Once Upon A Tale (Published Amazon)

Epilogue

Sicily, Italy - 2013
3 years earlier

The three young explorers made their way along the winding rock path they had abseiled down to. They looked out at the magnificent view of the ocean. The people in the Village had told them that no one traversed the paths anymore for they were dangerous and unstable not to mention difficult to get too. 400 years ago, there had been an earthquake that had caused a landslide. Rocks had fallen and obliterated the natural pathways making it impossible to get to.

"Chris, look at that view. I bet this was a popular make out place years ago." Gracie sighed.

"Did they do those sorts of things 400 years ago?" Pete asked as he made his way towards the other two along the narrow rock ledge. They had abseiled most of the way until they reached an area that seemed sturdy along the cliff side.

"I'm sure they did. Just in secret." Gracie laughed.

Chris was a talented geologist who preferred to be out in the field rather than stuck behind a desk looking at rock specimens all day long. He had always been a bit of an adventurer and when his girlfriend Gracie and best friend Pete suggested cave dwelling as a holiday idea, Chris had jumped at the idea. He began to inspect the rock wall behind them. He was sure it was part of the cave in and was covering something.

"This rock isn't solid. There is something behind it. Maybe a cave I can't be sure." He pulled out his rock pick and hammer and began to gently hammered in the centre of the wall. He stopped and turned to Gracie and Pete.

"Make sure your harnesses are secure. I am going to put more force behind it. It may become insecure and fall." Everyone checked their harnesses. "Gracie why don't you start on the right and Pete you start on the left. I'll continue in the middle." The other two pulled out their tools and began copying Chris. They hammered cautiously at first but nothing happened. With a bit more force, Pete managed to break a small hole through the rock.

"I have a hole." He told them. He placed his eye to the hole, but all he could see was darkness.

"I have one too." Gracie called from the other side.

"Gracie can you shine your torch into your hole and I'll look through mine to see what we have." Gracie unclipped her torch from her belt and turned it on. She placed it flush with the hole illuminating the room inside.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely a cave. Let's keep going." They hammered for the next hour, taking breaks to drink water and eat their lunch. Chris had been working on the centre for some time but he had nothing. The centre was solid rock and it seemed the only way through was from the sides. He shuffled along towards Gracie.

"I'm going to help you here. I am not getting anywhere in the middle I think it's solid rock." Chris began hammering next to where Gracie's large hole was. He placed it in a position slightly lower and exerted a lot of force. The wall began to crumble and Gracie stepped to the side, out the way of the falling rocks.

"What's going on? Is everyone alright?" Pete called out.

"All good mate. You might want to come around here. We have an opening." Chris pushed the debris off the path between himself and Gracie then entered the small entry they had just made. It was definitely a cave. Pete climbed in behind them and looked around.

"How cool." He whispered. They walked around the cave looking at the walls. Gracie ran her fingers lightly over the rock as she walked around the perimeter.

"Ah!" Gracie jumped back pulling her arm in towards herself.

"What is it?" Chris jumped to her side looking at her. "Did you hurt yourself?" Gracie shook her head staring at the wall she had just touched.