Te Iubsec...Forever.

4 Petronela

And yes, the following day, my shoulders hurt like hell, even with the cut shirt wrapped around the padded straps of my pack. It was one of those things; I had to endure and press on no other choice. The hiking was not much easier, but at least it was no worse. It was sunny and warm despite the higher elevation. We even caught a break and crossed a logging road which we stayed on for a while, and even when we left, there was little underbrush to worry about for quite a bit. Franceska said we were making good time in our travel, but as the day progressed, I knew just how fast the night would come, and I kept a close eye on the horizon.

As we neared the place, Ches claimed to remember we began making criss-cross trails up and down the heavily wooded area. Aside from a few animal trails, there was little in the way of a path. The evergreens seemed to form near-impenetrable barriers as their limbs spread wide at ground level. I didn't know how we would ever find anything in woods like that and how anything ever existed in a place like that during her lifetime.

Then Franceska let out an excited shriek from her place ahead of me. I had stopped for a drink of water but could see her bright red pack through the branches. She was kneeling and inspecting something. I gulped the last of my water and rushed to see what she had found.

"Nick, we have found it!" She said, looking over her shoulder at me as I approached.

"This is it, Nick; look, look!"

She had spread clumps of dried grass and forest debris away from what looked like a pile of stone, but as I stepped closer, I could make out the unmistakable design and even color of mosaic tile. I was amazed.

"I can't believe you found that!" I said with excitement.

"Silly man, I told you I knew where it was. I stepped hard and felt the floor beneath me, and I knew instantly right where I stood."

She got up, wriggled the pack off her back, took a few steps to the left of the rock pile, and closed her eyes. I watched her. She was still for at least a minute before she took a deep breath and turned to me.

"I think I can find everything. I haven't been here in years, but I can see where everything should be in my mind!" She gasped.

"Ches, look," I said, hating to squash her moment.

"Night's going to be on us before we know it. We need to get somewhere and set up housekeeping, dig?"

She laughed at me; she always laughed at me, good or bad I would take it too.

"I dig Nick; come with me."

She grabbed her pack, and I helped her put it back on, and off she went, nearly skipping through the trees and undergrowth, which I admit did seem a little thinner in that area.

There were more stones in a few moments; these had been walls at one time or another, it was apparent. She stopped at a random spot along the way, moved some fallen branches, and kicked forest debris from the ground, and sure enough, there was tile in pretty blue, yellow, and orange. She smiled and took off again. I paused to inspect what she had uncovered, then moved quickly after her.

"I was just checking; we are on the right path," she assured me.

In a moment or two more, the trees gave way to a small clearing, and there was the first noticeable sign of human occupation, a corner wall of stacked and mortared stone still standing, with a wide knee-wall trailing off the forty or so feet back into the woods.

"Wow! Look at that!"

"There's spring behind that wall over there and a pool," she pointed.

"It runs along that wall," she said once more, dropping her pack in the tall grass and quickly walking over to the knee wall.