Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 60 - A Youthful Adventure

The young people could hardly wait to make their excursion down into the cave on their own. As a result, the cleanup in the cottage following Melody's birthday party was finished extremely quickly ... not that there was that much to do. All the leftover food was put away earlier, and they'd used paper plates and plastic glasses for the occasion, so most of the clean-up consisted of straightening the furniture and throwing things away.

"Have fun," Julie told them when they announced they were ready.

"Someone will come to find you when it's time for dinner," Susan said.

"Thanks!" the young people said and the left the house through the cave.

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Zack and Jessie led the way, turning on the lights at the top of the vertical shaft in the cave and picking up the collection of lighters for the candles the family kept in a day pack in the work area of the cave.

"Do you want me to carry one of those?" Jake asked.

"Okay," Jessie said. She handed him the one she was carrying and started down.

Bert followed directly after her, followed by Jake then Kelly then Zack.

"Are we staying together?" Jake asked as the five of them walked along the path after reaching the bottom of the first ladder.

"Not necessarily," Zack said. "Kelly and I want to explore some of these side passageways, part way down, and some of them are really small."

"We're going to the bottom," Bert told Jake.

"Can I come with you?" Jake asked the younger boy.

"Sure," Bert said.

Everyone stayed together until they came to the bottom of the series of 3 ladders running through the crack. Then Kelly and Zack took out their flashlights and walked away from the shaft instead of continuing down the usual path.

"Where does that go?" Jake asked when he saw where they were going.

"We don't know," Jessie said. "That's why Zack wants to explore it."

"We're going this way," Bert said, and he led the way along the route they usually took to the bottom of the shaft.

Zack waited until they left, disappearing down the steps that crossed the bridge. Once he and Kelly were on their own, he took her by the hand and led her down the dark passage in front of them, around the bend from the path they typically took when visiting the cave.

"Are we alone?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah ... it's just us," Zack confirmed.

"Does the sound carry down here?"

"Not really ... not when you're away from the shaft," Zack said.

Kelly grinned. Squeezing his hand, she followed him willingly a little bit further through the space between the rocks.

"Look at the walls here, Kell," Zack said as he shone the beam from his flashlight over the volcanic surface that surrounded them.

"They are really smooth," Kelly said. She stopped after another step or two, looking more closely at the area around them.

"What are you thinking?" Zack asked.

"I'm thinking ... I'm alone with you," Kelly said.

"Is that good?" Zack asked.

Kelly hesitated. "I don't know, Zack. It's been so long. I remember when it was like this before ... last time ...

"When I was Ryan and you were Carrie?" Zack questioned, wanting to be sure.