"How was the baby shower?" Greg asked over dinner on Saturday evening when the family was all together again.
"Very nice, she got some lovely things," Susan said with a hint of wistfulness in her tone and Greg smiled in silent understanding. "I'm glad Jessie got to go. There were other girls there, daughters of some of Marion's friends, so I think she had fun," Susan added the momentary sadness in her tone was gone.
"What did you think of the shower, Jessie?" Greg asked her.
"It was a party, Papa. All the ladies gave presents to Charlie and his brother or sister," Jessie explained.
"Charlie?" Greg questioned.
"That's what they've decided to name baby number one. Since they still don't know if baby number two is a boy or a girl yet, they only have the one name so far," Susan said.
"They must have some ideas for the second one," Greg said.
"They do. Richard is suggesting Carlton or Roger if it's a boy. Marion doesn't like either one of those, so she hopes it's not," Susan said.
"What if it's a girl?" Greg asked.
"Well, the middle name will be Jean after Richard's late mother, but they haven't decided on a given name yet," Susan said.
"What are they considering?" Greg wondered.
"Emma Jean, Melissa Jean, Katherine Jean, Emily Jean, or Camilla Jean," Susan told him.
"Hum. They really haven't narrowed it down very much, have they?" Greg remarked. "When is she due?"
"June 24th, but she has a C-section scheduled the same day Matthew arrives for the summer, and that's on June 17th," Susan reminded him.
"I should probably spend the day with Richard in the waiting room," Greg commented. "He's going to be a nervous wreck."
"Probably," Susan agreed. "He was at the house for the shower, trying to stay out of the way, but I could see he was getting more and more nervous just from all the baby things Marion was receiving. She told us she's bought some, but she's been putting it all down in the guest house to keep it out of the way because it's had such a bad effect on him. We went down to look at what she already has after the party and Richard came with us. He seemed surprised to see most of it, but especially when Marion told him they need to put the cribs together tomorrow and move everything to the nursery. He looked like he was going into shock. I don't think he'd seen most of that before."
"Is the nursery ready? If Richard hasn't seen it, is it really ready for furniture?" Greg wondered.
"Yes. Marion had a designer working on it, so it's beautiful. She has wall paper on the walls and matching drapes and linens. The chest and the changing table are all in place, so they're ready for the crib, it's just that Richard hasn't spent much time in there yet," Susan explained.
Greg nodded as they finished dinner. "I think I'll call him, see if he needs a hand tomorrow."
"He might," Susan agreed.
"Do you need me here after your services?" Greg wondered as he picked up the phone.
"I'm helping Zackary to study for his history and math finals, and Jessie needs to find all her library books to return to school next week. I think we can handle it," Susan assured him, and Greg went into the front room to call.
c
And so, once again on Sunday, Greg and Susan spent the day apart. As Greg had suspected and Susan suggested, Richard was struggling with the idea that they had to be ready for the arrival of their babies in eight days' time. Greg quickly learned his friend had absolutely no idea where to start in putting together a crib, much less two of them. Consequently, Greg decided to spend the day helping his friend while Susan stayed at home with the children, helping them to prepare for their last week of school.
"Are they ready?" Susan asked when Greg got home later that evening.
"In a word, no," Greg said. "The cribs are together. It really helped to have assisted John in putting Peter's together last year, but everything else they have is still in packages, even the crib linens. Marion's mother was there going over how to wash things for the babies, helping Marion arrange the changing table, that sort of thing. She did get the crib things in to wash while I was there so they were struggling to fit the sheets on the mattresses by the time I left."
"That's something," Susan said. "What about the car seats?"
"I persuaded Richard to take those out of their boxes too so we could try them out in the car before I left. It's a good thing I did, because getting them buckled into place is not an easy thing to do, and it's harder when there are two," Greg said. "Marion was just getting Richard to take their double wide stroller out of its box when I left."
Susan smiled and shook her head. "They have so much to learn. They are going to need a lot of help, Greg."
