Celeste shrugged. “He might be here, but he’s a ghost and can’t really move physical objects, so as long as we don’t get caught in his ectoplasmic orbit, we should be fine.”
“Umm… maybe.” Fiona shone her light on the walls of the tunnel, and they turned toward her.
“What do you mean?” Morgan asked.
“In some cases, ghosts can gain extra energy from certain rocks that can allow them to manifest in the physical plane,” Fiona said. “We’re basically surrounded by rock in here, so it’s possible Dubonnet could harm us with more than just enveloping us in his ectoplasmic orbit.”
“And possible he harmed the treasure hunters that died on the island before us, then,” Jolene said.
Fiona nodded and moved a piece of fabric with the toe of her boot and then pulled back quickly. “Look at this.”
Beside the fabric was a nasty rusted steel trap, its jagged teeth clamped over the skeleton’s ankle.
“Is that one of the booby traps?” Jolene asked.
“Probably,” Morgan said. “I heard there were all kinds of traps here, not the least of which were ones that triggered the tunnels to be filled with water. I never heard of a skeleton found still in the trap, though.”
“I’m sure the other treasure hunters must have come this way.” Jolene yawned. “We should continue down this section.”
“Meowl!” Belladonna trotted in front of Jolene as if to cut her off.
“What? It’s fine. We’ll keep our senses amped up, and we have our amulets.”
Celeste’s chest tightened, and her fingers curled around her amulet.
“Merooo.” The cat’s insistent yowling was making Celeste tired. Now Belladonna crouched by the side of the path, batting at something else. Jolene stood over her, making a face.
“What is that?”
“Looks like more bones,” Morgan said. “Too small to be human.”
“Meree!” Belladonna pushed the pile of bones in front of them and started back toward the entrance.
The girls stood in a circle, looking down at them. Fiona stifled a yawn then sat down, picking a few tiny bones up. She squinted up at them. “Some kind of small bird.”
“A pirate’s parrot?” Morgan slumped down beside Fiona. “This is exhausting.”
“Too small to be a parrot.” Jolene leaned against the wall, slowly sliding toward a sitting position. “Maybe a parakeet.”
“Or a canary.” Celeste could barely get the words out. Her head was starting to feel fuzzy, and she joined her sisters on the ground, her head lolling forward.
She was so sleepy.
She slumped over. Her eyes drifted shut as her conscious awareness faded. The last thing she remembered was hearing Belladonna’s panicked meows in the distance.
Cal peered anxiously into the dark hole of the treasure pit.
Were the girls having any luck in there?
He glanced at his watch. They should be coming out at any time. The agreement was one half hour of exploration.
He peeked in again.
Meow!
A white blur exploded out of the mouth of the tunnel, scampered up the cliff-like steps, and ran straight to him.
“Belladonna? What is it?”
The cat was acting crazy, pacing in front of him and then running back to the cliff. That could only mean one thing. The girls were in trouble!
Cal didn’t have any ropes or other gear, but he tore down the narrow cliff steps without hesitation and dove into the mouth of the cave. Once inside, he blundered into the darkness, fumbling in his pocket for the small flashlight he’d stuffed in there earlier in the day.
His heart hammered in his chest as he switched it on, illuminating the tunnel. There was no sign of Celeste or her sisters. Up ahead, Belladonna cried out, and he rushed forward, following the sound of her frantic meows.
“Celeste! Jolene!” His yells echoed through the tunnel, but there was no answer, just the cries of the panicked cat.
He rushed on, thankful there was only one direction in which to go. The sound of the meows grew louder until he came to the split-off. Swiveling toward the sound of Belladonna’s voice, he illuminated four heaps on the ground.
“Celeste!”
He rushed toward her, but Belladonna leapt in front of him as if trying to stop him. Clearly, she wanted him to find the girls, but it also seemed as if she was trying to keep him from going toward them.
Was there something wrong in there? Maybe one of Bly’s men had knocked the girls out and was lying in wait to take out Cal.
