Chapter 11: The Tunnel to Nowhere
As Kevin inched slowly down the clothesline, he looked up. Five feet above him was Courage, who was also inching his way down into the hole. Neither of them had any safety gear to keep them from slipping, so they had to use their own strength to stay on the rope. (I'm going to call it a rope in order to be more convenient.) Beyond Courage, Kevin could see the night sky. The storm clouds were more or less gone, except for a few lingering cumulus clouds, and the stars were lighting up the sky once more.
About fifteen feet down, Kevin's foot touched something sticking out of the wall of the pit. It was a block of rotting wood that protruded several inches out of the dirt. It was about three feet high by three feet wide and had a line of brass running around the bottom of it. As Kevin began to climb down past it, he also noticed an elaborate brass handle right in the middle of the woodwork.
Kevin stopped. He realized what this thing really was. His heart froze, and he clung to the rope for dear life.
Courage bumped into him from above and rested his back paws on the top of the wood. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Kevin looked up at him with fear in his eyes. "Don't you see what this is? This is one end of a coffin!"
Courage gasped. His back paws flew off of the coffin. His eyes suddenly darted left and right. On both sides of the first coffin, a few feet in each direction, Courage saw another coffin! Only a single corner of each coffin could be seen (because the coffins were placed side by side and the hole is circular.)
When Kevin and Courage finally realized that nothing was going to come out of the coffins, they resumed climbing down the pit, albeit shaken up.
"I thought," said Kevin. "I thought they moved the cemetery."
"They did," answered Courage. "They just moved the tombstones. Not the coffins."
For some reason, the movie "Poltergeist" entered Kevin's mind. He shook the thought away and kept climbing downward with Courage a dog's length above him.
Eventually, the two reached the bottom. The moonlight wasn't able to penetrate this far into the hole, so it was pitch black down there. Kevin switched on the flashlight and checked to make sure Courage was with him. Then Kevin searched around the bottom of where they were with the flashlight until he saw it. "Whoa," said Kevin. Courage shivered with nervousness.
The flashlight revealed the stone entrance to an arched tunnel. The tunnel was about fifteen feet high and wide enough for a subway train to pass through. Along the walls grew bioluminescent moss which created an eerie glow to the tunnel.
"I guess we go this way," said Kevin sarcastically. Kevin began to enter the tunnel when Courage tugged on his pant leg.
"We're heading back towards town. This tunnel goes under the town of Nowhere!"
Courage's voice echoed off the walls. Kevin shined the light on Courage. "Are you sure?"
Courage shielded his eyes from the light. "We're heading in that direction. I know that much."
Kevin shined the light into his own face. The shadows created a menacing look on his surprised face. He and Courage knew that this was not a coincidence. Without another word, Kevin shined the light down the tunnel. It seemed to stretch on for miles. Taking a deep breath, Kevin started walking. Courage tagged along next to him.
After about an hour, Kevin and Courage sat on the floor to rest. Kevin turned off the flashlight, and the two of them were bathed in a faint greenish glow.
Kevin sighed. They were silent except for their breathing. After a while, Courage broke the silence.
"Where does your family live?"
"Hmm?" said Kevin. "Oh, um, near Columbus. Ohio."
"You were going to visit some relatives, right?"
"Yeah, Uncle Mike and Aunt Vivian. Vivian is my dad's sister. They just moved from Orlando, Florida to San Francisco because of Mike's new job. My family was going to help them move into the house. I think we were supposed to arrive at their house today."
"Oh," sighed Courage. "So...what are you going to tell them if you get there?"
"Well, WHEN we get there, we'll...uh...tell them....something, like 'we stayed at this lovely old farmhouse on the way over and just didn't feel like leaving' or something like that."
Courage nodded. After a minute, Kevin smiled. "And if they ask if anything interesting happened on the way over, we'll ironically say, 'Oh, not much.'" Kevin and Courage laughed at that remark. They continued sitting on the tunnel floor. Their feet felt like they had walked up an entire mountain. And they still had a ways to go.
"Why now?" said Courage to himself.
"What?" asked Kevin.
Courage looked at Kevin. "Why now? Why is all this happening today, of all days?"