"Yes they will," Greg said. "It's a good thing we live close by."
"Yes it is. They've been such good friends to us, I think it's time we returned the favor and helped them out as much as we can," Susan said.
"I intend to," Greg agreed. "Being able to rejoice in the blessings of the Lord when they come to our friends is very important I suspect."
"When did you get to be so wise?" Susan teased.
"I'm trying," Greg assured her. "Hopefully we've learned a few things from our past, some perhaps we can pass on. I plan to drop in on them a couple of times this week, just to give them a hand and to lend Richard the moral support."
"Isn't Richard working?" Susan asked.
"No. He blocked off everything from now until the end of September to help with the babies," Greg explained. "It seems excessive to me, but Alex told me that's what he decided to do."
"Hum, maybe. I don't know though. I suspect Richard is going to be a very involved father. And keep in mind this is the only time they get to do this, Greg. Two babies, all at once, but I'm sure by the end of September he's going to be more than ready to go back to work," Susan predicted.
"More than likely," Greg agreed.
"Have you decided which days are you going?" Susan wondered.
"Probably on Wednesday, then if you don't mind, I thought we could all go next Saturday. We could spend time with them in the afternoon then take them out to dinner before the babies get here," Greg suggested.
"I think that is a very good idea," Susan said. "Check with Richard, make sure they don't have other plans."
"I'll ask him on Wednesday when I go by," Greg promised. "So Zackary, are you ready for your finals?"
"I think so. Mom helped me study history and I have that one tomorrow," Zackary said.
"What about math?" Greg asked.
"It's on Wednesday," Zackary said.
"And English?"
"I don't have to do the English one, 'cause I aced my last three spelling and grammar tests," Zackary said.
"So that's not so bad. Only two tests," Greg observed.
Zackary made a face. "Yeah right. The last week of school is always so long!"
Susan smiled. She could remember thinking that too during her own school days.
"Well just try to remember you're coming with me on Friday," Greg reminded him. "That should give you something to look forward to."
"I haven't forgotten," Zackary assured him and he hurried through dinner so he could return to his room to do some last minute studying.
c
The last week of school might have gone by slowly for the Jessie and Zackary, but for Greg and Susan it flew by. Susan was trying to work ahead in anticipation of taking a few days off the following week to spend time with Matt after he arrived and also to help Marion once she and her twins came home from the hospital towards the end of the week. Greg was working through Alex, trying to finalize a deal with a potential producer which seemed a good fit for his script while a second producer who decided he wanted the movie and was actively trying to court them. He did make a brief visit to their property early on Monday to deliver the materials list to Mr. Van Kirk as promised and he also spent time with Richard on Wednesday afternoon, but in the blink of an eye, it was Friday again, the day Greg had promised to take Zackary with him to visit their new house.
"Are you ready?"
Greg was there to meet Zackary in front of his school as soon as the last bell rang.
"Don't we need to go home first?" Zackary asked.
"I have your boots and jeans in the back," Greg said. "I suggest you change in the car so we have more time once we get there."
"Oh, okay," Zackary agreed. "I don't suppose you brought a snack?"
Greg handed him a juice box and a baggie of apple slices, noting that Zackary always seemed to be hungry these days. Zackary finished both before they got to their property, looking eagerly out the window as Greg turned from the street onto the gravel drive.
"We have a driveway!" Zackary exclaimed.
"Yes. It makes getting onto the property simpler, though the place I generally park hasn't changed," Greg said as he pulled off the gravel and stopped beside the contractor's shade. "I need to consult with Mr. Thompson. I'll wait for you under the canopy while you put on your jeans."
"Okay," Zackary agreed.
He wasted no time in changing his clothes, and was shortly at Greg's side, eager to explore the house and the cave.
"Are you ready?" Mr. Thompson asked as Zackary joined them.
"I am," Zackary declared. "Hi Mr. Thompson."
"Hi Zackary. Nice to see you again," Mr. Thompson said kindly. "Mr. Abernathy, do you need a guide?"
