Ch. 18
Jay and Doug hobbled as quickly as possible out of the tunnel as the beams snapped and hundreds of pounds of the mountain filled in the space behind them.
"Geez, that was close," Doug huffed, as the two stood back at the opening where the tunnels split off.
"Yeah, now let's go get Carlos before all these tunnels decide to cave in on us," Jay replied, starting to tug Doug down the far right branch.
"Jay, we can't go that way, if Carlos did fall into the river then we need to find out where it took him," Doug explained.
"Like he's in another tunnel or something?" Jay asked.
"Maybe, I need to look at the maps, but I'm pretty sure this river is the same one that flows through the woods and into the lake near Snow White village," Doug said.
"What? The river goes for miles and the village is nearly two days walk from here and in case you forgot I've only got one good leg right now," Jay barked.
"I know, but we picked these mines because they met up with the river, meaning we shouldn't need to search the others, just follow the river out. It flows fast through the mountain because it's going downhill, with any luck Carlos wound up at the bottom and is waiting for us," Doug answered, a confident smile plastered to his face that made Jay's eye twitch in irritation.
"Luck? I wouldn't say anything about this trip has been even remotely lucky man," Jay groused.
"Well, then we're due for some from here on out. Nothing else can possibly go wrong, smooth sailing all the way!" Doug grinned.
"Are you sure you're not Happy's son? And you know you're tempting fate with all that positive nonsense? You keep that up and we'll both die before we get out of here," Jay said with a roll of his eyes.
"Nope definitely not Happy's son, though you're not the first to accuse me of it. Actually, I learned a lot about how to look on the bright side of things from my Uncle Grumpy. He likes to see things for what they really are, the facts of the matter, he never sugar coats things but tells them plainly. So if something is bad then you accept it and find a way to make it better if you can," Doug explained.
Jay just shook his head in amusement as Doug continued to ramble on about his dad, uncles and all their many quirky attributes. Although most of their very Auradonian way of thinking still baffled the VK, the dwarves were nothing if not a very interesting bunch and the time quickly passed as the two hobbled out of the mines and down the long, windy path alongside the mountain. It was getting colder as the sun set and Jay's leg throbbed wickedly with every step, making him wonder if he'd broken it. He'd always been so agile and athletic since he was a small child, never getting more than a sprain now and again when trying to outmaneuver someone he'd tried to steal from. Luckily he and Mal were tied for the most stubborn and headstrong so Jay turned his attention back to Doug's story and steadfastly ignored everything else.