Shadow Cave (36 page)

“
The sides are too open.
The shells keep falling out.
”

“
Oh.
Can you downsize?
”

I shook my head before I realized that it was dark and he was still facing the other way.

“
No, I tried that already.
”

I sighed and reached up behind my neck to loosen the ties on my bikini top.
Five minutes later, I stood up and tied the functional sling around my neck.
The shells were nestled securely in the bathing suit and the makeshift pack rested between my shoulder blades on my back.
With any luck, they would make it to the shore with me in one piece.

“
Ok
ay
, I fixed it
;
let
’
s go.
”

“
Great, lets
...
Annabelle
!
What
the hell?
”

“
What?
”

“
You
’
re completely naked
,
that
’
s what!
”

“
Oh, sorry.
”

“
I
’
m just saying, a little warning would have been appreciated.
”

“
Mark?
”

“
What?
”

“
I
’
m completely naked.
”

He sighed and hung his head.
“
Why doesn
’
t this seem odd to me?
”

I lift
ed
one shoulder for an answer and dipped my toes into the dark water.
To be honest, it was not totally dark.
The moonlight cast a gentle glow over the entire beach and illuminated most of the ocean.
But it was still dark enough to look foreboding.
I turned to Mark, ready to suggest a sleepover on the island, but he was already diving into the deep end of the ocean.

“
Damn you
,
”
I muttered as I leaped in after him.
Swimming back to shore was foreboding enough.
Doing it alone was almost too much to bear.

Between my fear and his desperation to get far away from my nakedness, we made it
to
shore in record
time
.

He turned around again so that I could wrap the shells in my tank top and restore my decency.
I did a quick survey of my shells before we started back to the car and was relieved to find that none appeared to be broken.

“
Ready?
”

“
Almost.
”
I stood in front of the ocean and let my gaze take everything in one last time.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

“
What are you doing?
”

I opened my eyes to find Mark staring at me.
“
Making sure I don
’
t forget this place.
”
I told him in a solemn tone.

He wrapped his arms around me in a hug that took me by surprise.

“
We can come back anytime you want
,
”
he
promised.

“
Sure.
”
I nodded but looked away, because I knew that we would not be coming back to this place.
At least, I wouldn
’
t be.

“
See?
Nothing to worry about.
”
Mark
'
s breath was warm against my ear.
I shivered a little and told myself to move.
I stayed put and so did he.

I leaned back to look at him and found him staring steadily back at me.
His lips were so close to my own that I could feel the warmth emanating from them.
His eyes seemed to darken and I was dimly aware of the sounds of the beach fading away from us as we stood there.
A bird screeched in the distance and the moment was gone.

“
We should go.
”

“
Yes, we should.
”

“
Thank you
—
for taking me here.
I had a lot of fun.
”

“
So did I.
”

***

I woke the next morning to a stinging pain.
I was stiff and sore when I crawled out of bed.
The stiffness I could attribute to having slept like the dead for nine solid hours, according to the bedside clock.
My beet red and parched skin could attest to the soreness.
I skipped the shower I would have normally taken and applied liberal amounts of lotion instead.

One glance at the vast array of shells that littered the top of one of the wide dressers in the bedroom reassured me that it had been worth it.
Mark and I had collected over a hundred shells together.
They ranged in size from small to medium.
The smaller shells were about the size my index finger, while the medium sized shells were the size of my palm.
They were all different patterns
,
colors
,
and textures.
Some were wholly transparent, while others were pearly like quartz rock.
I traced a finger over the shell that I considered my favorite.
It was dark blue, with an all over wrap around pale blue swirl.
Although the shell was smooth, it seemed to shimmer as though it were covered in silvery glitter.

“
Good morning.
”

I jumped, taken by surprise.
Mark lounged against the doorframe with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“
Good morning.
Is that for me?
”

“
Nope.
But this is.
”
He pulled a mug from behind his back and handed it to me.

