The Missing Mortals, page 9
Doug suggested that they hide their bikes back in amongst the trees before heading to the arch. He wasn’t worried that someone would steal them; he just didn’t want anyone to see their bikes and follow them down to the arch. When they had finished hiding their bikes, they adjusted their backpacks and set off along the creek.
It was now midmorning and the temperature had already risen into the mid-eighties. The limbs of the trees along the creek bank were limp and lifeless without even the hint of a breeze to reanimate them. It wasn’t long before Emma began to feel like the tree limbs. The morning’s exertions combined with the heat were beginning to sap her strength. She had just begun to think longingly of the cool water in her canteen when Doug suddenly stopped up ahead and suggested a rest.
Soon they were all sitting on the bank in the shade of one of the trees lining the north side of the creek, opposite the bluff. They sipped from their canteens and savored the cool water as they attempted to cool off. After about a fifteen-minute rest, they set off for the arch once again. As they walked, Emma began to notice the appearance of puffy white clouds in the sky. When they had set out that morning, the sky had been perfectly clear. She also noticed a slight breeze, which seemed to coincide with the arrival of the clouds. This change in the weather prompted her to ask, “Is it supposed to rain today?”
“I don’t think so,” Doug replied, scanning the sky. “I didn’t really listen to the weather report though.”
Emma said no more. They would have had to come anyway regardless of the weather. It was unlikely they would get another opportunity to get the sculpture without Doug’s dad coming along—at least not in the two weeks the note had given them. Besides, a few clouds didn’t necessarily mean that it was going to rain, and even if it did, a little rain never hurt anyone.
Finally, they arrived at the arch. Doug and Sebastian wasted no time. They immediately began preparing to pull the metal box from its resting place under the rock shelf. Sebastian dug the dive masks out of his pack, and Doug withdrew a long length of coiled rope with a large hook tied on the end from his. Then both boys stripped off their shirts, leaving their jean shorts to serve as swimming trunks.
“I know exactly where it is, so I’ll hook the rope to the hasp on the box,” Sebastian volunteered.
Doug had been prepared to do it, but Sebastian had brought up a good point. He was the only one of them that had actually seen the box in its underwater home. “Okay,” he agreed reluctantly. Sebastian had previously described the box’s location in some detail, and Doug knew that it was going to be tricky getting in and out of such a small space.
Sebastian adjusted one of the dive masks on his face and was just preparing to dive into the deep water next to the bluff when Doug stopped him. “Wait, Sebastian. You’d better take one of the glow sticks I brought. If the opening to the cave is as small as you said, when you go in, you’ll block off all the light with your body, and you won’t be able to see.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Sebastian said.
Doug rummaged in his backpack for a moment until he located one of the sticks. After breaking it to make it glow, he handed it to Sebastian. With the glow stick in one hand and the hook end of the rope in the other, Sebastian dove cleanly into the water. He felt the pressure on his eardrums as he descended to the bottom of the eight-foot pool. Quickly locating the opening in the rock wall, he swam through it before he had time to change his mind. Getting the hook through the hasp on the box took longer than he’d anticipated. The hook was almost too big, so he had to really work to get it through securely. By the time he finished fastening the rope to the box, he was beginning to feel the need for air. Realizing that there was no room for him to turn around, he used his hands to push off the bottom, intending to back out of the opening. But nothing happened. Thinking that he may not have pushed hard enough the first time, he tried again but with more force. Still he remained in the same spot. He pushed two more times before he realized that the reason he wasn’t making any progress was that his jean shorts were caught on something. Trying to remain calm, Sebastian reached back in an attempt to unhook himself from whatever he was hung on, but he couldn’t reach back far enough. Frantic now, he began pushing off the bottom over and over again and wriggling his body, thinking that if he squirmed enough he’d be able to tear himself free. By this time, his need for air was desperate. His attempts to free himself had used up the last of his reserves. His last thought before he passed out was that this was a stupid way to die.
