The Devil's Cave: A Bruno Courrèges Investigation (Bruno Chief of Police 5)

should see it by then,’ he said. ‘If I jerk the rope three times, that means pull me out, OK?’
    ‘Good luck,’ said Albert, and they shook hands. Bruno sat on the ledge, fixed his face mask, tasted the sharpness of the oxygen and let himself slip into the water. Head first, or rather helmet first, he tucked the torch tight against his chest. With the other arm ahead of him to feel for obstacles, he let the current take him through the dark mouth of the tunnel and into the underground river.
    Once past the mouth of the tunnel where the turbulencemeant that all he could see were air bubbles, he began to make out the loom of walls and roof through the murky water. He lowered his feet but could feel no bottom. To account for such depth, there must be more water coming into this river than just the flow from the waterfall. He raised his hand and was sure he felt air above the surface. He turned onto his back and knew he was floating and could see the smooth stone of the tunnel roof passing above him at something like walking pace. It meant he might even be able to navigate this passage without the breathing equipment. That might give the Count a fighting chance of survival, him with the face mask and Bruno alongside. He could breathe the air in the space above.
    Suddenly he felt the speed of the flow increase and his feet touched bottom. The tunnel was narrowing as it shallowed but its floor was too smooth for him to get any grip with his feet. The tunnel seemed to turn in a dog-leg bend and he felt himself thud against something, a kind of projection that gave him just enough purchase to stretch out his legs and brace his feet against the far wall as the current washed over him.
    There was no pocket of air above him now but there was still some slack in the rope, and he wondered if Albert could haul him back against this current and around the dog-leg turn. That was a big risk. Before he took it, he turned off his torch to see if there was any sign of a glow ahead.
    There was more than a glow. It was as if his torch was beaming into a mirror in front of him, a strong ray of light shining at his face and a second light behind it. Suddenly hewas not alone. Human shapes were almost upon him, heads in goggles and face masks, arms clutching at bars that seemed to be braced against the tunnel walls. A hand came slowly towards his face, a thumb up in the universal sign that it was going to be all right.
    The hand then pointed at Bruno and signed that he should follow back towards the Gouffre. Bruno shook his head and pointed to the rope tied around him. Then he pointed back the way that he had come. He nodded his head vigorously to insist that this should be done his way and gave three sharp tugs on the rope.
    Bruno felt his body lurch as Albert hauled with all his strength and he tried to swim to help the burly fire chief. Now there were supporting hands on his shoulders to push him along, and those strange metal bars that seemed to appear ahead of him and give purchase on the smooth walls of the tunnel.
    Faster than he had come, he was hauled back to see Albert straining at the rope. His face was tight with effort and coils of rope lay festooned across his body. Albert’s eyes widened in surprise as one, two and then three strange heads appeared above the water in a blaze of spotlights, pushing Bruno up onto the ledge. He took off his breathing mask and hugged Albert in gratitude, then helped the first of the strangers onto the ledge.
    ‘Périgord cave rescue team, I’m Miko,’ said the stranger. ‘Miko Moreau from Les Eyzies. We’re very glad to see you. Where are the others and how’s the patient? We’ve got a doctor with us.’
    ‘Very good to see you too, and thanks,’ said Bruno, hearinghis voice high and squeaky from the oxygen. He was shivering from the cold but surging with adrenalin. ‘The others are fine and there’s a medic from the
Gendarmes Mobiles
with the patient. They’re all in the cave above the waterfall here.’
    ‘It’s a good job you came down it then, we’d probably never have looked up there. We could have missed you altogether,’ said Moreau. ‘This is Fernand, our team leader, and this is Pierre, our doctor.’
    ‘What are those metal rods you used to pull against the current?’ Bruno had to ask.
    ‘Telescopic poles, like the ones hikers use, only they’re spring-loaded so we can brace against smooth walls. How tall is that waterfall?’
    ‘Twelve metres.’ Bruno