The Legend of the Phantom by Jacob Nelson

the far wall while he gasped for breath through his bruised throat.
    As he wheezed a heavy thud brought his attention back to the pair as the brave’s head rebounded from the floor where Kit had driven it.
    Leaving the brave behind, Kit hurried to Caribo’s side. A s Kit attempted to help his friend, a scraping sound caught Kit’s attention and he turned in time to find the brave recovering his knife. Leaving Caribo, Kit launched himself toward the brave, determined to end the fight one way or another. The brave in turn must have had similar thoughts as he jumped forward. Meeting halfway the two slammed into each other as they grappled to keep the knife from each other’s throats. The fight was about to yield to the victor when, with a final loud crack, the floor finally gave way! Kit and the brave fell through into the darkness below.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Kit fell first. As he did so, he tried to imagine what might happen when he hit whatever was below him. He turned his body so that he was falling feet first and he placed his hands to his sides. Looking up for what he expected was the last time; he saw the silhouetted body of the brave falling above him as the only source of light gradually faded into the background. It was because of this posture that Kit survived the fall at all.
    When Kit entered the water his body sliced through the surface like a hot knife through butter. The force of the frigid water instantly enveloped him.
    A second after he sliced through the water, the body of the Indian brave slammed into the surface. Only the fact that Kit broke the surface of the water first made it possible for the brave to survive at all. The impact instantly knocked him unconscious and the cold water started its process of slowing the blood. It was a few seconds later that Kit started kicking and trying to catch some air. The kicking forced his body upwards and as he shot back up to the surface, he came across the body of the chief’s son.
    The moment his head broke free of the water, Kit started gulping in fresh air. With one hand , he held onto the Navajo, and with the other he scrambled to find a hold of any kind.
    The age of the lava tube that made up this incredible well that Kit discovered had also caused the sides to calcify and corrode according to the waxing and waning of the earth’s water table in relation to the desert floor. The resulting movement of water height during those thousands of years had created a small but firm ledge that started a few feet below the outside landscape and extended down for several yards. It was this small ledge that Kit’s fingers were able to anchor themselves to.
    Pulling with all his might Kit dragged the unconscious brave from the water despite the numbed feeling that was creeping throughout his limbs. Feeling around him, he realized that he had a thousand-foot climb to make. He stood on the narrow ledge and tried to find a handhold within the tube, but instead found only smooth walls. Despite that, no panic beset him. Instead, he thought about his predicament and assessed his options.
    He was stuck on the bottom of a thousand foot well. He had no means to escape. He was very wet and very cold. He had plenty of water, but no food and no way to keep warm. He quickly realized he would die of cold long before he starved.
    ‘Well, if I can’t go up, and I can’t go down, I might as well dig my way out,’ he thought to himself. He recalled that his pistols and espadas were with Miya. He really had nothing on him that might serve him. Or did he? ‘The rings!’ he thought to himself. ‘The rings are made of metal… so if I tap the walls…’
    Caribo was frantic. Kit and the Navajo brave had fallen through a large hole. He was afraid even to get close. But he had to try. Lying on his belly he inched up to the edge. “Kit! Are you well?” he called down.
    “Kit! Are you well?” The reply came back repeating itself, bouncing off the walls as an echo.
    Then Caribo heard a