Chapter 10: Cave Co-Ordinates and Grannies.
"Granny? How- OW!"
"Shut up Sidney! now where have ma teeth gone?!"
Sid didn't have any choise. The log, with the extra wight added on, tipped forward and landed face forward, with Sid lying face-up in the water. He strained his neck to keep his nose and mouth above the surface.
The log steadily began movie faster and faster along the river. Granny, who had hopped onto the log just before Sid fell forward, was sitting down holding her cane quite comfortably with Crash and Eddie holding onto the bark for dear life.
"Oh Gosh! Look out!"
"A waterside! Co-ol!"
"Wha...?" Sid raised his head even more and saw with immense horror that they were right. A very wide, slippery slide was just up ahead.
"Oh I haven't been on one o' these for decades!" Granny said glibly, prodding Sid on the head with her cane. "Can't you make this thing go Any faster, Sidney?"
"But Granny, we're gonna die!"
"Oh don't be a wuss, Sidney. Now faster!"
The log tipped over the side, sending them whooping (and screaming like a banshee in Sid's case) over the side.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah !"
"We can't be too far from the surface if rivers like this are coming in, can we?"
Having travelled a long way they'd down another cavern, this time filled with a lake and ascending river. They'd taken the time to rest and try to figure out which way to go, since there were at least 3 different tunnels leading out of the place.
Ellie was surveying the river when she asked her question, to which Diego replied,
"Depends. For all we know this waterfall could just be coming from another river, that could be going all the way up the start of the mountain. There's no telling where we are now."
"Sounds like your giving up, softy." Shira said with a laugh.
"Me? No way." He replied stubbornly "I'm just stating the facts."
"Hey guys, did you hear something?" Manny said from nearby the waterfall. At this, they all stopped and listened.
Screaming. Screaming that sounded a lot like...
"SID!"
Sid, Granny and the possums were speeding down a tiny tunnel with a roof barely higher than Granny's head. The water was moving incredibly fast with no signs that it would be slowing down anytime soon.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAARGH!"
"Whooooohooo!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-UMPH!"
Granny, who had become sick of her grandson's constant wailing, had torn off a piece of the soggy bark and stuffed it into his mouth. "Ah, that's betta. You're such a spoilsport, Sidney."
"Whoa, have you like, road on a waterslide like this before?" Asked one of the possums. The old sloth huffed indignantly.
"Humph. I road through The flood that drowned the yetties."
Crash and Eddie exchanged completely bemused glances.
Manny, Ellie and the sabers stared intently at the top of the waterfall- which was cascading out of a round, smallish opening high above.
Suddenly something came bursting from the opening, plummeting down into the lake below and splashing the unsuspecting mammals with water.
A log rolled over and hit Manny in the knee. Inside it, he saw, was a familiar floppy green thing.
"Sid?! what are you doing here?! Where's-"
"INCOMIN'!"
Something purple and prickly landed on Diego's back, causing the saber to yell and jump, trying to get it off. But before he could do so he found he was being whacked with the end of Granny's cane.
"What you yellin' at, lady?"
"Granny? what- ow!"
"Perfect." Manny said, his voice loaded with sarcasm "Who else is here?"
Crash and Eddie, who had tried to sneak away, found themselves being grabbed by their sister's trunk.
"You guys, seriously!" She exclaimed, giving them a shake, "Now we're all stuck down here!"
"We just wanted to help!"
"Yeah, what he said!"
"You two couldn't even help Sid pick berries!" Manny barked at them from where he was trying to pull Sid out of the log.
With a 'Pop' Sid was pulled from the log at last. He sighed in relief. "Aw, thanks, Manny. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable that was...ow..." He stretched his back, trying to rid it a crick.
"You three shouldn't have come down here!" Manny scolded, turning to the possums.
"Hey, they stuffed me in a log and rolled me along for the ride!"