Doug had been watching Sebastian’s progress from above. From his position, he could see Sebastian’s feet and the lower part of his legs sticking out of the opening. It seemed to be taking Sebastian an awfully long time. He looked over at the girls, worry evident in his expression. When he looked back down into the water, he could see Sebastian’s feet flailing violently and realized his friend was in trouble. Without bothering with a dive mask, he dove into the water and kicked hard for the bottom. Bracing his feet on either side of the opening, Doug tried to grab hold of Sebastian’s wildly kicking legs but with no success. Suddenly, Sebastian went limp. At last able to get a good grip on Sebastian’s legs and with adrenaline pumping furiously through his veins, Doug pulled with all he had. After a brief resistance, Sebastian came free. As soon as Sebastian’s head cleared the opening, Doug grabbed his friend under his arms and swam for the surface.
The two girls were already standing on the creek bank waiting to help pull Sebastian from the water. Soon they had him laid out on the same flat rock the girls had been sitting on just moments ago. Doug felt for a pulse and checked to see if Sebastian was breathing. Martha began crying softly and saying his name over and over again in a kind of chanting prayer. Emma looked on helplessly and said a silent prayer of her own.
Doug was relieved to find a pulse, but Sebastian was not breathing. Grateful that his father had insisted on his taking a course in CPR, he began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He’d only given Sebastian a few breaths when he began to cough and spit up water. Doug quickly rolled him over on his side until he was finished. Slowly, Sebastian sat up and looked at the worried faces of his friends. What happened next was totally unexpected. Martha knelt down next to Sebastian, threw her arms around him, and began crying hysterically. Her only thought was that Sebastian had almost died thinking she was mad at him. “I’m sorry, Sebastian,” she sobbed into his shoulder.
For his part, Sebastian appeared to be a little dazed and unsure of what was going on. He didn’t even seem to be aware that Martha was blubbering all over him. Thinking that Sebastian could probably use a little breathing room, Emma knelt down behind Sebastian so that she was facing Martha. “Sebastian’s going to be okay now, Martha,” Emma said quietly in an effort to calm her friend. When this did not have the desired effect, Emma tried another tack. “Martha, Sebastian could probably use some air.” This last statement seemed to get through to Martha. With one last hiccup, Martha finally let go of Sebastian and stood up.
Emma looked over at Doug. He was seated on the gravel bar a few feet away with his head bowed. Emma couldn’t be certain if he was praying or not, but it reminded her to send up her own prayer of praise and thanksgiving for a life spared.
When Doug had attempted to rise after reviving Sebastian, he’d found that his legs wouldn’t support him. He’d managed to stagger a few feet away on wobbly legs, and then he’d had to sit down again as the reality of what had just happened began to settle in on him. After the rush of adrenaline that he’d experienced during the rescue, it seemed Doug was suffering from a mild form of shock. Although his body wasn’t responding, his mind was perfectly clear. Grateful that Sebastian was still alive, he bowed his head to give thanks.
Emma’s attention was drawn back to Sebastian when Martha shouted, “Sebastian, you’re bleeding.”
Emma was standing behind Sebastian at the time, and at Martha’s exclamation, she began looking for signs of injury on Sebastian’s back. Seeing that his back was clear of any wounds, she quickly ran around to where Martha was standing. Sure enough, Sebastian was bleeding from a jagged looking cut on his abdomen. The cut appeared to be about two inches long, but it was hard to tell how deep it was because of the blood. By this time, Doug was kneeling beside Sebastian, examining the wound. “Martha, get me that first aid kit you brought. I don’t think it’s too deep, but we probably ought to clean it and bandage it.”
Thankful that she’d had the foresight to bring the kit and mentally kicking herself for not thinking of it first, Martha hurried to get her backpack. In no time, she was kneeling beside Doug with the kit in hand. Doug reached out to take the kit from Martha, but she pushed his hand away. “I’ll do it,” she said, surprising Doug. Seeing Martha’s look of determination, Doug stood up and backed away so that Martha could scoot closer to Sebastian.
