HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Twenty

Chapter 96

         Without success, Samantha tried turning around to face the person whispering in her ear. She found herself held firmly in place by two strong muscular arms around her shoulders. A faint wisp of bay rum aftershave tickled her nose, while the soft hairs of a beard caressed her cheek.

         “What did you say?” she whispered, still trying to identify the low husky voice. The feel of his body, so close to her, was unfamiliar. It somehow felt natural, however, to be in his arms, and she relaxed to lean back against him.

         The arms tightened around her even more when she did that, and only Samantha heard, “Are you going to sing for me again?” She straightened up, as if scalded by hot water, when she finally recognized Walker’s voice.

         After finding the bloody knife, he had hurried towards the caverns to share the information with the others. Walker refused to admit he was curious about what the three of them were doing down there. He realized Samantha would want to show the two visitors to her waterfall cavern and headed there first.

         When Walker saw Samantha standing alone at the entrance, he could not resist teasing her. Unnoticed, he quietly stepped behind her to wrap his arms around her shoulders. He just meant to surprise her a bit and found himself even more startled when he felt her body pressed gently to his. Walker wanted to savor the moment and felt suddenly disappointed when she moved away from him.

         “What do you mean, scaring me like that?” Samantha was more annoyed with herself than with him. What possessed me to behave so wantonly? she thought, unable to look her boss in his face. He must think I’m terrible, leaning on him.

         What Walker thought was nothing of the kind. He felt confused and wished she had not recognized him so quickly. The memory of her soft curves melting into his body stayed with him even as Angela and Randall joined them. Not knowing they had seen everything, he and Samantha moved apart, trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

         They failed to catch the knowing smile on Angela’s face or Randall’s frown that came and went in a split second.

Chapter 97

         For the next half hour, the four adults wandered around exploring the waterfall cavern. It amused Angela to watch Randall maneuvering Samantha away from Walker. Every time Walker came close, the other man stepped between them to move Samantha in another direction. Samantha was too interested in showing off the cavern’s improvements to notice the behavior of the men. Angela did, though, even before their host finally caught on to Randall’s tactics.

         “Has everyone seen enough here yet?” Walker asked the question to no one in particular, but Angela caught the slight hint of annoyance in his voice.

         To help him out, she replied quickly, “I’d like to see the place where Jack found the bone.” Turning towards her boss, Angela asked, “Randall, didn’t you say it was in another cavern?”

         “Right, Angie, one about three times the size of this one.” Forgetting Samantha for the moment, Randall went towards the corridor leading out of the cavern. “Wait until you see it. Walker, are there lights in there?” He remembered the total darkness of the cavern during his last visit and did not want to go through that experience again.

         “Don’t worry. Electricians strung lights all around the perimeter of the cavern.” Walker joined Randall at the corridor’s entrance and waited for the two women to reach them. “They even set up poles with lights on them at various points within the open space, too.” He looked at Randall, saying innocently, “No more bumps in the night to scare you again.”

         Randall wisely kept his mouth shut at Walker’s comment, but Angela could tell it bothered him. Well, she thought, score one for the home team. She gazed with newfound interest at Walker when he led the way down the corridor. Her initial impression of him as a perfect gentleman might have been wrong. At least she hoped so. Angela looked forward to an interesting visit, watching these two men acting like roosters circling a hen.

         “What are you laughing at, Angie?” She turned around at hearing Randall’s question. She just grinned at her boss, saying nothing. She confused him even more by brushing his cheek with a fleeting kiss. After she returned to walking once more, he touched his cheek, wondering why she had done it.

         By then, the group was leaving the corridor and entering the main cavern once more. Angela’s strange behavior forgotten for the moment, Randall took the lead into the leftmost corridor, which ended in the third and largest cavern. The two women followed him with Walker bringing up the rear.

         A grim smile played around Walker’s mouth. He belatedly caught on to Randall’s territorial actions concerning Samantha and was clearly annoyed. Walker tried to convince himself he wanted her to be happy, even if it was with another man. The harder he tried, the more the thought bothered him. He looked at Samantha walking in front of him. The memory of feeling her body leaning back against him suddenly returned. Walker groaned in frustration at the realization he did not want Randall to experience that same feeling.

         Samantha stopped to glance back at her boss. “Are you all right, Walker?” She shrugged when she saw him shake his head and silently motion her to keep on down the corridor. This she did, thinking no more about the odd expression she saw on Walker’s face when he looked at her.

