They got up and started slowly towards what looked like the entrance to the cave. Kgatwe was now safely back in Lesedi\u2019s pocket. It was eerily quiet with not the faintest sound of life. No insects, no flies, no birds. As they got closer to the entrance they could see two enormous figures that seemed to be standing on either side guarding it.<\/p>\n
Lesedi stopped, eyes wide. \u201cScorpions!\u201d he whispered. He was very nervous of scorpions, having once been stung by one, and these were ginormous.<\/p>\n
Lorato looked hard at the figures. \u201cThey\u2019re made of stone!\u201d he said at last. <\/p>\n
Lesedi was starting to get a strong sense of evil. It was emanating from the cave and he did not want to go in there. He knew, however, that that was where they had to go because that was where the ivory palm nut was, or was it the stone? He hadn\u2019t got around to that question and now obviously wasn\u2019t the time. They approached cautiously. Nothing moved. Stopping at the entrance the scorpion tails loomed above them. Lesedi got this creepy feeling down his back; he could swear they were watching them. Slowly they moved inside. The ground underfoot was like fine talcum powder and puffed up as they walked, making them want to cough and sneeze. As they moved into the cave it became darker and darker. Lorato was eventually forced to pull out a candle and light it, sending their shadows dancing eerily around them. <\/p>\n
Lesedi looked up. \u201cThere\u2019s no ceiling!\u201d he said. Then they both stopped, listening. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSounds like a strong wind coming towards us,\u201d said Lorato, ears straining. Suddenly he grabbed Lesedi and pulled him down into the dust. \u201cBats!\u201d he shouted. \u201cPut your head down!\u201d As he said this the candle blew out and fell to the floor. It was now pitch dark and they could hear the bats flapping and whirling around them. Lesedi wasn\u2019t normally scared of bats\u2014there were lots at home and sometimes they slept in his room during the day. The girls were all terrified though and used to shriek when they flew around the room, hiding their heads underneath the blankets. He would have great fun catching a bat in a net and then chasing them around with it. But with all these hundreds of bats flying around him, he felt a bit like the girls\u2014he would very much like to shriek. There were far too many of them. They were bumping into him and some even landed on him and then took off again. He kept his head well down, terrified they would get caught in his hair. After what seemed like ages, but was actually only a couple of minutes, the whirling and flapping stopped and there was silence once more. Lorato sat up slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, they didn\u2019t seem to take too much notice of us,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully they\u2019re not part of Bosula\u2019s spy network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis might also just be a bat cave and not go anywhere,\u201d said Lesedi, trying to brush the dust off himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we\u2019ll just have to see,\u201d said Lorato. \u201cNow, where is that candle?\u201d The two of them started feeling around, puffing up more dust, which made them cough. Lesedi stood up to get some air and stepping forward he stepped straight out into space! There was absolutely nothing solid underneath him and he felt himself fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cAaaaaah\u2026\u201d was all that came out of his mouth and then \u201cUuuuugh!\u201d as he hit the bottom, knocking the breath out of himself. He sat there for a moment trying to get his breath back and then tried to peer around. It seemed even blacker than it had before. He put his hand in front of his face but couldn\u2019t see it at all. Far above him he could hear Lorato\u2019s anxious voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLesedi, Lesedi! Are you all right?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think so,\u201d he shouted back as his breath returned. He stood up, feeling himself all over\u2014nothing broken, he just felt a bit bruised. Kgatwe, who had woken up, stuck his head out of Lesedi\u2019s pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut the light on,\u201d he muttered, still half asleep. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat light?\u201d said Lesedi irritably, feeling around on the floor. Suddenly his hand closed around something cold and familiar. <\/p>\n
\u201cLorato!\u201d he called up excitedly. \u201cI have the candle!\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s something,\u201d said Lorato, sounding slightly relieved. \u201cI\u2019ll throw the matches down.\u201d They landed right in Lesedi\u2019s lap and he carefully took one out and lit the candle. It flickered into life and he looked around. He seemed to have fallen into a deep hole; looking up, he could just see Lorato\u2019s anxious face peering down at him. The sides of the hole were sheer with not a foot- or handhold anywhere. How was he going to get out? Suddenly Kgatwe, who was now wide awake, jumped out of his pocket and ran over to the side of the hole.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll climb up this wall,\u201d he said chirpily. \u201cThat\u2019s not a problem for geckos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about me?\u201d said Lesedi, suddenly feeling vulnerable. Kgatwe was at the side of the hole trying to scramble up. But it didn\u2019t work. He\u2019d get up a few centimeters and then slide back down again. There was just too much soft sand for his gecko feet to get a grip. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the first time I haven\u2019t been able to climb up something!\u201d he said dejectedly, running back to Lesedi and jumping into his pocket. \u201cNow I\u2019m depressed!\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of help!\u201d said Lesedi, walking around the hole, trying to find some way out. Kgatwe had a habit of giving up a bit too easily when things got tough, so that meant Lesedi was in charge. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll go back to the entrance and see if I can get a signal to Mary and James,\u201d Lorato called down. \u201cI\u2019ve got plenty of equipment in the cart, so we should be able to get you out.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cBut they might be seen,\u201d said Lesedi nervously, not wanting Lorato to leave them there by themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll have to take that chance,\u201d said Lorato. \u201cBesides, without us in the cart they can go into overdrive, which makes them a lot less easy to detect\u2026 Unless of course you have eagle eyes!\u201d He said this as an afterthought to himself as he made his way back to the entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat!\u201d muttered Lesedi, looking around him at the sheer walls of the hole. He pushed against them. There didn\u2019t seem to be anything solid underneath, just more soft sand. How on earth were they ever going to get out of here even with \u201cequipment\u201d? He sat down dejectedly on the floor. He made a little mound of sand so that the candle could stand by itself and then sat there staring at it. The silence was intense. He tried to pretend that the candle was a huge fire and he was sitting around it at home with all the others, listening to Lorato telling them a magical story, one with a happy ending so the little ones didn\u2019t go to bed and have nightmares. He wondered if this real-life story would have a happy ending so that he could be the one to tell the tale by the fire, everyone watching him with wide eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They got up and started slowly towards what looked like the entrance to the cave. Kgatwe was now safely back in Lesedi\u2019s pocket. It was eerily quiet with not the faintest sound of life. No insects, no flies, no birds. As they got closer to the entrance they could see two enormous figures that seemed… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n