Doug looked at Sebastian with raised eyebrows. Sebastian, who was now sufficiently recovered from his brush with death to enjoy all of this attention from Martha, was smiling over the top of her bent head. Martha was busy getting antiseptic and cotton balls from the kit and thankfully didn’t see his grin. With Sebastian looking on, Martha gently swabbed the wound with cotton balls soaked in antiseptic. Although it had to have stung like the dickens, Sebastian never made a sound, submitting stoically to her gentle ministrations. Martha was relieved to see that, just as Doug had suspected, the wound wasn’t very deep. When Martha was finished cleaning the cut, she applied some antibiotic ointment. There were no bandages in the kit large enough to cover the wound, so she taped some gauze over it.
“That ought to do it,” Martha said as she put on the last piece of tape.
“Thanks, Martha,” Sebastian said.
Martha looked up at him then and saw that for once he was being totally serious. A little embarrassed by what else she saw in his expression, she busied herself packing the items she’d used back into the little white box.
“I’m sorry, Sebastian,” Doug said, breaking the silence that had fallen. “I guess you scraped your stomach on the rocks when I pulled you out of the cave.”
“It’s okay, Doug. You saved my life. Now I owe you one,” Sebastian said with a smile.
“Let’s just call it even,” Doug answered with a smile of his own.
“I hate to break up this meeting of the mutual admiration society, but we still need to get the sculpture out of the water,” Martha said, sounding more like her usual self. While Doug and Sebastian had been talking, she had noticed the end of the rope that Sebastian had successfully hooked to the metal box. It had reminded her of their purpose in coming.
At Martha’s words, Sebastian started to get up. “Don’t worry, Martha. Doug and I will have that thing up here in a jiffy.”
“I don’t think you should get that bandage wet,” Martha said.
“Doug can’t do it by himself. I’ll have to help him,” Sebastian argued.
“I can help him,” Emma said quickly. Seeing that both Doug and Sebastian were about to object, she continued. “Sebastian has already done the hard part. Now all we have to do is drag the box out of the cave, and then everyone can help pull it to the surface.”
Sebastian was opening his mouth to disagree when Doug forestalled him. “She’s right, Sebastian. You did the hard part. Emma and I can handle the rest.” Then he looked over at Emma. “We can take turns dragging the box till we get it free of the cave. Just grab the rope and brace your feet on the cliff. Pull until you need air, and then we can switch places.”
Emma nodded her understanding. Saying that he would go first, Doug dove into the water. The others watched from above as he strained on the rope. At first it seemed that nothing was happening. Emma began to worry that the box was hung on some rocks. Suddenly, Doug’s upper body fell back a bit as the box began to move. Reaching further up the rope, Doug gave another mighty pull, and then he was kicking for the surface and some needed air.
Emma dove into the water before Doug’s head cleared the surface. After grabbing hold of the rope, Emma braced her feet on the bluff as Doug had done and pulled with all she had. She was gratified to feel the box moving. She was able to drag it to the outer edge of the little cave before she too had to get some air. As she swam toward the surface, Doug dove past her on his way back down. In no time, Doug had the box completely clear of the bluff. He appeared a moment later with the end of the rope in his hands.
“Doug and I can take it from here,” Sebastian said. He had anticipated Doug’s return and was already standing at the edge of the water, ready to grab hold of the rope.
Emma, who was still trying to catch her breath, didn’t argue.
“Why don’t we let Doug and Emma rest for a minute? You and I can handle this part,” Martha interjected as she came up to stand beside Sebastian.
Working together and with the buoyancy provided by the water, the two had the box up in no time. Quickly, they pulled it to the edge of the creek and into shallow water. Doug helped Sebastian drag it onto the gravel bar as Emma went to get the crowbar out of Doug’s backpack.
