Loch

Chapter 16

“This looks like the correct spot.” Maddock looked up at the hulking silhouette of Dunstaffnage, inky black against the moonless sky. His eyes ran down the edge of the eastern tower, then followed along to the distinctive stone outcropping that hung just above where they stood. When he was sure they were in proper alignment, he turned to face the water, took out his compass, and got his bearings.

“According to this Jimmy guy, there’s a passageway down beneath the water, but it’s a dead end?” Grizzly asked.

“Yes,” Maddock said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t happy with the decision that Grizzly should accompany him on this dive, but the man had pushed hard, arguing that one representative from each party should be included. Maddock didn’t appreciate the insinuation that he and Bones would double-cross their new partners, but he understood the lack of trust, as they’d only met earlier that day. Furthermore, the cryptid hunter had used his connections to borrow the SCUBA gear they needed on short notice. That earned him a few points on Maddock’s scorecard.

Maddock had expected Bones to object to being left behind. After all, the big Indian loved to dive. Unfortunately, he’d gotten no help from that quarter. Bones seemed to have finally taken notice of Isla, and was now eager to “keep an eye on her” in case the men who’d tried to abduct her returned. Maddock wasn’t sure how he felt about leaving the two of them alone, but he chose not to dwell on that thought.

“Well, if there’s any kind of hidden door, I’ll be sure to find it,” Grizzly said. “Did I tell you about the trapdoor I discovered in that haunted house in Connecticut?”

“I thought it was a cover over the old septic tank,” Maddock said, focusing on the illuminated face of his dive compass.

“It was, but it was totally hidden. No one knew it was there before I found it.”

“Before you fell in?” Maddock asked absently.

“I didn’t fall. I climbed down in. And then I slipped.” Grizzly lapsed into silence. Apparently, the memory was not a pleasant one.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’ve got our bearings. The way in should be about a hundred meters that way.” He pointed in the direction the compass indicated.

“You don’t have to go metric,” Grizzly said. “We’re both American.”

Maddock silenced him with a blank stare. “Like I said, I’ve got the bearing. Stay on my six and wait for me to signal you when I’ve found the passageway. I’m more broadly built than you, so I’ll go first. According to the accounts Jimmy found, it’s pretty rocky and uneven through there, and it could be easy to get stuck. If I get a fin tangled or something, I might need your help to get free. Got it?”

“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me.” Grizzly clapped a hand on Maddock’s shoulder. “I know diving at night can be scary, but I’ve done it plenty of times. You’ll be fine.”

Maddock sighed. “Just try not to get lost.”

They waded out into the cool waters of Ardmucknish Bay until they were deep enough to begin swimming. Visibility was almost nil and the current steady in his face as Maddock propelled himself through the water with powerful kicks. The beam of his headlamp sliced through the murky water, illuminating the rocky seabed below. A flicker of light told him Grizzly was keeping pace. That was good. Maddock would feel obligated to go back for the man should he lose his way. At least the cryptid hunter wasn’t slowing him down.

He kept an eye on his compass, mentally tracking the distance they’d covered. When he estimated they’d gone a hundred meters, he came to a halt. He was utterly unsurprised when, a few seconds later, Grizzly collided with him. He shoved the man away, held up his hands to indicate, You stay here, and then he dove.

He had a feeling Dunstaffnage would not be giving up its secrets easily. The jumble of rocks beneath the surface of the water seemed to go on forever, and one stone looked much the same as the next. This was not a problem. He was a patient man, even meticulous when the situation called for it. He could work a grid with the best of them, usually to the chagrin of Bones and the rest of the crew. Laughing internally at the thought of Grizzly treading water against the current while Maddock slowly explored underwater, he selected a starting point and began the search.

He swam back and forth, gradually working outward from his selected point. Light flashed across his field of vision. Apparently Grizzly was trying to help by adding his beam to that of Maddock’s headlamp. Maddock waved him away.

Finally, something caught his eye — a spot that was completely free of sand, silt, or debris. In its midst lay a deep shadow that proved to be a man-sized hole. Maddock felt the current pushing back against him. It would be a challenging swim, but the trip back out should be easy if they didn’t tarry too long. He turned, got Grizzly’s attention, and gave him a thumbs-up. Grizzly returned the signal and dove. Moments later, he shouldered past Maddock and swam into the narrow channel. Maddock bit down on his regulator, imagining he was a Kraken biting Grizzly’s head off and followed along.

