Chapter 56
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Wolf carefully climbs out of Mikail’s truck. He walks to where we’ve parked the rented SUV several hundred feet away. “Wilton’s great grandfather’s letter described an area with large rectangular rocks, and an old tree near the cliff.”
Mikail points toward the craggy area to the north of us by a few hundred yards. “It’s that spot. I’m sure.”
“Okay, let’s go before we run out of daylight.”
I wrap my arms around myself, chilled to the bone by the fear that’s coursing through my veins.
The three of us are silent as Wolf loads a backpack with his deadly cargo, and we start toward the cliffside rocks. Again, he makes Mikail and I stay far away.
I ache to be near him, but know he needs his focus. Upsetting him won’t make this any better.
Slowly, we pick our way across the rocky slope that leads to the cliff.
“This area has had a lot of erosion,” I remind Mikail.
“I know. If you hike around that peninsula, you can look this way and see the newly exposed cliffs.”
“Do you think that this rock we’re looking for has already fallen into the ocean?”
“There’s always a chance of that.”
“Can I see the letter again?”
He carefully removes an old, yellowed letter from his pocket and passes it over.
The paper is stiff and crinkly with worn edges, like it’s been handled thousands of times.
I read over the description of the site where a mysterious green rock has been found.
“He says the green stone came from a large cone-shaped, black rock with a deep fracture. That should be easy enough to find. This island doesn’t have a lot of cone shaped rocks. I’m pretty sure none but this one.”
“I agree. I’ve scampered over these fields since I was a kid and I can’t remember anything like that.”
When wolf reaches the cluster of rocks near the cliff, he says, “Don’t go near the bag. Let’s see what we can find.”
The three of us pick an area to canvas.
I shout to them as I sweep my foot across the ground, feeling for anything that might. “It would be so much easier if the grass wasn’t soo tall. And if the letter said how big it was.”
With my eyes down, I work the area until it takes me close to the cliff edge. Suddenly, the hairs of my arms stand up. “I hate heights,” I mutter to no one.
“Kate! Get back!”
When I turn to look at Wolf, he’s sprinting toward me. But it’s too late. A low rumble shakes my feet. Then the earth beneath me disappears.