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Part Twenty-Five

The Twilight Zone

“Let’s do it!” Sydney grinned, the thrill of a new find coursing through her veins.

The burrow was more than just a few meters in length and not very high or wide. Sydney snaked inside first with her flashlight, followed by Nigel. Karen carefully picked her way through last, feeling just a little claustrophobic about the whole deal. She wasn’t exactly used to accompanying them on these sorts of outings, and having to crawl into a pitch-black hole on her hands and knees didn’t make it any easier. There wasn’t much room and no one was able to stand, crawling along at a snail’s pace. It was wet, slimy, and worst of all, never ending.

“How’s everybody doing?” Sydney called back, and stopped. “Karen, are you okay with your hand?”

“Uh, yeah Syd, I’ll be fine!” Karen answered with a dogged determination to keep going. She was just as tough as Sydney Fox! “I’m good, just keep moving!”

After another fifteen minutes on all fours, Sydney could feel the tunnel gradually getting wider around, and the pupils of her eyes began to shrink with the emergence of natural light. “I think we’re almost there!”

“Good…” Nigel grumped. The feel of sludge squishing through his fingers completely disgusted him. Every so often he picked up one hand and shook it like a cat picking its way though a puddle.

“This is SO gross!” Karen openly complained. “My white pants are going to be ruined!”

“If you can’t handle it, Karen, go back!” Sydney called out to her. “If you can, then stop complaining and keep moving!”

Nigel sighed, slowly inching along on sore knees and palms. “Will you two just shut up?” He quietly muttered, none too happy himself at the moment. “I’m just as miserable as you both are!”

“What did you say?” Karen had heard what he said, but dared him to repeat it.

“Nothing. I didn’t say anything at all. It's just that you're acting like you're the only one in misery at the moment!”

"Will you two save it for later? We're almost there!"

Sydney finally stood up, slowly, easing her body out of the crevice and into a hollow, shadowy chasm. Nigel was not far behind her, feeling both of his knees pop as he pushed himself from the ground. He immediately wiped his hands on his thighs, then turned back to offer Karen help getting up. His annoyance with her had long gone, replaced with a helpful smile.

“Here, let me...” She reached out and grasped his hand, letting him pull her slowly onto her feet. “There’s a girl. Now how’s you hand?”

“It’s fine!” she insisted, and tugging from his grasp, she smiled. “But thanks for asking.”

“Okay everyone, let’s just keep in mind we have to go back the same way we came in,” Sydney reminded them with a wicked grin, and stowed her flashlight under her belt. She chose to ignore the rest. She knew they were both horribly finicky about how dirty they got, and one look at their uncultivated appearances and she almost let loose with a howl. If nothing else, they were priceless and she had to admit if she ever had to do without either one she would be lost. “Let’s keep moving.”

There was enough natural light to make their way further down on their feet, toward a lower chamber. All three could hear the sound of water trickling in from someplace, but couldn’t tell from where. Each drip echoed throughout the caverns all around them, like in a reverberating, never-ending time continuum. Karen stumbled twice, but managed to stay on two feet, and kept close to the others. She didn’t want to look like she needed anyone’s help, and didn’t want anyone to notice if she did.

Nigel knew Karen was tough in her own, street-sense way, but trying to keep up on the heels of Sydney once she got going was quite another! Hell, even he had trouble with that. He had to give her credit, though. For a secretary she had a lot of grit. The real test would be getting her to go back up that tunnel.

“Man, this place is like the freakin’ twilight zone!” Karen said out loud, and stayed close to Nigel’s back the deeper they went. It was too creepy, too ethereal… It felt like time didn’t exist at one point, and she was seriously beginning to question her sanity at following Syd down here in the first place. “How do you do it?” she asked Nigel, and nervously tugged on his shirt from behind.

“Do what?” he asked, trying to navigate through the same hole in the granite wall as Sydney just disappeared through.

“How do you manage to follow her to the ends of the earth and not fall the hell off?”

Before he could answer her, Sydney bellowed after them. “Hurry up, you two, you’re not going to believe this!”

