Chapter 28: Trapped in the Tunnel!

“So, this is what they meant by the Miller stop,” Frank said, as he and Auburn got out of the car.  “It’s not a street—it’s a movie theater!”

Yes, it was—but it wasn’t in good shape, that’s for sure!  The little, one-story, abandoned theater building stood on the corner of NW 2^nd and Main, its sign still proudly displayed atop a tower of rusted metal that shot up on the Main Street side.  With architecture of mostly cement, save for the brick center post holding up the entryway on the corner, the building wouldn’t have been much to look at.  However, a brilliant red sign adorned with lights wrapped around the corner above the door, its unfaded color making the empty spaces where the movie titles had once been seem emptier.  The glass doors at the front were locked securely, but the window on the 2^nd Street side had holes in them.  With slight encouragement from Frank, there was soon an opening large enough for him and Auburn to pass through.

“I’m already liking this theater better than Blackwell’s,” Auburn said.  “You did hear about that part of the story, right?”

“I’m not sure,” said Frank.  “Wait—there was some movie—”

“The Brotherhood Club met at the old Rivoli Theater in Blackwell,” said Auburn.  “Richards had his offices there, and he used the screen to show—well, I won’t tell you what he showed—it was too horrible.  Fake, fortunately, but too awful.  I still can’t walk in that place without hearing his voice.”

“Well, they’re not showing anything here,” Frank said, pushing open the door to the main room.  “Get a load of that theater!”

A few red, overstuffed theater chairs still stood, arranged in front of a screen that had managed to maintain its white color.  The chairs probably were still their original red, but a thick layer of dust covered all of them.  In some places, stuffing leaked out, indicating that theater maintenance had been declining before the place had finally been abandoned.  Something small scurried in a corner—Frank got his flashlight over in time to see a mouse run into a hole.

“I still like this better than the Rivoli,” Auburn said.  “Feels more comfortable, without him around.  Well, how do we get to the subway?”

“Simple!” Frank shone his light to the front of the room, until he found an “Employees Only” door on the left.  “The basement wasn’t for houseguests, so the stairs will probably be somewhere back there.  Come along, and watch your step!”

They hurried through the empty aisles, Frank glancing a few times at the screen and wondering how many John Wayne titles had seen their debut here.  Reaching the back, Frank pushed open the door, revealing—

“Oh, there’s the staircase,” he said.  “Don’t fall down it!”

“That’s the last thing I’d want to do,” said Auburn.

They started down the dingy cement steps until they reached the basement.  Here, Frank put the flashlight up and shone it around the room.  It was about the size of the theater, but bare for the most part—except for—

“Cool!” Frank said, studying the walls.  “Movie posters!”

A bunch of the classic posters from movies the building had shown hung around—Red River, Angels in the Outfield, I Was a Communist for the FBI, etc.  The brilliant cover art, the scenes of excitement and distress, and the long-forgotten names caused Frank to almost smell the popcorn, to almost hear the voices of the famous stars named on the wall—

“I don’t see a door or anything,” said Auburn.  “How do you suppose they’d have gotten in?”

“Oh, you’re right,” said Frank, shining the light around.  “I can’t see one either.  He shone the light at the staircase, thought a moment, then pointed to the far wall.  “If there is one, it should be on that side.”

Auburn looked over.  “Posters all the way across.  If there is one, it’ll be behind one.  The question is, which one?”

“I dunno,” Frank surveyed the posters.  “We’ll have to check all of them, I guess…unless—”

Suddenly, he ran over to a poster on the left, then started tapping it, about doorknob level.  All at once, there was a click, and the poster slid down into the ground—revealing a yawning black cavern!  Frank pointed eagerly ahead.

“That’s it!” he said.  “That must be the subway!”

“Nice work!” said Auburn, “but how did you know it was Godzilla?”

“Simple,” said Frank.  “There’s a scene in the original where the monster throws a subway train around.  Whoever put the poster here had a sense of humor—and knew their films.”  He waved a hand.  “Come on—let’s take a look around.”

Carefully, the two worked their way into the abyss, using their lights until they’d crossed the platform and come to the edge of the track.  Frank switched off his light and glanced up and down the tunnel, Auburn doing the same.

“Nothing coming,” Frank concluded.  “We should be good to go—I can’t even see a light, yet!”

“There won’t be anything coming,” Auburn stated, switching her light on.  “Not from that end.  Look!”

There, to the north, a bunch of automobiles were lined up in a row.  None of them had license plates, and none were in disrepair, but that didn’t stop the two from concluding that these must be some of the stolen lot.  “Nancy said as much when we went down,” Frank said.  “It looks like we made the right move.”

