The Missing Mortals, page 19
“There it is,” Doug said suddenly, his voice echoing in the cavernous room.
There was no need to ask what Doug was referring to. He had his flashlight trained on the far wall, illuminating what appeared to be a pipe organ constructed of closely packed white cylinders that tapered to a point at the bottom. All that was missing was the keyboard.
“You can sure see why they call this Cathedral Cave,” Sebastian commented. “It really does look like something from the Phantom of the Opera.”
“That is the neatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Martha said with a sigh. “I just wish I had my camera.”
“Maybe sometime we can come back,” Sebastian offered.
“You’d have to get rid of the bats first” was Martha’s quick response. It really was a shame that she hadn’t thought to bring her camera because, as wondrous as Cathedral Cave was, she knew that she would never set foot in it again.
With one last look at the calcite pipe organ, Doug said, “We’d better start looking for any markings Darius might have left.”
Emma had been so enraptured by the rock formations that for a moment she’d forgotten why they had come. Sebastian’s murmured “Oh yeah” let Emma know she hadn’t been the only one.
They split up into pairs so that they could make a quicker survey of the room. Sebastian and Martha began checking the cave wall on the left side, and Doug and Emma began examining the walls to the right and left of the opening through which they had entered. The area with the standing water was going to be more of a problem, so they left it for the time being.
“We didn’t find anything,” Sebastian told Doug after a few minutes.
“We didn’t either,” Doug replied with a sigh. He had been hoping they wouldn’t have to check the area with the water. Now they had no choice.
“How deep do you think the water is?” Sebastian asked as if he had read Doug’s mind.
Doug shined his flashlight into the water, which was clear enough that you could see the muddy bottom. It didn’t appear to be more than a foot deep. Just to make sure, Doug put his arm in the water and was relieved when his hand hit the bottom, the water coming up a little past his elbow. Without another word he took off his shoes and socks and rolled his jeans up to his knees.
“Wait, I’ll help,” Sebastian said. He gave Martha his flashlight while he quickly removed his own socks and shoes and rolled his pants up like Doug had done. He sucked in his breath as he joined Doug in the frigid water. Taking his flashlight from Martha, he directed its beam into the water and began carefully making his way around the stalactites and stalagmites. Both he and Doug had to move about in a crouched position because the ceiling was so low. Emma and Martha watched and waited in the semidarkness, hoping against hope that the boys would find something. Emma tried not to think about the mud that must be squishing between their toes, and Martha tried not to think about the critters that might be in the water. Soon the boys were stepping back onto dry ground.
“Well, there’s nothing in the water,” Doug informed them. “It’s just like I thought. This was a big waste of time.”
“Yeah, we got our feet frozen off for nothing,” Sebastian agreed. Then both boys began putting their shoes and socks back on while the girls held their flashlights.
Martha watched them in silence for a moment and had the strange feeling that they shouldn’t give up just yet. “I think we should look around some more. We probably won’t get a chance to come back here again, so we’d better make sure we haven’t missed anything.” After she finished speaking, Martha could have kicked herself for suggesting that they spend even more time in the cave. After all, the longer they stayed in the cave, the greater the chance they’d be bitten by a rabid bat. Martha consoled herself with the knowledge that at least there didn’t appear to be any bats in this particular part of the cave.
“Martha’s right,” Sebastian quickly chimed in.
Although Doug didn’t think it would make any difference, he agreed to look around one more time. They spent another fifteen minutes carefully examining the cave walls for carvings of a raven and a rose but had no luck.
“I guess Darius didn’t hide anything in here,” Sebastian finally conceded.
Emma could hear real disappointment in his tone. Apparently, Sebastian had been the only one of the four of them to actually believe that Darius had hidden one of the sculptures in the cave.
“Let’s get out of here. We’ve wasted enough of our time.” Even though he hadn’t really expected to find anything in the cave, Doug still felt frustrated. They’d had two places to check today, and they hadn’t found anything at either one. Their list of likely hiding spots was getting shorter, and they still had three sculptures to find. His stomach knotted with worry as he thought about what could happen to his dad and Lord Dinswood if they failed to recover the rest of the Mortals.
Doug took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his head of all its worrisome thoughts, then turned and led the way out of the cathedral room. Eager to return to sunlight, Emma and Martha followed. It was then that it happened. Later Emma would come to look upon it as a genuine miracle. Sebastian started to follow them out of the room and then suddenly decided to take one last look at the pipe organ formation on the far wall. When he whipped back around, his feet got tangled up, and he lost his balance. As he fell, his flashlight went flying through the air finally landing in a depression several feet from where he lay. Amazingly, it hadn’t broken but continued to send out its powerful beam at an upward angle.
“Sebastian, are you all right?” Martha asked as she hurried to his side.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
With a shake of his head, Sebastian rolled over and sat up, gratefully taking the helping hand that Martha offered. While Martha strained to get Sebastian back on his feet, Doug began picking his way over to where Sebastian’s flashlight had come to rest. Emma was the only one left to see what its beam had revealed.