"I think we can find our way, thanks," Greg said. "This way Zack."
Zackary grinned as he followed Greg, giving a little wave back at Mr. Thompson who was watching them from his work table as they walked away.
Greg led the way to the narrow path along the orange fence down into the valley floor. In most places, the gentle slope of the valley nearest the cave had been cut away and replaced by a relatively steep cliff, held in place by a series of short retaining walls stepping up the slope with boulders arrange between them, which in one direction eventually merged with the wall of the cave. In some places closest to the cave, both the walls and the boulders had been covered with volcanic-looking cement, in others they were still exposed and plant pockets had been intentionally left. The bottom of the valley was now much deeper than it originally had been and featured a rocky streambed leading away from the cave at the base of the cliff. The steel beams which a month ago were roughly the height of Greg's head now looked much higher as the grass surface beneath it had been cut away and replaced by the rocky-bottomed streambed where it turned to go under the house. A low foot path ran alongside the stream on the side opposite the cliff.
"Wow, how did this get here?" Zackary asked as he looked at it.
"Mr. Sato made it, using the rocks they pulled from the ground when they dug out the mouth of the cave," Greg said. "This basin will fill with water when it rains. The streambed will allow the water to eventually drain away, without flooding excessively."
"Did it do that when it rained?" Zackary asked.
"Not all of it was here, but the basin at the mouth of the cave was, and it formed a very nice pool," Greg said.
Zackary nodded as he looked over everything. "Does the path go into the cave?" he asked as he craned his neck to see where it went.
"Yes, though it's not completely finished yet," Greg said. "Do you want to go that way first or look at the house?"
"Let's do the house first," Zackary said.
"This way then," Greg said.
He used the boulders placed as strategic points in the streambed to cross it to the path on the other side. They then followed it under the bridge to the U-shaped open area on the other side. It was surrounded on three sides by the growing structure of their house.
From here the progress Mr. Thompson's crew had made was much easier to see. The hotel-style guest rooms were now not only completely framed, but several of them now also had windows and parts of the rooms on the floor above two of them had been framed as well. They walked up a makeshift wooden ramp that took them into the downstairs hall with the door to the closest bedroom on the south side of the U. Zackary looked curiously at the guest room, then at that and the one it connected to, and it's bathroom while Greg followed, before returning to the hall and going up the stairs to the first landing which had an opening to the inside of the U which suggested a door would eventually be there.
"What's this?" Zackary asked.
"Remember the multi-level deck in the drawing?" Greg asked.
"The one kind of off the kitchen?" Zackary asked.
"Yes, that one. This will lead to the lowest level of that," Greg explained.
Zackary nodded as he considered the opening.
"It's sort of hard to picture," he said.
"That's because there isn't enough of it there just yet," Greg said. "Come on, let's look up the stairs."
They followed a second short flight of stairs, which brought them up to the first floor of the bridge house. This they knew would be the main living area for the house. It now had a solid floor and framed exterior walls showing where doors and windows would be. Plumbing stubs extending up through the floor in what would become the kitchen showing the position of the sink and dishwasher, gas lines showed the location for the stove, and framing had begun to outline the wall that would separate it from the family room. The short flight of steps to the level Susan called the mezzanine on the plans was now in too, though that was as high as the house presently went. But the floor of the mezzanine formed the ceiling for the landing below it, making that part of the house feel more or less closed in.
"What's this going to be?" Zackary asked as they carefully walked around on the top level which as of yet, had no walls.
"Over here will be the dining room," Greg explained as he walked inside the lines of a strangely angled space. "And this way, you see the markings on the floor?"
"Yeah."
"This will be the hall leading to yours, Jessie's, and Matt's bedrooms," Greg told him. "They will be on top of two of the three guest rooms."
"What's on top of the last one?" Zackary asked trying to remember how it looked in their plans.
"Another deck," Greg said. "Shall we go back down and look at the other side?"
