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Two steps inside was as far as they were allowed to go, both for safety reasons and because the floor of the cave was to be examined over the coming days.
‘There’s a random scattering of maybe a dozen small crystals on the slab closest to the entrance—they look as if they’re either quartz or amethyst. Looks as if there are some pieces of pottery there too. Maybe a container for some kind of offertory.’ Rose’s camera had a microphone attached, and she was keeping up a running commentary of everything she saw for the people waiting outside.
‘And there’s something on the walls...’ She directed the beam of her torch onto the wall above the slabs, where Matteo saw dark shapes. ‘It looks like red ochre and I can’t see any discernible shape, although it seems to run the length of the slabs to a height of a couple of feet. The floor of the cave is dry, and there’s no bat guano. I can’t see any evidence of other animal incursions.’
She continued with her observations as Matteo silently looked around. This quiet place, undisturbed for so many years. Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed so peaceful.
His hand brushed against the back of hers, and he felt her finger curl around one of his. They looked around in silence for a moment, and then Rose resumed her commentary.
‘It’s beautiful in here...’
* * *
They’d worked until dusk, erecting a cover over the opening so that nothing could get inside to disturb the contents of the cave. Matteo noticed that a couple of the students and one of the archaeologists seemed to be preparing to spend the night here, guarding the cave, and he was pleased that it should be treated with such care and respect.
‘Here.’ Rose had pressed a memory stick into his hand as they’d parted, too tired to do anything but smile wearily at each other. ‘I downloaded the video for you.’
‘Thanks.’ Matteo held it tight. ‘Will you let me know what you find?’
‘Of course. You’re a part of this now.’
He felt as if he was. He’d warned himself against becoming too involved with Rose, but this was different. It was as if they were joined to this place by an invisible cord, which transcended mere involvement. It was unbreakable, and Matteo had to see it through, wherever it led.
* * *
He spent Sunday with his grandfather, showing him the video. There was nothing he could do at the site as the archaeologists would be slowly working their way through the cave, photographing and sampling as they went. But he wanted at least to tell someone, to talk about what they’d seen. When the camera lurched, giving a glimpse of Rose’s smiling face, her eyes bright with excitement, he could almost smell her scent.
She texted him, giving him updates on progress, but the call he’d been waiting for came on Wednesday. This time there was no question in her voice, no shy preliminaries to the invitation.
‘Come this evening. As soon as you can, after work.’
‘I’ll be there at six.’
* * *
Rose was looking for Matteo’s car, and when she saw it, following the winding road to the site, she walked across to the space set aside for parking. It seemed a little too eager, but it couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t wait to show him what they’d found.
And she’d missed him. Having him there when they’d found the cave had seemed so right, so much as if it was meant to be, and she had been obliged to remind herself that Matteo had to work, and he couldn’t be in two places at once.
He was wearing a pair of heavy boots, jeans and a T-shirt, and she handed him one of the hard hats she’d brought with her. ‘Ready for this?’
Matteo’s gorgeous smile almost made her trip over her feet. ‘What have you got?’
‘Well, we’ve taken a look at what was on top of the sl
abs. They’re quartz crystals mostly, probably from other parts of the cave network. And there were some pottery fragments that came from a small dish.’
‘Do you have any idea what timescale’s involved?’
‘That’s the interesting thing. The pottery was definitely of a late Roman style, probably after the main villa was inhabited. Cave burials are usually a great deal older than that, and it’s very unusual to find one with Roman connections.’
‘So you don’t think that it’s someone who lived in the villa?’
‘That’s highly unlikely. The time period doesn’t tally, and there’s a group of graves some way from the villa on the other side, which is probably the family burial plot. Our current theory, borne out by other finds in the main cave, is that this was one of a group of people who were actually living in the caves.’
‘They lived up in the hills, here?’
‘We think they were hiding up here. The dish is the kind of thing that a well-off person would use, it’s been turned and it’s of a high quality. It’s not the kind of thing that someone who permanently lived in a cave would have.’