“
Thank you.
”

“
Don
’
t mention it.
You look as red as I feel.
”

I laughed and held my arms out for inspection.
“
Pretty much, yes.
But it was worth it.
Have I thanked you yet for a wonderful evening?
”

“
Oh, only about a hundred times
,
”
he
said dryly.

“
Huh.
Well, then I won
’
t go for a hundred and one.
”

“
Any plans for the day?
”

“
Hmm.
”
I cupped the mug with both hands and took another sip.
“
Actually, yes.
I need to find a library.
”

“
That
’
s easy.
Grandview has a library near the town square.
”

“
Ah, no, that one didn
’
t have
the
book I am looking for
,
”
I said quickly.
“
Is there a bigger one close by?
”

“
There
’
s one about an hour and a half north of here in Briggston.
”

“
Protected?
”

“
Yes, and so is the route.
”

“
Then I
’
ll go there.
Can you write down directions for me?
”
I asked as we descended the stairs together.

“
Sure.
But if you wouldn
’
t mind a little company, I can drive you.
”

I considered that for longer than I probably should have.
It was risky business having Mark accompany me on the excursion and I was well aware of that fact.
It would be difficult if not impossible to hide what I was doing.
But I found that I truly welcomed his company, challenges and all.

We ate in companionable silence and dressed in jeans and t-shirts for our outing.

The drive to town was interesting if not relaxing.
The towns we drove through were larger cities for the most part.
It was a warm summer day and other people had taken to the road as well.
The traffic showed no sign of thinning as we entered Briggston and circled the library in search of a parking space.
We ended up having to park three blocks away and walk to the mammoth stone building.
Like the library at Grandview, the building was ancient and resembled a castle.
I wished once again that I had thought to bring a camera with me.

I inhaled deeply in the sunken in lobby of the building and grinned.

“
Yep, it smells like a library.
”

Mark laughed quietly and edged us toward the reception desk.
“
You
’
re one of a kind, Annabelle, you know that?
”

“
So I have been told.
”

“
What are you looking for?
”

“
I need some historical reference.
Maybe you could look around for yourself while I find what I need?
”

He nodded.
“
Not a problem.
I
’
ll find something interesting and find a corner.
Come find me when you
’
ve finished?
”

“
Will do.
”

I wandered around for longer than I would have had to if I had been able to ask the librarian for assistance, I lamented bitterly.
But after Grandview, I thought it was best to keep my research to myself as much as possible.
I hated to keep a paper trail, but it was necessary to keep all of information straight and stay focused on the task at hand.
I set the clean pad of paper I had packed and a fresh pen on the desk in front of me and spread the books that I had selected around in an arc to create a small workstation.

I printed the word
‘
objective
’
in bold print at the top of my page and scrawled
‘
find Kahn
’
s meadow
’
below the heading.
It was not only the most important task, but the one I was having the hardest time completing.
Common knowledge seemed to dictate that the meadow I sought be referred to as Kahn
’
s meadow.
The maps dictated otherwise from what I had seen thus far.
No record of the place existed on the maps that I had double and triple checked.

According to Miranda, the seeing stone was a summons and I would be led to Kahn
—
and the meadow
—
in due time.
I had no idea when that would be and
‘
due time
’
did not satisfy my curiosity one bit.
I needed to speed up the process.
Not only that, I was certain that I needed to meet him on my terms rather than wait for him to reveal his location to me.
If he even
can
be taken by surprise
, I added glumly.

It occurred to me that maybe I was not making good use of the seeing stone.
The argument made good sense to me since the stone had been sitting in my closet for three days.
Perhaps there was a way to manipulate the stone for my own purposes.
I wrote
‘
find out about the seeing stone
’
on the second heading and
‘
general research
’
beneath it.

I also wanted to find out more about the four strangers I had read about the previous night.
I created the third and final heading titled
‘
the four men of the revolution
.
’
I had memorized their claim to the people and I scrawled it beneath the heading
‘
talisman of the portal was the key to Kahn
’
s downfall
.
’
I underlined the statement and then circled it twice.
I knew that it was important not only to Terlain
’
s history but to me as well
,
somehow.