Caroline's POV:

"You know, my uncle has spent years exploring your world." Gobo said to me as we walked along. "In fact, he was just telling me about this weird creature he met. It was a black & white creature that was eating leftovers that the Silly Creatures had put outside."

"I suppose it was probably a stray cat or dog, or maybe a raccoon going through somebody's trash." I said, thinking out loud.

"Uncle Matt called it the Smelly Creature. It smelled so bad, that he even stank like it for days!" Gobo said as we entered a large room. I was about to point out that it was not a raccoon that his uncle encountered, when Gobo stepped on a vine, snapping it in two.

Two rock slabs, which had been propped open like doors, swung shut behind us.

"Oh no! We're trapped!" Junior said.

"But there's gotta be a way out." Gobo said. "We can't have come this far for nothing."

We fell silent as we looked around the cave. It was a large space, mostly empty, with a large chasm along the left side. A basket hung by the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Isn't that the Mark of the Fraggle on that basket?" Cotterpin asked from my pocket. We walked over to take a look.

"It looks like it's attached to a pulley system." Cotterpin said. "Maybe if we put something heavy in it, the door will open & we'll be free."

"I could sit in it." Junior offered.

"The door will only stay open while the basket is down. As soon as you got out, it'll close again."

"How can you be sure?" Gobo asked.

"I've seen this type of design before. It's in the Doozer lore that every Doozer has to study before they can become a worker."

"What about those rocks?" I asked. There was a stack of boulders on top of a tall pillar near where we had entered. "One of those would probably be heavy enough."

"Good idea." Gobo said. "I bet I can climb up & get one." He scurried up the pillar with ease.

"It looks like if I turn this little rock here, then one of the boulders will fall down to you." Gobo said. "Get ready…"

He released the boulder, which fell…right into the chasm.

"Let me try again."

His second & third tries also fell into the chasm.

"This isn't working." Cotterpin declared.

"Maybe one of us can climb down there?" I asked, eyeing the chasm. It was a long way down…

"I don't think so." Gobo said, rejoining us. "It would be a really difficult climb."

"But then how are we going to get out?" Junior asked. None of us had a good answer to that…

"You know, there are vines all over this cave." Cotterpin wondered aloud. "I wonder if they are all attached to different pulley systems. Maybe this is like the old Doozer Ingenuity Tests."

"The what test?" Junior asked.

"The Ingenuity Test. A long time ago, when a Doozer was ready to begin work, they would first have to pass an Ingenuity Test. They would be locked in a room, & the only way to get out was to figure out the puzzle that opened the door."

"Sort of like an escape room." I said.

"Sure, whatever that is. If this is an Ingenuity Test, then everything we need is already in here."

"Let's spread out & look for clues." Gobo suggested.

"So we're just looking for a hidden knob?" I asked Cotterpin as I walked us over to the wall on the far side.

"We're looking for anything." she said. "A knob, a switch…"

"What about a lever?" I asked, eying a pile of rocks beside me. A long skinny rock stood in the middle. Cotterpin noticed the same thing.

"Only one way to find out."

I angled myself so I could see the chasm, & then pulled the lever towards me. A long piece of rock flipped up, like a ramp. It flipped back down as I let go of the lever.

"I think I found something!" I called, showing Gobo & Junior my discovery. "It won't stay, though. I'll have to hold it in place."

"Let's try it." Gobo said. He climbed back up the pillar, & sent another rock down. I held onto the lever tightly, while the rock rolled down…off the end & into the chasm.

"We're getting closer." Gobo said as we regrouped. "Did anybody else find anything?" Cotterpin & I shook our heeds as Junior spoke up. "All I fond was a little hole carved into the wall, but it's too small to be any help."

"Maybe not." Cotterpin said. "I'm pretty small. Maybe I'll fit." We walked over to the hole that Junior had discovered. I carefully helped Cotterpin climb out of my pocket & into my hand, then brought her over to the hole.

"Looks like the perfect size for a Doozer." she said, walking into the hole.

"Do you see anything?" Gobo asked.

"Not much. It's not very deep, but…I think I found a switch!" Cotterpin said. A moment later, two flat slabs of rock were lowered from the ceiling, hanging over the chasm. They were raised again a moment later.

"I bet that will keep the boulder from falling off the edge of the ramp!" I said, excited.

"Just like the lever, it won't stay on its own." Cotterpin said. "But I can stay here & hold it."

"Ok, then let's do it." Gobo said. We all returned to our places. "Ok, on three. One…two…three!"

He released the boulder. I held the lever in place to keep the ramp steady. The boulder rolled down, bouncing slightly off of the buffers that Cotterpin had lowered…but not enough to knock it off the ramp!

"Yay! We got the bolder!" Junior cried.

"Put it in the basket!" We all told him.

"Oh, right." Junior picked it up with ease, walked over to the basket, & placed the boulder neatly inside. Two slabs of rock, on the wall opposite of where we came in, swung open to reveal a tunnel.

The Mark of the Fraggle was carved on the wall of the tunnel, beckoning us forward on our quest.


Next time, our group gets closer to the Cave of the Council…but it might be closer than they think! In fact, the next chapter might even be the last chapter…I haven't decided yet whether to split the remaining scenes into two parts or not...

Either way, stay tuned to find out what happens next!

Please review!