Castle Sub-Basement
The latest remodeling done to this former dungeon is apparent only to those who have visited it before. The door leading to the 'well room' has been further barricaded with the addition of sturdy wooden planks, and the open arch at the far end of the hall is being turned into a wall with bricks and masonry salvaged from ruined parts of the castle above, save for a door-sized opening in the center. Some of the rainbow-crystals that lit the hall have been removed, leaving it slightly dimmer than before.

After waiting a few days while Dr. Pike made further preparations, the crew is assembled for exploring the underground canal. The ancient flat-bottomed skiff from the storeroom has been repaired and modified with the addition of bench seats and boxes for stowing gear and supplies. The missing crystals from the hallway have been placed into shuttered lamps to provide portable non-burning light sources as well.

"I don't know. I still think an inflatable boat is a better idea," Zahnrad muses as he stares at the repaired boat. "This seems so … boring."

"But this one won't tear if I catch my halberd blade on it," Amelia notes, said weapon resting against her shoulder.

Olivia sets down her handmade backpack (bright orange) and shakes her head at the Kadie boy. "If you shout that one more time in another tense situation, I will slug you!" she exclaims. "You really scared us doing that last time!"

"Vell, vou seem rather violent today," Djivan notes to Olivia.

"You didn't have to bring that, you know," Zahnrad notes to Amelia, then turns his attention to Olivia. "And you, feh. It's not my fault you were all nervous. And, for no good reason I might add."

"Well, there'th nothing wrong with being a little tenthe in thith thituathion," Igor comments, giving the boat a final look over and then nodding to Dr. Pike. "Are you thure you want to go yourthelf, mithtreth?" he asks the currently leather-clad Eeee.

"Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," Amelia recites back to Zahn.

Olivia gives the gypsy a significant look. "Hey, if you'd been with us then, you would've wanted to slug him, too."

Dr. Pike finishes her own preparations by putting on a rather battered fedora with large chunks cut out for her ears. "I'm a scientist, Igor. It's my duty to… poke at things and such," she answers the servant. "Now you just stop worrying and guard the castle."

"Vhy vould I vant to give him a slug? Dey are all slimy and stuff," Djivan says, grinning in his usual annoying way.

Olivia considers Djivan's silliness. "Hm, that might've worked, too," she says, smiling. "Its sliminess might have rendered him speechless?"

Igor clucks his disapproval, but doesn't say anything more as Pike gingerly steps into the skiff and sits in the rear, taking up the rowing pole. "I suppose it will be best if Amelia is in front with her… ah… weapon," Pike suggests.

Zahnrad just rolls his eyes. He climbs in the boat next and says, "Yes. That way she won't accidentally jab one of us." His tail flicks out of the way as Djivan follows and says, "I don' care vhere I sit, just dat Olivia is sittin' on me lap."

Amy waits a moment in case Zahn is about to make the same offer, then climbs in and takes her position at the very front, behind one of the crystal lanterns.

Olivia sighs as she also steps on board, stowing her knapsack away as best she can underneath one of the bench seats. The sack seems somewhat resistant to her pushing and shoving, but she finally gets it there and sits.

And Olivia quickly finds herself yanked down into Djivan's lap. He wraps his hands around her waist and grins smugly. "Dere, dat's better," he says.

Olivia squeaks a bit but manages to sit again without capsizing the boat. She places her hands over the gypsy's and says, although not unkindly, "You're incorrigible!"

Zahnrad hmmms. "I need to build some sort of boat motor sometime," he muses. "I mean, this would be a lot more fun if we could get the boat moving fast… "

Dr. Pike goes over her checklist. "Water, oil flasks, garlic, snacks, stakes, crystal lamps, matches, bandages, paper and pencil… okay, I think we're ready. Off we go!" With that, she pushes off with the pole, setting the tiny boat drifting down the tunnel, with a morose Igor watching from the dock.