“Doug, don’t touch that flashlight!” Emma shouted.
“What?” Curious, Doug’s eyes followed the shaft of light cast by Sebastian’s flashlight. It was shining on a portion of the cave wall near the ceiling and to the right of the entrance. From this angle, carvings of a raven and a rose could be seen clearly. Suddenly feeling ashamed that he’d been so quick to give up, Doug sent up a silent prayer of thanks.
Sebastian was the first to find his voice. “Well, what do you know about that. Why didn’t we see them before?”
Emma had been wondering the same thing. The walls of the cave were uneven with a multitude of rocky outcroppings, especially near the ceiling. One such outcropping obstructed the view of the carvings unless you were looking at that section from exactly the right angle. Miraculously, Sebastian’s flashlight had managed to land in the one spot from which the carvings could be seen.
“You’ve got to be looking at them from the right angle,” Doug finally answered, having reached the same conclusion as Emma. Everything made sense now. It explained why none of the people who had previously explored the cave had found the carvings. If it hadn’t been for Sebastian’s “accident,” they wouldn’t have found them either.
“We’ve found the carvings, but where is the sculpture?” Sebastian asked.
“There must be a ledge or some kind of opening up there,” Doug replied.
“How did Darius get up there? It looks like it’s at least twenty feet or more.” Martha pointed out. She was afraid of heights, or more precisely, she was afraid of falling from them.
“He must have climbed,” Emma responded.
Doug swept the beam of his flashlight over the portion of the cave wall beneath the carvings. There were plenty of hand and footholds. A man like Darius, who had spent most of his life on a ship, would have had no difficulty climbing such a wall.
“Darius probably climbed the wall and then pulled the sculpture up with a rope,” Doug concluded. “Emma, hold my flashlight. You and Sebastian keep your lights trained on the wall, while I go see if there’s anything up there.”
“Doug, I don’t think you should try it. What if you fall? You could really get hurt.” Martha was nearly beside herself with worry. She couldn’t imagine climbing the wall herself, and it scared her to think that someone else would try it. Besides if something happened to Doug, it would be a long time before they could get him any help.
“I don’t really have a choice. Like you said a minute ago, we might never get another chance to come back here. I promise I’ll be really careful. If you’ll take Sebastian’s flashlight, he can spot me.”
“Good idea,” Sebastian said, quickly giving Martha his flashlight.
Martha still didn’t like it, but it appeared Doug’s mind was made up. She looked over at Emma and saw an expression of worry that must have mirrored her own. Keeping her light focused on the wall so that Doug could find the best places to put his hands and feet, Martha began to silently pray for his safety. Standing beside her, Emma was doing exactly the same thing.
As Doug began to climb, Sebastian took a position next to the wall directly below him. If Doug fell, at least he’d land on something a little softer than rock. True to his word, Doug climbed slowly, carefully choosing where he put his hands and feet and testing each new foot placement before putting his full weight on it. In no time, he was peering over the top of the ledge.
“I think I see something, but I’m going to need one of the flashlights,” Doug informed them. “I’m going to go ahead and climb onto the ledge. Sebastian, can you throw one of the flashlights up to me?”
“No problem. Just tell me when you’re ready.”
Silently, Martha handed Sebastian the flashlight as Doug disappeared from view. Soon his head reappeared. He was lying on his stomach with his head and arms hanging over the ledge so he could catch the flashlight. Emma kept her light trained on the cave wall just beneath Doug. She didn’t want to shine it directly in his face and blind him. If he missed the flashlight, it would most likely break, and they’d be down to one source of light. Emma held her breath as Sebastian called out, “Here it comes.”
Thankfully, the toss was perfect. Doug caught the flashlight effortlessly and disappeared from view once again. Emma let out a huge sigh of relief and waited expectantly while Doug looked around his rocky perch. In a moment, they heard him exclaim, “I found it!”
“Is it in a metal box like the others?” Martha asked. If it was, she wondered how they were going to get it down. Although she hadn’t asked the question out loud, it was answered by Doug’s next words.
“Yeah, and there’s a rope around it. Darius must have pulled the box up just like I thought. I can use the same rope to lower the box down to you guys.”
“That rope’s more than three hundred years old. Are you sure it isn’t rotten?” This time it was Emma who asked the question. She could just see the rope breaking as they tried to lower the box. Even packed in straw, the impact would probably break the sculpture inside.
“It seems to be in pretty good shape. Anyway, it’s all we’ve got.” Doug spent another few minutes examining the rope and tugging on it in various spots to make sure it would hold. The box couldn’t be all that heavy, he reasoned. After making sure that the rope was tied securely around the box, he began pushing it over the ledge with his feet while he held onto the rope with his hands. The flashlight sat on the ledge to his right so that he could see what he was doing. Once the box went over the edge, he braced his feet on the uneven ledge floor and began to slowly lower it. As he could no longer see the box himself, he had to rely on instructions from Sebastian. All was going well until the box was about ten feet from the ground. Suddenly, the rope broke and the box began bouncing along the sloping cave wall. With a cry of surprise, Sebastian rushed to catch it but the box seemed to have a will of its own, changing course as it encountered the different contours of the uneven rocky surface. Sebastian dashed back and forth and was finally able to stop the box’s rapid descent when it was only a few feet from the ground. Emma just hoped all the jarring hadn’t damaged the treasure inside.
