Page 78 of Defenseless
“You’d come here to this forest or ‘here’ to wherever you’re taking me?”
“Both,” he said, looking over his shoulder as he answered.
There were questions in her eyes, but she fell silent as they hiked their way through the evergreens. Every now and then, they’d catch a glimpse of the lake, the edges coated in ice and untouched.
After thirty minutes, they reached their destination. Or at least the entrance to it. He paused and smiled as he snapped his snowshoes off and gestured for her to do the same.
“We’re here. Well, mostly here,” he said.
She looked at the pile of rocks he was leaning against. Then she turned to see if there was a view or anything that would make this spot special.
“You’re not looking in the right place,” he said. Her arched eyebrow told him he better get to the point. “Come here,” he said, holding out a hand. She reached for him, and he guided her to his side then pointed. She leaned forward and squinted.
“Is that a cave?” she asked.
“A special cave,” he said, turning sideways and starting to inch his way through the gap in the boulders.
“Speciallike it’s filled with crystals orspeciallike it’s a den for serial killers?”
He shot her a look. As if he’d bring her to a place like that.
She held up her hands in supplication. “Fine, not a serial killer den. It’s just that the wordspecialcan have so many meanings. It’s kind of special that way.”
He huffed. “Are you going to follow me or not?”
“Of course I’m going to follow you. I have to bug you about it, though, since you’re being so mysterious…”
He’d inched forward a few more feet, but he turned to look at her when her voice trailed off.
Her eyes were wide and shimmered with excitement. “Oh my god, it’s the lake, isn’t it? I don’t mean the lake lake,” she said waving in the direction of the big lake. “Butthelake. Themysterylake.” She didn’t wait for him to respond before shimmying into the gap behind him. “Go, you slowpoke,” she said, poking him in the side and drawing a laugh from him.
He did his best to maneuver quickly through the last eight feet before finally arriving at the opening of the cave. Pulling a flashlight from the backpack, he flicked it on and shone it down the long corridor.
“What is this?” she asked, taking his free hand in hers and moving up close behind him.
“Originally, it was a mine shaft. Now it’s an entrance to a place that very few people know about.” She held her tongue as they walked a little over a hundred yards into the earth. When they reached the gate that his family had installed twenty years ago, he pulled out a key.
“Is there a reason this is locked?” she asked. Mystery Lake was a safe town and while it had its fair share of petty crimes, violent crime was almost unheard of, and it wasn’t unusual for people to leave their doors unlocked.
“Just precautionary. We didn’t want anyone wandering down here by accident.” He gestured for her to precede him then locked the gate behind them. Continuing on, they followed through a slight bend of the shaft.
“It’s getting warmer in here,” Sabina said. “Is that because we’re underground?”
Instead of answering with words, he pulled her around the final turn and flicked on the battery-operated lights Brad had installed several years ago. Then he stopped to watch her reaction. And he was glad he did.
Her mouth dropped open, and she gaped at the sight in front of her. The shaft opened up to form a circular cavern about twenty feet tall and fifty feet in diameter. Large rocks lined the lower edges, and ferns and mosses grew along the walls, draping down the sides and dripping with moisture.
And right in the middle of it all was an almost perfectly round lake.
“It’s a natural hot spring,” Chad said, keeping his voice gentle so as not to echo and disrupt the moment.
She whipped her head around. “Can we swim?”
He grinned and set the backpack down. “I have bathing suits—which are optional—and towels. I also packed us a lunch so we can stay for a while.”
He hadn’t even finished his sentence before she started undressing. He watched in appreciation as she removed each layer of clothing. When she was naked, she turned to him with a huge grin and launched herself at him. He caught her with a kiss, but she was gone from his arms before it could go any further. Then, with a hum of appreciation, she lowered herself into the heated water.
“Oh, this is amazing,” she said, moving away from the edge until it was deep enough to swim. Then pushing herself off the last rock, she started stroking across the small lake. In reality, it was more of a pond, but “Mystery Pond” didn’t sound as good as “Mystery Lake.”