"Fast? In the dark, underground, where we don't know where we're going?" Amy asks Zahn with wide eyes.

"We'd get there faster, wouldn't we?" Zahn points out. "Why wait for the unknown … charge in!"

The unknown closes in around the boat as they enter the tunnel proper. From the lamplight, the walls are very smooth and surprisingly clean, with no clinging lichens or other swampy infiltrators. The air is still the same stagnant miasma though. The forward lamp shows the the tunnel going on… and on… to the limit of its illumination.

"Good thing I brought some lunch for us," Olivia whispers to Djivan. "We may be at this a while… "

"Ves. Tis very good vou did," Djivan agrees. He peers around at the odd tunnel, and yet occasionally manages to nibble Olivia's ear now and then too.

"You know, I think we've found the legendary tunnel of stink," Zahnrad deadpans. "I wonder why the walls are so clean."

The scenery is fairly consistent for quite some time. "Well, with no sunlight or obvious food source, perhaps there just isn't anything up to the challenge of living on the walls?" Dr. Pike suggests, and even reaches out to brush the wall as they drift along. "Hmm, very smooth."

"The water has to carry some nutrients and there are algae that grow in caves," Zahnrad points out, then shrugs. He too reaches out to feel the walls.

While not the mirror-smoothness of the hollowed-out tower in the woods, the walls are still remarkable smooth to Zahn's touch. There aren't any seams or other signs of worked stone present either. "This water is pretty stagnant, and possibly even oxygen depleted," Pike notes.

Olivia also adds her two shekels, saying lightly, "Perhaps the constant bad smell kills anything off?"

"Bad smells are usually from decaying things," Amy comments. "Just because we don't see anything living doesn't mean there aren't things that are dead and rotting."

Zahnrad hehs. "What a pleasant thought there, Amy," he remarks.

Djivan continues his periodic nibbling on Olivia's ear, content to sit and listen at the moment.

"I suppose the place could use some livening up," Amelia says. "Maybe something like… AHHH! STOP THE BOAT!"

Olivia starts and nearly bonks her head against Djivan's. "What, what??" she asks.

Zahnrad blinks repeatedly, fortunately used enough to load outbursts in his shop that he doesn't end up falling out of the boat. Djivan, however, accidentally squeezes Olivia hard after the outburst as she lurches back at him. "What de heck?" he says, annoyed.

With a startled squeak, Pike jams the pole down to the floor of the shallow canal and bring the boat to a halt. Up ahead, just barely visible in the rainbow-light… is something quite definitely lurking in the shadows where the smoothness of the wall gives way to a raised alcove or side passage.

"You realize that's probably a rock," Zahnrad notes as he peers at the alcove. "Hey Pike, can you hear up there and see if anything's alive?"

"What is it Amelia?" Pike asks in a whisper. "I don't sense anything moving but us… "

Amy reaches out with her long weapon, and pokes the blade into the alcove. After more poking, she concludes, "It's a statue I think. Let's get closer."

Olivia rubs where Djivan squeezed her and whispers, "Sorry for nearly knocking you out there. Just jumpy, I guess."

Pike slowly poles the boat closer, until the alcove reveals a particularly grotesque gargoyle crouched in the alcove. It appears to be holding a very Skeek-like, chewed-upon leg in one clawed hand as it leers out into the canal.

"Wow, is dat ugly," Djivan notes and peers up at the statue. "An dat okay, Olivia," he notes to the girl in his lap. "Vou didn' hit me."

"Why would someone put a gargoyle in a tunnel?" Amy wonders out loud.

Zahnrad hmms. "Now, I wonder if that's intended to scare away people, since it's obviously devouring a Skeek. And really, everyone knows Gargoyles don't exist, so that's silly," he remarks.

Olivia nods to the gypsy, then eeeuuughhs softly at what the gargoyle is holding. Then she rubs her own left knee out of sympathy. "That's… lovely," she says, to no one in particular.

