Algebra Versus Spelunking (28 Jun 2001) Thomas finds his daydream taking on a life of its own.

Ainigton Grade School Classroom
The grade school classrooms are fairly small, compared to the high school, each holding perhaps twenty students. Twin chalkboards adorn the front, topped with a pull-down projector screen, and the alphabet runs high on the walls, followed by the digits from 0 to 9, then repeated. A shiny red apple sits on the teacher's desk. Student desks are comparatively small and larger students are liable to find their knees bumping the desks, or their feet sticking out under the forward student's chair, where likely that student already has a books-filled backpack. A window overlooks the sunny outdoors, looking onto the Siege des Anges.

For this hour, it's Mr. Pettifog and an exciting (yawn) algebra class. The same information could be found in the textbook, so the only important thing to remember is to wake up from daydreaming or doodling in one's notebook, or otherwise finding something with which to distract oneself through most of the period, in time to write down the homework problems for the day -- or occasionally, to deal with a pop quiz, but today doesn't seem to be one of those days.

"As you remember from last week," Mr. Pettifog says after collecting the homework, "we had just covered the technique of reducing an equation to its simplest terms. We will now examine the technique of solving multiple equations using the same variables." His voice drones in such a way that no emphasis can be found on any particular word, and indeed, he might as well be reciting dictionary definitions.

Tom fidgets uncomfortably in his desk for a moment. He then yawns quietly, resting his elbow on the desk. He leans forward a bit and rests his chin against his palm as he watches the teacher. He can't help but glance down occasionally at the half-drawn map, imagining himself out and about and not stuck in an incredibly boring class.

Fifty-five minutes 'til the end of the period, another period toward the end of the school day where it might be possible to find out what has happened with Rebecca. Mr. Pettifog seems determined to stretch time out excruciatingly, working through examples and occasionally calling on students to provide the next step. Sleeping wouldn't be safe, but still, one's attention can and does drift from the subject at hand.

Tom's eyes glaze over and he wanders further into his imagination as he tries to ignore the teacher. He pictures himself moving through the underbrush and back up towards the hill. He sees the darkness of the cave before him in his mind and the odd growling returns to his ears. Undaunted, he flicks on his flashlight and enters the darkness. The light flicks about and he quickly locates the small tunnel again. He opens his backpack and pulls out his rope. He glances about the cave, looking for a good place to tie the rope. "Oh, I'll find you this time, whatever you are," he mutters in his mind.

Mr. Pettifog's voice drones on. "For two equations and two variables, the simplest way to approach the problem is to..." The voice seems to fade away into a dull murmuring of wind against the stones as Tom secures his rope about a convenient stalagmite. Somewhere down there are the missing jewels that belong to Princess Angel of Mirari! And somewhere down there as well, is that mysterious beast that has taken them, that was responsible for frightening the poor woman as well. Justice awaits!

Thomas continues to block out Mr. Pettifog, lost in his imagination. He wastes no time and hops down into the small hole again, careful to protect his flashlight from outcroppings. He begins to crawl through the tunnel, pulling the rope along and unrolling it as he goes. When he reaches the incline, he doesn't halt this time. Instead, he tosses the rope down the incline and lets it unravel. Into the abyss! he thinks to himself and grips the rope firmly. Carefully, he starts down into the unknown tunnel.

The tunnel opens up into a shelf that overlooks a larger cave ... and one that looks properly like the antechamber to some fierce thing's lair, as there are accumulated bones lying hither and thither, jutting from the rock like teeth. (ribcages? Or simply stone formations?) The wind sighs in and out of a darker entrance at the back of this natural foyer, as if something large were breathing within.

Although most kids would probably be terrified by now, Tom is grinning. He glances around the shelf, looking for a way to climb down into the larger cave. He also inspects his rope, curious if he has enough left to lower himself further. Of course he does! Imagination is great that way. He drops the rope over the side of the shelf and lets it drop to the floor. He grips the rope and starts to ease himself down to the next level.

The shelf is a little slippery, but manageable, given someone who knows how to find resting places for his feet in the rock wall, and Tom does. As he moves, however, a pebble is knocked by his fingers from the shelf, and clinks against the floor of the cavern. Uh oh. The wind seems to hang still for a moment.

Thomas blinks and glances back toward the opening at the far end. He pauses and shines his flashlight toward it, curious to see if there's anything there.

It reflects off of... Was that something back there? It seems to Tom as if he might have caught two eyes gleaming back at him, for just a moment, and the faintest beginning of a growl, but then his flashlight, playing back over that spot, shows unrelieved darkness.

Tom shakes his head and mutters, "Geez, Tom. You're seeing things. It's safe here, right? Just like there wasn't a black horse! Well, Agatha saw something too, er..." He swallows, trying to convince himself. He then grins again and continues down toward the floor. He won't let a few tricks of the darkness stop his exploration, no way!

The floor feels solid enough, if rather dusty, so that Tom coughs as he's walking. The wind shifts and seems to be getting a little warm, and it seems as if there's the tick-tack of claws on the floor from somewhere ahead. Or again, that could be a trick of the noise in the underground.

"Well, there is nothing down here. There can't be..." he mumbles again. Just to be safe, however, he digs in his backpack again and pulls out his slingshot. Quickly, he searches the nearby floor for a few rocks for ammo.

There seem to be plenty of rocks, indeed.

Tom gathers up a handful and drops them in his pocket. He keeps one out, nestled in the palm of the hand that holds the flashlight. He continues on, walking very slowly, easing each foot down as quiet as he can. Again, he shines the light ahead, toward the dark passage.

There's nothing ahead, except the wind, but the cavern is dark enough to make Tom glad that he has his flashlight. A sudden gust shakes Tom's hair, making it even more disheveled than it usually would be, and then he sees ... two glints of gold in the dust ahead! They must be gold.

Tom does a double take and squints. Could those be the two missing earrings? He almost runs toward them, catching himself at the last moment. Instead, he continues on carefully, taking each step slow and steady. What good is a court explorer if he gets himself killed, after all? Again, he shines the light around, looking for danger as he approaches the place where he saw the glint.

The wind surges again ... this time at Tom's back. It's as if something were breathing down his neck. And there is the beginning of a growl.

Tom spins around wildly! He inhales sharply, feeling his courage starting to fade. He looks for the source of the wind.

There, for a moment Tom thought he saw something -- some sort of wild dog with terribly sharp teeth -- but it turns out to be nothing but the way the light hit the ribcage-like stone formation he saw. The wind sighs.

Tom takes a few deep breaths and turns back toward the dark entrance. "Calm down, there's nothing here. Just tricks of the wind. Right, tricks," he mutters, not sounding entirely convinced. He gives up the sneaking and takes off in a dead run toward the spot where the gold glinted. Grab 'em and get out, he thinks. Better to live and explore another day. With more people.

The sparkles turn out to be ... the missing earrings! They look exactly as Tom had imagined them, (and in fact, this should not be surprising) two tiny golden unicorns on elaborately curved S shapes that would go into one's ears, if one had pierced ears -- not of course, that Tom does or has even contemplated the idea. Princess Angel will however, be quite relieved to get these back.

And just then, the bell rings, jarring Tom out of his daydream. "For Tuesday, please complete problems 3, 5, 7, 11, and 15 from chapter 11 of the textbook," Mr. Pettifog says to the class as everyone is gathering their books and notes.

Tom picks them up then tosses them lightly up, catching them in his palm. He then jerks awake from the dream, jumping slightly in his chair. His ears turn red, as he hopes no one noticed. He scribbles down the assignment quickly, then starts to stuff everything into his backpack.

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