Page 254 of Evil Hearts

“Of course,” he said, turning the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life, and they were soon zigzagging up the mountain again. She caught herself glancing in the mirrors a few times, to see if anyone was following them, but there wasn’t another vehicle in sight. Definitely no sign of the stranger in the cave.

Good, she told herself. She was here to sate her curiosity, not some stranger’s. The only treasure she wanted to take away from this place were memories and photographs of seeing something new and amazing she’d never seen before.

Four

“If you trulywish to see the best views of the island, then you must hike to the Dew Pond, and Elliot’s Pass trails. The Dew Pond path will take you to the highest point on the island, and you will find a chain at the peak of Green Mountain. Elliot’s Pass goes through several tunnels as it circles around the lookout caves that ring the mountain. The Squadron who used those caves were watching for pirates. They did not see Captain Dampier and his crew, for they had come and gone more than a century before the Old Marine Barracks here was built.” He waved out the window at a joyless box of a building, constructed of grey brick and concrete, much like the ruins at Dampier’s Drip, only this one was a little less ruined. “Drivers will come up the mountain all day to drop off tourists, so you can ask any of them to take you back down to Georgetown when you are finished treasure hunting.” Then he drove off, leaving Oriana in the car park beside the grey barracks building, clutching the flimsy national park brochure he’d fished out of the glove box and thrust at her through the window.

Oriana stared after him, wanting to shout something insulting for leaving her standing there alone, but she’d still need a lift back down the mountain later, and she could hardly expect himto wait around all day for her. He’d said each of those hiking trails would take her a couple of hours, which meant she’d be able to enjoy her lunch at one of the lookouts before she returned to the dreary barracks to cadge a lift back to town from whoever came up here.

The ship wouldn’t leave until sunset, which was hours away, so she’d have plenty of time to explore town, and maybe even see the museum the Musketeers had gone to.

Five

The brochure saidthe trail to the dew pond led to the highest point on the island, the peak of Green Mountain, so Oriana headed that way first, or at least she tried to. When she reached the first cave, a dark lava tube like the one at Dampier’s Drip, she considered turning around. Weren’t the caves supposed to be on the Elliot’s Pass trail, instead of the one with the pond? That trail went all the way around the mountain, though, so you could look out across the whole island, and she did want to take that one, too, but she really wanted to climb the peak first…

Oriana wished there was someone she could ask for directions, but the only other creatures around were the birds flying far overhead, and she doubted they’d be much help, even if they could hear her shout. No, this was one of those times she’d have to get used to being alone and making decisions for herself. Part of her new future, she told herself. One without Hunter.

She pulled out the brochure. It didn’t say there weren’t caves on the dew pond path, and the ones on the other pass were meant to be few in number and quite small. Also, the Elliot one had an obelisk and a tunnel at the beginning, and she hadn’t seen either of those. So she must be on the correct path.

Nodding to herself with no small measure of satisfaction, Oriana continued on her way.

Until the path in front of her vanished into a dark tunnel, yet another lava tube.

Oriana swore. Was she doomed to make bad decisions and wrong turns for the rest of her life? Surely her failed relationship with Hunter was enough stupidity for any lifetime. Damn it, she deserved a break.

She considered going back the way she’d come so she could try to find the correct path. She even turned around, ready to head back, when a clattering sound in the darkness drew her attention. A big crab scuttled out of the tunnel: the source of the sound. It looked at her, and she looked at it. Almost like it was trying to bar her way from going forward, to make her go back to Hunter and the life she’d sworn was a mistake.

Not bloody likely. Hell could freeze over and she still wouldn’t take the selfish, cheating bastard back. Oriana took a step toward the crab.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m going to keep going, and I won’t let you stand in my way.” She stomped down hard, like she would to scare off a snake. “Shoo!”

The crab ambled off the path, under a prickly shrub, leaving the trail clear.

Probably a good thing there wasn’t anyone here to see her cowardly confrontation with a crab. Even her students back home would have laughed at her, if they’d been watching.

She had to keep going now.

Oriana pulled out her phone, thumbed on the flashlight app, and entered the gloom. Actually, it looked kinda pretty, with the light at the end of the tunnel in an almost perfect arch and all. She snapped a couple of pictures with her phone, and continued.

Just like the driver had said, this trail was beautiful, with caves and tunnels dotting the path on one side, and amazing viewsacross the island and out to sea, when the path wasn’t hemmed in by trees on either side. According to the signs along the trail, the trees had been planted by some guy from Kew Gardens in the nineteenth century to create a cloud forest, which he had, but at the cost of most of the native vegetation on the mountain.

Oriana snorted. Another guy playing god, and wrecking a good thing while he was at it. She wondered if there were any men who weren’t like that. Ones who were content to observe the world, and enjoy it for what it was, instead of wanting to change it to suit themselves. Or was it something men were born with, this innate urge to make their mark on the world, even if it was just “DICK WOZ ERE” scrawled on a rock and left in a cave, like that weird collection of altar offerings in Dampier’s Drip?

It was hotter up here on the trail, as opposed to the damp cave, or maybe it was just because it was later in the day, and the sun was higher in the sky.

She stepped into the shade of the next cave mouth to take a swig from her water bottle. It was only a slight step up, but the way the vista opened up was just…wow. She wondered how far it was to the horizon. Kilometres of nothing but sea and sky. It was enough to make her feel seriously insignificant.

“You won’t find treasure here, either. Dampier’s men kept watch for a rescue ship in these caves. He wouldn’t have left his most precious treasures where anyone could find them.”

Him again!

Oriana turned, and there he was – the man from Dampier’s Drip, glowering at her from deeper inside the cave. Had he followed her here just to give her more dire warnings? Or had the driver gone back to get him, so he could torment her some more?

“Do I look like I’m hunting for treasure? I’m just stopping to take a drink!” she snapped, shaking her water bottle at him.

“Give up your hunt. You will not find any treasure here.”

She turned her back on him and headed back to the trail, hoping he wouldn’t follow. She kept walking until she came to a lookout with a picnic table, and decided it was time for a break and a snack on whatever the cruise ship staff had packed for her.

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