Part Twenty-Six

Promises Promises

Motivation: Frozen Ghost ~ Promises Promises

Nigel crawled through and got up, his breath catching in his throat. A single streak of sunlight from the top of the cavern pierced the darkness like a string of gold, illuminating the ghostly image of a once proud, tall ship. She sat grounded on the rocks, a most dishonourable end to such a magnificent life at sea. She was dilapidated, her once-towering masts broken over and lying still across long quiet decks. The sails were long deteriorated, and there were several large breaches in her hull. How she came to rest in here, no one could tell.

“Is that for, for real?” Karen whispered, awe-struck.

“It sure is…” Sydney replied, and swallowed. She hooked her arm in Nigel’s and pulled him close to her. “Let’s see if we can get aboard.”

Relic hunter, teaching assistant and secretary cautiously picked their way down the rocky slope like thieves in the night, stunned at the sheer size of the ship as they stood beside her. Karen crossed her arms over her chest and held herself, not sure if she was cold, or just a little afraid.

“The Cairo…” Karen read aloud the faded Celtic lettering painted across the ship’s bow. “Sydney, the Captain of the ship wasn’t Mister Cairo, look!”

“You’re right!” Nigel approached the old girl and placed his hands flat against her rotted hull, feeling her. “Imagine that Sydney, two ancient ships in less than six months…”

Sydney was already thinking about that. Was it a coincidence? “Yeah, imagine that...”

They stuck close together, only having the one flashlight and no way of communicating to the outside world where they were made it important they didn’t have any other accidents. Sydney was adamant. No one was to wander off alone, they all agreed. There was one puncture large enough for an adult to pass through in the ship’s hold area, and this was where they started. If there was gold bullion still aboard The Cairo, it would have been kept there. Sydney stepped gingerly, careful not to fall through weak, creaking floorboards, and again brought out her flashlight. To say it was dark didn’t come close… It was like a dungeon, a tomb long abandoned by the living, and oh so very cold.

“Syd, are you sure this is safe?” Karen apprehensively asked, clinging to Nigel for moral support. She hated anyplace damp, chilly and frightening, and was beginning to wonder what the hell drove her to this insanity. This was Syd and Nigel’s thing, not hers. They were the relic hunters, the adventurers. She was an office administrator, something nice, safe and comfortable. They were the danger seekers, the risk takers. Then she remembered who and what brought her here… the young man with those haunting blue eyes. He was the one who directed her right to it. Odd...

“It should be perfectly safe, Karen, no need to worry,” Nigel answered her, and took her by the hand. “Just stick with me, we’ll soon discover what secrets The Cairo’s been keeping, then we can get out.”

Sydney and been through every corner, but all she found here were broken crates and barrels… some netting, ropes and spare rigging. No gold here. “We should go to the upper decks. Maybe there’s something else of interest. Obviously if there ever was a fortune here, it's now long gone.”

“What about the Captain’s quarters?” Nigel suggested. "I can poke around up there if you want to check the other deck.”

“Good idea, and Nigel, take Karen with you. I’m going to go to the rear of the hold here first.”

He nodded in agreement and led Karen off towards a steep ladder leading upward. Sydney disappeared towards the stern and he was left with his charge.

“Humph..! She acts as though I need a babysitter,” Karen remarked, feeling a little insulted.

“Well, down in a place like this, you do!” Nigel had to agree with Sydney on that note, and prodded Karen gently up the ladder. “Ladies first.”

Unimpressed, Karen started up the rungs one by one, climbinh over the hatch and onto the main deck. “Hurry up, Nigel, it’s creepy up here!” she whined.

“I’m coming, already!” he called after her, and almost immediately poked his head out from the hold. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot!” Using his arms for leverage, he pushed himself over the lip and climbed up beside her. He thoughtfully surveyed their surroundings for a moment before seeming to make a decision, then pointed to the right. “Okay, that way!”

Karen looked towards the stern. There was an awful lot of old, rotting junk hindering their path, and she was absolutely not going any further. “Uh, Nige?” She waited for him to look back at her before continuing. “Why don’t I just sit here while you go?”

“I’m not leaving you here!” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I thought you were afraid to be alone?”

