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Bones looked around the cave as if assessing its vastness before leveling his gaze at Maddock. “Care to share your idea with us now, or is it something that can wait until I’m belly up to the local watering hole back in town?”
Maddock shook his head. “This definitely isn’t something we’d want to discuss in a bar. And it’s easiest to explain here, while we’re looking at it.”
“Looking at what?” Lina asked.
“You remember the rune on the cave wall that looks like a menorah?” Bones and Lina nodded and Maddock went on. “I think it may not be just a simple rune, but that it serves as a map.”
He gave them time to digest this while he pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the picture he’d snapped of the rune. He pointed to different parts of the image as he addressed them. “Look here: The main passageway is the center of the rune. The side passage we just followed had three caves branching off, just like the three arms of the menorah. I’ll bet the other passage also has three branches.”
Bones’ eyes grew wide with understanding. “And the candle that’s lit marks the way!” He clapped Maddock on the shoulder. “You know, Maddock, you’re a genius, unless you’re wrong, that is, in which case you’re a dumbass.”
“It won’t take long to find out.” Maddock pointed down the passage. “Let’s head back the way we came, this time checking the openings on the other side of the cave; that’s the right side as we head toward the main exit.”
The three explorers crept through the tunnel, watching for the right-hand passages. As predicted there were three branches. When they reached the third, confirming the accuracy of the menorah depiction, Maddock led them back to the second opening. “This one’s the next to last, the one that matches the lit candle on the rune. Let’s see if it leads somewhere interesting.”
Maddock felt a surge of hope right away as he peered into the new route with the aid of his flashlight. Much wider and easier to navigate than the others they explored, it extended straight back before gently curving into the darkness. “Plenty of room for once,” he remarked.
“This way would be the easiest I’ve seen yet to carry loads of treasure,” Bones said hopefully.
“Or a body,” Lina added sourly.
They walked into the cave, almost a cavern it was so spacious. Other than negotiating a slight downward incline, it was smooth walking. Which meant it didn’t take long for them to reach the back of the cave after it curved, at which point they realized it was another dead end.
“End of the line,” Maddock declared. All of them looked around, stabbing their beams into the dark recesses of the cave, hoping to see something besides bare, natural rock.
Bones let loose a few choice curse words while Lina leaned against a boulder to rest, taking on that exhausted look again. But Maddock was lost in thought, staring at the cave ceiling, shining his light around. After a bit it fell on an odd formation- a rounded stone, like an inverted bowl, with seven stalagmites propping it up. He pointed to it. “Tell me what you see there.”
The museum curator’s jaw dropped. “A menorah?”
“That’s not what I see,” Bones said.
“Well, not exactly like a Menorah, it’s upside-down, but still...” Lina backtracked, but Bones waved away her clarification.
“You know what I see?” Maddock said. “I see seven stalagmites in a cave that has no other stalagmites or stalactites.”
“You’re right,” Bones said. “Holy crap.”
Lina giggled.
“What?” Bones asked.
“You say ‘holy crap.’ In Italy, we say cavalo.”
“Why is that funny?”
“It translates to ‘cabbage.’” She turned away from Bones’ puzzled expression and looked up at the stalagmites. “You believe these are fake?”
Bones looked to Maddock. “Only one way to find out.”
It took some doing, but with some careful climbing atop the nearest boulders, Maddock and Bones were able to come within arm’s reach of the mysterious rock formation that hung from the cave ceiling. Upon reaching it they pulled, pushed and prodded the strange bowl every which way, to no avail.
“It sure feels like normal rock,” Bones said, pulling his sore arms back down to his sides. “Maybe we should call it a night, go for a beer, and come back in the morning with some blasting equipment.” Lina nodded with gusto before Bones continued. “And I mean a pitcher of beer in a frosted glass, I’m too tired to twist the top off of anything.”
Maddock’s eyes took on a faraway look. “Twist the top...” He stared up at the incongruous rock formation, seemingly in a trance. “I think that’s it.”
Bones and Lina now stared up at the rock bowl, then back down at the arrangement of stalagmites jutting up from the cave floor. “Everybody grab one!” Bones ran to the nearest stalagmite and put both hands around it. Lina and Maddock did the same, Maddock positioning himself on the pinnacle of rock opposite Bones.
“Righty tighty, lefty loosey,” Bones quipped. The three of them heaved, attempting to spin the entire formation counterclockwise. Nothing. They tried again, and this time something broke free with an audible pop. There was a rush of dry air as the entire structure pivoted to one side, revealing a short drop into a new chamber below.
The look on Lina’s face was priceless. She jumped up, ran to Maddock and gave him a massive bear hug, which he returned awkwardly while looking at a snickering Bones over his shoulder.
“Hey, what gives?” Bones asked. “We all know I’m the genius here.”
Lina finally released Maddock and he said, “Well, maybe not a genius, but you do find more nuts than the average blind squirrel.”
Lina looked a little confused at the expression, but she didn’t care. She proceeded to drop down into the chamber after the most cursory shine of her light.
“Lina, no!” Maddock shouted. But his warning came too late. As Lina landed in the sub-floor chamber, its floor shattered with series of sharp cracks.