She rolled her eyes and laughed again. She was touched that her mother was worried, but at the same time, she hated being treated like a kid. She was twenty now and more than ready to take on the world and explore.
“Okay,” her mom had smiled sadly. “I know, I know… I’m overreacting. But please, promise me, stay safe, okay?”
“Okay.” Tamara smiled as she pulled her mother close once more and hugged her tight. If there was one thing she would miss during her time away, it would be a hug from her mother. She always knew how to make things okay.
“Have a great time,” her mom said as she stood by the car door and slammed the trunk closed. “Call, text, email… write letters! I want to know about everything!”
“Okay,” Tamara grinned from ear to ear as she began to wave.
Her mother had climbed into the driver’s side and started the engine before she slammed the door closed behind her. Tamara was lucky to have someone who cared about her as much as her mom did, and she would always be grateful. She felt the tears prick the corners of her eyes as her mom beeped the horn and started to drive away. The sun was shining down on her from a break in the clouds and she had never felt happier, but she would miss the stability of home over the coming months.
As she walked back inside and began to climb the staircase up to her floor, she looked down at the familiar flooring and knew with certainty that this would be the last time she would feel anchored to somewhere for some time.
She pushed open the door to her and Carla’s dorm and Carla was still fighting with her suitcase. She pushed down on the stacks of perfectly folded clothes, trying to squash them as flat as she could so she could finally close the zip.
“I think we’re going to end up coming back with two more cases each,” she sighed. “This thing is already overweight and I know I’m going to raid the shops while we’re travelling.”
Tamara hadn’t even thought about the return journey, but she knew that Carla was probably right. The girls had never really been very good with willpower when it came to shopping and spoiling themselves.
Now, they were both ready to go and they waited outside of their building for their cab to arrive. It had been emotional saying goodbye to their friends, especially Chris, but it would only be a few months and then they would all be back together again, ready to begin their final year.
As the cab pulled up and the driver hopped out to help them with their cases into the trunk, Tamara turned and looked up at the building that she had called home for the past year. The next time she was back on campus, she would be moving into a house on the edge of town, no longer living in halls. She smiled as she dipped into the back seat and closed the door behind her. It had been a fun year, but an adventure beckoned.
As they pulled away, the girls reached down and clasped each other’s hands.
“Here we go!” Carla said excitedly.
***
The cab driver pulled up outside the airport and the girls got out. Carla paid him while Tamara looked around and walked to the back of the car, to the trunk, and waited for the driver to heave out their bags. The sun was shining and the day was warm and bright. She had heard a lot about the uncertainty of the weather in Europe, but she had Googled and saw that the weather in the southwest of France was set to be hot and sunny for the next couple of weeks. As she grabbed hold of her bag and began to wheel it into the airport, she smiled. She would miss her home, but she was looking forward to a new chapter and a new start.
They walked across the departure hall and found their check-in desk. Once they had handed over their bags and made their way through security, Tamara finally found herself able to relax. It had been a long morning so far, and she couldn’t wait to get rested in her seat on the plane and finally unwind.
“How about a glass of wine to get this show on the road?” Carla smiled with raised eyebrows as she eyed up the bar on the other side of the departure lounge.
“I think we better wait until we’re in Europe for that,” Tamara said with disappointment. Even though she would love a glass of wine to calm her nerves, she didn’t fancy the embarrassment of being turned down for being a couple of months under the legal age.
“Spoil sport,” Carla frowned. “But I guess you’re right… At least then we won’t need to carry our ID’s around with us constantly.”
“Exactly.”
The girls sat and waited patiently. Their flight would be called soon and they would officially be on their way.
4.
As the wheels of the Boeing 747 touched down in Paris, Tamara pressed her fingertips against the small window and watched the world flash by. She couldn’t believe how different France looked to anywhere she had been before, and even just landing at the airport was already conjuring up evocative imagery of what the rural French countryside would be like.
She had her laptop and notebooks tucked safely away in her hand luggage, and she was starting to look forward to the train journey across the country to Bordeaux, where she could finally unpack her notes and refresh her memory on where they would be starting their expedition.
The hostesses asked them to wait in their seats as the airport workers fixed the tunnel up against the door to the aircraft, and then with a shudder, she felt it connect. The snap of seatbelts sounded out all around her and Carla was one of the first to jump to her feet, throw open the overhead compartments and pull down both of their bags. The girls pushed their way politely to the front of the plane and waited eagerly for the doors to open.
“Our train leaves in just over an hour,” she said. “We better be quick!”
Tamara felt the familiar rush of panic spread over her and she nodded in agreement. It was going to be tight, but she was sure they could make it.
The airport was a breeze compared to what it was like at US airports, and Tamara and Carla were outside with their luggage, waving down a taxi, in no time. As they jumped in and began their journey to the station, Tamara almost couldn’t believe that this was her life and she was really doing all of it. There had been a time when she was so timid and wary of the world that she never would have dreamed that one day she would be exploring and going on adventures such as these.
