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Pitt gazed up in wonder at the head of a serpent with bared fangs that was staring down at him.
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The gracefully curved serpent head, intricately carved with mouth agape, stared sightlessly at the water flowing into the cavern, as if searching for a distant shore. On an enormous ledge four feet above the water's edge, six open wooden boats, held upright by their keels and wedged by wooden cradles, sat side by side, stern to bow. The serpent rose on the bow post of the largest boat nearest the rim of the ledge.
The boats were built entirely of oak, the largest stretching more than sixty feet in length. The sun's reflection coming through the water in the tunnel cast feathery ribbons of light against the elegantly shaped hulls. From their view in the water, the dive
rs could look up at the keels and the broad, symmetrically arched hulls with their clinker-built, overlapping strake planking that was still held together with rusting iron rivets. Below the rack where shields had once been stored, oars still protruded through small round ports. Now gripped by ghostly hands, they seemed poised, waiting for a command to row. It seemed inconceivable that such aesthetically elegant hull lines could have been designed and built a thousand years in the past.
"They're Viking," Kelly murmured in astonished awe. "They've been here all the time and nobody knew."
"Your father knew," said Pitt. "He knew from the Viking inscriptions that they had settled on the palisades above the Hudson River, which led him to the discovery of the tunnel leading down to the cavern from above."
"They're well preserved," Giordino observed, casting an admiring eye over the Viking ships. "Despite the dampness, I see little signs of rot."
Pitt pointed up at the masts that were still standing with their furled red-and-white coarse woolen sails, then at the vaulted roof of the cavern high above their heads. "They left them stepped because of the cavern's lofty ceiling."
"They look as if all you had to do is drop them in the water, raise the sails and go," Kelly whispered in breathless wonder.
"Let's take a closer look," Pitt said.
After removing their fins, face masks and weight belts, they climbed a rock-chiseled stairway to the top of the ledge and mounted the boarding ramps that ran from the rock to the upper strake of the largest ship. The ramps were sound and obviously put there by Dr. Egan.
The light inside the cavern was dim, but they recognized the objects scattered on the floorboards. What looked like a body was wrapped in a burial shroud. On each side were smaller bundles in burial shrouds. Around the bodies, a treasure trove of artifacts had been literally dumped in scattered disarray. There were gilt-bronzed figures of saints, a stack of illuminated manuscripts in Gospel Latin and reliquary boxes filled with coins and silver chalices, most likely all stolen from monasteries during raids on England and Ireland. Amber necklaces, gold and silver brooches, elaborate silver-and-bronze necklaces and bracelets lay in piles inside elaborately carved wooden boxes. Bronze dishes and incense burners from the Orient, along with furniture, textiles and linen, and a beautifully carved sled for the chief to be towed on in winter snow, were also lying about.
"My guess is this is Bjarne Sigvatson," said Pitt.
Kelly looked sadly at the two smaller bundles. "They must be his children."
"He must have been quite a warrior to have accumulated this much wealth," Giordino muttered, gazing raptly at the treasures.
"From reading Dad's research notebooks," said Kelly, "I had the impression important chieftains were sent to Valhalla after a glorious death, along with all their worldly goods and chattels, which included their horses, other animals and their servants. He should also have his battle-axe, sword and shield. I see none of these."
"The burial was a rush job," agreed Giordino.
Pitt motioned toward the boarding ramp. "Let's have a look at the other boats."
To Kelly's horror, the adjacent boats were strewn with bones intermingled with broken and shattered household goods. Few skeletons were intact. Most looked as though they had been hacked to pieces.
Pitt knelt and studied a skull with a jagged gash in the top of the cranium. "There must have been a terrible massacre."
"Could they have fought among themselves?"
"I don't think so," said Giordino. He removed an arrow that was embedded between the ribs of one pile of bones and held it up. "This says Indians."
"The sagas suggested that Sigvatson and his people sailed away from Greenland and were never heard of again," said Pitt, trying to imagine a face on the skull. "It also lends credibility to the legend Dr. Wednesday told of the Indians slaughtering all the Vikings in the settlement."
"This proves it was no myth," Giordino said quietly.
Kelly looked at Pitt. "Then the Norse settlement. . ."
"Was located on your father's farm," Pitt finished. "He found artifacts and was influenced to launch his research project."
Kelly wrung her hands mournfully. "But why did he keep it a secret? Why didn't he call in archaeologists to conduct excavations? Why not show the world that Vikings had arrived in what is now New York and begun a colony?"
"Your father was a brilliant man," said Giordino. "In his mind he must have had a good reason for the secrecy. He definitely didn't want an army of archaeologists and reporters invading his privacy during his experiments."
Thirty minutes later, while Kelly and Giordino examined the rest of the Viking ships-not an easy undertaking in the dim light of the cavern-Pitt began wandering around the ledge. In the gloom he spotted a stairway hacked into the rock that led up into a tunnel. He climbed the first four steps with his hand trailing along one wall for support, when his fingers met with something that felt like an electrical switch. He touched it lightly and determined that the lever swung clockwise. Curious, he turned the lever until it clicked.
