Joy in the Fire

The Cave

Elizabeth stared at the paper in horror, swallowing as her heart skipped a beat. "P-papa!" She called for her father, the remembrance that he had gone to the market slipping from the clutches of her mind. She took a deep breath and blinked firmly and slowly. It was still there. KING GEORGE DECLARES ABIDING BY CHRISTIANITY A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. The words screamed at her, taunting her and playing with her mind. The eighteen-year-old girl sank into a chair, only to stagger up again at the sound of the door as she internally wondered who could have come. Not many people made their way this far into the woods, at least not to see a reserved old man and his frail, equally reserved daughter.

She opened the door and admitted Edward West, the minister's nephew, who was a doctor. Edward had no parents, so he lived with his aunt and uncle, who in turn had no children.

"Hullo," Edward greeted her. "Is your father home?"

"He's not," Elizabeth answered distantly, her mind spiralling into a thousand pits of horror. She was quite weak, physically and emotionally, and sudden misfortunes had a strong and devastating effect on her. She could still be found weeping abed with a fever over her mother, who had died when she was only four.

"You alright?" Edward asked, catching her elbow quickly as she wavered. Elizabeth nodded vaguely at him, and he frowned as a parent at a misbehaving child. He began to say something, but then thought better of it.

"I came to inform you," He said instead, "That Uncle Xavier wants to find somewhere to form a hidden church, he—"

"Edward..." Elizabeth's voice was still barely more than a whisper, but her eyes had found his by now.

"What?"

"When I was little," She began, "I found this cave."

Edward raised an eyebrow and with a slow nod urged her to continue.

"It's quite large, and it's got different rooms, rather, and the entrance is quite hidden; you'd have to stumble upon it completely unintentionally to find it."

"That's brilliant, Elizabeth, BRILLIANT!" Edward laughed, nearly picking her up and spinning her around like the child she looked, but she tensed as he clutched her arms, and he checked himself. He quickly removed his hands and said, "I'd go with you now, but I've got more people to talk to and I ought to ask Uncle Xavier first. Could you take me tomorrow?"

"I s'pose..." Elizabeth replied, not without hesitating.

The next day Edward showed up in the early afternoon with a torch, a knife, and an attitude that Elizabeth thought was a deal too cheerful under the circumstances. After calling to her father that she was leaving, Elizabeth pulled on her boots with a sort of half-reluctance. When she stepped outside, however, a wave of that unnamed sensation that only nature can give you swept upon her. She took a deep breath of the crisp air and stood for a moment, eyes closed, listening to the birds singing their little songs. They could glorify their Maker and not be killed for it. Elizabeth sighed and opened her eyes. "It's this way," she said, trudging through the woods towards a neglected path.

It was a nice day; a bit foggy and beginning to get cooler after a warm summer. The leaves were just starting to turn, and now and again one would float gracefully down onto the forest floor. Sometimes the fallen ones danced about in little circles, nudged by the wind.

As they went along, the ground grew rougher and leaves were replaced by stones. The path faded and the ground began to slope upward. Elizabeth turned to Edward and said, half in a whisper, "We've got to climb up a bit before we get there." She felt a little uncomfortable talking to him, because she felt as though he was a good deal older than her, and not only four or five years. Perhaps this was because when you are younger, time seems so much longer, as it takes up more of your life. When she met Edward, he was more than half her life older than her, which was a lot to her. Their relationship hadn't differed much over ten years. She hardly knew anyone's name in their congregation, and only knew his because he was the minister's nephew.