Page 19 of Cheyenne

Cheyenne froze, staring at the ladder. “You mean we’ll come out in a grave?”

Micah gave her a quick shrug as he started climbing. “Yeah. A lot of these graves have markers on the surface, but the burials lead down into the crypt. It makes sense.”

The sound of voices grew closer. “There are rats down here,” someone grumbled. “This place has been abandoned for decades … but someone’s been here recently.”

Panic spiked through Cheyenne. She clenched the necklace tightly in one hand. “Hurry up!” she whispered harshly.

Micah pushed against the heavy stone lid at the top of the ladder, grunting with effort. For a moment, nothing happened.

“Do you hear something?” another voice echoed from behind them.

Cheyenne’s breath caught. She looked down the dark passage, half expecting to see flashlights closing in on them.

Suddenly, the stone above them shifted with a grinding noise. Micah gave one last shove, and the lid slid aside. He reached down, gripping Cheyenne’s arm and pulling her up the last few rungs. She scrambled out after him, emerging into the cool night air.

They stood atop a stone grave, one of the many scattered throughout the old cemetery. Micah moved quickly, sliding the heavy lid back into place with as much care as he could muster.

Cheyenne’s chest heaved as she fought to steady her breathing. Her anxiety was a live wire sparking in her chest, but the graveyard appeared empty.

Micah grabbed her hand again and guided her swiftly toward the south side of the cemetery, away from the church. “We’ve got to go. They’re searching down there now, but it won’t be long before they start checking the rest of the area.”

Cheyenne struggled to keep up with his pace, her mind racing. “Do you think they’ll know we took the amulet?”

Micah glanced back, his face tense. “I don’t know. But if they figure it out, we need to be long gone. I say we head straight to where that church used to stand. If there’s a connection to the map or the treasure, it’s there.”

Cheyenne clutched the necklace tighter as they slipped through a rusted gate and onto the street. Her heart was still racing, but a small thrill of adventure flickered through her fear.

Micah tightened his grip on her hand, leading her down the shadowed path. “We are going to figure this out together.”

CHAPTER 10

Cheyenne

Cheyenne googled the place where the church used to be and found it was about a twenty-minute drive outside of town. “I feel guilty,” she confessed. “I shouldn’t have taken that necklace. Let’s go put it back.”

Micah scoffed and gingerly took the necklace into his own hand. “Hey, blame it on me. Let’s use it to help us. If it doesn’t help us, we’ll take it back.”

She still couldn’t shake off the guilt. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” He grunted out a laugh. “That was crazy.”

Cheyenne laughed too, feeling nervous and edgy. “I cannot believe we have the amulet.” She took it back, turning it over in her hand. She held it up to her eye and tried to see through it, but it didn’t seem like anyone would be able to see anything. “I honestly don’t understand how this could decipher a map. Plus, where would the map be?”

Micah laughed. “This is going to be a story that we tell both of our families, and they are going to love it. Of course, that’ll be after they get over the fact that we had to get back out through a grave. I don’t think my dad, mom, or any of my uncles or family would like that.”

“My family will hate that we went into those graves and took it.” Cheyenne was quiet for a few moments, then met Micah’s eyes. “Maybe we wait to tell them about our adventures … ever.”

“Agreed.”

Cheyenne laughed. “My brothers will not like this at all.”

After they’d driven for several minutes, Micah pulled up to the area on the map where the church was said to have been. It was nothing but swampland.

They got out. Immediately, Micah began stomping each foot, seeming to feel around, but it only made him sink deeper into the swamp. He looked just as perplexed as Cheyenne felt.

He put his arms out. “There seems to be a clearing right here, but I don’t see any signs of a church. Or any remnants.”

Cheyenne tapped the map on her phone. “This can’t be the place. That big cross was supposed to be in the church that was here.”

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