         On leaving the long corridor, only Angela noticed the eerie echoing sound from way back in the cavern.

Chapter 98

         The echoes finally got the attention of the others. They followed Angela away from the corridor and further into the cavern, all the while trying to find the source of the noise.

         “You didn’t tell me you had ghosts,” whispered Angela, giving Walker a look that pretended to accuse him.

         Grinning at her, Walker replied, “Maybe it’s the ghost of the owner of the bone.” He ignored the other two standing next to him and grabbed Angela’s hand. “Let’s go make his acquaintance. I bet even a ghost would like to meet a beautiful blonde.”

         “Or make HER acquaintance. A handsome man like you might tempt our lady ghost to reveal who she is.” Angela was enjoying the harmless banter. She started laughing at the surprised expression on Randall’s face.

         Still holding Angela’s hand tightly in his, Walker took off towards the back of the cavern. With her long legs, she easily kept up with him. Their laughter drifted back to where Samantha and Randall remained standing. Samantha wondered what had got into Walker. She knew he enjoyed the company of women. She just could not remember seeing him flirt so openly with one near his own age. True, Angela was beautiful, although beauty in a woman never seemed all that important to Walker. It had to be something else.

         “Shall we join them?” Randall’s quiet words interrupted Samantha’s confused thoughts. Not waiting for her answer, he started across the long width of the cavern. He made sure to stay close to the light poles marking a pathway from one side of the large area to the other. Walker’s earlier comment still rankled since it hit too close to home. Randall did admit, however, the currently well-lit cavern was better than the one he remembered from before.

         When Randall and Samantha joined the others midway across the cavern, the echoes had stopped. Walker was walking more slowly, which allowed Angela to keep up with him. All four were being careful not to disturb any of the small bones littering the cavern’s uneven floor. Once Jack found the human bone weeks earlier, Walker made the area off-limits to everyone except the electricians.

         Not much had changed in the cavern for decades. Small animals coming in from outside through the tunnels in the back made the cavern their home. Some were born in the darkness of the cavern, more died here fighting for their lives against other creatures. Others simply starved to death when they failed to make their way back outside. Scattered throughout was all the drama of past years, the life and death of countless animals.

         Angela, walking behind the others at one point, suddenly stopped. She spotted something just at the edge of the light cast by one of the poles. It did not belong with the other debris. “Hey, guys, wait up,” she called, stopping the others. They came back to where she was down on one knee, holding something in her hand.

         “What is it?” Walker asked the question on all their minds, helping Angela back to her feet.

Chapter 99

         Angela held up what looked to be part of a doll’s face. It was made of china, but just the left eye and part of a cheek remained. She handed it to Walker, and heard his sad comment.

         “The doll probably belonged to little Hannah Edgeworth. Joshua found another china doll up in the hidden room.”

         “Hidden room?” Everyone jumped in shock at Mary’s question. Unseen, she and Jack had quietly joined them. The echoes the others heard were their voices coming from behind a limestone wall. This hidden area, near the back of the large cavern, contained the smaller corridors Jack discovered on his first visit. They led outside and allowed fresh air to circulate throughout the three caverns.

         “Damn it, Mary. You shouldn’t creep up on a body like that.” Angela scolded. She remembered Walker’s words and turned back to him. “What hidden room? Randall didn’t tell us about it.”

         Jack spoke for Walker. “It’s a room Walker found months ago on the third floor. Originally, there was a hidden set of stairs leading down here. They were boarded off after the explosion.”

         “Explosion? What explosion?” asked Randall. “I thought we had excitement with the earthquake, though it sounds like you had more here.”

         “Jack, why don’t you tell Mary and Randall what’s been going on here?” Walker looked towards Angela. “While they continue exploring here, I can show you my hidden room.” He glanced down at the piece of china in his hand, “And Hannah’s other doll.”

         Jack nodded his head. “Sounds like a plan.” He glanced at Samantha, silent during the entire conversation. “How about you, Samantha? Check out this place with us or go with Walker and Angela?”

         They all watched as she looked at Randall and back towards Walker. Only Angela understood how important the other woman’s choice might be.

          If Samantha stays here, Angela thought, watching Samantha closely, it could mean Walker was just her boss or maybe even a friend. Randall might have a chance at winning her affections. If she decides to go with us to the so-called hidden room, Samantha could subtly be telling me to keep my hands off him. It’s her way to show she didn’t trust me alone with Walker or, more likely, him with me.

