Sugar was drooping, her shoulders slumped and her tail dragging. She looked exhausted, but all of the dogs had been healed. Everyone, even Girl, had flopped down on the ground, breathing heavily. Girl was on her back, leafy eyes unfocused as she looked at the fluffy clouds scuttling across the sky.

“Everyone okay?” She asked.

A chorus of affirmatives was her answer, but every voice was obviously tired. They lay still and silent for a few moments before Lucky climbed to his paws. “Let’s see what’s in the hole. Then we probably need to find someplace safe for the night. It’ll be dark before too much longer.”

“We should tie a rope around Girl and attach her to Axel and Lucky. Then we can let her take a good look in the hole without worrying about her falling in.” Val said.

Lucky’s copper brows drew together over his pale eyes as he looked from Val to Girl. He could see the logic of Val’s suggestion, but his stomach flipped a bit at the idea of Girl in danger. Of course, they were all in danger and had been since the Hot Winds first blew through their town a pawful of days ago.

Girl climbed to her feet and reached into his saddle bags, pulling out two lengths of rope. “We should look for a climbing harness when we get around to searching out supplies.” She mused as she made a rope harness that wrapped around both legs and before going around her waist. She made similar harnesses for Lucky and Axel and tied it all together so the two biggest dogs could brace against her slight weight. Thankfully, Girl wasn’t a terribly large girl to begin with, it shouldn’t be too hard to keep her from falling.

The longer they lingered in the area of the hole, the more Lucky noticed just how hot it was. The rough rope harness wasn’t terribly comfortable against Lucky’s fur and he sat on his haunches for a moment to scratch at it. “What do you think is down there?”

Girl’s shoulder skitched up in a shrug and she shook her head. “I don’t know, but I never heard the machine make a landing after we pushed it off.”

“That could be extremely deep, then.” Val mused.

“I wonder if it goes to the other side of the world?” Intrepid said as he backed further away from the edge.

Girl crept closer to the edge, moving slowly. As she neared, a hot wind blew her russet curls away from her face. “It’s so hot.” She murmured as she reached the edge and peered down. “It’s big.” She said. “And deep. Deeper than I thought, really. I can’t see the bottom, or even any hint that there is a bottom. Do we have a spare flashlight or something?”

“Why a flashlight?” Lucky asked as he paced her, keeping the ropes taut between the three of them.

“We can watch it fall. The light will help us see how deep it is.” She said, her attention still entirely on the hole.

“I think there’s one in the bags.” Lucky said. “Come away from the edge and get it.”

Girl frowned as she stared into the depths. “Do you hear that?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

Lucky strained for whatever it was she heard in the pit. “I don’t hear anything.”

“It’s like it’s breathing. Inhale,” She paused for a moment, “Exhale. Slow and steady.” She seemed mesmerized by the dark infinity.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Come away.” Lucky repeated.

Girl was silent for a long moment, her eyes locked on the pit. Lucky was torn between going to her side and bracing himself against her weight and dragging her away from the edge. Finally her leafy eyes lifted and turned toward him. “There’s something down there, I think.”

“Of course there’s something down there.” Val’s said dryly.

Girl’s brow furrowed and she walked carefully away from the depths. Lucky studied her face, he was familiar with a wide array of expressions that crossed those features, but the tight-eyed yet blank expression puzzled him. “Are you alright?” He asked quietly when she finally reached his side.

She tilted her head to the side and considered the question as she reached into the saddlebag. “I’m a little scared.” She admitted at last. “A hole into the center of the Earth. It’s a little nuts, right? Aren’t you scared?”

Lucky considered the question. “A little. I’ve been a little scared for days though. This doesn’t scare me more than everything else, I guess. I still feel like something dangerous is coming for us. Something more awful than everything that has come before, but I don’t think it’s very close right now.”

“Got it!” She called as she pulled the flashlight out of the bag. She started walking back toward the edge, flicking the flashlight on. “I wish I knew more about physics.” She said.

“Why?’

“We could find out how deep the pit is if we knew how to calculate the time and speed before it hit the ground. I think it’s possible knowing like the terminal velocity of the flashlight and how long it falls or something to know how far it fell.” She shrugged and stood with her toes at the edge of the abyss.

“I suppose that makes sense.” Lucky said stepping back a bit to tighten the slack in the rope. “What do you see?”

“Just darkness. The flashlight’s light doesn’t reach the bottom. It just shows more black. It’s like it never ends.” She was quiet for another short moment then she said, “I’m going to throw it down now, you two count the seconds, please.”

Lucky counted in his head, his eyes on Girl. She was leaning forward slightly, watching the Pit with every bit of her attention. The higher he counted, the bigger her eyes got and the more she unconsciously leaned toward the Pit. “One hundred ten, one hundred eleven, one hundred twelve…”

Girl gasped. “It disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Lucky stepped forward involuntarily.

Girl had been braced against the ropes and suddenly, she sagged forward, losing her balance. She yelped and Lucky scrambled backward, yanking her back from the edge and she fell roughly onto her back and it knocked the wind out of her lungs with an oof of sound.

She lay silent on her back for a moment, trying to catch her breath. “It’s so deep, I lost sight of the flashlight before it hit the ground. That’s got to be, like, miles deep. MILES!”

Lucky’s breath left him with a low whine. “How?”

Girl turned toward him, one brow drifting upward in question. “How what?”

“How could this have come without warning? How didn’t this trigger some warning or something?”

A thoughtful expression washed over Girl’s face. “That’s a really good question.”

There was a long, drawn out silence as Girl and the dogs considered the question. It was Val who broke the silence. “Maybe they were looking in the wrong directions? How could anyone expect the problem to come from below.”

“I wouldn’t have expected it, that’s for sure.” Girl said, still laying on her back near the edge of the Pit.

“It’s a clue.” Axel drolled. “Useless, but a clue.”

Girl chuckled. “It is pretty useless, isn’t it? We can’t even be sure that whatever’s been attacking actually came from these holes or if it’s something else entirely.” She sighed. “Let’s find someplace safe to rest, it’s getting late. In the morning, we’ll explore town some more and see if we can find anyone else, maybe somebody knows something we don’t.”

“Don’t forget we need supplies.” Val said. “That’s a good part of the reason we’re out here.”

“Right.” Lucky said. “Let’s get moving then.”

Lucky groaned.