Shadow Cave (19 page)

“
So I ran.
I ended up at the airport and the next thing I knew, I was in Africa.
It took a couple of days to gather supplies and nail down a more exact location for where I had to go.
”

“
Is that the same gun?
”

“
No, I left the first gun in my backyard.
It
’
s just as well.
I would never have been able to get it through customs.
”

Faith looked confused but didn
’
t ask.

“
I bought this gun in Africa.
I guess that
’
s neither here nor there.
I shot a man with this gun too.
”

I told her about the journey to the cave and the ambush that took place inside.
By the time I had finished, her muffin was a pile of crumbs on a plate.
She paused, glanced down, and hurriedly brushed her fingers off before she set the plate aside.

“
How does the key work?
”

“
I
’
m not completely sure.
I was unable
to
find out much on the how and why of its creation.
Maybe Mike has a better idea about that.
Or if I could do some research…anyway, what I do know is that it was believed to have been destroyed.
Apparently the man in the African village who was entrusted with the job buried it instead.

“
This is only half of the key.
Mike has the other half.
The key in old drawings is a full circle.
The only doorway is in that cave.
Half the key opens the portal.
I don
’
t know what would happen if you tried to use the whole key
, or
if it would even work.
”

“
I wonder why it
’
s referred to as
‘
a
’
key
,
”
Faith mused.

“
What do you mean?
”

“
Well, that makes it sound like its
‘
one
’
key.
But it
’
s actually two keys.
”

“
Good question.
”
I wished I knew how to answer it.

I had to give Faith credit.
The next morning she was as calm and collected as she had been before I had dropped my bombshell on her.
We all sat around the table and ate pancakes and bacon as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

Bill lingered over a cup of coffee before heading off to work.
I was tempted to follow him outside
, just
to see how he was going to get to work.
I resisted the urge and instead questioned Faith about it while we walked to town.

“
Bill works in construction
,
”
she
told me as we picked our way down the ridge.

“
Ah.
”
I nodded.
Why had I not thought of that?

“
And yes, he drives a car to work.
”

“
I wasn
’
t going to ask
,
”
I said innocently.

“
Uh huh.
”
She smiled and shook her head.

It took us thirty minutes to walk the two miles to Lerna.
We would have made better time, but most of the ground we covered was either uphill or downhill
—great
for the legs though.

Lerna was bigger than it looked.
There was a town square and a post office.
There were also several stores and a pharmacy lining the main road.
I noticed that the streets appeared to be arranged in a typical grid formation.
I was mostly silent while we walked casually through the town.
It was a pleasant surprise to find the houses incredibly similar to the ones in my own middle class neighborhood.
It was always nice to find a touch of home in unfamiliar territory.

The breeze was warm and the sun even warmer.
The beginning of summer
, I thought.
When I had left home, it had been the start of the fall season.

Faith led us back to the main street.
I wondered if it was actually called
‘
Main Street
.
’
I could see a street sign at the center post.
It was wood instead of metal, and it had the number
‘
10
’
painted on it.
Odd
.
I also noticed that there was a stoplight on the corner.
It had two lights that alternated blue and gold.
People stopped their cars when the gold light flashed.

“
This is Tenth Street?
”
I asked Faith as we crossed the street on the gold light.

“
Yes.
”

“
Where I come from, this would be called Main Street, or Central Street.
”

“
All of our streets are numbered here.
”

“
Even the bigger towns?
”

“
Sure, as far as I have seen.
I have never heard of any other street names.
Some of the smaller towns don
’
t use labels at all for the streets.
Sometimes the houses are not numbered either.
That just depends on the number of people that live in each town.
Settlements fewer than three hundred people don
’
t usually bother with it.
”

I nodded, but did not respond since we were already walking into a clothing store
,
a red brick building with a white awning and a sign in the window that read
“
Mae
’
s
.
”

The lighting was bright and cheerful inside the shop
,
and a curvy young woman with bouncy curls and big brown eyes smiled and came forth at once to greet us.

