by David Wood
"It looks more like a vampire's mouth to me," he said.
"That's what I love about you, Maddock. You find a way to take the fun out of everything."
Dima made a face and turned away, her shoulders quaking in silent laughter.
"I will wait here. I have seen the cave before." Faruk plopped down on a flat stone, pulled his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around his legs. “I am happy just to cool off.”
"I don't know how long we will be," Maddock said.
Faruk made a small wave. "You hired me for the day. If I get cold I will go back to the Jeep. Take your time."
They thanked him, turned, and made their way into the cave. Maddock and Bones took out their Maglites and turn them on. As the bright, narrow beams sliced through the darkness, Dima let out a tiny gasp.
"This place is beautiful."
Up ahead, the cave sparkled with refracted light. All around stood tiny ice formations like crystalline sculptures. Most were transparent and the light shone through them, spreading out to illuminate deeper parts of the cave. Others were a cloudy white and glowed like low-wattage light bulbs.
"This is pretty cool," Bones said. "Weird we've never heard of it before."
"With all the traveling we’ve done,” Maddock said, “I kind of like knowing the world still has plenty of surprises in store for us."
"You mean like stones that can let you boss animals around?" Bones asked.
"Exactly like that. Let's go."
They plunged on into the darkness, Maddock navigating the maze of ice. Here and there they passed frozen stalagmites and in a few spots Bones had to duck beneath the stalactites that hung like giant icicles from the cave ceiling. All around them lay natural wonders—frozen works wrought by nature’s hands.
“You see that one, Maddock?” Bones asked, pointing at a frozen shape off to the right. “It looks like the sheep you took to prom.”
“Yeah? Well, I would say this one,” he pointed off to the left, “looks like your mom, but unlike you, your mom and sister are attractive.”
“Maddock, I knew you’re into my sister but I didn’t know you liked mothers.” Bones shook his head. “Man, you think you know a guy…”
Dima laughed out loud. “Are you sure you guys aren’t brothers? You act like you grew up together.”
They continued to explore, first following the well-worn paths, and then moving into the side chambers, all of which proved to be small and, though beautiful, not containing anything of interest.
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out what Robert was doing here,” Dima said. “Do you think he was just doing the tourist thing?”
Maddock checked his watch. They’d spent the better part of an hour investigating the cave. “Could be, but I’d like to keep looking. I want to make sure we didn’t miss something.”
“Let’s make it quick,” Bones said. “If we stay in this refrigerator much longer I’m gonna start craving coffee instead of beer. And that would be a crime.”
“Turkish coffee is excellent,” Dima said. She reached up and playfully tugged his ponytail. “We’re going to have to break you of some bad habits.”
“If you succeed, you’ll be the first.” Maddock turned and shone his light toward the back of the cave. “Let’s go as deep as we possibly can and see if we missed anything.” They kept exploring. It didn’t take Maddock long to find what he was looking for.
“Check this out.” At the base of the cave wall, where the ceiling dropped down to a height of no more than four feet, lay a jumble of broken stones.
“It’s a pile of rocks. So?” Bones asked.
“Look at the other rock falls around here. They’re all coated in ice. On these, the ice is on the underside.”
“Right. Like somebody stacked them up here. I should’ve noticed that, but I’m distracted by the hot chick.”
“What do you think is back there?” Dima asked.
“We’re about to find out.” Bones began moving the rocks aside, quickly revealing a hole in the wall. He knelt and shone his light into the opening. “There’s a passageway back there. I can’t tell how far it goes but it’s worth checking out.” Without waiting for a reply from the others he dropped down on all fours and squeezed his bulk into the narrow space. “It opens up back here.” His voice sounded hollow to Maddock’s ears. “Come on in. You’ll have to crawl but if it’s wide enough for me you definitely won’t get stuck.”
“You next,” Maddock said to Dima.