"Okay," Zackary agreed.
They walked down the steps from the mezzanine and across their future family room, taking a moment to look out of the space in the exterior framing that would one day be windows looking towards the cliff. From there, they could just see part of the grotto and the eastern most edge of the mouth of the cave. Next they walked up the set of steps that matched those going to the mezzanine on the other side, and here they could see not only the floor and framing, but also the small fireplace in what would be a small sitting room or library was beginning to take shape. It was still just bare cement, not covered with the rock that would eventually define it, but it was in place and already very much the focal point of the room, though there were also long narrow windows on either side which let light in very close to the cave. They looked curiously around the room, at the place where the steps leading to the upper floor and the living room would eventually be, and then they explored the short hall leading to a powder room, the master bedroom suite and eventually another balcony. Those rooms had been framed too, and they went in to take a look. Not everything was finished, but at least some of the outer walls were in place and Greg for the first time could appreciate the distant view of the ocean they would have from their bedroom in the new house.
"They've gotten a lot done this week," Greg remarked.
"Yeah, they have," Zackary said. "Greg, why do you think they've finished all this, but left this wall out?" he asked as they returned to the library and stood looking at the place where the library floor ended abruptly less than three feet from the exposed rock of the hill beside it. Clearly the topsoil had been cut away in that place, and the usual lips put in place, but as of yet the rock was still there.
"I've been meaning to look at this," Greg said as he bent forward to inspect the space. "Curious. I thought this was in place."
"You thought what was in place?" Zackary asked.
"This is where the secret passage will be into the cave," Greg explained. "On the inside of this room in this place, there will be a bookcase along this wall, mounted on hinges. It will open and behind it will be a passage way that connects to the cave system behind it. I thought Mr. Van Kirk told me they'd punched through this wall last week, but I don't see it."
"Maybe they covered it up or something," Zackary suggested.
"Perhaps," Greg said. "Let's go back down stairs on this side, look at these three guest rooms, then go to inspect the garage before we enter the cave."
"Okay," Zackary agreed.
The landing on this side below the library was much smaller and led directly into the very short hall just outside the first guest room. They looked them over, noticing that with the floor of the rooms above two of them in place, the first two felt enclosed. They left the guest rooms via a little ramp and found that the little stream ran roughly parallel to the rooms on this side, though it curved around significantly, approximately ten feet away.
"Weren't we going to put the pool here?" Zackary asked.
"There will be," Greg assured him. "It will be located just beyond the creek, however there will be a planted area surrounding the stream, which will give us the hint of a garden and something more that bare cement in this space."
"Will it have trees?" Zackary checked.
"Yes, and wild grasses and stepping stones creating a path to follow," Greg described what he'd seen in Lee Sato's plans. "That will eventually become the path from here down to the lower valley."
"Okay," Zackary said as he tried to envision what Greg was telling him. "Which way?"
"Follow the path the other way, under the house," Greg directed.
Together they walked back along the newly created creek bed, under the bridge house, crossed the stream bed using the rocks, and followed the path back up the hill along the orange fence to the top. Greg led the way past where they'd parked to the crest of the hill where the drive way was then they followed it where it curved and went down the other side, headed towards the garage. There a surprise awaited them. Framing was now in place around the edges of the opening to the garage and the two roll up doors they'd selected the previous weekend were already in place.
"Wow! A garage," Zackary exclaimed.
"Indeed," Greg agreed as they looked inside to find a flat, level cement floor had also been poured.
"Do you like it?" Mr. Van Kirk asked as he came to join them.
"It looks very nearly finished," Greg told him.
"Hum, not yet, though we do have the conduit for your lights in place. We ordered your fixture choices Mr. Abernathy, and also the cabinets you wanted. They'll be here next week then we can put them in," he told him. "There is still your garage door opener to select," he reminded them.
"We'll look into it soon," Greg assured him. "Is the cement dry enough to walk on?"
