been a dream, or reality.
"Get that rabbit, boy,” he mumbled to the dog, as his forepaws twitched with the dream he was having.
Sam walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. A book Bella had been reading a few days ago sat spine up on the table, marking her place where she had left off.
He wondered as he sat waiting for the coffee to brew, how he was supposed to act normally and go about his day? He knew he would never be whole again without his wife.
As the aroma of coffee filled the kitchen, his loneliness for his wife was a sharp ache in his chest.
Walking to the front door to retrieve the morning paper, he opened it to see a beautiful apricot ribbon lying on top of the newspaper on the front porch. He sat down on the stoop and ran it through his rough hands, over and over.
Chapter 22
The party approached the foothills of the mountain. Jagged crags and sharp fragments of rock littered the ground all along the face of the cliff, while black smoke billowed from the top of it.
Morgana peered outside. She was becoming desperate. She now fully understood the fate of all the children she had grown fond of over the time she was with them. Glancing around the wagon counting them, she tried to calculate how many children had been brought here to suffer this fate. She was having trouble thinking clearly; panic was taking hold. She began to feel as if her thoughts were a spinning wheel spewing its threads in all directions. Breaking out into a cold sweat, she was becoming dizzy and her heart was racing. She distractedly wondered if this was what her mother had called a panic attack ; something Morgana had watched her mother experience for years after the death of her father. Unwillingly, she recalled an image of her mother sitting on the window bench at the inn late at night, watching the snow fall onto the road outside. Her mother was eerily still in an attempt not to awaken the then five year old Morgana.
Morgana heard horses approaching and she shushed Eva to be silent as the officers congregated outside their wagon entrance.
"Captain, I have never gained access to any of the chambers within the mountain. As we will be ready to commence shortly, I thought it wise we discuss the procedures."
"Yes, McCullough, by tomorrow at nightfall, this will be behind us,” replied the captain grimly.
"You mean till six more months pass,” and as the captain eyed him curiously, he hastily added, “sir."
Captain Dennehy strode over toward a patch of evergreens, clustered together and bent from the heavy windstorms. With both hands, he leaned on a massive rock, and as he did, it moved to the side, just enough for a person to enter, albeit sideways.
"Follow me, Colin. I'll instruct you in the procedure,” he said, beckoning for Colin to follow.
Colin walked toward the evergreens, and as the captain's back turned, he fingered his wedding ring, now around his neck on a chain. He thought of Marisol, sleeping soundly when he left the wagon, and how he had adjusted the coarse blankets over her before slipping into the night.
As they shimmied into the crevasse, Colin saw it opened into a narrow hallway. Captain Dennehy removed a torch from the wall and lit it with flint rocks he extracted from his pocket. They began to walk slowly down the passageway, when Colin was struck by the stench emanating from in front of them. As they progressed, he ascertained it smelled of smoke, decay and sulfur. The smell tunneled its way into his unconsciousness and suddenly, his head was filled with visions of his burning home and family.
He clenched his jaw in determination and resisted the impulse to kill the captain without mercy, just as the man would show none to the small beings outside.
They reached an open chamber with two tunnels on either side. In the center of the room, Colin spied five rows of shackles and manacles, with ten sets in each row. As he walked, he felt a rustling movement around his feet. Bones littered the floor; tiny
"Get that rabbit, boy,” he mumbled to the dog, as his forepaws twitched with the dream he was having.
Sam walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. A book Bella had been reading a few days ago sat spine up on the table, marking her place where she had left off.
He wondered as he sat waiting for the coffee to brew, how he was supposed to act normally and go about his day? He knew he would never be whole again without his wife.
As the aroma of coffee filled the kitchen, his loneliness for his wife was a sharp ache in his chest.
Walking to the front door to retrieve the morning paper, he opened it to see a beautiful apricot ribbon lying on top of the newspaper on the front porch. He sat down on the stoop and ran it through his rough hands, over and over.
Chapter 22
The party approached the foothills of the mountain. Jagged crags and sharp fragments of rock littered the ground all along the face of the cliff, while black smoke billowed from the top of it.
Morgana peered outside. She was becoming desperate. She now fully understood the fate of all the children she had grown fond of over the time she was with them. Glancing around the wagon counting them, she tried to calculate how many children had been brought here to suffer this fate. She was having trouble thinking clearly; panic was taking hold. She began to feel as if her thoughts were a spinning wheel spewing its threads in all directions. Breaking out into a cold sweat, she was becoming dizzy and her heart was racing. She distractedly wondered if this was what her mother had called a panic attack ; something Morgana had watched her mother experience for years after the death of her father. Unwillingly, she recalled an image of her mother sitting on the window bench at the inn late at night, watching the snow fall onto the road outside. Her mother was eerily still in an attempt not to awaken the then five year old Morgana.
Morgana heard horses approaching and she shushed Eva to be silent as the officers congregated outside their wagon entrance.
"Captain, I have never gained access to any of the chambers within the mountain. As we will be ready to commence shortly, I thought it wise we discuss the procedures."
"Yes, McCullough, by tomorrow at nightfall, this will be behind us,” replied the captain grimly.
"You mean till six more months pass,” and as the captain eyed him curiously, he hastily added, “sir."
Captain Dennehy strode over toward a patch of evergreens, clustered together and bent from the heavy windstorms. With both hands, he leaned on a massive rock, and as he did, it moved to the side, just enough for a person to enter, albeit sideways.
"Follow me, Colin. I'll instruct you in the procedure,” he said, beckoning for Colin to follow.
Colin walked toward the evergreens, and as the captain's back turned, he fingered his wedding ring, now around his neck on a chain. He thought of Marisol, sleeping soundly when he left the wagon, and how he had adjusted the coarse blankets over her before slipping into the night.
As they shimmied into the crevasse, Colin saw it opened into a narrow hallway. Captain Dennehy removed a torch from the wall and lit it with flint rocks he extracted from his pocket. They began to walk slowly down the passageway, when Colin was struck by the stench emanating from in front of them. As they progressed, he ascertained it smelled of smoke, decay and sulfur. The smell tunneled its way into his unconsciousness and suddenly, his head was filled with visions of his burning home and family.
He clenched his jaw in determination and resisted the impulse to kill the captain without mercy, just as the man would show none to the small beings outside.
They reached an open chamber with two tunnels on either side. In the center of the room, Colin spied five rows of shackles and manacles, with ten sets in each row. As he walked, he felt a rustling movement around his feet. Bones littered the floor; tiny
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