Rose fidgeted with skirt. “Are you sure about this? This house doesn’t look that old. They may not like us poking around in their basement.”
“Mrs. Labuler was very clear and precise about her
directions,” said Mrs. Steers, looking at her map. “This street, a corner cafe, and near a
grocery in Rome. And this is the oldest
part of the city.” Mrs. Steers glanced
down to the corner and could see what looked to be a bakery.
“Let’s hope she’s not lost her sense of direction,”
added Ari. He reached out and knocked on
the rough-hewn door. They waited for
someone to answer.
“So, according to her, there is something in a space
behind the wall in the sub-basement of the house, if it’s still there.” Mrs. Steers pulled out a piece of paper from
her travel bag. “We have to find the
lowest level.”
“How could she possibly know that?” exclaimed Rose.
Mrs. Steers took no time in answering. ‘She has her ways.”
“Why don’t we just use the migration incantation like
we did to get here?” Ari was listening at the door for signs of life. So far, no one had answered his knock and it
appeared that no one would.
“And how would we explain how we got into the
basement?” said Rose, looking up at the weathered Italian villa. The red stucco walls had cracks, the windows
dark and dirty. “And on top of that, we don’t know what we are getting
ourselves into.”
“We need to
make sure nobody’s home,” said Mr. Steers.
“Judging by the fact that no one is answering, we’re probably safe.”
Checking to make sure there was no one in sight, Mrs.
Steers placed her hands on Rose and Ari’s arms.
All three appeared on the other side of the door. They stood in a dimly-lit entry way.
“This place is old and smells like it,” said Ari,
sniffing the air.
“It’s been here a long time,” said Mrs. Steers. They walked around the vestibule. Their footsteps click-clacked on the
patterned tile floor. The house formed a
square around an open-air atrium with a running fountain and vibrant garden.
“According to the map of the house from Mrs. Labuler,
the basement door is in the kitchen,” said Mrs. Steers, pointing to the right. “We head that way.”
Tiptoeing, Ari led the way. Lagging behind him, Rose and Mrs. Steers admired
the Roman-style architecture of beige bare stone and archways. Their footsteps continued to echo on the
stone floor. Shushing them by putting
his finger to his lips, Ari pointed to their feet. Rose rolled her eyes and tiptoed. Mrs. Steers grimaced, trying to walk softly.
Ari opened door after door. “I hope nobody is behind one of these
doors. We would be in big trouble.” The last one he opened was a modern kitchen. “And here we are and still no sign of life.”
Just as his last words left his mouth, a door opened
somewhere upstairs. They could hear a
woman's voice talking to someone. All
three froze in place. Realizing that she
was talking in Italian on her phone, they listened to her. They heard her
coming down a flight of stairs. Her footsteps clear. Still frozen, all three held their
breath. At first, the conversation
sounded like it was getting louder, then it took a sudden turn and headed
towards the front entrance. They could
hear the front door open and close.
Exhaling, Rose whispered. "That was a close one. I heard her say something about checking a
cake in the refrigerator, then decided she didn’t have time."
"Thank heavens for that," said Mrs. Steers.
Scurrying into the kitchen first, Rose went over to a
corner and opened a small door. “Here we
are. Stairs going down. It’s dark and musty down there.” The smell of dirt filled her nose. She gazed down the narrow flight of stairs.
“Let’s go down,” said Mrs. Steers, stepping cautiously
down the stairs.
A few moments later, they were feeling their way
around the basement walls, using orbs for light. Finally, Rose motioned for them.
“Here, I think this is it.” Rose stood in front of another door. Ari and Mrs. Steers came over to the shadowed
corner. Rose was turning the brass knob. “It’s not budging.”
Ari stepped forward.
“Allow me.” He pulled out a
pocketknife and ran the blade along the side of the lock. Turning the knob, he forced the lock and
yanked the door open. They smelled damp air. Rose poked her orb into the dark,
illuminating another narrow stairway going down.
“And here we go.” Rose went first and slowly crept
down onto each step, making sure they were sturdy. At the bottom, they found a long, narrow
passageway. The stone floor was wet. A couple of rats ran away at the sight of the
intruders.
“Perfect,” said Mrs. Steers. “We should come to another tunnel and then
left. Then we look for a stone on the
right with a half-moon carved into it.”
The trio felt their way along the passageway until they were able to
turn left. Heading down the passage,
they started scanning the walls with their orbs.
Bending down, Mrs. Steers exclaimed. “Aha! Here it is.”
The stone they sought was about a foot up from the floor. She tried to pull on it, but it didn’t move. Ari bent down to take hold of the stone.
“It’s wedged in there good,” said Ari, pulling and
tugging until they heard a crack. It
finally shifted. Slowly twisting it back
and forth, then up and down, he got it out of its tight resting place. Rose held an orb down to peer in. Mrs. Steers
stuck her head next to Rose's.
“I don’t see anything,” said Rose. "Just dust and dirt."
Mrs. Steers timidly reached into the dark hole. “I don’t feel anything… Wait. I’ve found something, but it’s not
papery.” Mrs. Steers pulled out a piece
of cloth and stood back up. Opening it,
she found a rectangular silver amulet on a chain. A green stone was set in the
center. The silver casing had pressed symbols
of a half-moon, a star, a pyramid, and an Egyptian-looking eye, pressed into
it.
“What is that?” said Rose. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“There was supposed to be a scroll in here with the
incantation for bringing the dead back to life,” said Mrs. Steers. She reached back into the hole, feeling the
back and side stones. There was nothing
else. Holding the amulet, she ran her
fingers over the symbols, following their smooth outlines.
Ari and Rose stared down at the amulet.
“That’s very strange,” said Rose.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Mrs. Steers. “I’ve got to talk to Mrs. Labuler,
Leightstone, and Jameson about this. We’ve
discovered something very unusual like nothing ever before. Now, Ari, we can use the migration
incantation to get home.”
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wow didnt expect that
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