A shot rang out and the lead cavemen went down, clutching his chest. Moses had chosen his target carefully, but it made no difference. The rest of the attackers paid no mind to their fallen compatriot.
“Back into the cave,” Stone ordered. “The narrow entry will choke them off and make it easier to defend. We’ll clog it with their corpses if we have to.”
But they didn’t have to make a fight of it; at least, not yet. Inside, Alex and Trinity had reached the bottom of the bone pit and were heaving at a round plug set in the floor. Stone dropped down beside them, slipped his fingers into the handhold, and heaved. The plug resisted for a moment, then popped free like a cork from a champagne bottle. Stale air wafted upward. “Inside. Now!”
Thankfully, Trinity neither protested nor asked for an explanation, but plunged into the hole. Alex followed.
“Moses! Get down here!”
The pistol cracked again, and then Moses’ beefy form hit the floor. “I got two of our supply packs,” he huffed.
“Good.” Stone took one of the packs from his friend. “Now let’s scoot.”
They dropped into the pit, which proved to be only about seven feet deep. Stone took a moment to replace the plug before looking around. A narrow passageway angled downward, and Alex, flashlight in hand, was already moving ahead.
“You think they’ll follow us?” Moses stared up at the now-closed entryway.
“If they do, they’ll have to come single-file. I’ll gladly take my chances in that scenario. One or two of those big fellows’ corpses will block the way nicely.”
The passageway only descended for a short distance, and then it began to climb again at a steep angle, just like the map indicated. Occasionally, they were forced to stop and clear away rubble that had fallen from the ceiling. Stone privately wondered what they would do should they come to an impassable section. Go back and fight their way out, he supposed.
After an hour, they came to a small chamber where the floor was relatively level, so they stopped to rest. Moses passed around dried beef and a canteen.
“What do you think we’re going to find on the other end?” Trinity asked.
“I wish I had a guess.” Stone rose to his feet, stretched, and circled the cavern. Alex’s flashlight cast deep shadows on the walls, and something caught Stone’s attention. “Alex, turn your light this way.” His friend complied, and the beam illuminated two words carved in the rock.
SAMUEL STONE
Stone’s mouth went dry. “My grandfather was here.”
This proclamation energized his friends. They huddled around him to see the place where Samuel Stone had carved his name decades before, and then they searched the cavern for more markings, but found none. Finally, they decided to move along.
“Whatever we’re headed toward,” Trinity said, “must be what your grandfather wanted us to find. And it must not be too dangerous since he lived to tell about it.”
“He lived, but he didn’t tell,” Stone corrected. “That’s why we’re here.”
“I still don’t understand,” Trinity said. “If it’s so important that you find this place, why did he keep it a secret?”
“He probably wanted to wait until he thought I was old enough. But then I… disappeared.” He felt three pairs of eyes on him, but no one asked the question he’d constantly declined to answer. When he was ready, he’d explain himself. But not now.
“I see sunlight up ahead,” Alex called.
Stone drew his Webley and moved to the fore. He rounded a corner into bright sunlight and froze.
“I don’t believe it.”
22- The Valley
Below them, nestled in a small valley, lay a city like none Stone had ever seen. A stone pyramid, smooth-sided in the Egyptian style, stood at the center. Despite the cloud cover that blanketed the sky, the pyramid’s gold-flecked stone surface seemed to sparkle. A series of perfectly straight roadways of gleaming white sand radiated out from the pyramid like the spokes of a wheel. Neat stone houses, tiny gardens and orchards, and small greenways filled the spaces in between. Slender, dark-skinned people went about their normal activities, seeming oblivious to the intruders into their domain. Everything appeared calm and orderly. It was amazing.
“What is this place?” Trinity marveled, gazing down at the scene with eyes filled with wonder.
“It is called Ogygia,” a mellifluous voice said from behind them.
Stone whirled about. His Webley was in his hand and trained on the figure behind them in a flash.
A thin man with glossy black hair and skin the color of coffee with cream raised his hands, palms outward, and smiled. “Please put down your weapon. You are safe here.” He looked on placidly as Stone holstered his pistol. “My name is Malik. I bear you no ill will.”
“I’m Brock. This is Trinity, Alex, and Moses.” Eyes still on the newcomer, Stone inclined his head toward each of his companions as he named them.
Malik bobbed his head at each person as Stone introduced them.
“How did you know we were here?” Stone asked.
“We watch,” the man said simply. He pursed his lips and pointed with them, in the fashion Stone had seen among peoples in other parts of the world, back in the direction from which they had come. Two figures, one male, one female, melted out of the jungle. Each carried a spear and wore a knife at the belt and a bow and quiver across the back. “The Varri seldom try to invade our valley, but it has been known to happen. This is one of the possible paths by which they could enter.”
“How is it that you speak such good English?” Trinity edged closer to Stone as the armed warriors moved closer.
“You are not the first outsiders to come to Ogygia. We learn all we can from them.” He paused, looking expectantly at each of them in turn. “Perhaps you can tell me how you came to us.”
“Dinosaurs and cavemen chased us,” Alex said. “The ones you call the Varri.”
“But how did you come to be on the island in the first place?” Malik pressed.
The others cast nervous glances at Stone, but he replied easily. “We sought the island out. It wasn’t easy, but we found it.”
Malik’s eyes narrowed. “That is… unusual. People come to us one of two ways: by shipwreck or by losing their way. Why would you seek us out?”
Stone took a deep breath. “I think I was supposed to come here. At least, someone wanted me to.”
Malik tilted his head, a look of curiosity in his eyes, but he did not interrupt.
“My grandfather left me a message urging me to find this place. And he left a map.”
“Where did he get such a map?”
“He drew it. I think he was once a castaway here among you.”
Malik’s dark gaze grew flinty. “Few have left the island, and the chances of escaping alive are slim. What was his name?”
“Samuel Stone.”
The reactions to that name were immediate. Malik flinched and the warriors muttered something inaudible. Malik silenced them with a sharp, cutting gesture.
“In that case,” Malik said, “you must come with us.”
He led them in silence down a winding path into the lush valley. Stone had many questions he wanted to ask. Who were these people? Who were the Varri? How did they keep the dinosaurs at bay, or did they? And, if very few outsiders left the island, what happened to the rest of them? He didn’t bother asking; the expression on Malik’s face told him no answers would be forthcoming.
When they reached the city, Malik led them past gawking onlookers toward the pyramid. Among the natives, Stone noticed many light-colored eyes and some people with skin several shades lighter than Malik’s. That answered his question about outsiders. Clearly, they had been assimilated into the community here. Perhaps that boded well for him and his companions, but it didn’t necessarily mean that those people had stayed here of their own free will.