Page 57 - Jeremiah Lollipop

Chapter Eleven

Plugged In.

Jeremiah ran along the tunnel as fast as he could, until he was puffed,

then he walked. He reached the room where he and Mr. Flannel had got

to, and stopped for a while, catching his breath. There really was no

need to run so far, he realized. The gas couldn’t get him here.

He rummaged through the boxes and found a torch, some rope and

some packets of soup mix. These he stuffed into a back pack and slipped

it on, then he set off down the tunnel, to see where it ended.

It was about the same distance he had already come. He arrived at a

pile of pipes stacked along the floor against the wall, and a very large

machine, which looked like a vacuum cleaner. Now he understood how

Mr. Flannel was able to shift so much dirt through the tunnel so easily.

He sucked it up and blew it down the pipe to the wheelbarrow at the

other end.

Jeremiah also saw that the clay was a dirty color. It was mixed with

stones and dirt, and he could hear a booming sound, like waves

breaking. Then he understood. He had reached the beach end of the

tunnel.

He quickly grabbed the shovel and started to dig. The wall fell away

easily, and suddenly there was a hole, and stars, and he could smell