She heard him before she saw him. “Caroline! Where the hell are you?”
“Here!” she shouted. The words echoed down through the stone passageway. “I’m here!” she repeated.
And when he finally came scrambling down beside her with a lantern in one hand and a rope wrapped around the other, she threw herself against his chest and held on for dear life.
“I thought you hated me,” he said.
“I do, but I hate snakes more.” She didn’t cry—she wouldn’t cry. She had known she wasn’t trapped down here, that Garrett would come back and get her out. Still, she was so glad to have him beside her that she almost forgot how angry she was with him.
He held the lantern high so that the light shone into the comers of the natural tunnel. “Snakes? What kind of snakes have you seen?”
She averted her eyes from the light. “How do I know what kind there are? You’re the one who told me to watch out for snakes.”
“So you haven’t actually seen any?”
She sniffed. “How could I see anything? It’s dark down here, or hadn’t you noticed.”
“Garrett!” Noah’s voice bounced off the walls of the cave.
“I’ve found her. She’s fine,” Garrett shouted back.
His deep voice echoed louder and longer than hers, but Caroline wasn’t nearly as frightened, now that she wasn’t alone.
“Are you coming up?” Noah called.
“Not yet. I want to look around down here.” Garrett held the lantern over her head. “You’re not hurt?”
“No. Just bruised.”
He began walking deeper into the cave. “Stay here,” he ordered her. He dropped the end of the rope that led up to the surface.
“Not likely,” she said. “Where you go, I go.”
“It may be dangerous.”
“More dangerous than falling down here? More dangerous than staying here without a light and waiting for snakes to devour me?” She hurried after him. “How do you know you won’t get lost or fall down another pit and need me to rescue you?”
After they walked downhill about fifteen feet, the passage grew smaller and the ceiling angled down so that they had to stoop. Next, they came to a division. Three openings loomed in front of them, one narrow, one low, and the third half closed by falling rock. Garrett took the right-hand path, the one so compressed that he had to turn sideways to get through.
“I don’t like this,” Caroline said. Dark caves were the stuff of nightmares. “What if the lantern goes out. What if—”
“Shhh,” he said.
Her “what if’s” echoed through the cavern, followed by his hushed “shhh.” Caroline took hold of the back of his waistcoat and held on with a death grip.
“I think I hear water,” he said.
A few more twists and turns, another long slide, and the cave widened again. They entered a small chamber with limestone stalagmites growing up from the floor. Beyond that opening was a pond, so still and clear that it might have been made of white glass. Garrett put his arm in the water, but he couldn’t touch bottom. “Stay close to the wall,” he warned her. “The water’s cold. I don’t want to have to pull you out.”
He led her along a broken ledge that ran around the edge of the underground lake into a second chamber, larger than the first. Here were columns of stalagmites and stalactites, some as thick as her waist, some as thin and delicate as knitting needles. The floor here was no longer made of dirt, but solid rock.
“Let’s go back,” she said. “I don’t like this. What if you forget which way we came?” She tried to remember if the opening to the lake room was directly across from the ledge or off to the right. The weight of the island pressing down overhead seemed oppressive. “I want to go back, Garrett,” she said again. “I mean it. I—”
He stopped short. The way ahead was blocked by loose debris. He raised the lantern and let the light fall on the two feet of open space at the top of the rock slide.
“All right, this has been fun, but it’s time to leave,” she said. “Enough is enough.”
“Wait.” He climbed up and peeked over the top.
“Here,” he said. “You hold the lantern.” He shoved the light into her hand and began rolling aside rocks.
“I said, we’ve seen enough,” she began. “I don’t—” Stones and dirt rained down around her shoes.
“Look in there,” he said, catching her by the waist and boosting her up.
Caroline gasped with wonder. Just beyond the cave-in was a chamber many times larger than the two they’d passed through earlier.
“Listen,” he said.
She held her breath and heard the unmistakable sighing of the sea. Giant icicles of stone filled the vast room, and in a raised basin between two huge stalactites lay a great heap of shining gold and silver antiquities.
