There was a Coal Mine in the mountain range east of Ize Bay. The thugs brought the two of them there and sold them to the mine owner for five Copper coins apiece.
When Little Smo learned they had been sold for a mere five Copper coins each, he struggled. "You sold us for five Copper coins?! Don't touch Uncle Babu! He's too old to work!"
"You've got some fight in you. Good." The Foreman nodded approvingly, gave the thugs an extra Copper coin, and sent them away.
Little Smo kept struggling until one of the Foreman's guards punched him unconscious.
"Drag them off. Send the boy to Peter's Cave and the old man to the Bat Cave," the Foreman said with a wave.
"Sir, may I say a few words?" Lame Bob spoke up.
Cold. Hard stone. Wind whistling through the tunnels...
Those sensations wove a deep nightmare that roused Little Smo from unconsciousness.
A pitch-black cavern. The distant echo of pickaxes. Two faint voices speaking nearby.
"Wonder when this damned life will ever end... Shh, the boy's awake."
"Who are you?" Little Smo couldn't see a thing. Either he had gone blind, or there was no light.
"Unlucky bastards who got dragged in here, same as you," a young voice said.
"What happened to the man who came with me?"
"No one came with you. It was just you."
"That's impossible. Uncle Babu was with me... He's an old man."
"An old man?" the young voice exclaimed. "Either you're dreaming or you're talking nonsense. Who'd hire an old man—"
"He came here with me!" Little Smo growled, startling the young man.
"Easy, child," a more mature voice said. "There's more than one tunnel in this Coal Mine. Your relative was probably sent to another one..."
"Which one?"