The driver weaved in and out of cars; there seemed to be no order to the roads. Tamara knew she could drive herself mad with anxiety, so instead, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The station wasn’t far and she knew that once they were there and waiting on the platform, she would really be on the way to the Lascaux Caves, somewhere she had dreamed of visiting since she was a child.
The caves had been discovered long ago, back in the 1940’s, and they had been widely celebrated and viewed until the amount of visitors per day had taken its toll and the paintings on the cave walls had become damaged. The upper Paleolithic art, mainly of large animals, that adorned the complex set of cave walls were believed to be over 17,000 years old, and the idea that she may be one of the lucky few to view these world wonders was incredible to Tamara. The caves had been closed to the public in the sixties, and since then, only a small number of scientists and archeologists had been allowed access at various times, and never regularly. Mold and fungus had ravaged the original paintings, and now the public could only view the replicas that had been constructed onsite and in museums around France.
Tamara let her mind wander as she thought of what she may see inside the famous Lascaux Caves. From what she had Googled and seen in her text books, she knew that the majority of the paintings were of herds of horses and bulls, galloping along a prehistoric terrain. There were times when her mind could not even begin to fathom the enormity of the privilege she was being given, a chance to view something so coveted and well protected almost made her feel nervous.
They were waiting on the edge of the platform and the train was approaching them. Tiredness was creeping up inside of Tamara and she knew all she wanted to do was sleep. She had hoped to relax on the train journey and read some of her notes on the whole of the Dordogne region
and the caves, but now she knew she would likely sleep for the majority of the way to Bordeaux.
“Here we go!” Carla said as she squeezed Tamara’s hand and pulled her onto the train when the doors hissed open. They made their way down the aisles and found a quiet room with no one else in it. They closed the door behind them and Tamara sank down in the seat.
“Is it just me or are you absolutely wiped?” she sighed.
“It’s just you!” Carla rolled her eyes. “We’re in FRANCE! Come on, pull yourself together!”
Tamara laughed and nodded her head in agreement. Carla was right. She had the rest of her life to sleep.
She reached into her backpack and pulled out her notebooks. Carla began to push their cases out of the way and started to fiddle on with her cellphone as Tamara read as much as she could whilst she still had chance. She knew the second they got to the hotel there was no way they were going to throw themselves into their books, so she had to refresh her memory before it got too late.
The caves contain nearly 2,000 figures, which can be grouped into three main categories: animals, human figures, and abstract signs. The paintings contain no images of the surrounding landscape or the vegetation of the time. She read the notes she had made, trying to keep her eyes alert and her mind sharp…
Most of the major images have been painted on the walls using various colors, mostly red, yellow, and black, from a complex multiplicity of mineral pigments. These minerals include iron compounds such as iron oxide, haematite, and goethite, as well as manganese. Charcoal may also have been used, but it is likely to have been to a sparing extent. On some of the cave walls, the color may have been applied in either animal fat or calcium-rich cave groundwater or clay, and it is likely that it was swabbed or blotted on, rather than applied by brush.
She stopped momentarily and rubbed her tired eyes, the words were all beginning to blur into one another on the page, but she wanted to finish…
Where the rock surface is softer, some designs have been incised into the stone. Many images are too faint to discern, and others have deteriorated entirely.
She closed the notebook and looked up to the window. Outside, the beautiful French countryside was beginning to emerge and the rich greens and lilacs were blurring vividly as they flashed by.
“Do you think we’re going to be out of our depth?” she asked Carla as she looked down at the closed notebook on the table in front of her.
“Probably,” Carla snorted. “I can’t believe we’ve even been accepted to do this thing. I mean, it is a pretty big deal, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Tamara nodded. “It really is…”
She felt a knot in her stomach as her anxiety began to creep back up inside of her. She would not give in, though. She had made it this far and this was something she wanted to experience and had been offered the opportunity. Whether she was out of her depth or not was yet to be seen, but one thing she knew for sure was that she was going to focus on enjoying every minute of this once in a lifetime expedition.
5.
Tamara sank down into the plush bedding that was thick and soft on top of her exquisite king sized bed. The girls had been recommended the hotel by the organizer of the expedition and they certainly weren’t disappointed. The hotel was grand and historic, and as soon as they had stepped through the revolving mahogany doors, Tamara’s jaw had nearly hit the floor. The marble and the gold leaf, the paintings and the high ferns, all added to the opulence of the place. She had heard and seen online the beauty of French hotels, but now she was experiencing it first hand, and it was taking her breath away.
They had been checked in swiftly and the bell boy and receptionist had been more than helpful and keen to attend to their every need. Tamara joked to Carla it was almost as if they were in a movie, rich women arriving in Europe to be greeted by an entourage of obliging servants. Carla had giggled and nodded her head enthusiastically. There had never been a time in either of their lives where they had been treated with such respect and awe.