“
Hello Faith!
”

“
Claudia! You look pretty as a picture.
How is your mother?
”

“
The same as she always is.
”
She waved with a friendly grin.
“
Who
’
s your friend?
”

Faith placed a steady hand on my shoulder.

“
This is my cousin Charlotte.
She
’
s visiting from Coztal.
”

“
Coztal! How exciting!
I have always wanted to go there
,
”
Claudia confessed.

“
Yes, it is lovely.
It
’
s nice to meet you.
”

“
Oh, yes, Faith and I went to school together.
Well, come on and tell me what I can help you girls with?
Is it
for
a special occasion or are you looking for casual wear?
I can do custom too, but that could take some time.
”

“
Casual will do.
”
Faith informed her, already moving toward a dress rack.

“
Ready made is fine
,
”
I added.

Claudia nodded and did a fast head to toe appraisal of me.

“
Blue
,
”
she
announced.
“
Something blue would suit you perfectly.
I just got a new shipment yesterday.
I know that blue dress is here somewhere…now where did I put that one?
”
she
murmured as she searched through clothing racks.

I flipped through the nearest rack and discreetly scanned a price tag.
There was a symbol I had never seen before, although it was very similar to the symbol on my key.
Next to the symbol was the number
‘
30
’
.
Did that mean thirty dollars?
I had no idea, but I hoped it was not expensive since Faith had insisted on paying the bill for this outing.

I picked a gown from the bunch and held it out in front of me for inspection.
Well…it had blue on it…I giggled.
That was about all I could say for the thing.
I was sure that the word
‘
gown
’
printed on the tag must stand for
‘
nightgown
,
’
because
I had never seen anyone walk down the street in something so sexy or inappropriate.

The dress was cut to mid-thigh and low cut in the front.
The actual dress was a soft cream color.
Blue and silver ties laced up the sides of the dress and nearly six inches down the bodice.
It was also backless.
I had never owned or worn anything like it
, and
I was astonished to find that a small part of me wanted to.
I was pretty enough
, but
I was also an intelligent professional
,
sensible and responsible.
I eyed the dress with longing before I carefully put it back.
I could not very well walk down the street here dressed like the happy hooker.
Still, that dress and a loudspeaker would certainly be one way of locating a missing person.
I smiled and promised myself that the first thing I did when I got home would be
to
buy a slutty outfit.

“
Over here, ladies!
Here it is!
”

Claudia was standing near a fitting room with a blue and brown dress clutched triumphantly in one hand.

“
Here Charlotte, try this on.
”

I turned my head to look behind me before I realized that Claudia was talking to me.
Oh, right, I
’
m
Charlotte
, I reminded myself.

The dress was beautiful
,
an empire waist gown that was both casual and stylish.
The hem stopped a few inches above the knee.
The pattern consisted of alternating patches of light blue gauzy cotton and chocolate brown suede.
The short sleeves, bottom hem, bust, and sides were trimmed in the brown suede.

I did a slow pirouette and glanced up at Faith and Claudia.

“
What do you think?
”

“
Wow.
”

“
It
’
s gorgeous.
It looks like it was made for you.
”

I grinned and checked out my butt in the mirror.
“
I think this is it.
But how much does it cost?
”
I had already looked at the price tag and had seen the number
‘
55
’
marked on it.

“
For Faith
’
s cousin?
It
’
s on the house.
”

“
Wow!
Thank you!
”

“
She is going to need a pair of shoes to go with that, too.
But I insist on paying for those at least.
”

“
You got it, Faith.
”

***

We left the town square an hour later with the shoes, the dress, and a pair of jeans.
I took a last look around the town.
My eyes strayed to the wooded area beyond the fence.
I noticed that there were no reflectors on the wood, and the fence still shimmered with an unnatural light.

“
Faith, you never told me about the fence.
”

“
I didn
’
t?
Are you sure?
”