Cal hesitated. He didn’t have any paranormal abilities, so if one of Bly’s guys was going to jump out and zap him with negative energy, he’d be a goner. But if that were the case, Belladonna wouldn’t have led him straight into a trap. He crouched down to get a better look at the girls. He didn’t see any injuries or blood. The sisters looked as though they were sleeping, but surely they wouldn’t have just lain down to take a nap. Belladonna’s cries would have roused them.
“Meow!” Belladonna batted something toward him. A tiny rib cage. A bird’s rib cage.
A canary! Belladonna was trying to tell him the air was toxic. Like the canaries in the coal mines, this bird was probably brought in by the pirates to test for pockets of carbon monoxide or other gases that were not breathable. And this particular tunnel slanted downward—if the gas was heavier than air, it would accumulate down there, and no one at the upper level would be affected.
Cal didn’t know what the gas was or whether it was naturally occurring or part of the elaborate booby traps he’d heard about, but he knew one thing—breathing too much of it might be deadly.
Cal didn’t have any time to waste.
He stepped back and filled his lungs with untainted air then rushed toward the girls. Grabbing Celeste’s and Morgan’s arms, he dragged them up to the highest level, took another deep breath, and rushed back for Jolene and Fiona.
When they were out, he knelt by Celeste, his heart sinking. Her face was pale, her lips almost blue. He tapped her cheek. “Celeste, wake up!”
Relief flooded through him when her eyelids fluttered. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, then her eyes widened, and she jerked into a sitting position. “My sisters!”
Jolene, Morgan, and Fiona were all stirring. They sat up, coughing and sputtering.
“What happened?” Morgan asked.
“A booby trap!” Jolene said.
“Maybe.” Cal helped Celeste to her feet then reached to do the same for Fiona. “It might be natural gas, but either way, you guys need to get out into the fresh air. Can you walk?”
They managed to get up and, leaning on each other, made their way, still coughing and sputtering, out of the tunnel. They attached the ropes for safety, and with Cal’s help, they climbed up to the area outside the treasure pit and collapsed on the grass.
“What happened in there?” Jolene asked.
“I’m not sure. It might’ve been one of the booby traps,” Cal said. “I think it was some kind of a gas or something like carbon monoxide. It knocked you out.”
“I wonder if that’s what happened to the skeleton. Poor guy got a booby-trapped steel trap on his foot and the gas,” Morgan said.
“Belladonna was trying to warn us. That’s why she was playing with the bones—to warn us off, not lure us in.” Celeste scooped the cat into her lap and cuddled her. “Good girl.”
“She came running out of the tunnel like a bat out of hell.” Cal reached over and petted Belladonna’s head, feeling the vibration of her loud purr. “That’s how I knew something was wrong.”
“Lucky thing, or we could have been in real trouble…” Celeste’s words faded as the sounds of someone in the woods behind them captured their attention. They all turned to see Gordy burst from the woods. He stopped short in front of them.
“What are you guys doing lying around? Why didn’t you answer?”
“What? We were in the cave, and there was a—”
Chapter Six
Celeste’s heart sank, and she stared at Gordy. Had Dr. Bly’s people found them already?
“How many?” Luke’s voice crackled over Gordy’s walkie-talkie, and Gordy brought it up to his mouth. “Not sure. We saw the smoke from a fire. Looks like they are camped out on the north end of the island. Buzz is on his way down to scope it out now.”
“Did you see any boats come to the island? Anything at the dock or moored offshore?” Luke asked.
“Negative.”
“Have you alerted Cal and the girls?”
Gordy’s gaze shifted to Celeste and her sisters, who were now standing and brushing off their jeans. “Yep. We’re all together here now.”
“We’re clearing out down here. Meet you at the cabins pronto to formulate a plan.”
“Okay. See you there.”
Gordy turned his attention back to the group. “You guys coming?”
“Maybe you girls should rest,” Cal said then turned to explain to Gordy. “We ran into some kind of fumes in the cave that knocked them out.”