"Yes, go right ahead. It will take another week to completely cure ... and I wouldn't want to drive on it just yet, or close up the doors until it is, but it is fine to walk on. Just mind the utility gap in the floor. It's deeper than it was," he warned.
"I can see that," Greg assured him. "How soon until you can close those off?"
"The grates are here, but we're waiting until the electrician comes next week to put them in place," Mr. Van Kirk explained.
"The electrician?" Greg questioned. "Surely it's too soon for that."
"Not in the cave it isn't," Mr. Van Kirk said. "Go on in, take a look. You'll see what I mean. Just watch your step when you leave the garage."
Greg and Zackary did what he said, walking through to the back of the garage, using their flashlights to light the way. Due to the cement, there was now a step down between the garage and the tunnel out the back. The notch in the floor was covered with a grate here, except for here and there where they came to an additional notch running up the right wall, along with several recessed areas at the top of the wall near the ceiling. Greg shown his light into the notches and discovered electrical conduit already in place with exposed wires visible where the notches met the spaces.
"Junction boxes need to be installed there," Mr. Van Kirk explained as he followed them. "We'll get the lights put in here as soon as he does that."
"So soon?" Greg asked in surprise.
"Yes. Your cave is going to be livable long before your house is." Mr. Van Kirk bragged slightly at the progress they were making.
"I don't know about that," Greg commented.
They turned the corner into the newest tunnel which led to the bridge in the cave and discovered this tunnel had received the same treatment. It had a grate-covered notch in the floor along the right hand wall for the utility lines, vertical notches at regular intervals up the wall on the same side, connected to recessed areas parallel to the floor but along the junction of the wall and the ceiling. In every case, conduit was already in place and waiting for the electrical connections to be made.
At the end of the tunnel, they emerged onto the ledge on the garage side of the bridge. There they found the surface of it had been ground flat, though it was at a higher level than the floor of the tunnel they'd just emerged through. Hand rails had been installed on the left side and a long, mid-calf high box had been constructed on the edge of the right side, which Greg guessed contained the utility lines.
"We're going to finish this so it looks like a natural ledge," Mr. Van Kirk explained.
"Will the lines still be accessible?" Greg wondered.
"Yes, there will be latches installed in the lids so you can still get to them easily," Mr. Van Kirk assured him. "But it will look a lot better."
Greg and Zackary examined the boxes before they stepped off the bridge on the house side, onto the natural landing that looked down onto the deeper part of the cave. The notch in the floor was back, though this stretch was not yet covered by a grate, and they followed it away from the edge of the landing, through an adjoining chamber to a narrow but very short passageway. There the level of the notch grew suddenly deeper and seemed to disappear.
"Where does it go?" Greg asked.
"That's where it breaks through to your bridge house," Mr. Van Kirk told him.
"Is that what you meant when you said you'd broken through?" Greg asked.
"Yes. They run between the cement supports and the steel beams, where they're inserted into the rock. We've got them in now, so we've got the utility lines from your house fully connected, all the way to the service points at your property line," Mr. Van Kirk said.
"When will the passageway into the house itself be built?" Greg asked.
"Soon. Mr. Thompson wants to finish the framing for the mezzanine first. The beams are here, just waiting to be put into place, so we'll probably bore out the opening on this side early next week," Mr. Van Kirk said. "It's our last one to do."
"Have you done the other two?" Greg asked in surprise.
"Yes. Come take a look at your cottage, Mr. Abernathy," Mr. Van Kirk said.
He led the way back towards the bridge, then turned west at the landing before they crossed it into a side passage way on the same level. Here there were no notches in the walls, but there was evidence that work was being done to create the notch that would hold the utility lines along the floor. The passage way was one Greg was less familiar with, and apart from their flashlights, the darkness was so complete, that it made the going relatively slow as they took care to watch their footing and to be wary about what was over head. Although Greg reasoned it really wasn't all that far, it took them quite a while to reach the end of the passage way, where it was interrupted suddenly in a flight of wooden steps, leading up into the light. They followed them up and found themselves inside a structure with walls built of logs. It had no roof as of yet, though half did appear to have a ceiling, and there were openings for windows and doors in place. There was also an enormous rock fireplace which stood in the exact center beneath where the peak would eventually be, but slightly to one end of what initially looked like a single, rectangular room. There was a short hallway between the stair well for the steps and the fireplace, which along with the half-finished ceiling, visually separated the space into two rooms.