Garrett set the lantern down on a flat rock and scrambled over the top of the barrier. “Leave the light,” he said. “You won’t believe this.”
Before she could protest, he was on the far side and holding out his hands to her. “Come on,” he said. “You have to see this.” Heart in her throat, Caroline followed him over.
It was true. The stalactites and stalagmites glowed with an inner ice-blue fire, and the arched ceiling was studded with cold twinkling stars.
Caroline could smell the briny tang of the ocean on the damp, cool air. She moved close to Garrett and looked around her. Not far away, in a corner of the room, human bones were scattered and a skull lay imprisoned in the base of the stalagmite. She shrank from the sight, imagining the fate of the trapped victim and the years of lonely solitude that had encased the bone in limestone.
Garrett slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Look,” he said. “Look at it.”
She was afraid to look, afraid not to. She pinched herself to see if she was hallucinating. Together, they took a few hesitant steps toward the priceless hoard of treasure.
Precious stones set in gold and silver jewelry lay strewn across the floor. Gem-studded goblets, incised silver bowls, and gold statues of animals and birds spilled over the natural depression. Masks and headdresses of beaten gold were piled one upon the other, along with emeralds, pearls, and armbands of gleaming gold set with crystal and jade.
“Your grandfather’s prize,” Garrett whispered hoarsely.
“No,” she replied, suddenly certain, “my grandmother’s fortune.” She dropped to her knees and buried her hands in the ancient Incan relics. “It’s true. It’s all true—or we’re dreaming.”
“If we are, we’re both dreaming the same thing,” he said, picking up a silver and gold inlaid necklace that must have once graced the throat of a prince.
A feeling of sadness swept over Caroline. Tears formed in the comers of her eyes, and prickly sensations irritated her throat. One by one, she reverently lifted the objects and examined them. So old, she thought, so old and yet as new as the morning sunrise.
“The memories of a people,” Garrett said. “I’ve read that there are pyramids in Egypt, built in biblical days.” He cradled a silver spearhead in his hands. “This piece is as ancient,” he ventured. “All that’s left of a civilization that existed from the dawn of time.”
Oh, Kutii, she whispered inwardly. I didn’t know I’d feel this way. I thought I’d find the gold, but I never thought I’d feel as if I were stealing memories.
His answer came back as swiftly and naturally as her next breath. Through you, they live. Through your blood, nothing is lost.
“I won’t take it if you don’t want me to,” she murmured. “If it’s stealing . . .”
“What do you mean you won’t take it?” Garrett said.
But she was listening for Kutii’s reply.
She left it here for you. It is yours to do with as you wish.
Caroline glanced at Garrett. Hadn’t he heard Kutii’s voice? How could she hear the Indian so clearly and Garrett not hear at all?
“. . . not take it?” Garrett scoffed. “You’d
best believe we’re taking it.”
“Is there enough here to ransom Reed and buy your ship?” she asked him. Kutii’s presence was fading. She could feel his essence drifting away.
“Sweetling, there’s enough here to ransom King George himself.” Garrett pulled her against him and kissed her hard. “You did it,” he said. “I never thought you would, but you did it.”
“We did it,” she corrected shakily, pulling away. “We did it.” Why had he kissed her? She’d been in control until he’d kissed her. She scowled at him, but he grinned mischievously. “You had no right to do that,” she reprimanded him.
“We found it,” he said. “You found it.” He clapped her on the back so heartily that she bit her tongue. “You had to fall down a rabbit hole to do it, but you found it.”
“I told you it was here,” she reminded him, trying to recover her dignity . . . trying to remember who he was and who she was.
“You did that. I’ll never argue with a woman’s intuition again,” he promised.
“I doubt that.”
Garrett picked up a gold cup set with turquoise and freshwater pearls. In the bottom, the face of a jaguar stared up at them, the eyes glowing emerald-green. It was so heavy, it took two hands to lift it. “Mother of God,” he said. “If this was part of the treasure, how much was there to begin with?”
