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She nods, then moves to the other side of me and shoos me away.
I back up a few feet, just enough to give her room to work. She makes the cutest face of intense concentration as she explores the fissure, scrunching up her features while her tongue pokes out between her teeth. I'm glad no one could hear my thoughts. "Scrunching" is a term our daughter April loves to use. It's contagious, apparently.
Vanessa's eyes flare wide briefly, then she smiles with satisfaction.
I shuffle closer. "It's more than a fissure, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes. It's much more than that." She starts tugging on the vines, apparently to clear the way. "We need a knife or a machete to get this gunk out of the way."
"No, we don't." I shoo her away. "I've been working out, remember?"
She crosses her arms over her chest and observes while I grasp a handful of vines and yank. Then I yank again. I can feel the vines are loosening up, so I keep going, pulling and pulling and pulling while the vegetation gradually gives way. I wrench a lump free and toss the vines over my shoulder. Now I can see that I don't need to clear the whole width of the fissure. I only need to rip out the parts closest t the opening. The space gets wider beyond that.
I wrench a few more lumps out of the fissure and throw them away, then I dust off my palms and nod toward the fissure. "See? No machete required."
Her eyes widen. Her jaw drops. She blinks quickly several times.
Then Vanessa grasps my head and plants a big, wet kiss on me. "That was amazing. Like something out of an Indiana Jones movie."
"Let's just hope there isn't a giant stone ball waiting in there to crush us."
"I'm sure you could push it out of the way if there was one." She peers into the crevice. "Should we go in there?"
"Why not? We both came to this island for adventure and excitement."
And there's no one else I'd rather go on an adventure with than Vanessa.
Chapter Twenty-One
Vanessa
I gnaw on my bottom lip, studying the seemingly narrow opening in the rock wall. It might be bigger than it seems, or it might get even tighter. What if we get stuck in there? I don't have my phone with me, and I doubt Craig has his. Well, it's time to take another risk. Zip-lining worked out, so exploring this fissure might too. So, I turn to Craig. "Who should go first? I don't think it's wide enough for us to walk in side by side."
"Oh, I think it is---once we get past this narrower part. So the question is, do you trust me?"
I clasp his hand. "Absolutely I do. But maybe you should go first, in case there are snakes."
"You and Indiana Jones have a lot in common, don't you? He didn't like snakes either."
"Ha-ha. The man who shrieks when he sees a spider shouldn't harass me."
Craig taps my nose with one finger. "I have never shrieked. You must be confusing me with someone else."
I love that we're teasing each other again, like we used to do when we were married. It feels...right.
Craig keeps hold of my hand while he shimmies through the narrow section with me right behind him. It's dark in here, but I can see light up ahead, and the fissure seems to be veering to the left. We're only a few yards in when the fissure opens up into a much wider crevice that could accommodate at least four people standing side by side. Craig and I study our surroundings, and I can tell he's as amazed by this hidden treasure as I am. No, we didn't find any actual treasure. But this little hideaway is incredible.
Brightly colored flowers emerge from the ground and from small holes in the crevice walls. We can now see that the vines Craig had torn out to make a path for us are attached to trees high above us---on top of the cliff, I'd bet. Their roots poke out in some spots. A dark brown butterfly swoops down low over our heads, and I get a glimpse of the critter's bright blue and white spots.
I can't help it. I get so excited when I see that little beastie, so I grin and shout, "Oh, look! Did you see that blue moon butterfly? I read about that one."
"When did you read about butterflies?"
"I bought books about the wildlife on this island, and it included butterflies as well as birds."
"Snakes too? No, you would've shrieked when you saw a picture of one of those."
He smirked when he said that. Craig is having too much fun harassing me, but I don't mind at all. I'm sure I'll find ways to harass him right back.
