AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rachel’s boots crunched on the carpet of fallen leaves, her eyes scanning the underbrush. The silence was a cloak around her, heavy and stifling, as if the forest itself held its breath in anticipation. Her hand instinctively rested on the sidearm at her hip, comforted by its presence.
"Easy, girl," she murmured to herself, "just another walk in the woods."
But it wasn't just another walk. Not today. Every shadow seemed imbued with purpose, every rustle a whispered secret. She pushed forward, muscles taut, senses alert.
Something about this terrain... was odd.
She hesitated, frowning and glancing around, her eyes trailing over the earth... What was...
She paused.
Those bushes over there... They didn't match the surrounding terrain. In fact, they looked like dead wood, that someone had hastily pulled across old stone. Someone less versed in the tapestry of the forest might've missed it, but to Rachel, it was as obvious as a tattoo on a friend's face.
Rachel's heart quickened as she approached the camouflage. Her intuition whispered caution in her ear, urging her to proceed with vigilance. She crouched down, her gloved fingers carefully brushing away leaves and debris to reveal the hidden stones beneath.
As she uncovered more of the concealed stone, a chill ran down Rachel's spine. The stones were weathered, their edges eroded by time and nature's touch, but they bore markings that were unmistakable—the remnants of an ancient altar.
A surge of adrenaline coursed through her veins, overshadowing any fear that might have held her back. With a mixture of trepidation and curiosity, Rachel extended a hand to touch the cold, moss-covered surface of the makeshift stone shrine... The carvings matched the ones on Silas' boots.
He'd spoken of a legend... of a Bride's bounty.
She hesitated, and then pushed the overgrowth aside completely, revealing what lay underneath.
And then, almost invisible beneath an overgrowth of ivy and moss, a dark maw gaped before her. An entrance, long forgotten by time, beckoned from within the dense thicket. The edges of the opening were jagged, like the jaws of some slumbering beast, and Rachel felt a chill creep up her spine.
"Damn," she breathed out, her pulse quickening.
The air grew colder as she approached, the mineshaft exhaling a musty scent that mingled with the earthiness of the forest floor. It was as though the mineshaft were alive, breathing out the memories of those who had once dared to venture into its depths.
"Could be something," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She reached for her radio but hesitated, her thumb hovering over the call button.
The entrance loomed larger as she neared, the darkness within impenetrable. She thought better of entering the dark space, though. She knew it would be costly to step foot in without caution.
Rachel's gaze dropped to the ground, her eyes tracing the irregular pattern of muddy footprints that marred the forest floor. They led straight to the mouth of the mineshaft like breadcrumbs left behind by a wayward soul. There was something deliberate in their spacing, an urgency that suggested whoever left them had been searching, or worse, fleeing.
"Who were you?" she whispered into the silence, the question hanging in the air, unanswered.
The footprints told a story, one of haste and perhaps desperation. Following them with her boots, Rachel felt the weight of each step, the echo of the unseen traveler's presence still lingering amidst the pines.
And she spotted small flecks of glinting powder. Flower gold... scattered on the ground. She scowled.
"Gold fever," she mused, the words tasting like dust on her tongue.
And then she saw it—the silver mark. It glinted mockingly in the shard of sunlight that dared penetrate the canopy above. Carved with meticulous care into the wood framing the mineshaft entrance, it was a symbol that tugged at the edges of her memory. The exact same carving as on Silas' boots. The boots sold by Mad Jack. The boots that bound together the treasure hunters in this abandoned place.
Rachel breathed out, her heart tightening in recognition.
Images of campfire stories flickered through her mind—tales of a lost lode, a treasure hidden deep within the Texas earth, guarded by spirits and shrouded in mystery.
Her fingers brushed against the cool metal of her badge, a reminder of her oath, her duty. It was all inane, though, wasn't it?
She frowned at the thought.
"Footprints don't lie," she said, steel creeping into her voice.
The wind shifted, carrying with it a whisper of forewarning. But Rachel's resolve only hardened.
"Time to see where you lead," she declared to the silent sentinels of the forest.
