The Glass Sword

     Then, thinking quickly, she searched the house trying to find where any weapons were kept. Finding none, she ran out and searched the equipment shed, finally finding a deer rifle in a closet with some ammunition. Unfortunately, she was too far away to be any help to the people down in the tunnels, or John, for that matter.

     She made sure the dogs were locked up as she waited for help to arrive while she monitored the radio. She was worried that John would run into the armed men first as he had jumped down off the backhoe and run back down into the grapevines, heading for the hole where his friends had gone down.

     However, the armed group had encountered some difficulty, as the gully was filled with thick blackberry vines and had stopped their advance cold. They had to backtrack down the gully and try again further up on the side of the mountain. They were not aware they had been spotted yet, so they were taking their time. By now John had seen them coming and slipped down into the tunnel, then using his radio he called Joe and told him to meet him at the armory. He figured he had about ten minutes head start on the armed men and it was time he intended to use to his advantage.

     Joe, Geoff, Diana and Mickey entered the armory again out of breath, as they had been in another part of the tunnel exploring. They saw John had already arrived and was searching for anything he could use as a weapon. Although it looked ridiculous, the entire group picked up the ancient swords and lances and tried to figure out how to use them in such close quarters. But they could hardly swing them without hitting something, which included themselves if they were careless.

     John, on the other hand, had found a crossbow that looked like it might work yet and a few short hardwood bolts that had survived the years. He almost laughed out loud, as he had been a gunner’s mate in the Coast Guard for years and now he was preparing to do battle with sixteenth- century weapons.

     John told the group he had experience in battle before and he thought the best place to wage it would be right here in the darkness of the cavern where they couldn''t be seen so easily or trapped out in the tunnel.

     He wished with all his heart that the ages-old gunpowder would still be good so he would be able to ram a cannon full of it and a ball, then he could really give these dudes the surprise of their lives.

     It was then he saw something that might even up the odds and he asked Diana for her red caver''s line she carried on her reel. He quickly got his pocketknife out and cut off several long pieces and went over to where several old suits of armor had been standing next to the far wall. John moved them right into the middle of the floor and, using the string and a few pieces of metal, rigged them so he could pull them over by hand if he hid behind the wall beside the doors.

     John had already found his weapons of choice, as he discovered an enormous hand-held spiked maul used to kill at short ranges. He also held another huge broadsword he had found. Even though it was rusted up and dirty, he knew if he was quick enough it would be lethal.

     John laid out his battle plan to his group as he told them he intended to fire the crossbow at the men who would probably come with their guns blazing at them. The secret was not to be seen until he had pulled the strings and dropped the heavy armor over. He was hoping the surprise would be theirs at that exact instant, and then the rest were to throw their long lances at the men and see if they could hit them in the darkness. The last resort, John added, was to charge the armed men with the long swords in the darkness. If they didn''t make it, at least they would have given a good account of themselves.