Chapter 9 #2
Glancing over my shoulder, I see Henry running to catch up, a wide grin on his face.
In a few strides, he’ll easily reach me.
We come to the part of the shoreline where the hillside has turned into steep cliffs, the sand coarser now with broken shells and small pebbles.
With the sun fully setting, I can barely see what’s in front of me.
I make out the outline of the large rock, and I know I’m so close that I can feel victory within my grasp.
“Clara, wait!” Henry yells from behind, alarm in his voice.
As I’m about to step onto the large rock, Henry’s arms suddenly tighten around my waist, pulling me backward.
We stop dead in our tracks, looking down at the violent sea rushing a few feet below.
Choppy waters flow into the large cave embedded in the coastal hill to our left.
I turn toward the shoreline where it breaks into a gully, struggling to catch my breath as the waves roar and crash onto the rocks below.
Henry’s arms remain wrapped around me as we breathe heavily, slowly processing what could have easily happened.
“Thank you,” I say weakly as we pull apart.
I gather myself, straighten my shirt, and fix my hair back into the bun that came undone during my sprint. My heart races, cheeks burning as I recall Henry’s arms around me. Mentally, I slap myself back together—that is the last thing I should be thinking about.
“Are you alright?” Henry asks, peering down at me with concern.
“Yes. Absolutely fine. Thank you again for…uh…saving me there.”
Henry nods, as if he isn’t quite sure I’m telling the truth.
I’m about to reassure him again when something distracts me. I glance over his shoulder at the cave behind him. Henry turns with me as I step past and take a few strides toward it.
The cave is massive and dark, plunging deep into the terrain. Sea water flows within it, though the sea floor appears to get shallower the deeper you go.
“This is astonishing,” I say, eyes and mouth wide open with awe.
“Look,” I continue, pointing inside, “there’s a hole in the ceiling of the cave. You can see the moonlight pouring in.”
I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the newly night sky and make my way to the opening of the cave.
A small path along the side wall leads deeper inside.
I cannot say why or how, but I feel some sort of tether to it, as if a rope is tied to me and someone on the other side is tugging me closer.
I know I nearly fell into the gully and could have broken a bone or two, but I feel a compelling need to enter the cave.
I turn to Henry. “I want to go inside. Will you come with me?” I give him a sweet, pleading smile, hoping he’ll say yes. I don’t want to walk into a dark cave alone.
Henry steps to the opening and inspects the cave. He looks inside, then down at the gully, and finally back at me. “The path is very narrow, Clara.”
He ponders for a moment, looking between me and the cave, until he emits a heavy sigh, one of resignation.
“If you’re anything like Lord Claremont, you’re determined to go inside, regardless of whether I come or not.
” He closes his eyes briefly, second-guessing himself.
“If you are adamant about going inside, I will come with you. But I need you to promise me two things: one, I walk in first, and two, let me keep a hold of you.”
I nod, agreeing automatically to his terms.
He moves ahead first, walking slowly along the wall of the cave. He turns around and extends his hand. I take it, and we begin making our way inside.
The path gradually widens as we go deeper, eventually forming a solid platform at the end.
Once we reach a safer section of the cave, we drop our hands.
Moonlight shines through the large hole in the ceiling, giving us enough light to see.
I run my hand along the cave wall, feeling the cold, wet stone beneath my fingertips.
A flash of light catches my eye as I walk along the wall and make my way toward it.
Peering closer, with the help of the moonlight, I see a hint of gold shining through a small opening in the wall, no bigger than my fingertip.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I slip my index finger into the hole, feeling a smooth, cold surface on the other side.
My heart pounds loudly in my chest as thoughts race, wondering what could be buried inside.
Eager to find out, I glance down at the floor and spot a hefty rock.
To weaken the stone, I strike the wall repeatedly until I can break pieces away with my hands.
More of the mysterious object comes into view, enough for me to know it’s substantial in size.
Already out of breath, I realize I’ll need an extra pair of hands to free it anytime soon.
“I think I found something. Can you help me break this wall down to reach it?”
Bit by bit, we break away pieces of the wall, fighting through panting breaths and fatigued arms. In this moment, I wish I had brought my toolkit—it would’ve saved us a lot of effort—but I don’t have the patience to head back to the ship to retrieve it.
For the sake of a potential discovery, I endure the sweat and sore muscles.
It takes us some time to reduce the wall to smithereens, turning the once minuscule opening into a three-foot-wide, gaping hole. After we shove the remaining debris aside, the source of the shine is finally revealed.
“It’s a…” Henry begins between panting breaths, but I finish his sentence.
“A golden chest.”