Chapter 14:
Kevin was only partially correct. Something WAS coming down the tunnel towards them, but it wasn't lava. As I mentioned earlier, the ceiling of the lava chamber was made of an acidic mineral. When the room began rumbling, it opened up a tiny crack in the Earth's crust, just below the lava. The crack was just big enough for a steady stream of magma to enter the cave from below. Therefore, the level of lava in the room began to rise. It reached the tunnel and kept on rising, but the lava was like molasses and didn't travel very fast along the tunnel floor. However, when the lava came in contact with the acids inside the ceiling, a chemical reaction occurred. An explosion of fire and ash rushed through the tunnel and out into the labyrinth room at a speed many times faster than the lava. Because the labyrinth room was so large, it was able to contain the blast. But the explosion also made its way down the tunnel where Kevin, Sandy, and Courage were trapped in. (Sort of like the internal explosion of the Death Star in "Return of the Jedi".)
They only had about one minute before the explosion would reach them.
The heat from the harmless shock wave had already reached the three of them.
"This is not good," said Kevin, sweat streaming down his forehead.
"What now??!!" shouted Sandy.
"We need to get out of here!" answered Kevin.
"How?! There's no way out!" yelled Courage.
Kevin looked down the tunnel. He could see the flames slowly getting larger, even though he knew they were moving very quickly. It's like when you see an oncoming train slowly come closer when it's really going 60 mph.
Kevin turned back to the end of the tunnel. Without a word, he quickly started pushing his hands against the stone blocks that made up the wall, one by one.
"What are you doing??!!!" screamed Courage.
"I'm trying to see if there's a secret way out of here!" said Kevin as continued to paw at the stones.
"Are you serious??!!" bellowed Sandy.
"It worked for Scooby-Doo!" answered Kevin, and kept on pressing the blocks of stone.
Courage and Sandy pressed their backs up against the wall, watching their doom approach at a rapid pace.
"I'm sorry I had to drag you into all of this," apologized Courage.
Right beside him, Sandy looked at him. "Don't worry, Courage." Taking his paw in hers, she tried to think of something final to say, but all Sandy could come up with was, "It's going to be okay."
They smiled at each other before Courage looked down the tunnel on last time. He turned back to discover that Sandy was still looking at him. In an instant, Courage suddenly knew her intentions. Courage quickly licked his lips as Sandy closed her eyes. Following her example, Courage closed his eyes too. They began to slowly lean in towards each other for a first and final kiss...
Meanwhile, right beside them, Kevin continued clawing at the wall, trying to find a secret way out. "This is hopeless," he said to himself. "What are the chances of there really being a secret passage here anyway?"
Kevin was just about to give up when he froze. He began to get goosebumps when he realized that he felt someone standing to the left of him! He turned to his left. Nothing was there except a corner of the dead end. But Kevin knew that somebody was there. With a shock, Kevin saw a bunch of dirt fall from the wall...as if were being brushed off with an invisible hand! In its place was a perfectly round circle of stone carved into the wall. Kevin could hear the roar of the fire getting louder behind him, so he spontaneously reached out and slapped his palm against the stone.
The stone began sinking back into the wall. Grinding noises were heard on the other side. "Yes!" shouted Kevin, triumphantly.
His triumph soon turned to surprise, as the entire wall suddenly caved in! Kevin lost his balance and tumbled onto the other side of where the wall used to be. Courage and Sandy (who were just one inch away from each other! Argh!), also lost their balance and fell. Courage couldn't believe his rotten luck, while at the same time feeling fortunate for finding a way out.
The three of them fell into a shallow pool of cold water. It was a natural spring that was now cluttered with the stones from the collapsed wall. The water created an underground stream that flowed down a small, eroded tunnel in the rock. The bottom of this pool was extremely slippery, so Kevin and the dogs slid along it and down the small tunnel with the water. It was basically a natural underground waterslide!
Kevin slid down the slide first, followed by Sandy and then Courage. The walls of the slide were covered in glowing moss, which allowed them to see where they were going. A wide curve to left or right appeared every so often. The slide also became steeper and steeper, causing Kevin, Sandy, and Courage to travel faster and faster.
"What's that sound!!!" Kevin shouted, his clothes becoming soaked.
Sandy heard it too. It was a loud, billowing sound, like a bonfire, mixed in with a "Sssshhh" sound, like fish frying in a pan of butter.
Courage looked over his shoulder and screamed. The explosion of fire was following them down the waterslide! The "Sssshhh" sound was caused by the fire making contact with the water. Steam and heat began to beat on Courage's back. Courage tried to make himself go faster by pushing along the floor of the slide, but he was already moving at an incredibly fast speed. It wasn't fast enough, though, because the flames were gaining.
