Chapter 36

Immediately, it reappeared and moved slowly back along the same path he had followed. When he reached her, he held out his hand. “Come on, you gotta see this.”

Her insides felt like jelly and she wasn’t sure her knees were any better. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and then she swatted him on the arm. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

He frowned as he rubbed his arm. “What did I do?”

“I thought you had fallen into that hole! You just disappeared and . . . just warn me next time.”

“Sure, if I start to fall in a hole, I’ll wave.”

She scowled and shook her head. “Just scream really loud.”

“Sure. Now, follow me and stay close to the wall. The path is wide enough but I don’t want you to take any chances. That is one big hole in the ground and darker that the back side of hell.”

With both lanterns raised high, John led the way back around the cavern. Sam reached out and clutched his belt and held on. Still, each step was an effort. Her legs trembled so badly she was afraid she’d fall flat. Her knees were slightly firmer than mush, and a lead weight rested on her chest and another in the pit of her stomach. On her left was a solid wall of stone and her desire was to dig her fingers into it and cling for dear life. Their lights revealed the edge of the path clearly but beyond it, the light was simply swallowed up. Four feet to her right was blackness so deep she could feel it and it chilled her very soul to think of what lay at the bottom. She kept her eyes firmly on the belt loop on John’s trousers.

She bumped into John when he came to a sudden stop and nearly dropped her lantern.

“Now what?” she asked.

“Nothing. Look around.”

They stood in an area at the back of the cavern where great boulders now lined the edge of the pit and the path they had traveled ended at a mound of tumbled boulders. To their left, instead of a solid wall was an opening in the wall. Sam leaned forward and squinted. In the distance a faint light glimmered in the distance.

“Come on,” John said and walked through the entrance. She followed.

Twenty feet in, the tunnel opened abruptly into a third cavern. This one was almost as large as the first one, but there was neither a lake here nor a yawning pit. Instead, the room was filled with boxes and crates of varying sizes and stacked in rows, higher than her head. They lined the walls and formed aisles.

“Oh my,” she said, turning in a circle.

It was several minutes before she realized there was another difference here. There was a light source. Somewhere far above a green tinted light filtered in from several slits in the wall, one appeared as large as a doorway. Leading to that same opening was a well-constructed stair, complete with several landings where the stair turned to accommodate the wall.

“John? What is this?”

“I’d say some kind of warehouse.” He began opening a box nearby. “Hmmm, canned goods.”

She walked along an aisle, reading the labels on boxes, lifting a lid when she found an open one and peeking inside. “Warehouse? Whose?”

“Good question. Hey now, this is champagne! Wow, 1888! And look, there are household items over here and some farm implements.” His voice had moved farther away.

Sam turned a corner and stopped in her tracks. A small area was roped off and filled neatly with boxes marked with the word “medical supplies”.

“John,” she called.

He was beside her so suddenly; she jumped and opened her mouth to speak. He clamped his hand over her mouth and motioned for her to be quiet. Then, he blew out both lanterns. Darkness immediately cloaked them but not the total darkness of the central cavern. The slight illumination from above gave a dim green glow. John clutched her arm and pulled her down the aisle nearest the wall and pulled her into a space between the wall and stacked boxes. There was barely enough room for the two of them and it was darker inside. He found her face and laid his fingers over her mouth a moment. It was unnecessary. She had already heard and understood the need for silence.

Seconds later, she heard the sound of someone descending the wooden stairs. Then, a low voice said, “I’m telling you, we have to get this shipment out tonight. The next one could put us at capacity. And he’s not happy with this latest problem.”

“I’m aware of both issues.” A second, deeper voice answered. “Have the men and wagons ready at midnight. We need five loaded and headed for the borders. Tell him that we’ll have the deliveries completed by the weekend. As for the other problem, that’s his worry. If he has unleashed something he can’t control then he’ll have to find a way to deal with it. I warned him that she was powerful.”

“Is she dangerous?”

He laughed and she realized to whom the voice belonged. “Yes. Very much so.”

“How do we handle it?”

For two breaths there was no response. Then, he answered, “You don’t. She’s our concern. Yours is to get the shipments where they are supposed to go. Now, come here and let me show you which sections they are to take. I want the whole crew here by eight o’clock, ready to load up. Any later and we may miss the rendezvous.” His voice faded out as they moved across to the other side of the cavern.

For the next half hour, she and John stood behind the stacked boxes. One hip began to ache where a sharp projection of the wall pressed into her. She tried shifting but John squeezed her arm to signal her to be still. They couldn’t hear what was being said, just a low mummer and a few times, boxes being moved. Sam wondered what they would do if they came to this section. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run.

The thought crossed her mind that they might decide go to the beach. If they did, they would find the boat. They would know someone was here and they would come looking for them. That thought lead to more. What would happen to her and John if they were found here? A shudder went through her and she closed her eyes to try and shut out the image of that pit in the next room. How many others lay at the bottom?

John pulled her arm. “Come on!” He whispered. “They’re gone. Let’s get out of here.”

Apparently, while she’d been having waking nightmares, their visitors had left. John almost dragged her down the aisle to the entrance to the middle cavern. She dug her heels in at the tunnel. “We can’t go in there without lights!” she hissed.

As he tried to light the lanterns she realized just how serious the situation was because his hands were shaking so hard he could hardly keep the flame on the match still.

Once lit, they still proceeded with caution. Sam never took her eyes off John’s belt but she did keep her ears open for sound of pursuit. If anyone came back into that storage area and looked down the tunnel, they might be able to see the glow of the lanterns.

She didn’t realize they had reached the curtain until John pushed through it and the light from above caused her to blink. The sun had shifted and most of the cave was now shrouded in darkness. Only a faint glimmer of light shone on the lake. They didn’t stop. John clutched her arm and nearly dragged her out and onto the beach. Once there, they both broke into a run. The boat rested in the sand where they had left it but the tide had crept closer.

Together, they shoved off the beach and hopped inside. Both grabbed oars and began to row toward open water as if the Neptune pursued them. Once there, John quickly set their sails while Sam settled in the bow. She looked back at the beach. No one was there. She let her eyes move up, toward the top of the cliffs where the forest seemed to lean over the beach. How far, she wondered, was the entrance of that cavern from the cliffs? She looked to the horizon. The mist drifted and shimmered in the afternoon sun.

“John, who will believe us?”

He studied the sail, his hand on the tiller. “I have to think, Sam.”

“All right,” she replied, turning back to the bow. “You know who that was.”

He was slow to answer. “Yes.”

“What do you do to smugglers who are already banished?” she asked.

Silence answered her. Nothing.

“Do you think Aunt Isabel knows?”

Again, silence was her answer for a long time. But then, he answered softly, “I hope not.”