"What is this?" Zackary asked in surprise.
"This is what I'm calling the cottage," Greg explained. "I intend to use it as an office though its design is general enough it could be used for any number of different purposes."
"It very well could be," Mr. Van Kirk agreed. "It will have a small kitchen, and a bathroom on this side of the fireplace opposite the top of the steps we just came up, beneath this section with the loft."
"The what?" Zackary asked in confusion.
"Go out into the main room where you can see the front of the fireplace then turn around," Mr. Van Kirk told him.
Zackary did as he said. When he turned around, he could see that what he'd thought was a ceiling, was actually the floor of an open loft which lined up with the front edge of the fireplace. There were steps in the main room leading up to it, and Zackary went up to look. The edges of the floor were finished and was clearly intended to end there, overlooking the large room, though as of yet there was no railing in place.
"This is coming along nicely," Greg praised.
"Yes, it is," Mr. Van Kirk agreed. "It should have a roof and windows in another two to three weeks."
"And you can get here from the cave," Zackary said.
"Yes you can," Greg said. "Let's go out through the front and look at the outside."
They walked through the door to the front of the cottage then walked around the entire perimeter of the tiny structure, although the western edge was very close to the point of the hill and the face of the cliff, so they had to be very careful as they walked on that side.
"Now what do you think?" Greg asked Zackary.
"I didn't know you were building this," Zackary told him truthfully. "And it's nearly finished."
"Not quite," Mr. Van Kirk said with a chuckle, "though I suppose compared to your main house, it seems like it. The outside will look a bit different when it is finished."
"How?" Zackary asked curiously. To him, the log structure looked very much like a log cabin and looked fine to him.
"We'll be plastering between the dips in the logs, like they used to in the old country, a long time ago," Mr. Van Kirk told him. "And of course you'll need your front steps and a door."
"Yeah okay," Zackary said. "It still looks cool though."
"Thank you. You want to see the bottom of the cave now?"
"You mean there's more?" Zackary asked in surprise.
"Yes. We don't have a good connecting route yet, so to see it, we'll go back down by your house and through the mouth of the cave to get there," Mr. Van Kirk said.
"Lead the way," Greg told him.
They followed their guide back along the crest of the hill, reaching the terminus point for the gravel drive and walking along it briefly before turning back towards where they'd parked and the narrow path by the orange fence. Again they walked down it, crossing the streambed using the rocks at the bottom. This time however they followed the path in the other direction, around the edge of the grotto, up into the cave. Mr. Van Kirk led them through the passage way in the back, to the floor of the large chamber they'd passed through via the natural bridge earlier. They passed under the bridge, and immediately the passage way became much narrower, with a lower ceiling, though it was still relatively easy to walk through as long as they walked single file. No notching had been done here, though their flashlights showed that the floor had been marked in spots.
There were steps down in several places, a few spots wide enough to be considered small chambers, but the passage always narrowed again. There was a fair amount of loose rubble when they reached the lowest level, before stepping through a slit sized, angled passageway which showed evidence of a large gas bubble off to the side, and emerged at the back of the original tunnel.
"Wow!" Zackary said again as they followed the tunnel out through the shack and into the bright sunlight. They walked through the trees and found the pond and beyond it the meadow. Amazingly enough, the lowest level of their valley looked completely untouched, exactly the same as it had the first time they visited, despite all the changes that had taken place in every other part of their property.
"I'm glad this isn't different," Zackary told Greg.
