Chapter One
By: DanielH
"Wow! Look! Hey, Barnard, come see what I've found," yelled Barbara. Very slowly and carefully, Barbara was still digging with her long garden trowel. As Barnard neared Barbara's hole, he perceived what she had accidently unearthed, catacombs with ancient artifacts and remains in them.
"We can't build a home here; just look at all these artifacts and remains in the ground," wailed Barnard. "We need a connoisseur to look at this, not a quack from the museum who is only in it for the money and fame."
"I guess that means we will just have to wait three weeks until Lucky, the local anthropologist, gets back from his latest dig." said Barbara.
Three weeks later at Barbara and Barnard's property, the anthropologist had finally arrived. "What we have here, people, are vaults that the local band of Indians used to ceremonially bury the dead," said Lucky. "We are going to have to go into it and find out exactly what is in there." As Lucky, Barbara, and Barnard entered the catacombs, the ground behind them collapsed. "Well, that precludes the idea of going out the way we came in!" he finished.
As they slowly walked down the hall, they began to notice that there were sconces with torches in them. "I don't suppose anyone remembered to bring a lighter?" asked Barbara.
Actually, we anthropologists were always taught to be prepared, and that included carrying a lighter at all times. You never know when you may be trapped in the catacombs of an Indian burial chamber!" replied Lucky, chuckling at his own joke.
"Then give us a light!" snapped Barbara and Barnard in unison.
As the torch began to flare into life, Barbara saw a shadowy figure abscond into the darkness, but she quickly brushed it from her mind. About five minutes later the trio were startled to see a human figure accost from a niche in the wall. With a hand gesture, it beckoned them to follow it through the catacombs.
"Should we trust him?" asked Barbara.
"I don't see why not," said Barnard, "it's better than rotting down here." As they surmounted a hill, they saw a beautiful city splayed out before their eyes.
Home!