XII

'Samson!' she screamed. The little feline had been trotting along one second, and had vanished. His face with its tear-streaks appeared again, his fangs slightly bared to hurry her footsteps. He had found a tunnel, its opening well wide enough to admit at least two six-foot men. This was what he'd been leading her to?

But she followed him as he scampered into the darkness. A glance behind her filled her terrified vision with the fiery glow of the volcano's peak. Anything was better than waiting for that. The tunnel was straight, the walls slimy when she touched them. She became aware of the pattering of of hundreds of little feet, and she shrieked as something scampered over her bare foot. A rat. A rat?

Then the earth shifted violently. She fell heavily on her good arm and felt the skin scrape off her knuckles. The noise she'd been dreading propelled her to her feet, and into a faster run, and she heard the other animals pick up their pace too. The volcano had released its pent up anger. She couldn't outrun lava. The mountain exploded again, muffled through the metres of stone above her.