Village Shepherd

Thomas had never seen his friends so excited. Peter's eyes were shining, and he could hardly contain his impatience. John was always quieter than Peter, but even he seemed full of barely suppressed eagerness. They were both tugging at Thomas, while at the same time dancing round him.

Thomas reluctantly agreed to go to the cave with them, although he continued to think they were mad. "If there was nothing there last week, how can it have changed now?" he kept asking.

The other two dismissed his reservations with some impatience. "Come and see! When you've seen it for yourself, you'll know!"

The three of them had been visiting the cave for years. They'd kept it secret, and it had become a sort of gang headquarters for them, as with the help of torches, they'd explored every inch of it. It was quite a small cave fairly high up on the cliff face, and very dark. The friends kept blankets and some food there. They were pretty sure no-one else knew of the cave, for the entrance was just a narrow fissure in the cliff face, very difficult to spot from the sea, and only accessible to the boys at low tide.

Yesterday, Thomas had gone into the city with his parents, so Peter and John had visited the cave without him. When Thomas returned from the city, they were waiting on his doorstep, bursting with excitement. They told Thomas they'd found a tunnel at the rear of the cave, leading to another much larger cave, full of stalagmites and stalactites. Thomas had laughed. He knew it was impossible, for he'd meticulously examined all the walls of the cave himself, and there'd been no gap anywhere.

Thomas had always loved going to the cave. It had become a very special place for him, where he could be alone with his thoughts even when the others were around. But now, he found himself strangely reluctant. His feet dragged as Peter and John tried to chivvy him along. Part of him had caught their mood of excitement, and longed for their tale to be true, but most of him was certain they were wrong, even though he didn't want them to be wrong. He wanted to find a tunnel and another cave to explore, and try as he would, pictures of treasure kept filling his mind. But he was so very afraid he'd be sadly disappointed, and there'd be nothing worth while. And if that happened, somehow it might be the end of all his dreams.

Thomas wanted to keep the cave as somewhere special. Peter and John kept telling him it was even more special now, in a different sort of way, but he wasn't convinced. And if he went expecting something terrific from the cave, but it didn't happen, Thomas knew the cave would be forever spoilt for him. He'd never feel the same about it again. Somehow, he'd be plunged into the next stage of growing up, and he didn't feel quite ready for that.

When the three of them reached the cave after the usual long climb up the cliffs, Thomas felt kind of shivery and expectant. He could feel his heart hammering inside his chest as he followed the others into the cave. Thomas shone his torch onto the far wall as Peter and John felt carefully along it. Thomas couldn't see anything except rock, and the other two seemed to be having some difficulty finding whatever it was they were seeking.

Thomas' spirits began to sink even lower as he watched his friends. Then John cried out: "It's here! Here it is!"

Thomas immediately shone his torch in John's direction, but he could see nothing other than rock. He moved over to John, and noticed his friend had his hands high up on the rock, and was feeling all round a little outcrop of stone. Then Thomas gasped, for a narrow gap had appeared in the wall from nowhere, just wide enough for a boy to squeeze through.

The three boys slid silently through the gap, and crawled along a low tunnel. It was scary and a bit suffocating and pitch black except for the torches, and for a moment Thomas felt real fear. But all thoughts of fear vanished as the tunnel widened into a huge cave, faintly lit by a shaft of sunlight entering from high up in the roof.

The cave was astonishing. There was a little river running along the floor, and crazy rock formations at various points. Stalagmites grew up from the floor, some of them meeting stalactites which were growing downwards from the roof. The sunlight was glistening on different minerals in the rocks, which sparkled and shone like jewels. The three boys stood gazing, awe-struck.

Then Thomas moved off by himself. With his torch he inched slowly around the perimeter of the walls, and to his amazement, discovered the walls were covered in what looked like ancient paintings of birds and animals. Thomas was captivated. He thought he'd never seen anything so exciting and so beautiful, with a strange far away sort of beauty. He felt a deep urge to learn more about the people who had painted the cave, who they were, where they came from, how long ago they'd lived, who they'd worshipped.

He also knew instinctively this was an important find, and couldn't be kept secret. The three boys would have to reveal their cave to the authorities, which would mean they'd never be able to use it again just for themselves. For just a fleeting moment, Thomas was sad about that. He'd dreaded losing the cave in some way, but now it was happening, he became aware he felt alright about it.

He knew he'd taken a big step out of childhood, but strangely, it felt good. Suddenly, Thomas was ready - because he knew now what he was going to do with his life. He'd never seen anything as marvellous as those cave paintings before, and he knew now he was going to spend the rest of his life exploring paintings just like them. He was going to be an anthropologist, and learn everything there was to learn about ancient peoples.

A little bit of Thomas died in that cave, the part that belonged with childhood memories. But as a whole new world opened up before him, he was able to lay those childhood memories to rest. He had a glimpse of a vast, new future, and he looked, and saw that it was very good.