Chapter 3 3 ~ Wes ~ The Crystal Cave

"I understand we need to save our money, but maybe we should get a cab to go to the Crystal Cave. Eight miles is a long walk."

"I know, but we lack ideas about what we are up against. There is a Wal-Mart over there. We can pick up some water bottles or a canteen and fill it up. We can put it in our backpacks and take our time getting there. If we walk fast, we can make it there in three hours. The truth is I thought it would be a good idea to wait and start out early in the morning. There's a motel across the street, that way we can get back to town before dark," said Bruce.

"Good idea. Let's go get our supplies. We'll probably need them for some of our other journeys too. We'll head out early in the morning."

Loading up our backpack we headed out toward the Crystal Cave as dawn was breaking. The sun lit up the clouds with pink and purple and the morning was cool. It didn't take long to get out of town and into the country. We were already on the north side of town and the birds were calling out their morning songs. The smell of freshly mown hay was hanging in the air. By mid-morning, we arrived at the road to the cave entrance which had a chain strung across the drive with a closed sign hanging on it. I hate trespassing. I hate doing anything against rules.

"I guess we'll have to trespass. Maybe the people still live there, and we can ask permission to go in. We can tell them we are doing research on Missouri Caves."

"Good idea, I'd rather ask permission too," said Bruce.

A ten-minute walk brought us to an old farmhouse. It looked abandoned with signs pointing to Crystal Cave, but they were old and broken down. Another ten-minute walk took us down a rocky road that opened up to what used to be a parking area. A crag of rocks marked the entrance to the cave. The entrance was wide enough that a car could fit into it but another chain with a keep out sign was pulled across the entrance.

"I'm surprised they don't have some kind of locked gate across it," said Bruce.

"Ya, but if it had been impossible to get into, they wouldn't have listed it as a place to meet a Guardian. Do you think they're here waiting?" I asked.

"Don't know. I guess we'll find out." We ducked under the chain. "You coming?" asked Bruce.

"Yes, no one to ask for permission." Our steps echoed against the walls as we slowly entered the cave. "I feel a little creeped out."

"Me too," said Bruce as he pulled his flashlight out of his backpack. The cave was dark, but the crystals on the walls and floors reflected the light making it sparkle as we moved inward. The cave had crystals jutting up from the floor and others coming down from the ceiling. "It would be interesting to know how all these formations came about. It's a shame that no one is giving tours anymore."

"I wonder where we need to go in here to find the Guardian?" Bruce shined the flashlight up around the walls of the cave and on the ceiling. The crystals caught the light and reflected it in an iridescent glow.

"You have reached your destination and will now be tested." A man's voice echoed in the dark recesses of the room. I jumped out of my skin. The Guardian walked slowly into our midst. He was dressed in a roughly woven robe that looked like something that a monk would wear.

I looked at Bruce, "Yes sir," We both said at once.

The Guardian held a scroll with the clues written on it. "The word I want from you will come from your list.

"Discover your clue, don't play the fool.

Before hopeless lies,

from unfriendly spies.

Evil powers you'll see,

like pirates they be.

The opposite of their negative thread,

Will bring greatness to you, so you must stay ahead.

And the folly of dullness will soon be revealed.

The wisdom of knowledge with this word you'll wield."

Bruce looked furtively at me while I was busily writing down the clues. "I have to see it to figure it out. I'd never been able to remember what he said otherwise.

"Geez, Good idea! I'd never have thought of that" I said.

"Our words are composer, discovery, encouragement, hopeless, impossible, musician, richest, and unfriendly," I looked through the clues. "Some of the words in the clue are on our list, so it's probably safe to rule those out. That eliminates discovery, hopeless, and unfriendly. That leaves encouragement, impossible, musician, composer, and richest. Which of those words fits the clue?"

"It seems like saying it's the opposite of hopelessness. Which one of the words would fit that...? the opposite of something negative?"

"We can rule impossible out. That leaves richest, composer, musician, and encouragement... I know the answer." I said.

"Yeah, me too. said Bruce. He leaned over and wrote the word on the pad of paper,

"That's it!" We showed the word to the Guardian.

"You are correct." The Guardian smiled as he handed them their talisman and a new scroll with a new destination and seven more words to learn. Underneath the words were written: You will find the next Guardian at the Cave of Anubis in Oklahoma.

We breathed a sigh of relief.

"Beware of POE," said the Guardian. "They will now know you are on your journey and will try to foil your efforts, distract you, or keep you from reaching your destinations. Be on the lookout. They will employ people you would never suspect. The only people you can trust are each other."

"We'll be careful," I said. We headed out of the cave and started walking back to town.

"Well, that took the wind out of my sails," said Bruce. "Nothing like high stress to make the journey exciting."

We headed back to Springfield. I figured we would get back to town by 4 p.m. We could go get a bite to eat, cool off, and then head to the library so we could look up the new words. The new words were still so simple. The next batch had only seven words. They were expensive, governor, impression, independence, submarine, transportation, unfinished. I wondered why these words were so important to learn.

Bruce was looking over the talisman while we were sitting at McDonald's eating supper. "I am not sure what this is supposed to mean, maybe some kind of letter in another language."

"They're going to create some kind of message after we get them all; so, it stands to reason it's some kind of letter or symbol. Maybe after we get a few more we can figure it out."

"What do you think of our next destination?"

"I've never heard of the Anubis Caves in Oklahoma. We are sure going to some out-of-the-way places," said Bruce. What about the words they gave us this time? What do you think of these? They're equally unremarkable; expensive, governor, impression, independence, submarine, transportation, unfinished. All words we know for the most part. I don't know what is important about them, but if we study them like we did in the first batch we're bound to learn something, and we need to be prepared. We have no idea how the next Guardian will quiz us on them."

"I guess they have to be, so we can meet with the Guardians and get quizzed without POE getting ahead of us. Are you worried about them?"

"Not, yet but then nothing's happened yet," said Bruce.