Seth looked to where the finger pointed. Above them, the ridge ran as far as he could see, and below it grew trees. The trail wound up the mountainside, avoiding the steepest slopes. “Yes, I see it.”
“Water flows down the mountainside when it rains and fills a lake up there. The ground is warm, even in the winter, and there are caves carved from the soft rock.”
Seth didn’t recognize the word, caves, but Dawn said it as if it would be something good. The old man followed the path, taking it slow and breathing hard as they climbed the steep path. Seth wanted to race ahead, but held back. He asked, “Are there people up there?”
“I hope not.”
That seemed an odd answer. But Seth was also feeling the strain of the climb and decided any more conversation would wait until they reached the ridge. Dawn tired quickly and rested often, but when he did, a smile usually filled his face when he looked down the hillside to the white beach and the water beyond.
From the direction they watched, they looked out to sea and even on the clearest day Dawn said you couldn’t locate the mainland unless they went to the other side of the island. That also meant nobody on the mainland would see the island or their campfire.
The vegetation turned sparse, and Seth spotted two more deer and later a ram. The grass was on the path was dotted with the scat of different animals. After climbing a particularly steep section, they emerged winded onto a wide shelf above the ridge. Above, on the side of the mountain grew a forest of hardwoods, but the huge level area in front of them could graze several hundred sheep, and looked like it may have at one time.
On his left, the hillside rose higher to become the top of the smoking mountain, but against the base of it grew trees in orderly rows that he recognized. Apples, pears, cherries, and peaches, still a few apples hanging here and there. A stream emerged from the fruit trees, flowing off to his right, and farther to his right the lake sparkled in the sunlight.
Dawn ignored all of what Seth saw. The old man walked slowly in the direction of the steep hillside. Seth raced to his side anxious to ask a hundred questions, but pulled to a stop at his expression, one of sadness and pain. Against the hillside, a stone wall had been built by stacking flat stones, one upon another, and there was the unmistakable outline of a door. Beside the door to one side stood another door, and as Seth looked, he picked out five small windows, and three more doorways, each trimmed in flat rocks the same color as the hillside and held in place with matching mortar.
At least four stone chimneys extended above the doorways, all made of the same flat, gray stone and mortar, so they blended into the hillside. Vines draped down from the rock wall above, and a variety of small green plants clung to the side of the rock wall, and grew in front of the doors and windows, telling the tale that nobody had entered them in at least a year, probably much longer.
Dawn pointed at the door directly ahead. “Mine.”
Seth drew back in confusion. “We’re not going to live together?”
“Not what I meant, but I should ask, do you wish to live with an old man or off by yourself?”
“I don’t want to live alone.”
Dawn chuckled, “What I meant when I said it was ‘mine’ is that this is the cave where I lived when I was young. Other people lived behind the rest of the doors, most of them family of one sort or another. That was before illness took all of them. All, but me.”
Seth had to use almost all of the fingers on both hands to account for the number of doors, and he assumed a hut or cave lay behind each. A large flat rock covered the entire top of each door. The rock slanted slightly forward to send the rain away. Seth’s family had used slabs of wood for the same purpose. The windows were openings covered by rotting boards.
Like Dawn said, from the weathering of the wood, the lack of paths or trails in the grass, and the overgrown orchard, nobody had lived here for years. But he had to take everything the old man told him, and determine what to believe. Together they stood on a flat stone set into the ground in front of Dawn’s door. Seth waited for Dawn to open it, but sensed him waiting, too. The emotions of the old man were almost palatable, his hand reluctant to open the door and enter.
Finally, Dawn reached out and pulled free the rusted iron bar that held it closed. The door almost crashed down on top of them as it came free of the door frame. The leather hinges were dried and tattered, now torn strips. Seth and Dawn managed to avoid painful headaches by pushing the door off to one side. Dawn stepped into the opening, moving slowly as if in a shrine. Inside were the leavings of people long dead. Seth respected the dead, but tried to stay out of their way.
“Just as I left it,” Dawn said softly, moving to the single window. He shifted a brace, and the wood closing the opening fell outside, allowing more light and fresh air to stream inside.
Seth took a tentative step inside, sniffed, expecting to smell old, musty, and of even stinky leftovers, and perhaps the smell of death. However, the room was earthy, warm, and almost inviting, at least in comparison to what he expected. Small animals had used it for a home, and they have left droppings long since dried and without the smell.
The first part of the cave appeared to be a kitchen built along the front wall, a stove and oven combination made of flat rocks and mortar, like the outside entrances of the caves. It was part of a single larger room that held two benches and three chairs, none appearing strong enough to survive sitting. There were two more doorways carved into the rock.
Seth watched Dawn enter each of them. Both rooms contained the sagging remains of shelves, sleeping pallets, small tables, and benches. Insects and time had destroyed most. Some rotted and fell apart at a touch, none were solid enough to use for anything.
But the three rooms were larger than Seth’s original home by far and larger than the Salt People’s hut that was less than the size of the main room. It had housed seven people, sometimes eight, plus the two dogs. The cave felt immense. Dawn could use one room for himself, Seth another. Together, they could share the main room and kitchen. He had never experienced such wealth and spaciousness.
Tears eased from the corners of Dawn’s eyes and spilled down his cheeks as he surveyed the two side rooms. Seth said, “We’ll build more pallets and benches. There are plenty of trees, and it’ll give us something to do when it snows.”
Dawn said, wiping his nose, “Yes, the time for all this has passed. Nobody has lived here for many years. You and I will haul all of this outside and build new.”
The choke in his voice told of the emotions surging inside, but Seth tried to ignore them while cheering up the old man. He couldn’t seem to stop his mouth from speaking. Seth knelt on the dirt floor and touched it with a hand. “I thought my feet were wrong, but the ground is warm. I’m glad we’re here, but what if you hadn’t stolen my canoe? How would you return here?”
“Well, I hoped I’d have time to build a boat.”
“Before winter? You’d have to build fast to do that. I already saw snow a few days ago, and ice was on the edges of the water.”
“Yes, I know, but I wished to get here fast, and your canoe was available. Have I apologized for trying to steal it?”
“You wanted to get here to stay warm?”
Dawn gathered the remains of a bench in his arms and started dragging it out the door. Seth leaped to help while asking, “Hey, what about the other caves? Don’t you want to see which is the best?”
“No, this one will do, fine. But you’re right. We need to search all of the caves. We may find tools or weapons, or other useful items.”
“Maybe bowls?”
Dawn pointed to slats of wood below a shelf standing beside the oven. It fell apart in Seth’s hand. Behind the remains were three shelves, filled with earthenware bowls, jars, mugs, and trays. Will the wonders ever end?