"Most likely, it is a marker," Pike suggests. "So this might be The Tunnel of the Hungry Gargoyle. If we find more in different tunnels, that would be support for the idea."

"I wonder if you pull on the chewed leg … if a secret door would open… " Zahnrad muses.

Amelia and Pike both look to Zahn, to see if he'll actually try it.

"You're the one with the halberd," Zahnrad notes to Amy. "Hook it and pull."

"Well, just don't pull it too hard," Olivia says dryly. "It might topple over if you do and then we'd lose our marker."

The Kadie does as suggested, using the halberd's barbed hook to tug on the stone leg. This does nothing but drag the boat up against the wall, though.

"Darn," Zahnrad says, looking rather disappointed.

Pike begins poling again, moving the little island of light further down the tunnel until the gargoyle vanishes from sight.

Zahnrad sniffs at the air. "Hey, any of you smell that?" he asks.

After a few sniffs, Amelia reports, "Yes, the air smells a tiny bit fresher now."

Zahnrad nods. "Okay, so I'm not imagining it," he says.

"I wonder if we're getting near an exit. This might just be a drain pipe, heh," Zahnrad suggests, considering.

Within a few more minutes, everyone notices the difference in the air, and even the change in the echoes… although Pike reports early onethat the passage widens ahead. Soon, the lanterns reveal a boat landing and small dock nearly identical to the one under the castle, save that it is unlit.

"Hm. I wonder where we are?" Zahnrad comments. Djivan snorts and says, "Dat's easy. We undergroun', in an abandoned cave, with ugly statues." Zahn … well, he just rolls his eyes.

Pike brings the boat into the empty dock, and brings it to a stop. "Well," she says. "Shall we moor here and investigate?"

Olivia notes the by-play between the two boys and just grins. "The way to another research lab or something like that?" Olivia postulates off the top of her head.

"Only one way to find out," Amelia says, agreeing to taking a look around.

"If it's another lab, I want it. I need a secret place to work, too. One that otters won't raid," Zahn grouses. "So, yes, let's look around."

"Fine by me," Olivia says.

After securing the boat, Pike hands out the lanterns so everyone has one. "We should probably stay close together," she cautions.

Zahnrad gets out of the boat carefully and accepts a lantern. "Right," he agrees.

Djivan takes a lantern and sniffs. "Oh, so no sneakin' de mousie off for some fun?" he asks.

Olivia hops off the gypsy's lap, pulls her oddly-stuffed backpack from under the seat and slings it over one shoulder, causing the boat to rock somewhat. Then she also takes a lantern and climbs out. "No, I'm afraid not on this trip," she quips.

Like the castle landing, this one as a short flight of steps leading up to an archway, with a hall beyond. The similarity ends there, though, as there are no doors in this hall, and the passage goes on past the light cast by the lanterns. "Zahn, don't charge," Amy says.

Djivan finally gets out of the boat. "Oh vell, dis place is de pits. Literally," he remarks.

"Who, me?" Zahnrad asks and grins. "Would I do something like that?"

"There could be booby-traps again," is Amelia's reply. She hangs her lantern around her neck, so that both hands are free to hold her weapon.

"But … I don't have boo-," Zahnrad starts to say, then just shrugs.

Olivia ahems loudly, then says to Zahn, "Let's just proceed together, and slowly?" she says, quirking an eyebrow at the Kadie boy.

The corridor is wide enough for three people to walk side by side, and has familiar stone-block walls and a thick layer of heavy dust on the floor. This results in a shallow cloud that obscures the ground from the knees down as the group moves.

"What?" Zahnrad asks Olivia. Zahnrad moves along, feeling along the walls with his fingertips to get an idea of structure. Djivan peers around, then remarks, "Dis place look like some place a vampire migh' like."

"What sort of vampire?" Dr. Pike asks the Skreek.

"Oh, dis looks kinda like a place Lili's cousins live," Djivan notes offhandedly. "All dark an creepy. Course, dey is all a bit weird in de first place."