Gordy’s rough gaze softened with concern. “Fumes?”
“Like carbon monoxide or something. I don’t know if they’re fit for—”
“We’ll be fine,” Jolene cut in. “I feel fine. Don’t you guys?” She looked at her sisters, who all nodded.
“We need to come with you in case the people are paranormals.” Fiona picked up a few more pebbles and loaded her pockets. “You’ll need us to help fight them.”
Some of us can help fight them, Celeste thought. But she wasn’t going to dwell on that. She could still do a mean high karate kick that would render even a paranormal useless as long as she could place it before she was taken out by an energy strike. She’d do her best to help.
They made the short walk to the cabins and changed into gear more fitting for an altercation in the dense Nova Scotia forest. Camouflage shirts and pants. Various weapons. And, of course, their obsidian amulets to protect against negative energy.
Luke and Jake joined with a preliminary report from Buzz.
“Buzz said he only spotted one person moving around the fire. He couldn’t get close enough to see the person, and they kept to some sort of cave that’s down there. There could be others in the cave, or they might be in the woods, watching, so keep alert out there.”
“Do we know if there are others?” Morgan asked. “Bly usually sends a crew.”
“Probably,” Luke said. “What’s your feeling on it? Do you have a gut feeling on how many are here?”
Everyone had learned to respect Morgan’s gut feelings, which had helped them on several occasions. But not this time. Morgan simply shook her head. “I got nothing.”
“Well, I guess we have to go down and find out the old-fashioned way.” Luke pulled out a map of the island and spread it on the picnic tables. “I think we should surround them. We need to split up, but I don’t want to get too far away from each other. We might need to combine efforts to fight these guys.”
Jolene pointed to several areas on the map. “Fiona and I can come from here, and Celeste and Morgan from there. Then between you, Jake, Cal, and Buzz, you can fill in around.”
“Good thinking.” Jake nodded at Jolene. “We can use the walkie-talkies to communicate for part of the way. Keep your voices low, though. Once we get within hearing range, we’ll need to go to silence so as not to give ourselves away.”
They made their way into the woods. Celeste stuck close to Morgan. The smell of crisp fallen leaves mingled with the salty ocean air as they traversed the dense woods, stepping over fallen branches and gnarled roots that stuck up from the ground. The large oaks and maples hadn’t yet given up all their red-and-orange foliage, and their sun-dappled leaves created flickering shadows on the carpet of pinecones and acorns that covered the forest floor. Celeste brushed against a low bough of a fir tree, and the holiday scent of pine filled the air. They kept a slow but steady pace, not wanting the snapping of twigs or rustling of underbrush to alert anyone to their presence.
“Do you think it’s Bly’s people?” Celeste whispered. “Are you getting any sense of whether there are other paranormals, or people with bad intent?”
Morgan shook her head. “No. It’s the weirdest thing. I’m not feeling apprehensive at all.”
Celeste’s stomach twisted. Morgan usually got gut feelings about enemy paranormals. Was something on the island messing with her gifts? And, if so, would it affect her other sisters’ gifts too? Fiona had mentioned that Dubonnet might have amped-up skills that ghosts wouldn’t normally have because of all the rock energy inside the tunnels. Maybe being inside the tunnels altered her sisters’ paranormal skills too, but not in a good way. But they weren’t inside a tunnel now.
Morgan paused, holding her arm out to stop Celeste. She brought her finger to her lips then crouched down and pointed. “Look, there’s the fire.”
Celeste tilted her head to follow Morgan’s line of sight. Farther down the hill, about three hundred feet away, she could see gray wisps of smoke curling up in into the air. Her nerves tingled. They were about to meet the enemy.
Celeste stood and flexed her muscles. She might not be able to bend energy or turn rocks into flaming projectiles, but she could bust out a mean karate kick, and if that was what she had to do to help fight these guys, then that was what she would do.