“Three times as much,” she said, cupping a beaten-gold nose ring in the palm of her hand. Her lips tingled from where he’d kissed them, and her blood was still running hot. “There’s enough here for us to share,” she said.
“I want enough for my ship and crew, no more,” Garrett assured her. “The rest is yours and you’re welcome to it.”
“I never expected so much. I’ll free Reed and have enough left—”
“Enough to make yourself and your heirs wealthy for time out of time,” he said.
“It was really here all these years, waiting for us.” And then she remembered Wesley and his plans for Fortune’s Gift—plans he’d never get to carry out now. “But this changes nothing between us,” she reminded Garrett.
“No, nothing,” he agreed. “You shall have your annulment.”
“That and my brother’s freedom is all I’ve ever wanted.” i
“Fair enough. But I’ll not rob you of your share.”
“No . . .” She hesitated. “I didn’t think you would.” Her stomach felt suddenly full of fluttering birds’ wings, and her excitement was tempered with a real sense of loss. She had won. Against impossible odds, she’d found the treasure she’d set out to seek. “I don’t know what to think about you, Garrett Faulkner.”
“I didn’t lie to you when I said I loved you,” he said huskily.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve hated you too long to forgive—”
“I’m not asking for your forgiveness, Caroline. As I said before, we met at the wrong time and the wrong place.”
“I’ll honor my part of the bargain if you’ll honor yours,” she said. A lump rose in her throat and another tear fell. What was wrong with her?
“You may not believe it now,” he said, “but you’ll stop mourning Wesley. You’ll meet another man someday—someone right for you.”
But I already have, she thought with quiet desperation. I already have . . .
That night at Arawak House, they held a celebration. Caroline and Garrett had each carried one Incan relic out of the hidden cavern. He had chosen the cup with the jaguar’s face in the bottom; she had looped a heavy gold necklace set with emeralds and pearls around her neck. Now, the precious objects rested in the center of the table as Carolyn and Garrett shared the evening meal with Amanda, Jeremy, Noah, and Eli.
Angus’s wife, Pilar, was too aware of her position in the household to sit and eat with them. She contented herself with rushing back and forth, bringing one delicious-smelling dish after another to the table while Angus looked on proudly. Noah and Garrett had carried him into the dining room and propped him on a couch along the wall. Angus’s withered legs were hidden under a throw, and with a stout mug of rum in his hand, he felt as much a part of the success as anyone.
Jeremy bounced excitedly on Noah’s knee, and opened his mouth like a small bird for each morsel of roast pork to be popped in. Noah and Garrett were full of talk about the ship. They discussed at great length the size and type of boat, how many cannon it would carry, and what might be the best port to purchase a likely vessel. Only Eli was his usual sullen self. He sat at the far end of the table, shoveling in food and scowling at everyone.
Amanda forgot her manners and leaned on the table to stare at the pagan treasure. Caroline couldn’t help but notice how happy she had looked the last few days. Her eyes held a sparkle Caroline hadn’t seen for years, and she had tucked a wild orchid into her frilly lace cap. “Tell me about the underground passageway,” Amanda begged. “I can’t believe you weren’t afraid, Sissy. I would have been terrified.”
“I was,” Caroline admitted. How long had it been since Amanda had called her by that pet name? Ages. It warmed Caroline’s heart to hear it again, and for just a few seconds, she could picture two little girls—one white, one black—running through a meadow. Amanda’s short, chubby legs would be flying up and down and she’d be shouting “Wait up, Sissy, wait up!”
“You always were the brave one, Caroline,” Amanda said, using a napkin to wipe Jeremy’s chin. “Remember that time Reed dared you to ride Papa’s bull? And you tried?” The baby squealed and she turned to him. “Here, let me take Jeremy,” she said to Noah. “He’s an awful mess.”
