Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Facing Demons: Part Three

Roux

Ahead of them was a patch of ground that might have been a clearing once, or perhaps none of these trees had ever been here, and this whole area had been wide and open. Either way, it was now choked with weeds and undergrowth. There was no sign of the house that Ludovic had once lived in.

Ludovic turned in a half-circle, studying the trees around them, but his desolate expression said it all.

"I can't work out where the grave is," he said.

Roux's heart clenched.

Ludovic dropped her hand and walked forward a few steps before stopping again.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Roux asked.

"No," he admitted. "It all looks so different now. I'd assumed the house would still be here, and I could trace my steps to the grave from there. But now . . ." His voice trailed off.

He sounded so helpless, and Roux wanted to punch herself in the head for even suggesting this.

Ludovic wandered away from her, studying each patch of trees around them. Roux moved in the opposite direction, brushing away the brambles that clutched at her legs. Thorns nipped at her fingers, sometimes hard enough to draw blood, but she barely felt the sting.

There had to be some kind of clue around here, something that might help Ludovic get his bearings.

Further into the middle of the space between the trees, the undergrowth grew even thicker, and Roux waded through it as best she could.

Then, suddenly, her foot came down on something hard. The weeds were too thick to see through, so she stretched her leg out, feeling with her foot. The hard object continued, disappearing into the weeds further than Roux could reach, and a great pulse of hope shot through her.

Ignoring the thorns, she started tearing at the brambles with both hands until she'd cleared enough of a space to crouch down. Her fingers found the hard object. It was some kind of stone, rough, a few inches wide, with worn, blunted edges, and Roux's heart gave another leap, but she couldn't call Ludovic over until she knew for sure.

She pulled up more brambles, following the line of that stone shape, until her palms were slick with blood, but it was worth it. The stone line she'd found was part of a wall. Something had stood here once.

"Ludovic," she called. "I've found something."

He hurried over to her.

"Look," she started, but Ludovic's expression was stormy. He took her hand and turned it over.

"What have you done to yourself?" he said.

Roux pulled her hand back. "It's nothing," she said, even though the countless small cuts were really starting to sting. "This is more important. Look."

Ludovic gave her another disapproving look before turning his attention to the piece of wall that Roux had uncovered.

"That is what I think it is, right?" she said.

Ludovic traced the wall with his fingertips. "Yes," he said, his voice very quiet. "I think these were the foundations of the house."

Roux gazed around the vast tangle of undergrowth they had yet to clear. "Okay, so how are we doing this?"

Ludovic tipped back his head and looked up at the stars. "The land has changed, but the sky hasn't. I don't think we need to uncover the rest of the foundations."

"Really?"

Ludovic stepped back, away from the section of wall they'd found, still looking up at the sky. He turned slightly to the right, then the left, then moved back a space. "This was the bedroom," he said.