         Like the others, Angela waited for Samantha’s decision and was not sure how she felt when the other woman finally made it.

Chapter 100

         One group headed for the back of the cavern, the other towards the corridor leading to the stairs up to the first floor.

         “Randall, we found some more bones that look human near one of the openings.” Mary’s excited comment had her supervisor increasing his stride. The others almost ran to keep up with the long-legged man. They slowed down again when Jack tripped over a jagged upheaval of limestone. He managed to catch his balance, but it was a warning to all of them to take it slow over the uneven floor. Finally, they safely reached the small openings Jack and Mary examined earlier.

         “Which one had the bones?” Randall looked around. At first glance, all the scattered bones looked alike, and he knelt to look closer at one. “Could it be a tibia? Sure looks like one.” He stood and walked closer to the largest of the openings.

          Jack bent down to look inside it. “Wish we had something to reach further in.” He looked over at the others, hoping someone would take the hint. Someone did.

          Randall quickly went back to the main section of the cavern. Seeing what he wanted, he broke off one of the stalactites from a low section of the ceiling. Returning to the group waiting for him, he handed the long piece of limestone to Jack. “Try this.” Everyone hovered near Jack, as he reached in and started blindly to poke around inside.

         “Wait a sec,” he eventually said. “I’m caught on something.” Slowly, trying not to dislodge whatever was hooked on the end of the stalactite, he maneuvered it to the lip of the opening. Although it had been somewhat expected, the faces of those looking down at the item showed their shock.

         By now, Walker and Angela had reached the corridor’s opening leading out of the large chamber, with Walker barely aware of the woman walking beside him. When Samantha chose to stay behind with Randall, Angela noticed Walker became quiet and withdrawn. Even though she was happy for her supervisor, she wished Samantha had not come down into the caverns at all.

         Angela had grown to admire the man walking beside her. She knew he probably did not even realize why Samantha’s choice upset him. Men, she thought once more, can be so dense at times.

         They turned back at hearing Samantha shouting from the middle of the cavern. She was running towards them, not even aware of the danger of doing this on the uneven floor. Angela cringed as the other woman came closer and suddenly slipped on something. She started towards Samantha, who was on her hands and knees yards away from them and stopped when Walker angrily passed her.

         “Damn it, woman, don’t you know better than to run down here?” His loud yell reverberated all over the cavern causing Jack and the others to come out to see what was going on. “You don’t have the sense God gave a goose, Sam.” Within seconds, Walker reached Samantha and pulled her upright. Her left knee and palms of her hands were bleeding slightly, but otherwise she was unhurt. It did not matter to the man holding on tightly to her upper arms. With everyone coming closer to gather around, Walker ignored them to continue yelling at Samantha, all the while shaking her like a rag doll to emphasize his words.

         “What are you doing down here anyway dressed like that.” He let go of one arm to point at the simple shirtwaist dress she was wearing. “Anyone with half a brain knows to put on slacks when coming down here. Look at Angela, she knows what to wear.”

         Angela tried to hide behind Randall and Jack, not wanting to be involved in the conversation. She shared an uneasy glance with Mary, both feeling uncomfortable with Walker’s anger at Samantha. They felt sorry for the sweet, gentle woman they had met only recently, so defenseless against his uncontrolled wrath.

         The sweet, gentle woman got loose from his painful grasp by kicking Walker in his left shin. Since she wore tennis shoes, it hurt her more than it did him, but it got the job done. Stepping back out of his reach, she glared at him. “How long have you known me?” Before Walker could reply, she continued, “Have you ever seen me wearing slacks? Come on, think, have you? No, you haven’t since I don’t own any, you stupid insensitive…” Too furious to continue, Samantha pulled herself up to her full height, her back once again ramrod straight. She left Walker with a stunned look on his face and limped into the corridor in front of her.

         “Um, Boss, I think you’re in the doghouse…again.” Jack’s remark did nothing towards helping Walker understand what had just happened. He knew he was in the right to be angry with Samantha. Somehow, though, she had turned the tables on him and made him guilty of something. He just was not sure what or how to fix it.

Continued in next segment.

HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Twenty-One  (18+) Chapters 101 thru 105 #1082621 by J. A. Buxton