They hadn’t gone far before Grizzly began to tire. Twice he stopped, bracing himself against the sides of the passage in order to keep the current from pushing him back. Maddock wondered if a well-placed jab from his Recon knife would get the man going again. Finally, Grizzly moved on, and after a short swim, the channel opened up, ending at a blank wall.

Maddock swam to the surface and clambered out onto a narrow ledge. Grizzly surfaced a few seconds later, spat out his regulator, and clutched the ledge. Maddock pretended to busy himself with his gear while Grizzly sucked in ragged breaths and struggled to climb out of the water. After about twenty seconds, Maddock could no longer deal with his own pettiness and reluctantly hauled his unwelcome partner up onto dry land.

“Thanks,” Grizzly gasped. “I wore myself out breaking the current for you.”

“Breaking the current?”

“I went first so I could block the current. That way it was easier for you — like one race car drafting behind another.”

“Sure,” Maddock said.

They removed their air tanks and moved along the ledge, searching the darkness with their headlamps, until they came to a dead end.

“This doesn’t look like what your friend described,” Grizzly said. “Think we took the wrong passageway?”

Maddock shook his head. “The odds of there being more than one channel like this are microscopic.”

“I don’t know. You ever hear of Oak Island? That place is riddled with underwater passages.”

Maddock bit back a retort. Would this guy never shut up?

“It looks like the ceiling caved in. Let’s see if we can move some of this rubble.”

They set to work, Grizzly laboring without complaint until they’d cleared a large enough opening to squeeze through. On the other side, Maddock found what they were looking for.

Jimmy had discovered an archived post from a defunct internet forum, written by a man who claimed that, while diving, he’d found the underwater passageway, which took him beneath Dunstaffnage Castle. There, he’d found a wall covered in odd, ancient-looking carvings. Sure enough, here was that same wall.

“This is really something,” Grizzly said. He played his light back and forth across the solid wall. “It looks legit to me.”

Maddock nodded. This was nothing like the fake pictographs vandals sometimes carved among genuine, historical images. These were very old, weathered by perhaps centuries of water dripping down from above. He saw no apparent pattern to the carvings, which were a mixture of stars, letters, numbers, and symbols. He took out his waterproof camera and snapped a series of pictures.

“Do you think this is a clue to the location of the stone?” Grizzly asked.

“No telling,” Maddock said. “Maybe there’s a code here that needs to be deciphered, although I have to admit it seems unlikely. The images are too irregular.”

“There has got to be something here,” Grizzly said. “This place is almost impossible to get to, so it’s not like rock carvings in the American southwest, where people would camp for the night beneath an outcropping and leave a little graffiti behind. Somebody carved this here for a reason.”

Maddock couldn’t disagree. He took a few steps back and examined the symbols one by one. He was about halfway done when Grizzly let out a triumphant cry.

“That one! I recognize it.” He pointed to a shape like an old grave marker in the lower portion of the carving. “This is one of the symbols that represent the Tuatha de Dannan treasure.”

They both moved closer to inspect it.

“Are you sure it’s Tuatha?” Maddock asked.

“Definitely. I’ve been studying up on the treasure forever. Isla and I also spent a lot of time going over them. There’s the spear, the sword, the cauldron, and this one is the stone.”

“Well, the stone is what we’re looking for,” Maddock said.

Frowning, Grizzly rose up on his tiptoes and shone his light down into the recessed area where the stone symbol was carved. “This is weird. The edges around the image are cut deep. It’s almost like a handle.” Without warning, he hooked two fingers into the carving and pulled.

“Grizzly, no!” Maddock grabbed the man’s wrist and yanked his hand away, but it was too late. The oblong shape that represented the Tuatha stone tilted forward, then snapped back into place when Grizzly’s hand came free.

The floor trembled beneath their feet, and a low rumbling filled the cavern. Instinctively Maddock looked up, fearing the ceiling might collapse. But the sound stopped.

“See?” Grizzly said. “Nothing to worry…”

His words were lost among a series of sharp cracks as the floor fell away beneath their feet and they tumbled into darkness.