Chapter 5. ...Out

The probe had found a likely spot, the digging was going fairly quickly despite the complication of trying to dig straight up. Carpenters hammered together an ever growing scaffold of sorts as the diggers worked their way upwards.

Suddenly the work stopped. 'What is it?' Doderic called, waving Merry and Berilac to silence.

A muffled voice called back. 'A noise, something, d'you hear it?' Merry stopped the hammering of the carpenters and all listened to the sound, a fairly regular metallic clink.

'It's them!' Merry shouted. 'They're trying to dig their way down!'

A cheer went up, but Doderic shook his head. 'They've hit rock, then,' he said quietly.

Berilac said urgently, 'From the sound, we're not too far from where they're digging, and the probe still shows our way clear, going up... if we can just get up to where they are and then traverse it'll cut time off.'

'Right!' Doderic said. He handed up a short probe. 'Use this to probe to the side. As long as you hit rock you know you haven't reached them yet. Be cautious, you don't want to stab someone when it breaks through.' The digging started again with a will, continuing even after the clinking stopped. Merry realized he was holding his breath when he started to feel dizzy. He forced himself to breathe. They had to be getting close.

A muffled voice called down, 'The probe's going through! We're digging... we've broken through!'

Then suddenly, the workers at the top of the scaffold were falling, limp, barely caught in time by those below.

'Watch out!' Doderic shouted. 'Bad air! It'll be sinking down through the hole, everyone to the sides, away from the hole.'

'How long do we have to wait?' Merry asked urgently.

'Good air ought to be rising even as the bad air is coming down,' Doderic said. 'When we can stick a torch in the hole without it going out, it'll be safe to climb up.' He put a hand on Merry's shoulder. 'Remember, cousin, the air in the pit they were digging will be much worse than higher up. We may still have some survivors, probably not whoever was digging, but somebody up top might be with us yet.'

It seemed like an eternity before Doderic pronounced it safe to ascend. A healer was one of the first to go up, and soon limp bodies were being passed down the line of hobbits on the scaffold to the willing hands below. The healer descended with the first body. 'How many?' Merry asked him.

'Six breathing,' was the answer, 'This one's not.' Merry nodded, that was the number they'd been looking for. The healer continued, 'It was a near thing for some that are still with us. This one never had a chance, he was crushed to death, I think.' He looked back up to shout, 'Take it easy with that one! He's got a broken leg!'

The last one to be handed down was the Thain. He opened his eyes as his people gently eased him onto a stretcher. 'Good to see you, Sir,' the healer said. Other voices joined in, hands touching him as if to make sure he was still among them.

'Good to see you, too,' the Thain told his people. His eyes turned then to the three from Buckland, and he looked puzzled. 'Whatever are you doing here?' he asked.