Doug who had somehow managed to get to the edge in time to see Sebastian’s save said, “Good job, Sebastian. That was really close. I just hope the sculpture’s okay.”
“Me too,” Sebastian agreed. Although the air in the cave was only about sixty degrees, beads of sweat glistened on his forehead as he gently lowered the box the rest of the way to the ground. “Whew! Let’s not do that again,” he exclaimed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
Although Emma was eager to see what the box contained, she knew it was only right for them to wait for Doug. When she looked up, she saw that Doug was already on his way down to them. Before beginning his descent, he had tossed his flashlight back down to Sebastian.
“Be careful!” Emma and Martha called in unison. It would be terrible if, after finally locating the sculpture, Doug were to fall now. Just then, Doug’s foot slipped, and he began to slide down the wall just as the box had done. He didn’t slide far though before finding a secure foothold. Emma let out the breath she’d been holding. Doug continued on without any further mishaps and soon was standing on solid ground next to the box he’d discovered. It was padlocked just like all the others they’d found.
“We’ll have to wait to open it. Mr. Munsen probably has something we can use,” Doug said as he bent down to grab one end of the box. Wordlessly, Sebastian handed his flashlight back to Martha and picked up the other end of the box. Emma led the way out of the cave this time. The boys followed, carrying the box, and Martha lit the way from behind. In no time, they were back out in the sunlight. After taking a moment to let their eyes adjust to the bright light, they picked their way down to the riverbank where Doug whistled a signal to Mr. Munsen. True to his word, he was fishing exactly where they’d left him over an hour ago.
They watched in silence as Mr. Munsen reeled in his line and pulled up the anchor. The sound of the motor starting echoed off the bluffs, disturbing the tranquility of the scene. Expertly, he motored the boat over to where they were waiting. Doug and Sebastian set the box down for a moment so that they could pull the bow of the boat up onto the bank.
Seeing the box, Mr. Munsen said, “I see ya found somethin’. Is it one of the Mortals?” He’d first heard the story of the Mortals when he was a little boy. The legend of Marnatti’s sculptures was widely circulated in the small towns surrounding the academy, along with the belief that they no longer existed. He had been incredulous when Doug had told him that not only did the sculptures still exist but that four of them had already been found. If there really was one of Marnatti’s sculptures in the box the kids had found, he was about to see something that very few people had seen.
“We don’t know for sure,” Doug answered in response to Mr. Munsen’s question. “We need something to break the padlock so we can see what’s inside.”
“I’ve got somethin’ we can use in the truck. Climb aboard, and we’ll get going. Just set the box on the floor by your feet.”
Eager to see the contents of the box, Mr. Munsen revved the motor and headed the boat up river back toward the boat ramp. As they skimmed along the surface of the water, Emma checked her watch. It was now a few minutes before three o’clock. That gave them only an hour before they had to be back on the bus.
“We only have an hour left,” Emma shouted over the sound of the motor.
“No problem,” Mr. Munsen said. “It won’t take me long to get the boat back on the trailer. While I’m doin’ that, you kids can work on gettin’ the box open.”
When they got to the ramp, Mr. Munsen had the boys remain in the boat while he backed his truck and trailer down. Once he was back in the boat, he said to the boys, “I can take it from here. Look in the truck behind the driver’s seat. There should be a crowbar you can use to pop that padlock off.”
While Doug searched Mr. Munsen’s truck, Sebastian carried the box up the ramp and set it down in the parking lot. Soon Doug appeared with the crowbar. Using it as a lever, he quickly broke the padlock and lifted the lid. As with all of the other boxes, this one was packed full of straw. Doug began sifting through the straw until his hands encountered a wrapped bundle. Gently, he separated it from the clinging straw and lifted it out. Unlike the other sculptures they’d found, this one was wrapped several times with a thick piece of cloth and was only half as tall. Emma began to worry that it wasn’t one of the sculptures after all.
“It doesn’t look like all the others,” Sebastian commented.
“We won’t know what it is until Doug unwraps it,” Martha said with a frown. She had been thinking the same thing but didn’t like hearing her own doubt stated out loud.
Carefully, Doug unwound the cloth, and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief when the object inside was finally revealed. It was a sculpture of a woman kneeling. The woman’s head was tilted back slightly as if she were looking at someone above her. Her features were delicate and beautiful and held an expression of rapt attention. Her hands were folded in her lap—the fingers long and slender and the wrists small and fragile. The simple gown she was wearing was belted at the waist with what looked like a rope. Emma immediately identified the woman as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She looked as if she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, drinking in His every word. Emma couldn’t get over the look on her face. The slight smile on her lips conveyed both love and adoration.
“It’s beautiful.” Martha breathed in awe. “I think this is the best one so far.”
