Chapter 15

The Pit

My house sits in the middle of a big piece of land with wild gardens. About three hundred yards behind the house, there is a deep hole in the ground. The local people call it “the Hole.” It is about one hundred and fifty feet deep. At the bottom is a small river that you cannot see well from above because of the many trees. This river is special. It starts under the ground, comes out at one end of the Hole, flows through it, and then goes back under the ground at the other end.

A few months after my strange dream about the green house and the red land, I began to look more at the Hole. I thought there might be a link between that strange world and this place near my house. One day, I was walking near the edge of the Hole. Suddenly, some rocks and dirt fell from the side into the trees below. I would not have worried about this, but my dog Pepper began to make a loud sound. He would not stop even when I told him to be quiet. This was not normal for Pepper. I thought someone or something might be in the Hole.

I went back to the house and got a large stick to protect myself. When I came back, Pepper was still at the edge of the Hole, making angry sounds and smelling the ground. I told Pepper to follow me, and we carefully went down into the Hole. The way down was hard and rocky, so it took us some time to get to the bottom safely.

At the bottom, we started walking beside the river. The tall trees made it very dark. I moved slowly, looking all around. We looked all along one side of the river but found nothing strange. Then we jumped over the narrow water to look on the other side.

We had walked about halfway back when I heard more rocks falling from the side we had just checked. A big rock fell through the trees and threw cold water over us. Pepper made a low, angry sound and stood very still, listening. Then we heard a loud, strange sound from the trees. It sounded partly like a person and partly like a pig. My skin felt cold with fear.

Pepper jumped quickly over the river and ran into the small trees. Then I heard strange, fast noises that almost sounded like talking. The noises stopped, and there was a terrible cry. Right after that, Pepper cried out in pain. A moment later, Pepper ran out very fast. He looked very scared, with his tail down. When he got to me, I saw a deep cut on his side. Something in the Hole had hurt my dog badly.