"You know of vampire Eeee that… live underground?" Pike asks, sounding incredulous. "It's all I can do to keep from thinking the walls are closing in on me down here."

"I did say dey were weird," Djivan notes. "Dey took over a ruined stone fort way off in de wilderness when dey decided to quit travelin'. The don't mind de dark closed quarters, I guess. We don see dem very often."

"All the same… oh," Pike says, pausing mid-sentence. "There's something blocking the corridor about a hundred paces ahead of us," she reports.

"Vou should feel lucky dey aren't around here, either. De guys prolly hit on vou … blocked?" Djivan says, stopping his train of thought.

"Blocked? Let me go see… " Zahnrad notes and starts walking forward and holding out his lantern.

Amelia hurries to catch up to Zahn. "No one goes off by themselves," she tells him. Eighty or so paces later, a heavy oak door becomes visible, blocking the corridor.

Olivia comes up behind the pair and looks around for any locks or bolts on the thing.

"Er, all right," Zahnrad notes and shrugs.

There is a surprising amount of iron in the door. The frame, hinges, bindings and nails are all iron, if slightly rusted. Two thick sliding bolts keep the door from being opened from the other side, and small porthole in the center is protected by iron bars.

The slightly fresher smelling air is clearly coming through the porthole in the door.

"Oh wow, what I could do with the metal," Zahnrad says as he approaches the door. "I wonder what's on the other side? We should open it."

Olivia looks a bit surprised by all the metal adornments, then comments, "Looks like someone had a few shekels to burn fitting out this door!"

"Or they wanted to be really sure it would be strong enough," Amelia comments, trying to shine her lantern into the porthole.

"Or dey were jus weird," Djivan quips.

"It may merely indicate that the door was added when Sylvania was still relatively flush with iron reserves," Pike points out.

"And who cares why it was put there? It's old. Let's see what's beyond it," Zahnrad says, rolls his eyes, and then heads closer to the door. He peers around it looking for anything that may indicate a trap.

Olivia considers what Dr. Pike has said. "That may be," she says. "Since we're assuming all this stuff was made ages ago, who knows what the abundance of iron would've been at that time?" Upon hearing Zahn's comment, she merely sticks her tongue out at him behind his back.

There aren't any ominous holes in the wall or ceiling, and if there are any under the dust they'd probably be hopelessly clogged up by now.

"It looks like… more of the same through this little window," Amy reports. "Stone walls, dusty floor."

Zahnrad tries to see if the door will open. "Yeah, but it goes somewhere. Let's see where," he says.

The rusty bolts seem fixed fast, until the rust flakes off and they move with a loud squealing sound. Dr. Pike has to cover her ears, as the noise echoes sharply in the corridor.

"I should have brought oil," Zahnrad says with a grimace as he pulls the door open. "And I imagine if anything lives down here, they know we're here now."

"Gee, you think so?" Amelia asks, with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I could have stayed at the dam. But you wouldn't let me," Zahnrad reminds Amelia, then simply walks through the now open door.

Amelia glances back to the others and smiles apologetically before following the other Kadie.

Zahnrad walks ahead now, light forward. Djivan merely shrugs and looks at Olivia. "Is vour town always like dis?" he asks.

Olivia takes the gypsy's hand before going after Amy and Zahn. "Just to make sure we all stick together," she tells him. Then she says, "Always, I'm afraid. At least you can't get too bored here!"

Several dozen paces in from the door, the character of the corridor changes drastically. The stone blocks end, and the passage continues as a tunnel carved out of solid chalk.

"Hey, I wonder if we're going to come out into the warren," Zahnrad muses as he taps one of the chalk walls.

"We'd be in real trouble then," Amelia warns. "The Chalks don't let any outsiders into their tunnels."

"They didn't let us in," Zahnrad points out. "We entered through a waterway entrance … with no signs." He shrugs again.

