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“Flashlight’s dead, so we’ll have to feel our way in the dark,” said Jay, tossing the torch into a bubbling green puddle with a sigh.
“Then we’ll do this the only way we can,” said Mal. “Together.” The four of them held hands and entered the foreboding cavern.
They’d traveled for a while when the path before them began to shine, and when they rounded the corner, they saw abandoned wheelbarrows and uncut rocks with diamonds still embedded in their core.
“Looks like a dwarf mine,” said Evie. She’d seen them in Doug’s ZapChats.
“Abandoned,” said Jay, picking up one of the shiny rocks.
“Wonder why?” said Carlos. “Looks like they left in a hurry.”
“Who knows,” said Mal. “Let’s keep going.”
They kept walking, until Mal suddenly stopped.
“What?” asked Carlos.
“I heard something…like footsteps. Can you hear it?” she asked.
Jay listened, absentmindedly pocketing one of the gems on the floor. “Yeah.”
“There’s someone else here,” said Mal.
Evie looked over her shoulder. “Following us?”
“Maybe,” said Mal. “Be ready.”
“You don’t think it’s them…?” said Carlos, who really had no desire to see his mother right now.
“Who else?” said Mal. “Yen Sid said they’re lost down here. Maybe they saw us and now they want to get their talismans back.”
“Dad!” Jay called into the darkness behind them. “Are you there?” His voice echoed around the cavern. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad.
No answer, so they kept walking, but the feeling that someone or a group of someones was in the tunnel with them remained. And their hearts dropped when they noticed a few things in the mine—a tube of red lipstick, a fluff of black-and-white fur, and a discarded velvet money pouch. The villains were somewhere close by, and Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos were ready to hear Cruella de Vil’s sneer or smell Evil Queen’s perfume or feel Jafar tap them on the shoulder at any moment. They tried to pretend it didn’t bother them a bit, trying to act tough, even as they inadvertently huddled closer together.
“Aieee!” Carlos cried as he bumped into Jay, who yelped as he collided with Evie, who screamed as she fell on Mal.
“It’s just us!” said Mal. “Everyone calm down!”
They kept moving, until they heard the footsteps again, louder this time, along with voices. But they must have been coming from the other way—ahead of them rather than behind.
“Who’s there!” called Mal while the three others huddled behind her.
“The mine starts down here,” they heard someone grumble. “Are we sure this is necessary?”
“Let’s just see how deep it goes, and where it leads. It couldn’t hurt,” said another.
A sudden beam of light flooded the mine shaft, and they blinked, blinded. But even without seeing who it was, Mal knew that voice immediately.
“Ben!” she cried, running toward the group heading down the mine shaft.
“Mal? Is that you?” asked Ben, shining his flashlight her way.
“It is! It’s all of us!” she said, appearing out of the darkness.
“You’re all right!” he said, beaming as he sc
ooped her up in his arms.