“What’s the harm in it? It’s not like there’s anywhere for me to go, and what could I possibly get into? Besides, look up there, I can see daylight from here. It makes me feel a whole lot better.” She glanced around and made a face. “Please, just let me sit here. I don’t want to go into anymore small closed in areas." She plugged her nose with her fingers. "The smell is starting to make me sick... What on earth is that stench?”

“Well, if you’re sure..." He had to agree with her about the stale salt water odor. It was turning his stomach! "Okay, but I don’t want to hear you screaming and have to run back here and break my neck in the process.”

“I guarantee it.” She crossed her heart and smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be fine, I promise! You and Syd go do your stuff.”

Nigel gave her an uncertain look, but relinquished her to her own devices, content in knowing she would stay put. She promised him.

Part Twenty-Seven

God’s Hand Touching You
Motivation: What's Not To Love ~ Lisa Brokop

Nigel had only been gone a few minutes when Karen started regretting the idea of staying there by herself. It was spooky, and she just didn’t do spooky. Shadows played tricks with her eyes and strange sounds plagued her from every side. She couldn’t help but wonder how many men had died on board this ship, and how many of them were still hanging around. That was one of her biggest phobias. She hated dark, lonely places. They reminded her of a childhood she would much rather forget. All those nights left alone to fend for herself by an alcoholic mother who could have cared less. Karen would never admit to it, but she never went to bed without her table lamp on, and probably never would.

Even with a steady stream of daylight penetrating the underground cave from above, Karen still felt unprotected, helpless and alone. Sure she could still hear Sydney rummaging around two decks below, and that was some comfort, but not a lot. Then again, Nigel was only across the deck in another room, so it shouldn’t have felt all that bad. She really wasn’t alone. Closing her eyes, she took a deep, self-securing breath, trying to fool herself into thinking she was okay, and that this ship was nothing more than a rotted pile of tinder ready for a bonfire. Nigel and Syd would be back in a few minutes and then she could relax again. The sharp contrast in temperature from the surface to here was amazing, she thought. Dressed only in a light pair of summer pants and a cotton tee-shirt, she had gooseflesh forming along her arms and legs. Creepy and gross… She half expected to see a huge, hairy rat rush out across the disintegrating deck, and would reserve any blood curling screams for such an occasion.

Sydney truly was disappointed, although they DID find a ship, there were no real relics or gold to recover. At least not down here. All she found was a lot of dust, damp, and the most horrible salty stale emanation that seemed to linger in every corner of the old boat. She hated even inhaling the air, but really had no choice. She shrugged, it didn’t surprise her all that much, but it was rather pungent for a somewhat dry-docked vessel. It was high time to join the other two and see what Nigel might have found, she thought, and started for the upper decks. It struck her odd suddenly, that this thing she had concocted with the help of local folk tales and lies, could actually be a real thing. Well, almost a real thing… the gold bullion was pure fantasy, but the ship? The Cairo was a treasure in itself!

Nigel systematically searched through every nook and cranny, starting with a rather large, weighty mahogany desk placed just so in front of the rear paneled windows of the ship’s stern. The surface was almost bare - oh, a few scattered papers and the ship’s log were there, and some quill pens, but nothing out of the ordinary. Flipping through the log, he could see that there were no unusual entries, and no mention of any kind of precious cargo to be found. Peculiar… It was almost as if she were hidden here and scuttled. Shelves normally stocked with books, charts and other navigational aides lay empty, with only an antiquated telescope and the most beautiful sextant Nigel had ever laid eyes on. A layer of dust almost an inch deep covered the brass and teak surface, almost camouflaging it against it’s one-hundred-and-eighty year-old resting place. He thoughtfully swept the layer of ochre dust from the seafaring instrument with his hands, revealing a priceless work of art beneath.

“Magnificent...”

Karen continued to wait for her partners, her anxiety level slowly escalating with each minute that passed by. Her eyes darted from one end of the boat to another, keeping careful watch for what she didn’t know... but it was something. She could tell the sun was starting to sink lower in the sky with the diminishing supply of daylight moving elegantly across the deck, when something to the port side caught her weary eye. It was shiny, glinting as the last remnants of sunlight glanced over it. Karen rose from her seat of bundled rope and dubiously approached this shimmering half-hidden article. It lay buried under a myriad of debris, and she kneeled onto the filthy deck, no longer caring about her appearance, and started to uncover her mystery object...

