Page 99 of Laird of Twilight
“Gold?” Elspeth looked up.
“New-minted coin, the sort smugglers sometimes carry,” he said. “No fairy treasure, I’m afraid. What in thunderation is this,” he muttered then, guiding her out of the way so he could shift some stones. “Where is the candle we had earlier?”
“We burned it through, husband,” she said, half laughing.
“Lord, we did. There’s an oil lamp on a ledge over there if you would light that and bring it here, my dear.” He handed her a flint from his pocket. She walked away, returning with the glowing lantern. Holding it high, she gave James light to work on the rock pile.
“Someone stacked these deliberately. An effective barrier,” he said, moving another rock. “Hold the lamp there—aye, bonny girl.” He crouched and peered. The opening was still blocked, but he could see that it was wide but not high. A person could only pass through by crawling. “What the devil is this place?”
“And what is this?” Elspeth picked up an object from the pile. A crucifix, he saw. James took it, turned it in the light.
“This is very old,” he said. “The smugglers did not leave this here.”
Removing several more stones, setting them aside, he took the lamp again and leaned forward, shining the light into the opening. Craning through, crawling ahead, he suddenly felt the earth give way beneath him. He was sliding, tumbling forward, trying to keep hold of the lantern as he fell down, reaching out for solid earth again.
With a cry, Elspeth grabbed his coat, but lacked the strength to pull him back, and tumbled down with him. Sliding over rough, toothy stone, keeping a fast grip on the swinging lantern—pray God it did not extinguish—he came to a halt on some solid surface. Elspeth fell into him, and he grabbed for her with his free hand, coming upright on his knees. Holding the lantern, miraculously still alight, he stood and looked around.
“What is this place?” Elspeth asked. Her voice echoed softly.
The lantern glow filled the space, a snug pocket cave with glimmering walls and barely enough room to stand upright. Elspeth stood easily, brushing at her skirts, breathing rapidly, but he could not straighten, keeping his head bowed, hair touching the curved ceiling.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. She shook her head. He turned back to survey the slope of rubble and rock that cascaded from the opening to the little cave. “It was a bit of an avalanche—we are lucky that we did not break any bones or come to worse harm. And lucky that the opening is not entirely blocked. We need only clear some rocks away to crawl out again.”
“James,” Elspeth said, looking around.
“Very fortunate. Help me move some of these rocks, love.”
“James! Look.”
“Aye?” He lifted the lantern higher and turned. “My God!”
All around them, the place glittered and sparkled. The curving walls and ceiling caught the light in prisms of sparkling color. Embedded in the rock walls were thousands of gems and crystals.
* * *
Elspeth turned slowly, heart pounding. “What is this place?”
“A natural gem pocket. My God,” James breathed. He stood with head and shoulders hunched, then crouched along one wall to run his hand along its shining, sparkling curvature. When he handed up the lantern, Elspeth held it high.
“Tourmaline,” he was saying, half to himself. “Aquamarine. Amethyst in abundance—crystals everywhere— look at this.” He snapped off a crystal rod easily and handed it to her. A clear crystal lay pure and sparkling in her palm. “And this.” He took a small chisel from his pocket and snapped off a glowing stone of deep purple. “Amethyst. Rose quartz—smoky quartz—and more.”
“All here in one place?” she asked. “How can that be?”
“These crystals all formed in a bubble in the earth, seeded and growing here in the rock bed over eons. Crystal quartz, tourmaline, beryl…aquamarine…” he named them as he found them, running his fingers over the different colors and rainbow sheens, while Elspeth held up the light to aid his discoveries.
“Amazing,” she said. “And so beautiful.”
“Simply astonishing to find so many of them together like this, in such profusion and variety. Yet it is geologically possible.” He crouched, touching the walls. “Dear Lord, is that—emerald? I need to bring better light in here to be sure.”
“Here, is this agate?” Elspeth knelt nearby. “Blue, and green—and striped like Donal’s blue stone.”
“Dear heaven, it is. Lass, be careful of the points—crystals and precious stones break off easily and can be sharp. And best we do not break or crush more than a few if we can avoid it.”
“They are scattered all over the floor as well. The place is filled with them!”
“Aye,” James said, picking up a few variously colored crystals from the rock floor. Elspeth stepped carefully, dipping down to pluck up some pretty stones. “This whole place gleams like a royal ransom,” he went on.
A chill of realization went through her. “Like a treasure chest. James!”
