Page 76 of Finding Hope
With a grateful nod, he took the lamp and pulled open the heavy door. There were tracks in the earthen floor from some type of cart, and he could see where the dogs’ and other footprints had been.
He prayed silently, as he and Westwood bent down and hurried along, that the dogs had found her.
“Where does this lead?” Westwood asked.
“A grotto or some type of underground folly, I believe. It was forbidden to us in my youth and I had forgotten about it. It was walled off when it fell into disrepair.”
When they reached the end of the tunnel, there was another heavy steel door that led to the outside. It opened with a rush of air into a large cavernous space and a series of caves where part of the river overflowed through a wall to form a waterfall. Max didn’t know whether they were natural or whether they had been carved into the side of the rocks when grottoes had been all the rage during the past century. He vaguely recalled them being closed off when he was a boy after a series of falling rocks had made it too dangerous for four children to explore.
He saw his brother with Carew, Stuart, and Montford, looking around while the dogs were circling the place. There were a few walkways around the edges of the pool.
“What has happened?” Max asked.
“They had her scent, but it stopped here. There is nothing but these large caves down here.”
Elaborate carvings of Roman gods frolicking were etched into the walls, and water trickled, in a fall from the ceiling, into a pool at the floor that ran down into the river through a small opening. There was not enough room for a boat to pass through, but a person could.
“Were you able to wring anything from her Grace?” his brother asked, understanding full well how it had gone.
Rotham repeated the Duchess’ words. “It fits the description, but where is Hope?”
“This is certainly a cold, damp, dark place,” Carew agreed.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Gus said, obviously frustrated. “The water is shallow enough that we could see her now.” All that was visible were some of the rocks that had fallen down.
“And you have checked every cave? There could be no hidden chambers?” he asked, stupidly, knowing they were as desperate as he.
Montford and Stuart were studying one of the carvings, and interrupted. “It appears that this drawing indicates the water level fluctuates.”
“It looks as though a tide comes in, possibly with a full moon,” Carew added, looking at another drawing.
“I thought only the sea ebbed and flowed with the tide,” Max said.
“Evidently not. This shows the cavern completely filled with the full moon.” Carew pointed to the drawing.
“Which means our time is limited. The Duchess suggested Hope would not survive until morning,” Westwood said.
The fury in Max’s blood turned to ice. “What else do the carvings show? There has to be some type of room here…some type of chamber in which she would be trapped and then drown when the water rose.”
“Unless they are hidden under the water, we have found nothing!” Gus insisted.
“But have you looked behind the water?” Westwood asked.
Gus frowned, as if he thought Westwood were confused.
Rotham understood, and dashed towards the waterfall, his feet pounding through the water, sending splashes upwards as he neared the cascading waterfall that appeared to flow down the cavern wall.
Max plunged through the falling water, and began to grope at the wall. “There’s a door!” It was difficult to see, as he had to reach through the water to feel it. When he found the handle and tried to turn it, the door was locked.
His curses echoed through the cavern. “Find Gilford quickly! Someone else go to Abernathy and someone to the Duke. I do not want any time wasted. One of them must have a key!”
Max banged on the door. “Hope! Hope! Are you in there?”
He frantically scrutinized the large, oaken door, urgency in his eyes, as the others hurriedly scoured for the key and tools.
“I think we could break these hinges, if needs be,” Westwood said, appearing beside him and examining the door, too.
“We also might be able to jemmy the lock.”