She held in her hands an antique wide-mouthed glass bottle, inside of which was some rolled paper, corked with a whittled piece of wood. It was so beautifully crafted, she thought, and she quickly stood up, not taking her eyes from her find. Her hands began to tremble involuntarily as she pried the cork from the mouth and discarded it. Karen could hardly stop from shaking. Never had she found anything so tantalising or exciting! If this was an eighth of what Syd and Nigel felt when they discovered something, she was in the wrong line of work!

Carefully sliding the aged parchment out as she had seen Nigel do many times, Karen tucked the bottle under her arm and unrolled the message…

"True Treasure…” She read aloud. “In the shadow of death, the miracle of life begins anew. Grief and despair swept away, by God’s hand touching you…”

Puzzled, she read it again to herself before screaming out loud as she had heard Sydney do on many occasions...

“Nigel! Quick, Nigel get over here!”

Part Twenty-Eight

Message In A Bottle

Sydney was at Karen’s side first, her heart racing, thinking the absolute worst! Nigel was no better, scampering over, around and under everything in his way to make it before she could scream again. He even tripped twice, for crying out loud…

“What’s wrong? What, what is it?” he gasped, practically falling at her feet. “I, I heard you screaming…”

“Look you guys, look what I found!” Karen gave the poem to Nigel. “It’s a real message in a bottle!”

“You were h-hollering over a piece of p-paper stuffed in a bottle?” he gasped, still trying to catch his breath.

“Not just any old paper, Nigel,” Sydney informed him, having already read it. “It’s a little bit of literary genius,” she admitted, quite impressed at the small, romantic verse.

“READ IT!” Karen insisted, and shoved it into his hands, thinking that maybe she had something really good this time.

Nigel gave her a puzzled look and extracted his reading glasses from his shirt pocket. “Syd, do you still have that flashlight handy?” Sydney turned it on and held it over his shoulder. Clearing his throat, he read. “The True Treasure… In the shadow of death, the miracle of life begins anew. Grief and despair swept away by God’s hand touching you.”

“That is really pretty,” Sydney commented.

“Quite,” Nigel concurred. “Where did you say you got this?”

She passed him the bottle and pointed. “Over there.”

Sydney stepped over the side and kicked some of the junk around with her boot. "Well, there aren’t any more of them. I wonder who would write something so profound and just leave it here?”

“It doesn’t say Sydney… but it is so beautiful.” Karen took it back from Nigel and read it again. Silently, and to herself, over and over… She couldn't believe how much this thing affected her. “Do we have to give this to the local historic society, Syd?” She whined. “Do we?”

“Well, we should,” Sydney replied, all business as usual. She could tell by the disappointed tone of young woman's voice what was coming next.

Karen’s face crumbled and her shoulders went slack. “Oh… that’s too bad...”

“Syd, why can’t we just let her have it? The ship itself should be enough to keep them busy for the next two years.” Nigel appealed on Karen’s behalf, although he wasn’t sure he should have the moment the words passed over his lips. “There are no identifying marks on it, and I would say it was probably just a love letter written by a homesick sailor. Nothing more.”

Sydney gave him a stunned look, then turned back to her secretary and politely smiled. “Okay, Karen, you may keep it, but remember, we never saw it.”

“Really?” Karen didn’t expect Sydney to cave that easy. “Thank you!”

“Don’t thank me, thank Sir Galahad over here,” Sydney stoically said, and turned to leave. “We better get a move on back up that tunnel, it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Thanks so much, Nigel!” Karen jumped into his arms and hung about his neck like a giddy teenager. “Thanks so very much!”

"Y-you're welcome..." Nigel, not knowing what to do or where to put his hands, just held his arms out to the sides and laughed. He could see Sydney looking back, and she appeared none too impressed.

“Come on, before we lose all our light!” Sydney called back to them. She had already started climbing down the hatch without them.