When Tamara had seen her bedroom, she had wanted to cry from happiness. Even though they had thought that they would be sharing a room, the scientist in charge of the expedition had placed them in a suite with adjoining doors, so it felt as if they were in their own private spaces, with a central living area for them to work and socialize.
“We’re being really spoiled,” Tamar said out loud to herself as she opened the door to her opulent en-suite. “How are we going to slum it in hostels for the rest of our trip now?”
She laughed to herself and shook her head.
After the girls ate dinner together in their living area, Carla was ready to go out and hit the town, whereas Tamara just wanted to relax.
“I think I’m going to get an early night,” she said with a yawn. “Call me boring, but I don’t want to be feeling jetlagged and tired on our first day at the caves.”
“You are boring,” Carla pouted. “But I get it… and I won’t force you.”
The girls hugged each other goodnight and then Tamara made her way through to her bedroom. She undressed quickly and sank down into the bed once more. As the soft sheets billowed around her and settled on her delicate skin, it wasn’t long before she was drifting off into a blissful and uninterrupted sleep.
She was running through an open space, a barren and harsh terrain… rocks and thorns tore at her bare feet and the skin on the soles were hard, bare and shredded. Her heart was pounding and she was afraid. But she knew that she had to keep running. The man was gaining on her, and he had a spear in his hand.
She jumped up onto a rock and looked frantically around for shelter… She saw the entrance to the cave and almost collapsed with relief, but she knew that she had to keep moving. She ran with all of her strength towards the darkened opening and as she entered and went inside, the cold air hit her skin and she shivered.
Somewhere behind her, he was gaining ground. He wasn’t going to stop until she was his.
Even though fear rippled through her, she knew there was nowhere left to run, and she sat down on the cold, clay floor and waited for her assailant to find her…
When his tall, muscular frame came to the cave entrance, it blocked out all natural light. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and with each step he took closer, she felt herself open up a little more. Even though she was being hunted… She wanted to be found.
She remembered what it felt like to be heartbroken, but this man… this rugged creature in front of her, all muscles and dirt, his hair matted with clay and his hand clutching a long, sharp spear, only had to look at her to make her know that if he wanted her to be his, he would stop at nothing to get her… And he would do everything in his power to keep her.
She woke with a start, her heart was still pounding hard in her chest and her forehead was dotted with sweat. She sat upright and looked around the room. She was safe in her hotel room in Bordeaux. There was no caveman… she wasn’t being hunted.
She sank back into the soft, warm pillows and looked up at the ceiling. As her breathing returned to normal, she couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of disappointment. The man in her dream had been sexy, rugged and brutal… And she had loved every second.
6.
They waited side by side in the morning sun for the coach to arrive that was to drive them out to the Lascaux Caves. Tamara had had a sleepless night after her dream. She had enjoyed the feeling of being wanted again, and the man her own subconscious had conjured up was now dominating her every waking moment. She imagined what it would feel like to be taken by a caveman, and a ripple of arousal tingled through her.
“What are you thinking about?” Carla noticed the smile on Tamara’s face and interrupted her thoughts, just as the coach came into view from the opposite side of Bordeaux’s historic square.
“Oh nothing,” Tamara smirked. “Nothing at all.”
The coach stopped with a hiss in front of the hotel and the door slowly opened. A man with a pair of small, round glasses, khaki
shorts and matching t-shirt peered out at them with a clipboard underneath his arm.
“Carla and Tamara?” he asked with a wide grin. “The Americans?”
“Yep,” they both grinned in unison.
“Good! How are ya?” he asked as he held out his hand and shook both of theirs before he stepped back and let them climb aboard.
Tamara couldn’t be sure whether he was Australian or British, but he looked every inch the eccentric.
The bus was rammed with other students from around the world, and a collection of archeologists who were there to supervise and lead the expedition. Tamara and Carla shuffled off down the hot, cramped aisles and looked for a free seat. They managed to find one right at the back, but it was hot and stuffy and Tamara waved her hand against her skin to try and circulate some air.
“Okay, folks!” the man who had welcomed them called out to the entire coach. “That was our last pick up, please welcome Tamara and Carla, all the way from the United States.”
There was a murmur from around them and Tamara just wanted to hide. She hated having attention drawn to herself.
“And so we begin our adventure,” he said as he rubbed his hands together. “This is a week-long expedition into the legendary Lascaux Caves, and you are all very lucky to be here…” There was a low murmur of approval from around the coach and a few people down near the front cheered.
“So we begin today, and we will be part of a small group of scientists allowed access to the caves. This is a rare opportunity for discovery, and to see part of the prehistoric world that not many eyes have ever seen. I ask you to be respectful at all times, to not touch anything on the cave walls, and to listen to myself and the other expedition leaders implicitly. Not just for the preservation of the caves and the artwork within, but also for your own safety.”
SCAR (LOST CREEK SHIFTERS NOVELLAS Book 2) Page 17