The True One

Chapter 13 Part 1

"We're in." I answered for all of us. "Let's go."

"Fine." He shook his head at me and then nudged Flora. "What's your map say?"

"Nothing," She held it out for the group to view. "It leads us here, to this point, see? There's even a little arrow pointing right at where this rock wall is." Tightening her grip on the map, she held it closer to her face. "Wait a minute. Is that an arrow... or is it..." she turned the map a few degrees. "It's not an arrow, it's an L. I think... I think we're meant to go left."

I looked to Alek for confirmation. Not that I wanted to go back to LA emptyhanded, but I also didn't want this whole process to take longer than it needed to. If Flora headed us off in the wrong direction for half a day, that was half a day more that I had to deal with Alek's attitude.

"Nice job, detective Flora." He tipped an imaginary hat in her direction.

"But there's no trail." Macy walked left until she bumped into a low-lying bush to emphasize her point.

"It's overgrown, sure," Alek said, taking a shiny machete out of its holster. "But it's not impassable. Does anyone want to try their hand at bushwhacking?"

"I'll do it!" I held out my hand and after a pregnant pause, he swatted at the nearby shrubbery as a brief demo and then gave it to me.

We followed the length of the rockface, me hacking away at vegetation with a bit more enthusiasm than Alek seemed comfortable with. He'd given the metal detector to Macy, who diligently tracked the ground with it as we trudged on.

"What are we even looking for," she asked Alek.

Preferring to remain cryptic, his only response was, "you'll see."

The suspense built.

I'd just cut off a small branch to make it easier for us to continue forward when a steady beep pierced the air from behind me.

"I found something!" Macy held up the detector as though it were a trophy, then placed it near the ground again. The beeping continued.

Alek scratched at the loose ground beneath the machine. "Should we dig?"

"Obviously." Flora took out the retractable shovel Alek had given her and got to work, and, after only a few minutes, unearthed an old coin with a bird on one side and "one cent" stamped on the other.

"Well, would you look at that," Alek said as he picked up the coin and turned it over a few times as though he had never seen such a thing before.

"It's not gold, though," my father said.

"No, it's copper, a flying eagle penny." He held it up for my father to get a better look. "What's the date on it?"

Dad put on his reading glasses and peered at the coin. "I'll be damned. 1857."

"It was minted just a few years before the events we're discussing occurred." Alek passed the penny around for all of us to examine. "This very coin could have fallen out of a hole in Buckshot Barney's pocket."

Or out of a coin collector's catalog, or an online auction, if it was even real.

"This must mean we're on the right track," I said.

"You're right!" Alek, in fully dimpled glory, gestured us forward. "Lead the way, Verity."

"The way" was not so easy to lead us into. A steep drop off forced us to scramble down sideways. If not for the expensive hiking boots I'd bought just for this trip, I'd have twisted an ankle.

Between the heavy brush and abrupt decline, it took almost an hour to go only a short distance. Sweaty and sore, we made it down into a narrow gorge, wall of stone on one side, and the rough hill we'd just climbed down from on the other.

"Will you look at this," Alek said, eying of our surroundings as though it was all new to him when I knew damn well he'd been there before. How again was I expected to trust this man?

"No one would likely find this place without a map," he continued. "In fact, I bet no one's been down here since Buckshot Barney himself."

"Check it out." Flora had walked ahead of the group twenty feet or so. "Is that... a cave?"

So caught up in the absurdity of the situation, I almost missed a strong whiff of a familiar scent. Rotting wood. Decay. A once regal thing, now given away to disease. My heart started racing.

Bile threatened to force its way up my throat. My eyes watered. Something was wrong here.

The smell came from inside the cave. On no uncertain terms should we set foot in there.

"A cave?" Alek joined Flora, shining his flashlight into the darkness. Like everyone else, he seemed oblivious to any latent danger within. "Looks like a perfect place to stash some pilfered gold. Everyone, flashlights on. We're going in!"

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Author's Note: What danger could be lurking? Is our spa squad about to walk into a trap???