To keep herself company, she talked as she walked. Recited formulas, poems, and even bits from Jeremy’s notes. She walked down the tunnel until she came to a large boulder. There was no way to get past it, so it appeared she’d come to another impasse.
The large rock took up nearly all of the space leading through the remainder of the cavern. Upon closer inspection, Vanessa could easily see this large rock was not of the same stone as the rest of the cave. This boulder had been placed here on purpose.
Vanessa had learned long ago that no scientist achieved greatness by giving up at the first obstacle, so she would not turn back until she had exhausted all efforts to move past this rock. She knelt and dug into her bag, searching her tools for something that might assist her. But the instruments she carried were for more delicate work.
Still on her knees, she bent and felt around the base of the rock. Someone had placed the thing here; certainly that meant it could be removed. She’d read about such things in her scientific journals. Men on the hunt for antiquities often ran into clever traps and mechanisms meant to divert the average adventurer.
Her lantern didn’t afford her much visibility, but that didn’t prevent her from exploring with her hands. She moved her fingers over the walls that surrounded the boulder, searching for a lever or something that would shift the rock out of the way. Cobwebs matted to her fingers, and she ignored the urge to swiftly pull back her hand. No, she was a serious scientist, and that meant getting your hands dirty. A shiver crawled down her spine.
Momentarily she lost her balance, and her left arm reached behind her to grab onto the wall. She steadied herself just as her hand ran over something ridged and rough. It certainly didn’t feel as if it belonged in the cavern wall; perhaps this was her lever. She turned, holding the lantern closer, and saw an imprinted image of a fern. It was a perfect rendition, and her very first find.
She had gotten close to a discovery several years ago in some cliff caves near her family estate. But her mother had found out and had locked her in her room until the family had returned to London the following morning. But no one was here to stop her today.
Today she’d be a true scientist out on an actual expedition. Not merely one who theorized things and wrote articles, but a real paleontologist who had found an authentic fossil. It might simply be a fern, but it was hers.
She squatted and dug around inside her bag, searching for the appropriate tools. This set of tools was the one thing she owned that had belonged to her father, the one possession she truly treasured. She unrolled the leather pack and hand selected a small chisel and pick.
She knelt and positioned herself to carve out the fossil. But there was no way she could do it with only one hand. Odds were good she’d destroy the fossil should she attempt to remove it without adequate lighting. So she did the only thing she could think of: she put the lantern handle between her teeth and went to work.
Vanessa marked a space far enough outside of the fossil so as not to destroy her treasure. She hit the rock and the sound reverberated through the small space. She winced, drawing up her shoulders. But upon examination, she saw that she’d done as intended and started extracting the fossil. She continued striking the rock in precisely the same manner, only pausing to remove the lantern handle, swallow, and take a few deep breaths, then returning to her work. Finally the fossil broke free from its stone prison.
She held the lantern steady, then held the fossil out in front of the light. Her heart beat like thunder in her ears. It was perfect. A delicate template of a fern leaf, with every line and detail immortalized in the rock. She smoothed her thumb over the surface. Her first discovery.
Accomplishment surged through her, bubbling to the surface. She smiled until her face hurt. No more was she simply a student of paleontology. No; she was out here using actual tools and unearthing real fossils.
Vanessa took one last look at the fossil, wrapped it in a cloth, then dropped it into her bag. Perhaps there was more of interest within this stone. And she still needed to get around that boulder. If it was put here for a reason, then it would move somehow. She felt certain about that.
Her hands made quick, but thorough, work of the rest of the boulder. She had inspected almost every inch when she felt a piece of metal jutting out of the floor, lodged far beneath the great stone. She knelt and tugged on the metal, but it did not move. She tried pushing it but still gained no ground.
Trying a new angle, she turned it and the boulder creaked, then shifted. The floor beneath the boulder opened, like a trapdoor hidden beneath a rug, and the large rock disappeared into the ground. The floor did not seal back over; instead, the missing stone left a sizable gap in the flooring.
Vanessa came to her feet and gauged the distance before she leapt across it. This side of the tunnel was short, and soon she found herself in a chamber shaped much like a wagon wheel, with narrow caverns leading off it in every direction.
She was quite unsure which direction she should go in first. She didn’t want to go far away, in case Graeme found a way across. If she journeyed too great a distance, she might not be able to hear his voice if he called to her.
While the boulder that had hidden this area had clearly been brought here by man, this ring of tunnels appeared to be naturally formed caves. Vanessa started down the first tunnel to her left, and it was darker and narrower than where she’d been before. The ceiling sat heavy above her, not even an inch from her head. Cobwebs lined the walls and brushed against her arms as she moved deeper into the cave.
Of course, exploring crevices and caves for fossils entailed a certain amount of nasty creatures, she reminded herself. But she loathed spiders. Still, she persevered and sent a quick prayer heavenward that none of the creatures would crawl on her. Or bury themselves in her hair. A chill prickled up her spine. She wished now she’d braided her hair or worn a cap.
Her foot stumbled against something, and she stopped and lowered herself to shine the light better on the ground. She looked down into the hollow eyes of a human skull.
Graeme continued searching the area where the explosion had occurred, but he still could not find an opening to lead him to Vanessa. What the devil had Niall been doing to create such an explosion? Had he gone mad?
The chasm provided no way for him to cross here. Clearly he’d have to find another way around. Graeme coughed, trying to clear his lungs of all the dust from the explosion. Pain screamed up his arm, but he had no time to pity himself. The bleeding had stopped, for the most part, and now he only needed to concern himself with infection. However, there was nothing he could do to prevent that now, so he’d simply have to take the necessary precautions once they returned home and hope for the best.
He moved off in the direction from which they’d come. While he hadn’t been in this particular area of the caves before, he knew from previous experience that these hillsides were riddled with interlocking caverns and passageways that doubled back on themselves.
Hopefully Graeme would discover another route that circled around to where Vanessa sat trapped. He moved quickly, not wasting his time on being careful and quiet. Right now, what he needed to do was save Vanessa before she got herself killed.
She’d been his new bride for only a day, and he’d already led her into a harrowing situation. Well, he hadn’t precisely led her. He’d thought he was leaving their bed without her knowledge, but clearly he had misjudged her. That did not speak well of his abilities as a husband.
Granted he hadn’t anticipated excelling in that area. His own father had been a piss-poor husband, as had his grandfather. Neither one remained faithful, and his own father had gone so far as to bring his wife back to her home country and simply leave her here. He’d deserted her and expected her to live without one of her sons, once he’d reached a certain age.
At least his mother had fought back. She’d managed to keep Graeme’s younger brother Dougal home with her, but Lord Rothmore had not allowed his heir to leave England, except for a few weeks each summer when he’d allowed Graeme to visit. Once his father had died, Graeme had come to Scotland far more often than he’d been permitted to as a boy.
Finally, his trek brought him back to the fork where he’d hidden earlier when he’d captured Vanessa. This time, though, instead of going to his left, he went to the right. This might angle over to where she was now. He hurried through the tunnels, not minding the stones that bit into the bottom of his boots or the cobwebs that tangled in his hair. She was in danger, and he’d be damned if he’d let her get hurt. Not his wife.
Vanessa was not the sort to simply stay out of trouble. He could see that clearly enough, so he needed to remove trouble from her grasp. Now that he knew she was prone to following him, he’d be more careful about keeping an eye on her.