"That is by design, Zack. Other than connecting the back of the tunnel to the passages in the cave, I've asked both Mr. Thompson and Mr. Van Kirk not to come to this place. Mr. Thompson has in fact put up an orange fence across the width of the valley one level up to prevent that," Greg said.
"That's right," Mr. Van Kirk told him. "This is only the second or third time I've been here myself, other than the first tour your Papa gave us."
"Good," Zackary said. "This is our place. It's good to keep this part the same."
"I completely agree," Mr. Van Kirk told him. "I wouldn't want it changed either if it was me. How about we go back up through the cave?"
"Yeah, okay," Zackary agreed.
And they walked back into the cave the way they'd come.
Mr. Van Kirk left them when they reached the large central chamber again using the rope and piton route to gain the upper level, which at the moment was the quickest way back to the garage. Greg and Zackary paused to consider how they should connect the bottom of the cave with the upper level as they watched.
"I sort of like the ropes and pitons, but I don't think Mom or Jessie would," Zackary commented.
"I've been thinking that myself," Greg said. "I do like the idea of leaving Neil's original path as a climbing area, but I think a stairway is also in order. I'm just not sure where to put one."
"Are there any other passages down here we could use?" Zackary wondered.
"I don't think so, why?" Greg asked.
"I thought I saw one back here," Zackary said. "Under the place they put the pipes that go to the house."
"Where?" Greg asked.
Zackary shone his light across the irregular wall, looking for the place he remembered, and eventually found the niche where the old tent and the other artifacts were currently stored. There on the other side of those he found a crack in the wall between two telephone booth sized projections which separated the niche from the rest of the main chamber. It wasn't immediately obvious it was there from what had become the access route they used to walk through it, but it was there.
Gingerly Greg moved the artifacts aside, discovering again the wooden box he'd found the letters and Max's book in. It felt smooth and solid in his hands, and it crossed his mind that he should probably take a better look at it someday. In the meantime though, he found a deep ledge high off the floor and pushing it to the very back, placed it safely out of harm's way. Some of the other things he set on shallower ledges lower down and the tent itself he managed to move a bit farther back, away from the crack, far enough out of the way that they could take a better look.
"What about this?" Zackary asked as he inspected the crack.
"I don't think that goes anywhere, does it?" Greg asked.
"Maybe," Zack said as he dropped to his hands and knees to crawl through the space. "Hey Greg! Look at this!"
Greg sighed, wondering if he was flexible enough to squeeze through the space Zackary had disappeared through.
"Is it big enough for both of us in there?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so. And it's tall, so you can stand up," Zack said.
Greg dropped to his knees and gingerly crawled over the surface of the rough rock, carrying his flashlight in his hand. The crawl space extended a good six feet through the rock before it became tall enough to stand. When it did, Greg got to his feet and shone his light around as he stood beside Zackary. He found they were in a glassy-sided, vertically arranged space, roughly ten feet across, where once in some ancient time, a large gas bubble had formed, pushing upward through the molten rock, seeking the surface and escape. From the looks of the rock, the gas had never found the surface, but it had created a space which reminded Greg strongly of an elevator shaft ... or alternately a stairwell that lacked steps, but it was completely unclear if it went anywhere useful that would make it a good place to install said steps.
"I wonder if Neil would be willing to come help us again," Greg mused.
"What for?" Zackary asked.
"He has climbing expertise that could help us determine if this goes anywhere near the upper chambers we are now using," Greg explained.
Zackary shrugged. "We know where this is. Couldn't we just go back up and look?"
"From the top you mean," Greg said.
"Uh huh," Zackary said.
"I suppose we could," Greg agreed. "Let me get a lantern from the car. I'll light it and set it in here then we'll go look from the top, see if we can see the light escaping anywhere."
"Okay," Zackary agreed and he followed Greg back out of the shaft.
It took them some time to retrieve the lantern, light it, and to set it in place. Then they used the rope and piton path to gain the upper level, walked back through the tunnel to the junction that led out across the bridge, crossed it and began exploring the other small chambers that led away from the natural ledge.
