By Request Collection April-June 2016. Оливия Гейтс

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ heart stopped pounding. Just one more minute.

      She made herself breathe. In. Out. “I’m fine.” Other than feeling like Chicken Little, she was. Still, she clung for one more moment, trying not to think of what might have happened if he hadn’t climbed up to get her. “I have to admit that white knights come in handy.”

      But it would be very dangerous to depend on one too much. She met his eyes. “I’m pretty sure I saw someone on the top of the cliff.”

      “Me, too.” Then he put a hand over her mouth and for a moment they both listened hard. The shower of rocks and pebbles had stopped. All she could hear in the silence was the call of a gull.

      Duncan whispered, “Stay here.”

      Then he rose and moved to the mouth of the cave. The moment he stepped out onto the ledge, she rose to her feet, but he stepped back in before she could reach him.

      “There’s no one up there now, but if we go out on that ledge or try to climb up, we could be sitting ducks. I figured we’d have more time before someone tracked us here.” He pulled out his cell, and then swore under his breath. “No signal.”

      “Well, as I see it, we have two alternatives. We can take our chances surviving more rock slides and climb down to the beach. Not my favorite plan. Or we can go ahead with our original idea,” she said. “We did come here to search the cave and look for Eleanor’s dowry. And since we risked life and limb to get this far, I say we forge ahead.”

      Duncan gave it some thought. The woman had guts and she was giving voice to his own instincts were telling him. “Whoever we saw up on the top of the cliff may decide to follow us.”

      “And run the risk of revealing himself or even getting caught?”

      “Point taken.” He pulled a flashlight out of his backpack and handed it to her. “You lead the way.”

      “This may be a tight squeeze for you. We’re both bigger than we used to be.”

      “I’ll manage.”

      Piper switched on the light and swept it over the walls. The area they stood in was roughly five feet deep, perhaps seven wide. The tunnel they entered offered even less space, and while she could walk upright, Duncan had to hunch over.

      “Just a warning,” she said. “If I see anything that moves, I’m screaming.”

      Duncan chuckled. “But you won’t be running away.”

      “Correct.” She stopped dead in her tracks when the tunnel widened into the second cave. “This is different.”

      Over her shoulder, Duncan saw the large boulder and the rocks of various sizes that now partially filled the space. Beyond the pile up of debris was an opening that appeared to be another tunnel.

      “Look.” She stepped to the side and ran her flashlight over everything so that Duncan could see. “That big boulder was blocking the tunnel to the third cave the last time I was in here.”

      “It’s been almost two decades,” Duncan said. “Plenty of time for things to shift around. You still game to lead the way?”

      “Absolutely.” She placed a hand against the wall to brace herself as she negotiated the fallen rocks toward the other tunnel.

      Duncan had to hunch down when the ceiling abruptly lowered, and before long, the tunnel began to slope upward. In his mind, he tried to picture where they were headed in terms of the land above them. Just when he’d decided they were walking roughly in the direction of the castle, the tunnel took a sharp turn to the left, then widened abruptly into a larger room that allowed him to fully stand for the first time.

      “Here’s the third cave,” she announced as she moved the flashlight slowly around the space.

      He spotted the small pile of rocks at the same instant that she froze the beam of light on it. The pile lay near a good-size boulder that had shifted and evidently tumbled loose from the arch of yet another tunnel directly across from the one they’d stepped out of.

      “I never saw that tunnel before,” she said. “It must have been completely blocked.”

      “Alba found the leather pouch containing the earring in a pile of rocks that had tumbled loose when lightning struck the stone arch,” Duncan said, urging her forward. They both dropped to their knees and began sorting through the pile near the side of the boulder. Then they began to work on the stones that were loose at the sides of the newly opened tunnel. Each one they dislodged seemed to loosen more.

      “Got something,” Piper said. The sound of her voice echoed in the space. When she pulled it out, Duncan recognized the leather pouch immediately.

      “It matches the one that your aunt Vi and Adair found the first earring in,” he murmured.

      Piper set it between them on the stone floor and then met his eyes. “Your theory. Maybe you should do the honors.”

      “No. You’re the one who found it.” Another part of Eleanor’s dowry would be inside, he was certain. But he still held his breath as she folded back the flap of leather and reached in. Even in the dim light, the gold of the earring glistened and the sapphire glowed. She lifted it out and offered it to him. When he clasped his hands around hers, the stone flashed even brighter, and Duncan felt that same, strong, sure connection to Piper that he’d first experienced on his mother’s wedding day. Time seemed to stand still.

      Then they heard a clatter of rocks.

      “Shhh,” Duncan breathed in answer to the question in Piper’s eyes. Only time would tell if the noise had been caused by some of the rocks they’d loosened on their journey or by someone who’d followed them.

      Seconds passed—five, ten, fifteen. Just as he was about to breathe again, there was a second scrape and clatter of stones. He leaned closer to whisper, “Someone’s in the tunnel we just came through.”

      If he’d been alone, he would have doused the light and waited at the side of the opening they’d just stepped through. But he wasn’t alone, and he wanted a better tactical advantage and more data before he initiated a confrontation.

      He took the earring out of her hand and secured it in the leather pouch. Then he slipped it beneath his T-shirt and tucked it into his back pocket. Finally, he picked up the flashlight and rose to check out the tunnel the stones and boulder had tumbled from. It was smaller than either of the ones they’d walked through. But for now, it would offer some cover.

      “We’ll have to be quiet. C’mon.” He spoke the words lower than a whisper, but she rose and gripped his outstretched hand. Ducking his head, he led the way into the cramped space. Being quiet was easier said than done. But he let out the breath he’d been holding when he noted the rocks that had tumbled loose near the entrance gave way to smoother stones in a matter of a few yards. The bad news was that he couldn’t see a curve in the tunnel yet, and he had no idea where it would take them.

      But he could swear he felt the warmth of the sapphire through the thickness of the leather that enclosed it. Pausing, he glanced back. They’d come far enough that he could no longer see the room they’d left. But there was another clatter of rocks. He moved on, and within a few steps, the beam of the light illuminated the curve he was hoping for.

      Drawing СКАЧАТЬ