Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Flashlight aglow, Jane hastened to the bridge. Made of aged stone and brick, with two thick arches rising over a dry creek bed. Shored, thank goodness, and safe. She climbed down the hill with ease to study the underside of the bridge. As a child, she used to play beneath these arches. In fact, she’d practiced hosting funerals here. She remembered tracing her fingertips over circles carved in the center of the inner arch.
She examined each one and... yes! Just as she remembered, each bore a series of grooves, but only one…three…five…seven stones had smooth, circular centers. She grinned.
Were the stones loose, perhaps? Get them out of the way and find a cubby hole under the bridge?
She set the flashlight at her feet, freeing both hands. When she pulled, nothing happened. When she pushed with all her might…biceps burning…yes! The stone moved at last, a musty smell escaping.
Invigorated by her progress, Jane kept at her task but dang it, she made little progress. She needed some muscle. Time to wake up her roommate-boyfriend. She phoned Conrad.
“Jane?” he asked with a sleepy tone. “Everything okay?”
“Come to the bridge and bring your biggest muscles. We’re about to find out if there’s a secret stash of gold!”
“You broke the code?” Rustling sounds filled the line.
“I did.”
“Bafflingly smart,” he muttered.
Her heart clenched. ‘Baffling smart’ had been one of his girlfriend requirements. “You can gush about my amazing brilliance later. Hurry or I go in alone!” Click. That should motivate him to hustle.
Within only a few minutes, he reached the bridge, calling her name.
“Down here,” she responded.
He descended, using his cell phone as a flashlight, and joined her at the wall, somehow more gorgeous than ever. Like her, he must have thrown on whatever was closest, which just happened to be gray sweatpants, combat boots, a sweatshirt proudly pronouncing: Don’t Be Cryin’ Vote for Ryan. “A gag gift from Wyatt,” he muttered when he noticed her stare.
She fought a grin. “You see those seven stones?” she asked, pointing with the flashlight. “I think they’ll move with the right amount of force.”
Conrad’s whole body strained as he shoved his weight into the jagged rock. When nothing happened, doubt settled heavily over her shoulders. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she’d woken up her boyfriend and dragged him out here for nothing. Then, it happened. The slow, grinding sound of rock sliding against rock filled her ears. Such a lovely music. The first stone inched backwards.
Grinning, she jumped up and down. “You did it.”
“I did something at least,” he said, excitement tinging his voice. The remaining six rocks weren’t as stubborn as the first and shifted much more easily. A pattern emerged in the jagged stone…a doorway?
He blinked. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Maybe? Keep going!”
Her heart hammered against her ribs as he slammed the side of his body into the rock. She helped as best she could, pushing and pushing. Oh, oh! It moved! They shared a triumphant smile. He hit it again and again and she pushed until some kind of crank took over. Chains rattled, and they both stumbled back.
The door jerked to the side of its own accord, creating enough space for someone to walk through. Also enough space for the scent of earth and decay to seep out, tickling her nose.
“It is a doorway,” she exclaimed. A secret entrance to a secret space! Was the gold inside? “We did it!”
“You did it.”
Yeah. She kind of did. She chewed on her bottom lip. “Um, it would be dumb to go inside, right?”
“Or dumb not to,” he said.
“Yes! That one. Dumb not to. Exactly what I was thinking. Because we’ve finally done it. We can’t really turn back now.”
“Also because I need to know what’s inside.” He moved forward. “You can look after I make sure it’s safe.”
“Fine. Deal. Yes.” Anything!
He paused and held out his hand. “Give me your flashlight. And your scarf.”
She unwound her scarf without hesitation. “Why do you need this?”
He wound the fabric around the lower part of his face. “Just in case.” He eased past the entrance and stopped, shining the light forward.
“Do you see anything?”
“A mound of stones, but nothing else.” He paused. “No animals or bugs scurrying about. I’m taking that as a good sign.”
“Stones?” Could gold be underneath?
Conrad eased back and removed the scarf. He tapped the flashlight’s handle along the sides of the stone frame. No debris fell to the ground. “All right. Your turn. You get a quick in and out,” he said, untying the scarf and winding it around the lower part of her face.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she exclaimed.
“By the way, I’m going in with you. Ready?” he asked, offering his hand.
Jane’s answer was to link their fingers and start forward.
They entered a small four by four space with thick darkness and musty air that at one time must have been used for storage under the bridge. She jerked her beam back and forth.