The moment Maddock set a foot inside the cave, the cool air raised goose bumps on his flesh. The difference in temperature from outside was remarkable.
The fifty foot descent to the main chamber, over slick, mud-covered rocks, proved to be much more challenging than their climb down into the pit, and by the time they reached the bottom they found themselves in deep darkness, with only faint light from the entrance to show the way.
"Looks like admission is free," Bones said. "At least there's no security guard or guides to avoid." He turned and looked at the slope down which they had just come. "Weird. Look at the entrance." He pointed up at the source of the light.
"I'm not seeing anything," Dima said.
"The way it's shaped. It looks like the Rolling Stones logo."
Maddock couldn't deny that the opening resembled a mouth with plump lips. What he didn't like was that the jagged rocks at the bottom reminded him of fangs.
"It looks more like a vampire's mouth to me," he said.
"That's what I love about you, Maddock. You find a way to take the fun out of everything."
Dima made a face and turned away, her shoulders quaking in silent laughter.
"I will wait here. I have seen the cave before." Faruk plopped down on a flat stone, pulled his knees to his chest, and wrapped his arms around his legs. “I am happy just to cool off.”
"I don't know how long we will be," Maddock said.
Faruk made a small wave. "You hired me for the day. If I get cold I will go back to the Jeep. Take your time."
They thanked him, turned, and made their way into the cave. Maddock and Bones took out their Maglites and turn them on. As the bright, narrow beams sliced through the darkness, Dima let out a tiny gasp.
"This place is beautiful."
Up ahead, the cave sparkled with refracted light. All around stood tiny ice formations like crystalline sculptures. Most were transparent and the light shone through them, spreading out to illuminate deeper parts of the cave. Others were a cloudy white and glowed like low-wattage light bulbs.
"This is pretty cool," Bones said. "Weird we've never heard of it before."
"With all the traveling we’ve done,” Maddock said, “I kind of like knowing the world still has plenty of surprises in store for us."
"You mean like stones that can let you boss animals around?" Bones asked.
"Exactly like that. Let's go."
They plunged on into the darkness, Maddock navigating the maze of ice. Here and there they passed frozen stalagmites and in a few spots Bones had to duck beneath the stalactites that hung like giant icicles from the cave ceiling. All around them lay natural wonders — frozen works wrought by nature’s hands.
“You see that one, Maddock?” Bones asked, pointing at a frozen shape off to the right. “It looks like the sheep you took to prom.”
“Yeah? Well, I would say this one,” he pointed off to the left, “looks like your mom, but unlike you, your mom and sister are attractive.”
“Maddock, I knew you’re into my sister but I didn’t know you liked mothers.” Bones shook his head. “Man, you think you know a guy…”
Dima laughed out loud. “Are you sure you guys aren’t brothers? You act like you grew up together.”
They continued to explore, first following the well-worn paths, and then moving into the side chambers, all of which proved to be small and, though beautiful, not containing anything of interest.
“For the life of me, I can’t figure out what Robert was doing here,” Dima said. “Do you think he was just doing the tourist thing?”
Maddock checked his watch. They’d spent the better part of an hour investigating the cave. “Could be, but I’d like to keep looking. I want to make sure we didn’t miss something.”
“Let’s make it quick,” Bones said. “If we stay in this refrigerator much longer I’m gonna start craving coffee instead of beer. And that would be a crime.”
“Turkish coffee is excellent,” Dima said. She reached up and playfully tugged his ponytail. “We’re going to have to break you of some bad habits.”
“If you succeed, you’ll be the first.” Maddock turned and shone his light toward the back of the cave. “Let’s go as deep as we possibly can and see if we missed anything.” They kept exploring. It didn’t take Maddock long to find what he was looking for.
“Check this out.” At the base of the cave wall, where the ceiling dropped down to a height of no more than four feet, lay a jumble of broken stones.
“It’s a pile of rocks. So?” Bones asked.
“Look at the other rock falls around here. They’re all coated in ice. On these, the ice is on the underside.”
“Right. Like somebody stacked them up here. I should’ve noticed that, but I’m distracted by the hot chick.”
“What do you think is back there?” Dima asked.
“We’re about to find out.” Bones began moving the rocks aside, quickly revealing a hole in the wall. He knelt and shone his light into the opening. “There’s a passageway back there. I can’t tell how far it goes but it’s worth checking out.” Without waiting for a reply from the others he dropped down on all fours and squeezed his bulk into the narrow space. “It opens up back here.” His voice sounded hollow to Maddock’s ears. “Come on in. You’ll have to crawl but if it’s wide enough for me you definitely won’t get stuck.”
“You next,” Maddock said to Dima.
“Promise you won’t be checking me out from behind?” She batted her eyelashes and Maddock wasn’t quite certain if she was teasing.
“I promise to try. That’s the best you’ll ever get from either one of us.”
“That’s the best you’ll get from him,” Bones shouted back. “I wouldn’t even try.”
Dima chuckled, dropped to the ground, and crawled into the passageway. When she vanished into the darkness, Maddock followed along. He held his Maglite in his teeth so as to keep his hands free. This was his least favorite part of caving. He had finally reached an age where his back and knees complained constantly when he crawled through low spaces, but he never complained. If he did, Bones and his crew mates would never let him live it down.
The farther they crawled, the more the cold stone sapped the warmth from his hands and knees. At least the numbness served to minimize the scrapes and bruises he was rapidly accumulating. He knew better than to go caving without gloves, kneepads, and a helmet, but sometimes the situation didn’t allow for it. Furthermore, there was nothing to look at in this dark tunnel, except for Dima, and he was steadfastly trying to avoid ogling her. The monotony was becoming seriously annoying when Bones announced that he had found a chamber up ahead.
“Just a few more feet and you can stand up,” he said. “Just don’t impale yourself on the ice spikes.”
Maddock breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally able to rise and stretch.
“Did that crawl get to you, old man?” Bones asked.
“Now, I’m good. I just…” Maddock paused in mid-sentence. The tiny cave was magnificent. Ice hung from the ceiling like chandeliers and protruded from the floor in thick spikes. “It’s like being inside an iron maiden,” he said.
Bones immediately began headbanging, thrashing his long hair back and forth, while playing an air guitar.
“Is this really the time?” Dima asked.
Bones straightened, put his hands on his hips, and looked down at her. “There’s always time for metal.”
“Let’s check this place out,” Maddock said. “I’m sure Faruk is getting tired of waiting on us.”
They began a careful inspection of the cave, Bones and Maddock shining their lights into every recess and a crevice, Dima using the flashlight on her phone to inspect the floor. After a brief search Bones found something.