Thirteen Waterfalls

Astra and Velus could hardly hear him above the noise made by no fewer than thirteen streams. These emerged from various spots high up in the cavern walls, fell to the ground, and then ran into a central lake that took up half of the floor area. A whirlpool in the middle of the lake indicated where the outflow was.

"Excuse me for a moment," Astra said, and then began walking towards a spot some thirty yards away where one of the streams ran into the lake. When she reached it she stopped and squatted with her back to Fred and Velus.

"What are you doing?" Fred shouted to her.

"Surely you can guess?" she called back. "It's a natural reaction to the sound of all that running water." Fred's face reddened. How could he have been so slow on the uptake?

Soon the Princess rejoined the other two, and they discussed their next move. They could see another tunnel exiting from the cavern, but to reach it would mean crossing three of the shallow but fast-flowing streams. There might be a danger that they would be swept into the lake and then dragged into the whirlpool.

1. They decided to risk it.
2. They decided to retrace their steps.
3. Fred consults his map again...

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