"Well..." began Kevin. "I remember this from the museum: the town of Nowhere was founded in 1802, right?" Courage nodded. "And Joseph Williams killed Reginald Baggs in 1852, right?" Courage nodded again. "Don't you see? Today not only marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of Nowhere, but also the 150th anniversary of Reginald's death!"
Courage gasped in astonishment. He couldn't believe that Kevin could figure out a fact like that!
"The anniversaries are the perfect reasons why all this is happening! They're the only reasons that I can think of."
Courage took in all of this new information, but the worst was yet to come.
"Kevin?" asked Courage. "Don't you feel...unlucky that your family had to be dragged into all of this? I mean, you're just an innocent family that's been sucked into this mess for no reason at all, right?"
Kevin froze. He was trying to figure out how to tell Courage exactly what he wanted to say. When several minutes went by, Courage began to feel nervous again. It was obvious that Kevin was about to say something very important, but was trying to find the words to say so. Finally, Kevin looked at Courage with a serious expression on his face.
"Courage, I hope that what I'm about to say doesn't harm our friendship in any way."
Courage gulped. This was more serious than he thought. Courage took a deep breath and said, "Go on."
"You see," Kevin continued. "It's not entirely true that my family is involved in this mess for no reason. In fact, it was almost as if we were fated to come here. At least, in my opinion. You see, Courage, the truth is..."
Kevin leaned in close to Courage. He could see his reflection in Courage's widened eyes. Kevin opened his mouth and uttered the words that sent chills down Courage's spine:
"...I am related to Joseph Williams."
Courage couldn't believe his ears. This teen, Kevin, was related to the man who killed Eustace's grandfather 150 years ago!
Courage frowned. This didn't make any sense. "How can that be?" he asked. "Your last name is 'Henderson'!"
"I know. My father's name is Henderson. But my mother's maiden name is 'Williams'! Her great-grandfather helped Reginald Baggs found the town of Nowhere and eventually murder him."
Courage was so overwhelmed by all of this that he collapsed onto his rear. Frankly, Courage didn't know what to think.
"It's okay if this lessens your appreciation of me," mumbled Kevin as he bowed his head. "I can understand."
"No, no, it's okay," answered Courage, who placed a paw on Kevin's shoulder. "You're an okay guy. I mean, that's all in the past, right?"
"Yeah. Only now, the past has caught up to us."
Courage smiled weakly. "It's just that...you should've told me about this earlier,"
Kevin shrugged. "I didn't really think that it was the right time. Too soon. Besides, you had a lot on your mind." Kevin winked.
Courage blushed slightly. He knew exactly who Kevin was referring to.
Kevin got to his feet and stretched. "I guess we'd better keep going."
"Right behind you," answered Courage. Together, Kevin and Courage resumed their trek down the tunnel.
For thirty minutes, the boy and the dog walked down the tunnel. They didn't say much, and they kept close together the entire way. Courage was, at first, slightly annoyed with Kevin knowing about Courage's crush on Sandy. However, almost as if he knew what Courage was thinking, Kevin suddenly blurted out, "Sandy thinks you're cute."
That stopped Courage in his tracks. He looked up at Kevin with amazement. "R-really?"
"Yeah! She told me you're really handsome."
Courage beamed with delight.
"Of course," continued Kevin, "Don't tell her I said that, okay?"
"Sure!" agreed Courage, who suddenly felt like he could walk clear across the Earth if he wanted to.
Finally, ten minutes later, Kevin turned off the flashlight. "Look! Up ahead!"
Courage looked down the tunnel. Far away, there appeared an dull orange light. "C'mon!" cried Kevin. "We must be near the end!" He then broke into a run. Courage followed from behind.
As the light became closer, Courage and Kevin noticed some pipes that were attached to the ceiling and walls.
"We must be getting near the town!" shouted Kevin to Courage as they ran. The end of the tunnel became nearer and nearer. Courage ran slightly faster than Kevin, so he reached the end first. What he saw made him screech to a stop. Courage's jaw dropped, his eyes practically popped right out of his head. Kevin came running up from behind and stopped directly behind Courage. Kevin kneeled down to where Courage was standing.
"Oh my gosh," said Kevin, wearing an expression that was similar to Courage's. "This is the most incredible thing I've ever seen."
(What is it that could possibly leave our heroes so completely stunned? Tune in soon for the next thrilling chapter...Chapter 12: The Labyrinth of Discovery!)