“Why don’t we turn our walkie-talkies on?” Auburn asked.

“Not until we know what’s going on,” Frank said.  “I don’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean someone’s not taking a nap around here.  We’ll keep quiet until we find something.”  He consulted his map.  “That loop interests me.  I think we ought to search it.

“It seems to be just a bit south of us,” said Auburn, gesturing with her flashlight.  “We should reach it in a minute.”

“I see,” said Frank.  The two started slowly forward, no sound but their footsteps for the longest time.

“Here we are!” Auburn suddenly exclaimed, pointing with her light.  Frank moved his in the same direction, then flicked it off.

“Turn it out,” he whispered.  “Just in case anyone’s in the tunnel.”

The two started down the switch—a short loop that quickly reached the main track.  As they got closer, Frank sucked in his breath.  “Hey, it’s getting brighter!” he said.  “Someone’s coming—”

“What’s that rumbling?” Auburn just had time to ask.  Suddenly, a subway train flew by on the east-west track ahead!

Frank watched it go, then let out a sigh of relief.  “Whew, that was a close one!” he said.  Leaning out, he watched the taillights get slowly smaller and smaller.  “I guess they still use this track—”

“Frank, look!” said Auburn.  “The other way!”

Whirling around, Frank followed her gaze.  The red light lit the tunnel’s eastern end for several feet, but the very end of it was in darkness.

“What’d you see?” he asked her.

“Two figures,” Auburn said.  “Way down on the dead end of the tunnel.  And if I’m not mistaken, they were tied up—”

Frank switched on his light.  “You weren’t mistaken!” he said.  “Can you tell who they are?”

Auburn shook her head.  “Too far off!”

“Same here, but if they’re tied up, they’re probably friendly.  Let’s go help them—switch out your light, though.  We’ll put it on again once we get closer, and we’re sure no one else is around.”

The two turned their lights out, then broke into a run.  Flying through the darkness, they might have been expected to hit something.  However, the tunnel was built perfectly straight.  As long as they didn’t alter their course, they could get through it without any accidents.  Thus, they were almost at the wall before Frank flicked on his light again—

“Stephanie!” he exclaimed.

“Brittany!” Auburn called at the same time.

Both girls were tied and gagged against the wall—a wall Frank and Auburn now noticed was covered with black and yellow stripes, plus scratch marks.  Their friends looked worn out, thinner than usual, weak—but oh, so excited to see people they knew.  Hope went surging into their eyes as Frank and Auburn darted up.

“I’ve got a knife,” said Frank, reaching into his pocket.  “I’ll have you untied in just a second, Stephanie.  Auburn, do you need one, or—”

“I’ve got my own, thank you very much,” said Auburn.  “Brittany!  I’ve found you at last!”

“Took you long enough!” said Brittany, as her friend got the gag off.  “How did you discover the subway?  I didn’t even know about it until they took me here.”

“You can thank my friend Frank and his family for that.”  Auburn nodded at the oldest Anderson.  “His sister found the clue in Stephanie’s library book—”

“Which, I assume, is how you figured out where Brittany was,” Frank said, as he untied Ashley’s sister.

Stephanie took a deep breath before answering.  “Oh, it feels so good to get that gag off,” she said.  “Believe it or not, I didn’t even realize Brittany was missing until they threw me in here!  The day I disappeared, I got a letter from her about the car thieves.  She mentioned in it that the gang was working all over the state, and she thought that they must have some big, secret base where they were storing all the cars.  I’d been reading that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles book, and I instantly thought of Anadarko.  That night, I drove out here and decided to investigate...” Stephanie shook her head, meekly.  “Boy, was that a stupid move!  I guess I didn’t think about how hard it would be to slip into a criminal’s lair and investigate it without getting caught.  You can guess what happened next.”

“They caught you, tied you up, and forced you to tell how they found them?”

Stephanie grimaced.  “They were so rough—I didn’t know what to do.  I just answered all their questions…”

“…and that’s how they found out about the library book,” Frank said gravely.  “Well, it doesn’t matter now.  They stole your copy, but we found another one, and that’s how we found you two.  Ashley and Nancy are around—you’ll see them soon, I’m sure.  Right now, though, we’ve got to—what’s the matter?”

Stephanie’s face hadn’t had a whole lot of color in it to begin with, but what little there had been had vanished.  With a trembling finger, she pointed down the tunnel.  “Look!” she said.  “On the tracks!”

Frank and Auburn whirled around, then gasped.  Far off in the distance, two specks of light twinkled in the blackness.  They grew bigger and bigger as a subway car rushed over the rails, ready to smash them all against the wall!