‘Shine your torch around.’ Cynthia opened her eyes to see the yellowing light reflected from a ceiling only a few feet above her. They were in a kind of alcove that lay alongside the river....

‘Our last day down here.’ ‘I’d like to think so.’ ‘It must be. We have good light for four or five hours, and then two candles, some matches, and a lighter. But even if it...

Here their needs were physical and urgent, summed up in one aim: to escape death. What would happen if the threat of death receded, and the threats and promises of life, with its confusions and...

Cynthia turned her head away, sickened. She knew now what the new smell was. Facing them on the other side of the bottom of the hole was a grotesque pile of carcases in various stages...

With Albrecht, she watched him wriggle into the hole, his body, as he progressed, cutting off more and more of the light, until they were left in darkness. They stood close together, aware of each...

For the greater part she was in utter blackness. The absence of light, unpleasant under normal circumstances, was terrifying when added to the close-pressing confinement of the rock about her. Her mind, strained out of...

The pipe turned into a gallery. It was neither wide nor high, but it led upwards. It was also damp, with drops of water oozing through the ceiling onto them. Henry called another halt for...

Albrecht had nearly reached them. She looked down towards him now, watching him come up the last two or three feet. She could hear Henry, above her, shifting his position to make himself more comfortable....

The pain tightened across her chest. There was nothing to say, and speech itself was an agony from which she shrank. For the first time since the fall, Albrecht spoke. His voice sounded dazed, almost...

She looked at the place where rock and water almost met, doused the candle and put it away in her pocket and then, waiting no longer, plunged forward head first and began swimming under water....