"Greg, in here," Zackary called as he explored all the jumbled and small spaces.
"I don't see it," Greg said.
"Turn your flashlight off," Zackary said.
Greg did as he suggested and discovered a faint light coming from behind a pile of loose rock which mostly filled one of the smallest chambers.
"I wonder how easy this would be to move," Greg commented.
"I dun know. We can try it," Zackary said.
He began to move some of the smallest of the rocks, only to have others tumble down from higher up on the pile. Greg abruptly jumped back and pulled Zackary back out of the way as the rocks slid, filling the floor of the chamber. There was now no good place to stand, but there was a noticeable, slit-like gap at the top where the light from the lantern below clearly entered the chamber.
"Wait right here," Greg told him. "Don't try to move anything more. I want to show this to Mr. Van Kirk."
"Okay," Zackary agreed feeling pleased by his discovery.
He waited alone in the passage for quite a long time before Greg returned with the property contractor to show him their find.
"Where is this lantern we're seeing the light from?" Mr. Van Kirk asked as when he examined the rock filled space with the crack.
"Down below, in a shaft Zackary discovered," Greg told him. "The access point is very small, but it leads here."
"Show me," Mr. Van Kirk directed.
Zackary led the way through the tunnels, down the piton path, to the low hole in the rock he'd found. Even on his hands and knees, Mr. Van Kirk was too tall to get into it and had to crawl on his belly over the rough rock to reach the space at the bottom of the shaft.
"Leave it to a kid to discover something like this," Mr. Van Kirk commented when he was able to stand up and they were all three standing beside the lantern.
"It could work, don't you think?" Greg asked.
"That depends. What kind of steps did you have in mind?"
"How about pre-formed metal ones?" Greg suggested.
"You mean like a spiral staircase?" Mr. Van Kirk asked.
"Possibly. Would that work?"
"Maybe. If not, I'm sure we could construct something that would work. We'll have to clear out that rock from the top and make this entrance bigger, obviously," Mr. Van Kirk observed. "My thought is we should get Mr. Sato involved."
"A very good idea," Greg agreed. "I'll call him this evening after we get home."
Zackary grinned. "So are we really going to put the stairs here?"
"I don't see why not," Mr. Van Kirk said. "I think it's better than putting them out in the main open part of the cave. We just need Mr. Sato to make sure everything looks good."
They crawled back out the way they'd come in, taking the lantern with them. Mr. Van Kirk went to call some of his crew to help him mark the place at the top and the bottom, while Greg and Zackary made their way back towards the entrance to the cave.
"It's getting late, Zack," Greg commented when they emerged into the open along the path. "We should probably be getting home."
"Yeah okay," Zackary said still smiling broadly as they crossed the stream and started up the path towards the car. "I can't believe that someday we're going to get to live here."
"It does seem incredible, doesn't it," Greg agreed. "But gradually I'm beginning to think it's becoming more and more possible."
Zackary nodded. "Greg, do you think next Friday we can bring Matt here?"
"Do you want to bring him here right away? Or wait a week or two first?" Greg wondered as they got into the car.
Zackary considered his options. "How much do you think they'll have done by next week?"
"The framing for your room, Jessie's room and the dining room should be complete, probably Matt's room too. I expect the interior framing for the kitchen and the family room should be finished and the floor beams for the living room in place. I'm not sure if the floor will be framed yet though," Greg said as he started the car and back out of his parking space, headed towards the driveway.
"Yeah okay. What about in the cave though?" Zackary asked. "Do you think the lights will be in?"
"They may be in the first part of the tunnel," Greg said. "It looked to me like there is still a lot of work to be done in most of the passageways though."
Zackary inclined his head as he considered the impact he wanted to make.
"Let's wait a week," he said.
"A very good idea," Greg agreed as they pulled out onto the street. "I think in two weeks, we will both see a great deal of change in both the house and the cave."
They talked about what might be done by then and before long were parking the car in the garage of the farmhouse.
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