"And how on earth did your Granny get here Sid? I thought you left up at the cove with those other old folks for the day!"
"I was with those pansies for a while." The old sloth retorted scornfully. "But they was dumb. So I went for a ride in the river, and ended up going in some cave."
"Perfect..."
"Guess the whole parties here now." Shira interrupted the banter quickly. " The question now is, which way do we go?"
The group looked around the tunnels doubtfully.
"Maybe we should take the middle..." Manny suggested, gesturing with his trunk to the middle cave.
"Nah, the right. We went through the middle the last time." Diego replied.
"Hey guys, who's that?"
The others following Ellie's pointed trunk to see a small, grey saber-tooth squirrel rushing out from one of the caves.
Though Manny thought the squirrel looked familiar, he brushed it aside.
"Hey buddy!"
"What're doing Manny?" Diego asked from beside him.
"We'll ask skimpy here if he knows which way's the way out. Hey, you!"
The squirrel jumped and whirled around to face him suspiciously.
"Hey buddy, do you know the way outa here by any chance?"
The saber- squirrel thought for a moment before shaking its head. Manny gave a frustrated sigh.
"Hey- Let's ask him if he's seen Peaches and Louis!" Ellie suggested quickly, stepping forward.
"Hey pal, have you seen a young Mammoth and a molehog?"
The squirrel scratched his chin thoughtfully before jumping up and down, nodded and whipping in a high-pitch voice.
"He's seen them!" Manny exclaimed before addressing him again. "Where are they?"
"When did you last see 'um?" Sid added quickly.
The squirrel appeared to be trying to figure out how to explain something. Finally, he pointed over at the waterfall and used his arm to mimic something sliding.
"They had a drink?"
"They went for a swim?"
He shook his head in frustration and pointed again at the waterfall, then repeated the sliding movement.
"Oh, oh!" Crash waved a paw in the air "They went on a water slide, too!?"
The squirrel nodded quickly.
"Good one, Crash!"
"Well where did it go?" Shira asked with a raised eyebrow. Just knowing they went on a water slide didn't tell them where they were.
The Squirrel used his claws to mimic something walking.
"They went somewhere?"
"Where"
The saber-squirrel rubbed his chin again before putting one finger into the air, signalling he'd thought of something. He ran over to the log and tore of a piece of the bark, curving it like an arch and repeated the walking action.
"They...went into another cave?"
More nodding.
"Which way was this cave?" Diego asked him.
The rodent pointed back the way he had come, the left cave.
"Thanks Buddy! we owe ya one!" Manny said, making his way towards the cave. "C'mon everyone!"
But before they could enter the squirrel came running in front of them, blocking their paths, jumping up and down frantically.
"Er..." Diego said "I think theres something else he wants to tell us."
"No kiddin'..." Manny replied "What is it, Buddy? we haven't got all year."
The squirrel closed both os his paws and put on on top of the other.
"They're's something going to beat us up?" one of the possums suggested.
He shook his head and flattened out one of his paws, using the other to mimic walking. Then, he pointed at himself. After that he covered his paw with the other for a few seconds, then mimicked walking on that one.
"Their walking on...A higher floor than you were on?" Diego suggested reluctantly, one brow raised.
The squirrel jumped up again, nodding and pointing at Diego.
"Whoa, softy." Shira mused beside him "Nice going."
"Yeah, but It means we're still far from Peaches and Louis." Manny said. Ellie took hold of his trunk with her own. "Well it's something anyway. Thanks, buddy- hey, where'd he go?"
Looking around they saw that the saber-tooth squirrel had vanished.
Scratt had run off in search of a new hiding place. He didn't know why, but it felt like there was something he forgot to mention about the Teen mammoth and molehog.
Now what was it?
He scratched his head doubtfully. Huh. maybe it was nothing. Brushing off the thought, he scurried away into another tunnel.
WOO ANOTHER CHAPTER'S UP.
Read and Review, Folks.