“Leave the boy be,” Noah replied with a grin. “He’s learnin’ men’s talk. You women spoil him.”
Jeremy grinned at his mother, exposing three shiny white teeth, two on the bottom and one on top.
“You’re a rascal,” Amanda said to her son. “It’s time you were in bed.”
Jeremy retorted with a string of baby chatter and a squealing laugh. Noah tucked a spoon into the toddler’s hand and he began to pound it on the table.
Garrett and Noah laughed, and Pilar refilled everyone’s goblets. The ladies were drinking a light red Spanish wine, very old, from the wine cellar below the house. The men had finished off one bottle of Haitian rum and were starting on a second.
“I can’t imagine icicles of limestone,” Amanda . said. She was wearing an old-fashioned, peach-colored gown of watered silk with a fall of Irish lace at the neckline. Caroline was certain Amanda had never looked lovelier.
She’s in love, Caroline thought. For an instant, she had to look away. No one deserved it more than Amanda, but still . . . An empty aching rose in Caroline’s chest . . . a sorrow for what might have been.
She wished they hadn’t found the treasure—that they still had the search before them. Anything to keep Garrett with her a little longer. Because it didn’t matter anymore who he was or what he had done.
I’d love him if he were the prince of England, she thought . . . if he were Cornwallis himself.
All her hate, all her plans for revenge, had drained away—stolen by a kiss from a man who clearly didn’t want her.
“Caroline.” Amanda repeated her name. “Caroline?”
She blinked. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Amanda giggled. “No more wine for her, Pilar.” She smiled at Caroline teasingly. “I asked you how you knew the gold was in the cave.”
Caroline shook her head. “I didn’t. I wanted to turn back, but just when I thought I had Garrett convinced—”
“That’s when we found the treasure chamber,” Garrett said. He slid the gold cup down the table to Noah. “What do you think that will bring?”
The black man shook his head. “I wouldn’t even want to guess. More than enough to buy a few cannon.”
“You can’t very well trade gold for a ship,” Caroline said. “You’ll have to sell these pieces somewhere.”
“Jamaica,” Noah and Garrett said together. Everyone laughed. Garrett said s
omething about the benefits of a brigantine versus a schooner, Noah countered with a good argument for the speed of a snow in choppy water, and they were off again.
Caroline finished a final bit of plantain fried with honey, and Pilar tried to put more dessert on her plate. “No,” Caroline protested, “not another mouthful. It was wonderful, all of it.” She stood up. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I’ll bid you good-night.”
“And so shall we,” Amanda chimed in, lifting Jeremy neatly out of Noah’s lap. “It’s long past his bedtime, and mine.”
Garrett flashed Caroline a look, and she knew he was daring her to come to their bedchamber tonight. But she couldn’t. Not anymore. The game was finished. All that remained was to pick up the playing pieces and count their winnings and losses.
With cool dignity, she murmured the correct responses, thanked Pilar and Angus for their kindness, and followed Amanda from the dining room.
In their room, Amanda changed the baby, washed his face and hands, and nursed him. He fell asleep in her arms, and she placed him carefully in an antique cradle. “Watch him for me,” Amanda asked. “If you’ll be here, that is.”
“You’re meeting Noah?”
Amanda nodded. “He’s asked me to marry him.”
“What did you say?”
Amanda looked away toward the floor-to-ceiling louvered shutters. In the flickering circle of candle flame, she looked to Caroline like a dark Madonna.
“There’s someone else, isn’t there?” Caroline asked.
“I’m thinking about Noah’s offer.”
“It’s Reed, isn’t it? You love Reed.” Goose bumps rose on Caroline’s arms. “You’ve always loved Reed.”
Amanda swallowed. “We all love Reed.”
“But it’s different for you, isn’t it? You love him as a woman loves a man.” As I love Garrett, she wanted to say but didn’t dare.
“Don’t ask me about Reed,” Amanda said.
“Is Jeremy Reed’s son?” Caroline took hold of her sister’s hand. “Is that who his father is?”
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