The others held their breaths as Doug applied the crowbar to the rusted hasp of the padlock. On the third try, it broke free with a dull clunking sound. Doug lifted the lid of the metal box. It was filled with straw just like the one in which the sculpture of Ruth had been found. With shaking hands, Doug swept some of the straw away to reveal an object wrapped in linen cloth. No one uttered a sound as Doug gently lifted the object and began to free it from its blanket of linen. Soon, he had exposed the treasure within—a polished white marble figure of a woman.
“Which one is it?” Martha asked quietly.
“I don’t know,” Doug answered. Carefully, he examined the sculpture to see if Marnatti had left any clues as to the identity of his creation.
“Look around the base,” Martha suggested.
“Maybe it says who it is on the bottom,” Sebastian said when the base failed to produce anything useful.
Carefully, Doug turned the sculpture upside down so he could look on the bottom. Emma and Martha let out of little gasp of surprise when Doug’s action revealed a sweeping S carved in the center.
“It’s Sarah,” Sebastian said.
Having verified the identity of the woman Marnatti had sculpted, Doug turned the figure back over so that they could examine it more closely. It was similar to the sculpture of Ruth they’d seen in Lord Dinswood’s suite a few nights back, but there were a few differences. Where Ruth’s head had been covered with a scarf, Sarah’s flowing tresses were free of any encumbrance. Sarah was dressed differently too. She was wearing a sleeveless floor-length gown cinched at the waist with a belt that resembled a length of fine chain. The dress hugged her frame and emphasized her lovely figure. The greatest difference between the two sculptures, however, was in the face. Marnatti had given Ruth angelic features, but he had given Sarah an exquisite beauty—the kind of beauty that made fools of men. This wife of Abraham had indeed been described as very beautiful in the Bible. In fact, her beauty had sometimes caused problems for Abraham as they traveled from place to place. All of these thoughts ran through Emma’s mind in quick succession as she gazed at the marble figure in Doug’s hands. She glanced over at Martha to see that she was equally enthralled.
“We’d better get it wrapped up,” Doug said, breaking the spell.
Martha pulled the little blanket from her backpack. A moment later, they had the sculpture wrapped and safely stowed in Doug’s pack. The top of the sculpture stuck out a bit, but because it was wrapped in a blanket, no one passing by would be able to tell what it was. They’d had to remove Doug’s lunch from his pack before putting the sculpture in it, and this had reminded them all that they hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
“Why don’t we take a break and eat lunch before we head back to our bikes?” Doug suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Sebastian readily agreed. It had been quite an eventful morning, and they still had the ride back to the castle to look forward to.
As they sat by the creek and ate their sandwiches, Emma noticed that the sun had disappeared altogether. The puffy white clouds she had observed earlier had given way to a solid mass of white. The temperature had dropped a bit as well. At least the trek back to their waiting bicycles wouldn’t be as miserably hot as the walk to the arch had been. Emma just hoped there wasn’t any rain on the way. They had to get back to the castle with the sculpture before Doug’s dad began to worry about them. Why do things always have to be so difficult? Emma wondered as she took another bite of her sandwich. A moment later, Emma had to admit that despite the scare they’d had with Sebastian, one good thing had come of the morning. They had managed to rescue the sculpture of Sarah from its watery resting place, and now Doug’s dad and Lord Dinswood would be safe for a while longer.
Emma decided not to mention her concern about the weather to Doug. If it decided to rain, there was nothing he could do about it anyway. He had enough on his mind without her adding to his worries. Getting the sculpture had just been the first step. Next Doug would have to signal the Reaper by hanging the school banner in his dorm window. They had all begun calling their unknown adversary the Reaper after Emma had described her impression of the hooded figure she’d seen in the library.
The note had said that after Doug gave the signal, he would be told what to do next. That was the part that worried Emma. What would the Reaper make Doug do, and would he have to do it alone? With a sigh, Emma ended her musings and began packing up the remainders of her lunch. While Sebastian and Martha did likewise, Doug loaded the now empty metal box with rocks and pushed it into the deep part of the creek next to the bluff. It was unlikely that it would be found any time soon, and it really didn’t matter if it was. They had the precious cargo it had contained.