"Which only means that we can disappear without raising questions," Amy mutters. "At least the floor isn't so dusty."

"Don't be so paranoid," Zahnrad remarks and continues on. "Besides, Parsley said something odd went on in the tunnels deep in the warren. Down where only Clover goes now."

"Well, let's just hope that won't happen," Olivia interjects. "Besides, we're probably too far away from their warren, anyway. At least, that's what I'm guessing."

"I really don't want to run into her down here," Amy notes.

"Doubtful, it's not nighttime," Zahnrad points out.

Dr. Pike rummages in her pockets for a moment, then pulls out a cloth that she blows her nose into. "Uhg, chalk dust always makes me sneeze," she complains.

"Vhy don' vou stuff de hanky in vour nose so vou don inhale more dust?" Djivan suggests to Dr. Pike.

Further in, the corridor opens onto a large dome-shaped room, which acts as a hub for tunnels going off in several directions. There is also an opening in the center of the ceiling, and below that is a large mound of dust-covered debris.

"Ah, yes," Pike says, and ties the ends of the cloth behind her head to make a dust mask.

"Ohhh, stuff!" Zahnrad says and heads right towards the pile of debris.

Olivia shakes her head and grins at Amy. "And there he goes… " she says, looking not surprised at all.

"Don't rush off," Amy hisses at Zahn, and tries to catch up while keeping watch on all of the tunnels, but isn't exactly on the boy's heels when he finally reaches the mound.

Zahnrad squats down near the pile and peers at it intently. "I was hardly rushing off. We're in the same room," he says and waves his hand.

Up close, Zahnrad can see that the mound is made of chalk-covered, mummified bunny corpses. Mostly bunnies, anyway, as something like a shriveled Rughrat leg protrudes as well.

Olivia doesn't follow the Kadies, but instead goes to the mouth of one of the nearest tunnels that shoots off from this 'hub' and shines her lantern down it, just to see if she can see anything interesting. She doesn't leave the larger room where the others are, though.

"Oh guh," Zahnrad mutters. But, he doesn't scoot back. Instead, he reaches out to one, curiosity piqued by the discovery. "I have a funny feeling about this place," he remarks.

The tunnel Olivia chooses stretches off to the edge of her light, but also curves slightly upwards.

"Hey, it looks as if this tunnel might actually go up to the surface," she calls to the others. "By the way, what'd you find in that mound over there?"

"I have a feeling that isn't at all funny about this place," Amy retorts, still looking at the tunnel mouths instead of at Zahn. So she misses it when a fresh bunny corpse falls through the opening above and rolls down the mound, nearly to Zahn's feet.

Zahnrad picks up the corpse and promptly checks the neck. "I mean, I think I know where we are," he says.

Sure enough, the neck of the rabbit has been torn open. The wound doesn't bleed though. The mangled body feels as if it might have been squeezed to get every last drop out.

"Hello Buffy," Zahnrad says quietly and sets the corpse down. "We're under the lair of Buffy, I'm guessing," he notes to Amelia.

"Who?" Amy asks, before realizing what Zahn is talking about. "Oh… then I think we'd better go. Uh… " the girl says and turns slowly, looking at all the tunnels. "They aren't marked… does anyone remember which one we came through?"

Olivia has turned back to the Kadies at the sound of the last body falling, and stares at it with wide eyes.

Djivan has been mainly standing in the background, behind Olivia. "What's a Buffy?" he asks her.

Zahnrad dusts off his knees as he stands. "That's easy, Amy. We walk straight backwards from where I'm standing. I did walk straight over here, after all," he notes. "Plus, you could look for footprints in the dust, the most recent ones."

"Buffy is supposed to be a vampire Lapi," the Skeek breathes, "but I always thought she wasn't real!"

"Lapi can't be vampires. Dey vould look silly," Djivan comments, not looking like he believes any of this.