Kevin and Sandy couldn't look behind them, but they were bathed in an orange light, and they could feel the heat. They knew the fire would overtake them at any minute! Not wanting to feel left out, Kevin and Sandy joined Courage with the screaming.
Suddenly, the slide began to curve downward at a very steep angle. So steep, that it was a sheer ninety-degree drop!
The water was falling all around the three of them now. The three of them kept their backs against the wall. Their stomachs were in their throats as they experienced total weightlessness! Courage looked up and noticed that they were moving faster than the flames. The fire was beginning to pull back. Courage would've cheered, but he was too busy fighting nausea.
Eventually, the slide took another ninety-degree turn horizontally, just like those tall, fast slides you see at water parks. Kevin, Sandy, and Courage soon reached the end of the slide. They came out of a hole in a wall and flew across the surface of a body of water before coming to a stop in the water. No sooner had they stopped than Kevin yelled, "Get down!" before diving underwater, bringing Courage and Sandy with him. Immediately, an explosion occurred right above their heads. The fiery explosion rocketed out of the tunnel like a bullet from a gun.
It roared a foot above the surface of the water for several seconds before it dissipated into smoke.
The three water sliders came back up to the surface, gasping and choking. They were now far underneath the outskirts of Nowhere in a small underground lake. The water was shockingly cold. Fortunately, the bank was only twenty feet away. Kevin swam to the bank, while Courage and Sandy dog-paddled after Kevin.
The bank was really a large alcove next to the water that led to...another tunnel. (Big surprise.) There was barely any light at all, save for a few clumps of moss on the ceiling.
Courage and Sandy shook themselves off. Courage went over to console Sandy, when she suddenly gasped and pointed at Kevin. Courage looked at him and gasped as well.
The two dogs were fortunate enough to have fur coats that kept them being too cold, but Kevin did not have that luxury. His clothes were soaked and clung to his skin. He felt as if he had emerged from a swimming pool, clothes and all, and walked into an air-conditioned house. He was shaking so violently that he was unable to stand on his feet! He sat on his heels with crossed arms and chattering teeth.
Courage and Sandy rushed over to him and tried to warm him up, but it did no good. Kevin hadn't shaken like this since the last time he had the flu.
Kevin would've surely perished from hypothermia if a certain someone hadn't arrived at that moment. A greenish light began to emerge from the tunnel's entrance, casting everything in a pale green light. Courage and Sandy stood in awe as a small green fog suddenly appeared directly in front of the tunnel! It was as tall as a human, but had no human-like characteristics. It was just a green ectoplasmic blob.
The blob began to move towards them. Courage was trying to decide whether to run or protect Kevin and Sandy when he suddenly smiled. Sandy began to smile too. Not only was this glow emitting light but also heat...and lots of it! Kevin couldn't smile, but he felt the heat as well.
"R-R-Reginald?" Kevin whispered to himself.
When the transparent green blob stopped three feet away from them, they felt as if they were sitting in front of an open fire.
Kevin immediately took his shirt off and warmed himself in front of the blob. His shivering began to go away. Courage and Sandy reached their paws outward and warmed up in front of the blob too.
After fifteen minutes, the glowing fog quickly faded away. It left the three, dry-as-a-bone adventurers adjusting their eyes to the darkness.
"I think," gasped Kevin, "I think that thing just saved my life."
"What was that?" asked Sandy.
Kevin took a deep breath. "That must've been Reginald Baggs." Kevin then explained how Reginald helped him find a way out of the dead-end tunnel. "He's helping us find our families."
Kevin shakily got to his feet. "I guess we keep going." He pointed down the tunnel.
Courage sighed. More tunnels. He wondered how all these tunnels got down here in the first place.
"C'mon!" shouted Sandy, who was already starting down the tunnel.
Kevin and Courage followed. Now that they were dry, they felt the chilliness of the tunnel. The water slide had dropped them farther below ground in a place without torches. Kevin crossed his arms and proceeded forward. Courage soon tapped him on the leg.
"I was that close," whispered Courage, with annoyance.
Kevin didn't know what Kevin was talking about at first. Then, he remembered seeing Courage and Sandy out of the corner of his eye back at the dead end. He immediately felt embarrassed for interrupting their "final moment together."
"Sorry," whispered Kevin, rolling his eyes and catching up to Sandy.
Get ready now for Chapter 15: Joseph's Debut
(This Monday marks the one month anniversary of "Courage and the Hendersons". Yippee! Also, that water slide scene was inspired by a similar scene from one of my favorite Spielberg films, "The Goonies.")