Morgan stood and looked at her watch. They’d synchronized with the others earlier so they could converge on the area at exactly the same time. “We have three minutes, just about perfect timing to get there.”
They continued slowly toward the fire, hypervigilant now for anyone else in the woods. If these people were any good, they would probably have lookouts stationed out here. Celeste’s stomach tightened into a knot. The others were moving toward the fire too, and so far, she’d not heard anyone cry out. No sounds of fighting or gunfire. But still, she wondered, would she and Morgan get to the fire only to find out the others had already been captured?
And then they were there, standing cautiously just inside the woods, peeking through the branches at the fire. Oddly enough, the campsite appeared to be empty. There was no tent or other gear as she’d expected. Just a pair of jeans and a red plaid flannel shirt hanging on a makeshift clothesline.
What was up with that?
About twenty feet away, Fiona and Jolene appeared at the edge of the woods. Then Luke, Jake, Gordy, Buzz, and Cal could be seen in various spots surrounding the fire.
A movement at one end of the campsite caught her attention. The rocks had formed an outcropping that made a shelter about five feet high, and a figure was stirring inside. She could barely make out a head of dark hair. Her muscles tensed. She glanced around. Everyone else was also poised for action, awaiting Luke’s signal.
Was there only one person here?
Luke must have thought so. He stepped into the clearing. His gun drawn, he walked silently up to the fire. The bad guy still had his back to them, but now she could see more of him. Tall, olive skin, broad shoulders, and a head of thick, dark, curly hair.
“Hands up, and turn around slowly,” Luke commanded, though Celeste could hardly see how the guy could be armed since he was only wearing a pair of red boxer shorts.
As he put his hands up and slowly started to turn, a flicker of recognition ran through Celeste.
“Matteo?”
“What are you doing here?” Jolene’s words sounded harsh, but Celeste noticed the look of softness in her eyes. Say what she might, Jolene was glad to see Matteo. She also noticed Jolene checking out his long, lean body, especially since he was only in his underwear.
“And why are you in your underwear?” Luke asked, putting his gun away.
Matteo’s face spread into a sheepish grin as he grabbed the plaid shirt from the makeshift clothesline. “Dorian filled me in on the mission. She had me looking into where Bly’s guys went with what they thought was the clue they got from the basement of that store. Once I did that, I figured you’d need my help, so I came right out.”
Jolene looked at him suspiciously. “Oh really? Then how come you’re lurking around down here without your clothes on?”
Matteo buttoned the shirt. “There was a naval training exercise off the coast here. I hooked up with one of the submersibles, but the island is too rocky to land on, so I had to hop out twenty feet away and swim.”
“Swim?” Fiona glanced out at the cold grayish-blue waves. “It’s freezing out there.”
Matteo shrugged. “Hey, when you guys need my help, I come no matter what.” He glanced tentatively at Jolene, who looked away quickly.
Celeste didn’t know what was going on with her sister and Matteo, but she had a sneaking suspicion Jolene didn’t want to admit she had true feelings for the tall, dark, and mysterious man. She might even be nervous that Matteo didn’t return them. Maybe Celeste could whip up a spell to help her sister realize her true feelings. It was obvious Matteo was smitten with Jolene, and Celeste had long felt the two of them were meant for each other.
Matteo gestured toward the jeans still hanging on the line. “I got all wet swimming, so I was just drying off my stuff before I came up to meet with you guys. So what’s going on?”
They sat in a circle around the fire and got down to business, filling Matteo in on everything they had discovered so far, including Celeste’s conversation with Mirabella and their venture into the treasure pit. When Matteo heard about the mysterious gases inside the treasure pit, his eyes became filled with concern, and he reached out toward Jolene, squeezing her hand.
“I’m glad you guys made it out of there safely. Maybe we should take extra caution inside. I have heard those tunnels are booby-trapped.”
“Meow.” Belladonna rubbed her face against Matteo’s ankle.
Fatal Fortune (Blackmoore Sisters Mystery Book 8) Page 5