"It's this one, right behind me," Pike whispers. She's in front of the passage right next to the one Olivia and Djivan were looking down, but her eyes (and ears) are focused on the opening over the mound. "Lapis have very good hearing," she quietly reminds everyone.

"They also can't fly," Zahnrad says in a low voice as he heads back towards Pike. "And I doubt that it'll want to jump through the hole."

At this, Olivia points to the tunnel they just exited, her expression very clearly saying, So let's get out of here!

Pike turns and hurries back down the passage, just as billows of chalk dust begin to pour out of the other tunnels, as well as from the hole in the ceiling.

Zahnrad starts running at this, as does Djivan. Though  Djivan does have a firm grip on Olivia's hand.

Amy grabs Zahn's tail as he passes, and runs after him with her eyes closed to avoid getting chalk in them.

Olivia follows Djivan willingly to the tunnel at a run!

The tunnel seems to amplify the dusty wind, causing it to roar around the fleeing explorers. Only when they reach the boundary where the passage becomes stone again does the dust and wind subside.

"Let's get to the door," Zahnrad whispers. "I'd like to scoot it back closed slow to keep the noise down and hide we've been here. For now, anyway." He then proceeds to cough muffledly into his shirt from all the dust.

Djivan whews softly as the winds subside and then proceeds to try and dust himself off some. "Dis stinks," he says.

Olivia manages to gasp out in between coughs, "Sounds… good. I'm assuming we're just going to boat back after this?"

Everyone is coated from head to foot to tail in white powder by the time they reach the door.

"Yes, and when I get home I'm bathing," Zahnrad grumbles.

"I hope it doesn't just turn to paste in water," Amy whispers, looking like a negative image of herself. She turns and holds her halberd ready, should anything try to get through the door before it's closed again.

Olivia pulls off her rose hat and shakes some of the powder from it. The only thing that has managed to survive the dusting is the top of her head, which just looks silly. Jamming her hat back on, she sighs deeply.

Zahnrad closes the door … very slowly this time. "It can, if you don't use enough water. That's why I used it for patching and smoothing the soundhorn," he notes.

Djivan grins amusedly at Olivia's non-powdered head. "Hey, nice head," he comments. "Suits vou, given how vou dress… "

Olivia slides the bolts back into place for Zahn, also going slowly to avoid a lot of the screeching. "Ha, ha, very funny," she snorts to the gypsy, then coughs some more.

"Do you think she… it… knows we came through the door?" Amelia whispers to the others.

"Good t'ing Lili isn't here. She'd look silly all vhite," Djivan notes.

"I have no idea," Zahnrad says. "She may not even know these passages are down here. Not if they keep her locked up there."

Olivia shivers. "Perhaps It was a good thing that we didn't go up the tunnel I was looking into," she mutters.

"For all we know, all of those passages end in bolted doors," Pike suggests. "And… I don't hear any pursuit." She still eyes the barred window in the center of the door as if expected a bloody face to show up, however.

"And, of course, that could just be an animal's den, like a giant spider," Zahnrad offers quietly. "It may not be the warren at all. I was only making a possible suggestion on where we were." He pauses, then adds, "Though, a giant spider isn't any better, is it?"

"An animal that can cause a wind like that?" Amelia asks, sounding dubious.

Djivan hmms. "I bet an Eee's wings could'," he suggests.

"In an enclosed space like that, maybe," Pike says, but doesn't sound too sure. "And I didn't hear any sonar pings."

"Hey, I was wondering, can you Eeee tell each other apart by your pings?" Zahnrad asks, his brain apparently having shifted subjects again.

"What?" Pike asks, her own thoughts derailing. "Well, not exact identity, but age, gender and some other things create noticeable variations… "

"Perhaps the wind wasn't caused by a creature, but rather a machine?" Olivia suggests. "Of course, I don't know what a vampire Lapi would be doing with a wind machine, but could one creature really produce so much force?"

Something scratches lightly on the other side of the door.