“Promise you won’t be checking me out from behind?” She batted her eyelashes and Maddock wasn’t quite certain if she was teasing.
“I promise to try. That’s the best you’ll ever get from either one of us.”
“That’s the best you’ll get from him,” Bones shouted back. “I wouldn’t even try.”
Dima chuckled, dropped to the ground, and crawled into the passageway. When she vanished into the darkness, Maddock followed along. He held his Maglite in his teeth so as to keep his hands free. This was his least favorite part of caving. He had finally reached an age where his back and knees complained constantly when he crawled through low spaces, but he never complained. If he did, Bones and his crew mates would never let him live it down.
The farther they crawled, the more the cold stone sapped the warmth from his hands and knees. At least the numbness served to minimize the scrapes and bruises he was rapidly accumulating. He knew better than to go caving without gloves, kneepads, and a helmet, but sometimes the situation didn’t allow for it. Furthermore, there was nothing to look at in this dark tunnel, except for Dima, and he was steadfastly trying to avoid ogling her. The monotony was becoming seriously annoying when Bones announced that he had found a chamber up ahead.
“Just a few more feet and you can stand up,” he said. “Just don’t impale yourself on the ice spikes.”
Maddock breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally able to rise and stretch.
“Did that crawl get to you, old man?” Bones asked.
“Now, I’m good. I just…” Maddock paused in mid-sentence. The tiny cave was magnificent. Ice hung from the ceiling like chandeliers and protruded from the floor in thick spikes. “It’s like being inside an iron maiden,” he said.
Bones immediately began headbanging, thrashing his long hair back and forth, while playing an air guitar.
“Is this really the time?” Dima asked.
Bones straightened, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at her. “There’s always time for metal.”
“Let’s check this place out,” Maddock said. “I’m sure Faruk is getting tired of waiting on us.”
They began a careful inspection of the cave, Bones and Maddock shining their lights into every recess and a crevice, Dima using the flashlight on her phone to inspect the floor. After a brief search Bones found something.
“There’s a crack in the wall. It’s pretty narrow, but if we can squeeze through here, it looks like there’s another room we can check out.”
Maddock and Dima joined him and inspected the opening. Maddock shone his light up and down, frowning.
“I think I can get through. Not sure about you, though.”
“Let me try. I’m smallest.” Dima’s face was pale but resolve firmed her tone. “I’ll slip in and see if there’s anything back there.”
“If you’re sure,” Maddock said.
She looked at the opening, swallowed hard, and nodded. “May I borrow someone’s flashlight?”
Bones handed her his. “Don’t worry. We’ll call the fire department if you get stuck.”
“Nice.” She took a deep breath, exhaled, and slid sideways into the passageway.
She needn’t have worried. Her lithe form slipped through with ease. As soon as she had entered the next chamber she let out a cry.
“Oh my God. You guys have got to see this.”
“You go, Maddock. If I get stuck in there we’re screwed.”
Maddock didn’t have quite as easy a time as
Dima had, but with only a little more effort he soon found himself standing beside her in the next chamber. He didn’t need her to point out what it was she wanted him to see.
The frozen body of a man clad in a brown habit lay curled up in the fetal position. He was remarkably well-preserved, so well, in fact, that it was difficult to guess how long he had lain here. He had light colored skin, dark brown hair, and a bushy unibrow. His frozen lips were drawn back in a deathly rictus, revealing yellow teeth.
“This must be the monk Robert was searching for,” Maddock said. He knelt beside the body and ran his light up and down it.
“Do you think he found the fragment of the book of Noah here?” Dima asked.
“Definitely. Look at the monk’s hand.” Maddock trained the beam of his light onto the monk’s clenched fist. Ragged shards of paper stuck out where the man’s fingertips met his palm.
Dima sucked in her breath. “Do you think we can get the rest of the fragment?”
“Maybe. Robert must have tried and failed.”
