Chapter 15: Escape the Pit
The ten children and Chu-Chu all sat around the pit, feeling completely discouraged. They were captured, their father was hypnotized, and they, along with many others, were about to be sold off as mindless workers very soon. There appeared to be no hope.
"Boy," Flip sighed, "we really blew it, huh? Our first case, our big chance to prove ourselves to Pop, and we botched it."
"No one's perfect, Flip," Scooter comforted his older brother.
Henry stared endlessly at the top of the pit. "If we could just figure out how to get out of this hole, I'm sure we'd be able to find some way to stop Lava before it's too late."
"But how can we get out?" Nancy again asked.
"It's too bad we're not like spiders," said Scooter. "Then we could just climb the walls to get out."
"Oh, Scooter," Mimi, still clinging to Nancy, chided, "what a childish thing to say."
Anne, however, thought differently about Scooter's words. "Wait," she said to her youngest brother, "say that again."
Scooter repeated, "Uh, if we were like spiders, we could just climb the walls to get out?"
"That's it!" beamed Anne. "That's how we'll get out!"
"We're going to turn into spiders?" a confused Scooter asked.
Anne grabbed her backpack. "No, but we're gonna climb out…with these." Anne pulled out the ice axes she purchased earlier. "I'll just stick these into the wall and make like a mountain climber."
"Uh, Anne," Alan protested, "maybe you should let one of us guys do it."
"Agreed," Tom concurred as he confiscated Anne's axes. "This could be complicated."
"Uh, who did better at wall climbing in gym class, me or you?" his older sister argued.
Though the answer was obvious, Tom still objected, "Anne, still, this is no job for a girl."
Anne snatched back her axes and snapped, "Girl or no girl, someone's gotta get us out, and like it or not, that someone's me!"
Immediately, the stubborn tomboy stuck the axes into the wall one at a time, and slowly but surely, started climbing up the wall. With strong will and determination, Anne was able to successfully climb to the top and out of the pit!
Her siblings all cheered in great delight.
"Uh," Stanley stopped cheering upon realizing something, "but how are the rest of us gonna get out?"
Just then, Anne tossed one end of the rope she purchased with the axes down to her siblings and tied the other end to a doorknob, answering her brother's question. With Scooter riding Flip's back and Mimi carrying Chu-Chu while riding on Tom's back, the rest of the Clan climbed up and out of the pit.
The moment he got out, Alan complimented, "Way to go, Annie. Mom would've been proud." Anne responded with a heartwarming smile.
"So now what do we do?" asked Suzie.
"Well, I'm not sure how," Henry answered, "but to put a stop to all this, we gotta catch that back-stabbing gypsy."
"That will definitely be quite problematic," Tom stated. "Particularly with all of her muscular thugs aiding her."
With his confidence returned, Flip, finally excepting the group's name, encouraged, "We'll think of something. We're the Chan Clan after all. We can do it, right, Scooter?"
"You bet…Chief!" Scooter proudly agreed.
"Then let's do it!" Henry smiled.
With that, the kids said together, "Let's go! Chan Clan to the rescue!"