"Really? I can't really tell males apart from females," Zahnrad notes to Dr. Pike. "What's the difference in sound?"

Dr. Pike doesn't seem inclined to answer, as she is staring at the door now.

Djivan can't help himself. He goes and tries to sneak a quick peek through the hole.

The light from Djivan's lantern causes a flash of red reflection from the eyes of the bunny sitting up in the corridor beyond the door. Given that the rabbit has no throat, it is doing a good job of keeping its head up.

Olivia suppresses a screech and backs away from the door, trying to pull Djivan with her.

"Oooookay, das freaky," Djivan notes and backs away from the door. "I liv wit a weirdo vampire an dis is much more freaky den anyt'ing I ever seen around dem," he says as he's pulled back. "I never seen a dead bunny move."

Amelia checks next, and says, "It isn't moving. Someone must have just… propped it up like that."

"Shall I open the door again and check?" Zahnrad asks. "If we leave it there, it'll look suspicious."

"Don't you dare open the door," Amy hisses to Zahn.

"It's a dead bunny! It can't hurt us!" Zahnrad retorts in a whisper. "We could look for more footprints, too!"

"It could've been placed there just to make us curious and lure us back inside, you know… " Olivia chimes in nervously.

"Pfft, then we'd see what left it nearby, wouldn't we?" Zahn points out.

"By someone Dr. Pike couldn't hear moving," Amy notes. She glances back through the window with her lantern to look for footprints. "It's gone."

"Like I said. Vas a dead, moving, bunny," Djivan hisses.

"Maybe the dust is making us all mass hallucinate," Zahnrad suggests.

Pike just blinks at this explanation, and points to her dust mask. "Perhaps you should hold your breath and then look?" she suggests.

Olivia looks to Amy. "Are there any footprints in the dust that you can see? Ones that don't look like ours?" she asks.

"There were prints all overlapping," Amelia says. "I can't tell them apart."

"And nothing that looked like a, er, body had been dragged to the door?" the Skeek adds.

"Lapi have big feet. Any huge footprints?" Zahnrad asks.

Djivan offers, "I coul' sneak back to the domed room an look again?"

Olivia shoots the gypsy a stern look. "No, you could not!" she exclaims.

"Are all men crazy?" Amelia suddenly asks. "You've got a lantern and eyes, you look at the footprints," she tells Zahn.

"No?" Djivan asks.

"No," Olivia repeats. "I'd rather not lose you."

Zahnrad glares at Amelia. "You yell at me if I look ahead. You yell at me when I don't. Make up your mind already. I'll be waiting in the boat," he retorts, spins, and starts walking back down the passage way towards the canal.

Olivia slaps the palm of her free hand to her forehead. "Right, then, I'll have a quick look. But I agree that we should get going after that." Then she steels herself, marches to the porthole of the door and peers through, looking for anything that looks like Lapi tracks or drag marks in the dusty hall beyond.

There aren't any obvious Lapi tracks. In fact, there aren't any tracks at all now – the dust doesn't look as if it's been disturbed for years. This is not the biggest shock, though, as the rabbit corpse suddenly impacts the porthole, its head wedging between the bars so that its jaw is forced to gape open, just a few inches from Olivia's nose.

"Ach, Gods!" Djivan retorts and jumps backwards! "Where de heck did that come from, again? Is it tryin' to bite vou?"

Olivia screams and launches herself away from the door, just managing to hold onto her lantern so that it doesn't shatter on the floor. In the next moment, though, she utters a stream of most unladylike curses, which causes everyone to gape at her.

Djivan looks dumbfounded at Olivia. And then all he manages to say is, "Dang, I so proud of vou! You talk just like a gypsy!"

Olivia, instead of replying, immediately turns and herds everyone back in the direction of the boat – even Dr. Pike. "You know," she says at last, through gritted teeth, "if that… thing… has a voice, it must be laughing at us right now. Let's just go."