Secrets of the Underground (The Devereaux Story)/Chapter 4

"Spiro, I'm starting to get curious"

Eska stated to him as they walked deeper into the tomb, "What is Papa Smurf hiding, and why would he keep this from us?"

"He probably has a reason to, Eska," Spiro answered, "What if he kept this a secret just because we weren't ready to know?"

"I'm pretty sure we can handle a few things, Spiro!" Eska exclaimed, "How rough will this news be?"

By the time they reached another wall, there was a key pad with another riddle under it. This time, Eska got the chance to read it.

"The final clue you stumble upon

Will question your knowledge clear

It guesses the number of Smurfettes

Equivalent to male Smurfs here"

"Uh, what?" Eska questioned.

"It probably wants us to guess how many Smurfettes there were," Spiro answered.

"How do we know?!" Eska gripped her head, "I wasn't born back then!"

"It says here that the number of Smurfettes were equivalent to the number of male Smurfs," Spiro traced his finger over the line. "Their numbers were parallel."

"I don't understand that either," Eska shook her head, "How many Smurfs did the village have back then?"

"Not then, now," Spiro corrected, "How many male Smurfs are in the village now?"

"Well," Eska tapped her chin and counted the number in her head, "About 100."

"Which means...?" Spiro tried to coax her.

Eska adverted her eyes, then snapped her fingers. She tried to say something, but then thought again, "There are also female Smurfs here, Spiro."

"Just male Smurfs, Eska," Spiro told her, "How many male Smurfs are there in the village?"

Eska thought again, then a thing in her head went off, "Still about 100."

"Then...?" Spiro motioned to her.

"Then there must've been 100 female Smurfs!" Eska concluded and punched the number into the keypad. She expected the door to open, but another keypad caved in with another riddle.

"Since you guessed the number

Now guess the years

When the Smurfettes disappeared

And the village flooded with tears"

"Still, I don't know!" Eska threw her hands up in the air.

"Didn't your mother escape during that time?" Spiro asked.

"Yes, but..." Eska stopped, "That was 18 years ago!"

Spiro nodded to her. Eska tried to search for his expression. A dinging went off in her head, "Ohhhhhh! That's the number wasn't it?!"

"Yessiree!" Spiro patted her head, "Smart Smurfette!"

Eska giggled and pushed the number in. When she did, both of the keypads sunk into the rock and the door slid opened.

"Now," Eska stated, "Let's find out what's down here."

They climbed down the last flight of stairs, seeing a greenish light in the distance. When Eska turned her flashlight on, she was shocked. Spiro, who was still climbing down the stairs, shared the same expression. There were rows of coffins lying under a green glow with many names on them. Eska looked around in disbelief.

"They never disappeared," She concluded, "They all are dead!"

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