“Go in where?” asked Megan. In the moonlight all she could see was a hillside and some boulders.
“See those two boulders? The big ones leaning against each other, right there.”
“Yeah…sort of.”
“See the darker part in between them?”
“Yeah…”
“That’s the entrance. That’s where we go in. It’s a cave.”
“Liss,” said Megan, “it’s the middle of the damn night and we’ve been walking for, like days.” Thinking to herself ‘so then why is it still the middle of the night’, she went on aloud “Let’s rest first. Wait for the sun to come up.”
“No,” said Lisa, there’s no time to rest, and I don’t think the sun is coming up anyway. Come on. It’s no darker in there than it is out here.”
It was, of course. After they fought their way through the vines at the entrance, they had only gone a few feet inside when the contrast between the moonlit night outside and the utter blackness of the cave was obvious. They still had their flashlights, luckily. Megan had a sudden fright when she thought about batteries (and the fact that they didn’t have any extras), saying “Liss, let’s just use one flashlight at a time. I don’t know how much longer the batteries will last.”
“It’s okay Meg,” said Lisa, “I brought spares.”
The cave was level for a short way, then began to slope downward, under the hill above. The sisters made their way slowly over the dirt and rocks.
“It’s a fair way down,” said Lisa, “but in the mirror I didn’t see any places we’d get stuck.”
“Do you think it’s time to take another look?” asked Megan.
“Can’t,” said Lisa, “it only works when it’s on a grave.”
They stepped along carefully for a few minutes, then Megan said “What was with that dog, anyway?”
“I don’t think it was a real dog,” said Lisa. “I think it was a spiritual guide. The book mentioned them, and I found some other references too. It was sent to guide me to the treasure.”
“A spiritual guide who leads you to loot?” said Megan, incredulous.
“Hey I didn’t make it up,” said Lisa defensively. “There are spirit guides, and sprit guardians too. This treasure isn’t just loot; it’s consecrated, holy loot.”
It was too dark for Lisa to see Megan rolling her eyes. They didn’t talk for a long time after that, as they continued to make their way deeper into the cave. Luckily there didn’t seem to be any opportunity to lose their way; the cave seemed, improbably enough, to be as simple as a corridor into the earth. Casting their lights to the side revealed occasional open areas that might lead to other passages, but in the main they just followed the largest open way, which was reasonably straight. Megan wondered if it was an ancient lava tube or something of the sort. But there hadn’t been a volcano in this part of the world in millennia, had there?
After a time the slope of the cave steepened and they began to have to take great care not to slip. “We must be getting close,” said Lisa.
And after a few more minutes, she stopped abruptly, just as she had outside the cave entrance. This time Megan was creeping along carefully and didn’t bump into her. “Is this it?” she asked.
“Look,” said Lisa. Megan cast her flashlight beam ahead and saw that this was, indeed, it. An enormous chest, or at least the remains of one, lay against a large rock that seemed like it must have broken its fall, or at least its slide. The impact had sprung the lid and split the chest, revealing an enormous pile of artifacts, some made of gold and jewels that still gleamed in the flashlight beam; some less identifiable. Many of the golden items were clearly religious in nature.
“Holy crap, Liss,” breathed Megan, “it was all true.”
“Yeah,” said Lisa. “But look at how much of that stuff there is. We’re never going to be able to carry it all.”
“Carry it all?” asked Megan. “Come on, Liss, grab a souvenir to prove you were here, and let’s go home. If we can find home, that is.”
Both of the flashlights chose that moment to go dim and, moments later, dark. “Shit,” said Megan. “You said you had spare batteries?”
“Yeah, in my bag,” said Lisa.
“Liss,” said Megan, “I didn’t notice you carrying a bag.”
“Shit”, said Lisa. I must have dropped it. Maybe back in the cemetery.”
Megan sighed. The darkness was so total that it felt like a physical presence. “OK,” she said, “we’ve been going downhill the whole time in here. If we just keep going up, we should get back to the entrance. Come on.”
“Wait,” said Lisa, “let me just get one piece. Give me your hand; I can feel my way to the treasure.”
Megan reached out her hand toward where she thought Lisa must be. Lisa, at the same time, groped toward Megan. After a few panicky moments their fingers touched. It was just then that they heard, from deeper in the cave, an impossibly deep growl.
Europe, 1795
As Agneta was about to tuck the grimoire into its hiding place at the back of the dressing mirror, she opened it one last time. As often happened, the book seemed to open to a page of its own choosing. In this case, the very last page. Agnata read the last line before closing the book and secreting it away; it was the last time she would ever touch it. She remembered the line — the final statement of the grimoire — for a long time: “meddling in this art never goes unpunished.”
——
Agneta’s grimoire is real. Modern facsimiles are available as Touch Me Not, published by Fulgur in London. https://fulgur.co.uk/books/edited-by-hereward-tilton-and-merlin-cox/touch-not