“True, but you don’t know Robert. He would’ve found a frozen body unnerving. I imagine he didn’t try very hard before he took what he could and left.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Maddock began working the frozen fingers, trying to pull them apart. They didn’t budge.
“Too bad there’s nothing here we could use to start a fire,” Dima said. “Maybe we could thaw him out.”
“Seriously?” Maddock cocked his head and appraised her. “You’re lot more hard-core than I gave you credit for.”
She shrugged. “Just trying to solve the problem.”
“What’s going on in there?” Bones asked through the narrow opening.
“Not much. Just trying to pry something from a dude’s cold, dead hands.”
“Just break the fingers.”
Maddock slapped himself on the forehead. “Bones, sometimes you’re a genius.”
“I don’t think I can watch this.” Dima turned her back on Maddock.
Forcing down the revulsion that was already rising within him, Maddock set his jaw, took hold of one finger, and began to pull. With a sharp crack, the finger snapped.
“Gross,” Dima groaned.
“Only three to go.” Maddock continued the grisly work until he had bent back all four fingers, revealing the monk’s frozen palm. There lay the remainder of the document. He took hold of one corner and gently tugged. It was frozen solid.
“Bad news. It’s stuck.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Dima whirled around, eyes alight with anger. “All that work for nothing?”
“Maybe not nothing.” Maddock took out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the exposed portion of the document. “Maybe you can make something of that.”
A dull, distant popping sound reverberated through the passageway. And then another.
“What is that?” Dima asked.
Maddock came to his feet slowly. They were in serious trouble.
“Hey Maddock,” Bones said, “do you think I can fit through there?”
“I think you’d better find a way,” Maddock said. He turned to Dima. “Those were gunshots.”
Chapter 26
“Come on, Bones. You can make it,” Maddock urged.
“If I get stuck in here and get shot in the butt, I’m going to haunt you in the next life.” Bones turned sideways and forced his bulk into the crevice. Slowly he inched forward, grunting with the effort.
“Maybe if you sucked in your gut?” Dima asked.
“I… don’t… have… a… gut.” Bones said through gritted teeth. He stopped and for a moment Maddock feared his friend was indeed trapped in the narrow passage. “I’m okay,” Bones said. He then closed his eyes and slowly exhaled with a hiss like the last dregs of air leaving a deflating tire. He reached out his hand and Maddock took it.
“On three. One… two…” Voices rose in the distance, coming closer. “Three!” Maddock heaved with all his might. For a moment, Bones didn’t move. But then, with agonizing slowness, his body slid forward. Maddock braced a foot against the cavern wall and pushed. Like a cork out of a champagne bottle, Bones suddenly flew out and landed in a heap on top of Maddock. Maddock’s head hit the cavern floor with a crack and red light flashed across his vision.
“We have got to stop meeting like this,” Bones said. He clambered to his feet and hauled Maddock up. “Now what?”
“We go deeper,” Maddock said, pointing to the back of the cavern where he had spotted another small passageway. “You go first,” he said to Bones.
“No way. If I get stuck, the two of you are dead.”
“Trust me. I have a plan.” He fixed Bones with a determined look. His friend knew right away that Maddock would not be moved. As Bones and Dima rushed to the back of the cavern, Maddock took hold of a frozen stalagmite and wrestled with it until it broke free with a sharp crack. Holding it like a baseball bat, he moved to the edge of the narrow opening that led back to the ice cave.
He listened intently as the voices drew closer. He could make out only snatches of conversation, enough to know for certain that there were at least two men out there and they were looking for someone. He stood there, body coiled like a spring, waiting. The icy stalagmite sapped the warmth from his hands. You idiots need to get here before my fingers grow numb, he thought.
He got his wish. He heard a scuffling sound and then a grunt as one of the pursuers began to work his way toward the small cave where Maddock waited. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours, and then a hand holding a gun appeared.
