolver. Snowflake embraced Scamper nervously, both knowing full well it was about to be messy. Indy fired the first shot at the nearest Skua and bulls eyed it.
After the inevitable brawl, the trio entered the cave. Indy went first, followed by Scamper and Snowflake. The walls were lined with fire torches, providing light in the cold darkness. Indy had an icicle with him for trying the ground in front of them. He pressed the icicle onto a floor panel, and the mouth of the cave was sealing up behind them.
"No!" cried the three. Indy ran to the mouth of the cave, but he couldn't get there in time. The mouth of the cave was cut off. They were stuck inside the cave.
"Oh, no," said a fearful Snowflake. "Now what do we do?"
"Well, I guess we go further into the cave," suggested Scamper.
"He's right," said Indy. "That's the whole reason I'm here. Besides, there's nowhere else to go. Follow my lead." Indy led Scamper and Snowflake further into the cave. Indy tapped the icicle on the ground the whole way. There were no traps most of the way. Until Indy neared the end. When that tile went down, small holes in the ceiling opened up and water poured from them to the floor, slowly filling up the cave with water.
"Well, it's a good thing we're penguins," said Scamper sarcastically.
"Hooray for you," said Indy, equally sarcastic. "Let's get out of here!" Indy pointed to the exit, which went to a higher level. By this time, the water was up to the penguins' necks and Indy's knees. Scamper and Snowflake started to swim the rising waters. Indy continued to wade until the water made it to his hips, and he started to try to swim. Scamper and Snowflake made it through the exit and onto the higher level. They stayed there, waiting for Indy. The waters now rose more than halfway to the ceiling. Indy stroked to the exit, barely making it. He managed to get his head through the exit just before the waters rose too high. He swam to the higher level and climbed onto it. His clothes were damp, and his whip and gun were wet, meaning they would both be useless for the time being. He laid down and chuckled, relieved that they escaped, and wondering why he never got used it. He turned to the penguins.
"I'm fine," said Indy. "Now let's keep going!"
Indy, Scamper, and Snowflake went down the second floor. The icicle dissolved at the last trap, so now they had no hope of testing any new traps. Luckily for them, the next trap was in plain sight: a 10-foot-high pit that spanned the entire hallway. In fact, the only "flooring" was in two 3-inch wide cliffs that slanted down into the pit and stretched from the entrance of the floor to the passage to the next lower one.
"Whoa," said Scamper. "That looks pretty deep." Snowflake clutched Scamper in fear.
"Alright, I'll see exactly how deep it is," said Indy. He grabbed a torch from the wall.
"Wait!" said Snowflake. "You might trigger another trap!"
"So?" said Indy. "I'm more than capable of handling anything this cave can dish out."
"Really?" asked Snowflake. "Anything?"
"Of course!" said Indy.
"Well, what about that long, skinny thing curling around the torch?" asked Snowflake. Indy looked at the torch and saw a venomous snake curling around the fire.
"Ahh!" cried Indy, throwing the torch as hard as he could into the pit. The torch landed at the bottom and before anybody could blink there were thousands of snakes making a break for the fire.
"Why?" muttered Indy to himself.
"What are those things?" asked Scamper.
"They're pine snakes," said Indy. "They need fire to survive. Perfect." The snakes slithered across the floor, making that hissing sound that never failed to send a chill down Indy's spine.
"C'mon," said Indy. "The only way out of this is to try to walk around the pit." Snowflake put her foot on one of the little cliffs, and slid it up and down.
"We might fall," said Snowflake. "This stuff is slippery."
"Well..." said Indy, thinking of a solution. He looked at the torches lining the walls, and got an idea. He smiled, and turned to his little friends.
"Guys," he said. "We can grab onto the torches and use them to climb across the pit."
"But we're not tall enough to reach them," said Scamper.
"Oh," said Indy, realizing the flaw in his plan. "Okay, then just hop in here." Indy knelt down and pulled forward his leather-strapped Mk VII army bag. Scamper and Snowflake hopped inside the satchel, and Indy got back up. He grabbed a torch, and stepped on the slippery ground. He leaned toward the snake pit so his feet wouldn't slip into the pit, but not so far that they'd slip the other way. He reached for the next torch, and grabbed it. His palms were sweating, because of both the heat from the torches and the fear from the snakes. Indy was almost at the end, when something disastrous happened: the last torch broke off. Indy slipped and almost fell into the pit. He was dangling from the remaining torch, which was already beginning to break off.