She felt herself flying through a dark place, then a hard jolt and she was back at the fountain.
What was that?
She heard a noise and thought the whispers had returned. Then she realized the sound came from the rustling leaves of the maze. Turning, Kendall saw the hem of a robe disappear inside. “Wait.” She dried her fingers on her pajamas as she hurried after him. Shining her light, she stepped inside the entrance to the maze. It was five feet wide, and even though the top was open and she could see the night sky, she felt spooked. But she wasn’t going to give up. She needed to talk to her father. He had all the answers to her past.
The maze continued for several yards before making another turn. The turns came quickly after that, and in minutes, she realized she was lost. She hurried down another narrow passage, her light darting over foliaged walls as she searched for her ghost.
The feel of the maze changed. Kendall felt heavy, as if she were trudging through water. Her head started spinning and memories flashed through her mind. She saw Jake the first time she’d met him, then Nathan, Jake, and herself in the inn after Nathan had broken in. Then she saw Nathan the first day she’d met him. She remembered the unguarded look on his face when she’d found his missing relic at the museum. A look of shock and pain. His expression had haunted her. She’d never understood why.
The memories kept coming, each older than the previous one. She saw herself before she met Nathan, saw her aunt Edna rummaging in her antique shop, and then Kendall was on a cliff in Egypt with Adam. The heaviness lifted and she felt as if she were floating.
She heard a noise behind her and turned, almost expecting to see Adam. A man wearing a dark garment stood behind her. “Daddy?” Then he tilted his head, studying her, and she saw the writing on one side of his face.
She gasped in shock. “You!”
She took a step backward and fell through the air. She reached out but nothing was there.
CHAPTER FOUR
KENDALL OPENED HER eyes and saw nothing but blackness. No moon or stars overhead. She didn’t feel injured or bruised, just shaken and disoriented, as if she’d been taken apart and put back together again. She rolled over, thinking she must have fallen facedown, but the moon wasn’t there either. She wasn’t in the maze. Her fingers registered a hard cold surface. Stone. She was lying on some kind of stone. She’d fallen through another hole. Jake would never let her forget this.
She felt a lump underneath her leg and found her flashlight, still on. Swinging the light around her, she saw that she was in some kind of tunnel or cave. Her brain felt like thick syrup. It took a full minute before she could stand, and even then she felt like her legs would collapse. She must have hit her head. Maybe she had a concussion.
She raised her light, looking for the hole she’d fallen through. The ceiling was forty feet above her. If she had fallen that far, she should be dead. Maybe she was dead. She’d seen Raphael just before she fell. He was dead. She felt dead. And cold. It was dark. What about the light? Going toward the light? She’d expected something far different than this. Would Adam be here?
“Get a grip, Kendall. Dead people don’t use flashlights.” She examined the wall but couldn’t find any openings or secret catches, only some markings that reminded her of cave drawings. But these were etched in stone and were some variation of circles. At least someone had been here before her, and she hadn’t seen any bones… yet, so there must be a way out. She studied, pressed, and prodded the walls, but she didn’t find any secret doors. It must be a one-way door or she needed a key.
A quick look around showed that the cave continued behind her. She searched the wall farther back, but after several minutes, she hadn’t found any answers except that she was lost and finding it hard to stay awake. She started calling for help. If she was just under the maze, one of the guards might hear her.
Her head began to buzz, and she heard someone calling her name. “I’m here,” she yelled. It must be Jake. She’d rather face his jokes than keep wandering in this damned cave. “Jake?” He didn’t answer. She heard the voice calling her name again. It wasn’t Jake. Nathan? She closed her eyes and listened closely. No. Not Nathan either. The voice came again. Adam? It was Adam calling her. But his voice sounded older than she remembered. “Adam?” she called, and then felt silly. Her addled brain must be playing tricks, unless she really was dead.
She continued checking the walls for openings or secret catches. The markings were so fascinating she forgot for a few moments where she was and how fatigued she felt. She finally gave up trying to figure them out and started walking. Jake had told her to explore, so it would be morning before anyone discovered she was missing. She would have to rescue herself.
The cave was large in places, narrowing at times, and the floor was remarkably level. She was used to exploring tight areas, but there was always someone with her or close by. She and Adam never went into a cave or tomb without the other.
It wasn’t long before she realized she wasn’t alone.
“Who’s there?” She whirled and looked behind her. “I know you’re following me. Daddy? Adam? Is that you?”
There was more than one spirit nearby. Animal. Creature. She didn’t know what they were, but she wanted out of here.
“Go away.” The whispered voice sounded rusty and old.
She shivered. “Who are you?”
“Get out.”
“I’m trying.” This time she hoped it was her imagination. She kept walking, goose bumps growing with each step. There was a feeling of anxiety and unrest. Perhaps it was fatigue, or she was picking up something from whatever was in here.
The castle grounds were large, but given the location of the catacombs and the tunnel leading to it, she should run into something soon. She’d walked for several hundred yards when she heard humming sounds like the statues made. They must be near. She didn’t have a cross to protect her. Could they kill her underground?
The sound was coming from the inner wall of the cave. She pressed her ear against the stone and the humming grew louder. The statues surrounded the entire castle grounds, but if she had fallen through the maze, only the statue closest to the maze should be nearby. That meant the catacombs should be this way, but there was only a wall. Holding the light steady, she examined the wall for a doorway, when she heard voices yelling and the sound of pounding hooves. Horses? The noise grew louder until it was deafening. She heard metal clashing and flung herself against the wall. A rush of wind brushed past her and the sounds faded.
She felt someone move behind her. Heart racing, she turned and saw a dark shape advancing. She tried to lift her flashlight, but her arm was numb. Two distinct feelings hit her then. Familiarity and darkness. She’d felt the darkness first, then a softening, almost a fondness, before everything went black.
“You can walk faster than that,” Adam called over his shoulder. He was ahead of her on the path. He climbed like a goat. She couldn’t ever remember seeing him fall.
“I have a blister. It’s these stupid shoes.” They were new. She’d lost one of her others down a hole yesterday. She’d taken a step when the ground gave way, and her whole foot went inside. Adam had immediately grabbed her and pulled her back. He had taken his T-shirt and wrapped it around her foot so she could walk home without cutting her foot on the sharp rocks or getting bitten by something poisonous. He’d teased her the whole way, calling her Mummy Foot, but she didn’t care. She would have laughed at him if he’d lost his shoe down a hole and had to walk home with a T-shirt wadded around his foot too.