Like a man splitting wood, Maddock brought the stalagmite down onto the exposed wrist. The man cried out in pain as bone and ice shattered and his pistol went clattering to the cave floor. Maddock sprang out in front of the opening and raised the remnants of the stalagmite. He had a moment to take in the sight of a man with dark skin and amber eyes wide with shock, before he brought his makeshift weapon down on the man’s head. The man slumped, his limp body now firmly wedged in the rock.
“Good luck getting him out anytime soon,” Maddock said. He snatched up the fallen pistol, a Glock similar to the one Bones usually carried, and headed for the back passageway.
He dropped to his knees and plunged into the low, narrow lava tube. After a few minutes of rapid and sometimes painful crawling, he heard Bones and Dima up ahead. He called out to let them know he was all right and they waited for him to catch up.
“Wonder how far this goes?” Bones said. “If there’s no way out, we could be in trouble.”
“At least we have a fighting chance now.” Maddock held up the Glock and Bones grinned.
“Nice job.”
They continued on in the darkness. There was such a regularity to the passageway that Maddock found himself wondering if they were moving forward at all. Finally, the way began to open up. The tunnel grew wider and taller until they could walk hunched over and then, finally, stand up straight.
“Holy crap, that sucked.” Bones turned to Dima. “Hey, are you any good at deep tissue massage?”
“I am, but don’t count on getting one for me. I don’t know you that well. At least, not yet.” She grimaced and stretched. “I guess we have a decision to make.”
“What do you mean?” Maddock asked.
Dima pointed down the passageway. About twenty meters up ahead, another lava tube intersected the one in which they walked. “Left, right, or straight ahead?”
“Let’s check it out.” Maddock strode quickly down the passageway, invigorated by the open space and the chance to actually walk upright on two legs. When he reached the intersection he stopped and shone his light down each tunnel in turn.
“What do you see?” Bones asked.
“There’s a lot of rubble in the tunnel to the left,” he said. “Makes me think the ceiling is unstable. The one to the right,” he turned and shone his light in that direction, “narrows pretty quickly. I say we go straight ahead.”
“You’re the b
oss. How about you take the lead for a while? Give me the gun and I’ll bring up the rear.”
“You just want to do some shooting,” he said, handing the Glock to Bones.
“You bet I do, and if you don’t hurry, I’ll be forced to start with you. Let’s move.”
Maddock chuckled, turned, and moved on ahead. The tiny, narrow beam of his Maglite danced off the shiny surface of the lava tube. There was no more ice here, only black rock, and as they walked, the air grew warmer and drier.
“I wonder where we’re headed,” Dima said.
“Worst case, into the heart of a volcano,” Bones replied. “I hope you brought the marshmallows.”
“I can’t decide if you are funny or annoying.”
“Join the club,” Maddock said. “I’ve felt the same way for as long as I’ve known him.”
“Haters,” Bones said. “You just…” He paused. “Hold on a second. Everybody quiet down.”
Maddock stopped and turned. Bones stood, lips pursed, eyes narrowed, head cocked to the side, listening intently.
“Someone’s coming,” he whispered.
“I don’t hear anything,” Dima said.
“That’s because you don’t know what to listen for. We need to get a move on.” Bones put a big hand on the small of Dima’s back and gave her a gentle push to get her moving.
Maddock didn’t ask how Bones knew what was coming. His friend had sharp ears and good instincts in situations like these. He set a faster pace, a slow jog which he knew he and Bones could keep up with ease for a long time. “Let me know if you need to rest,” he said softly to Dima.
“I ran a 10K two weeks ago. I think I’m good.”
At this, Maddock picked up the pace a little more. He kept his eyes glued to the floor in front of them, not wanting to risk tripping or stepping into a crack. A twisted ankle could spell doom for all of them.
After an hour of steady running, Maddock called a halt. They were all breathing heavily, but no one was yet spent. That was good.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Dima huffed. “I can go on, especially since there are armed men behind us.”