Crisscross Moon - 33. Chapter 33

33.

We slept for a couple of hours, at least I did, but I probably had less on my mind. Cory sat down and leaned against a wall, and I stretched on the ground, after moving a dozen-or-so rocks.

"You're gonna regret that position," I warned.

"Then let me put my head in your lap," he joked.

"Not sure I trust your head there," I joked right back. Neither of us were making much sense, but we were tired.

I woke around 5 and checked my watch without waking him. Then I went back to sleep. But when we talked later, Cory said he'd been awake. "At least, for a minute-or-two."

When I woke again, it was almost 8, and he still seemed to be dozing. I slowly got up and tried to stretch. But my body really hurt, and I must have groaned.

"Something to be said for mattresses," Cory told me in the dark. "No wonder cave people died young."

"I don't think they all slept in caves."

"Why not? If the other choice was being eaten..."

"It's 8 o'clock," I said.

"Time to get out of here?"

"You weren't this nervous Saturday night."

"You mean claustrophobic?"

"Yeah..."

"I felt safe on Saturday... I knew we could leave if we wanted... And I knew where we were."

"We can leave now."

"How long've the bears been sleeping? How long do they need?"

"They've had enough time... And if they're even still there, they'll move as soon as they see us."

"Where else would they go?"

It was a legitimate question.

"Let's let 'em rest a while longer," Cory went on. "Make me feel better."

I laughed. And after I turned on my light, he tried to stand.

"Ouch," he said. "I want a bed... And a shower... And the gym..." He tried again. "Ouch, ouch, ouch."

"You'll get to a gym soon enough."

"Ouch."

"Meanwhile, you've mastered cave talk."

"Ouch, ouch."

"You not being funny."

"I'm not trying to."

But we laughed anyway. "I'll be right back," I told him.

"Where you going?"

"Somewhere private."

He seemed to think that was funny. "It's private here... If you turn off your light."

"You have ears."

And I went searching for a suitable place. Behind me, I heard Cory hadn't waited.

And after I'd wriggled partway out of my wetsuit and was pisssing in what could have been a corner, I found something no animal had ever brought in. I wasn't surprised that someone had been in this cave. The parks are pretty well explored, and we weren't far from an entrance. But what I found had been there for more than a couple of years - or even a couple of hundred.

"Cory," I called.

"You heard me, huh?"

"Come here."

"You gonna make me clean up?"

"Or stay there. It doesn't matter. I want to show you something."

"You gotta show it to me in a cave?"

"Just shut up."

He laughed again but stayed where he was, and I took him my pottery shard.

"Mogollon?" he asked. "Some of their famous stuff?"

"No... I think this is earlier. There's nothing fancy about it. It's just practical."

"Practical enough to bury your dad in? If it came from a larger piece?"

"I think this is a large piece... at least a large piece of a small bowl... a storage bowl."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen enough of them. Look at this curve..."

He did. The shard had a slight bend in it that could have been part of a bowl. But that didn't mean anything to Cory. "You've seen them in museums?" he asked.

"And books... And even in gift shop reproductions... But probably not as old as this."

"What do you think it's doing here?"

I smiled, though I knew he couldn't see me. "I think it's telling you we found the right cave."

He simply laughed.

"The magic shard that leads to the magic stream?" For some reason, he resisted. "I don't think so."

"Why not? I know there's no way to prove it right now... But we were never gonna find much more... not all, or any, of the supplies... But it's what you said... no matter how you try, it's almost impossible not to leave something..."

Cory had taken the shard and was shining his flashlight beam on it. On both sides of it. He kept turning it over in his hand. Finally, he asked, "Where did you find it?"

I showed him, and we looked for other pieces. We found rocks. We found pebbles. We even found what could have been a few more pottery slivers though each was smaller than the one we had. And we didn't find many.

"Could they all be from one pot?" he asked. "Could there be only one? And could that be the exception?"

"Maybe... But even if we only found one, that doesn't mean there weren't others..."

He seemed to think about that. "It's too easy," he said. "Too easy."

"Why?"

He hesitated. He clearly had no answer.

"Cory..."

"What?"

"When someone gives you a present... just say 'thanks.'"

He thought about that, too. "I would," he said, "if I believed it... If I didn't somehow think you had this shard all along and were just waiting for the right time to show it to me."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know." And he didn't go on.

"Why would I put you through all that trouble?" I asked.

He still needed to think "So it seemed more believable?"

"Be real."

Again, he was silent.

"Or maybe the shard is real," he went on, "but it's not what you say... Maybe there are pieces like this all over the place..."

"Have we seen any?"

"No... but we haven't been looking... at least, I haven't. I've been focused on caves..."

"And we searched my family cave pretty well... And never saw anything like this..."

"Well, maybe we should have... Maybe... if the cliff dwellers really were hiding there... there'd be lots of these..."

"That was 700 years ago..."

"A 1000..."

"Somewhere in between..."

"And every piece was taken for a souvenir?"

"No... of course not... This one's still here..."

"Well, maybe this cave is harder to reach... Or no one's ever tried ... Or not everyone has a wetsuit and isn't afraid of bears..."

I said nothing to that. It seemed useless. After a time, Cory simply pointed his light so he could see my face. "You really didn't bring this?" he asked.

"No."

"And it's honestly as old as you think?"

"I can only guess... But there are people who can tell us that once we get out of here..."

"If we get out of here..."

"Cory..."

He shined his light back on the shard, again turning it over and over like a worry stone. Then he began to shine his light around the cave.

(continued)