Amanda's Beau Read Online Free Page A

offered.
    "Are you sure?" he asked, wondering if she honestly longed to come down into the chamber too.
    "Aunt Mandy, there’s no treasure or gold or anything down here," Rex called up to her. The boy’s voice seemed heavy with disappointment.
    "And no old bones either," Jerry lamented.
    Gil ignored their disappointment and began prying stones from the wall to allow them access to what he hoped was an adjacent chamber. Rex and Jerry lent a helping hand. Soon the other boys were pulling at stones too, until there was a clear entrance into the next chamber. One by one, following his lead, the boys stepped inside. The candle flames flickered in a frenzied manner before blinking out. Young Michael squeaked with distress. The heavy darkness hung around them like thick curtains.
    "There’s not enough oxygen in this interior chamber to keep our candles lit," Gil explained in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. "There’s nothing to worry about." Taking one or two slow steps backwards, he returned to the first chamber, took another match from the box in his pocket and relit his candle. The boys pushed forward, eager to relight their own. Once all the candles were burning again, Gil led his young explorers back into the second chamber. This time, there was enough air coming in through the breach in the wall to keep the flames burning.
    "Looks like a pile of rubbish to me," Jerry remarked as he held his candle high and peered into one gloomy corner.
    As Gil glanced upward toward the ceiling, Rex and Jerry took tentative steps in the direction of the farthest corner. Behind them, Michael shrieked with fright and Jerry, gasping, dropped his candle.
    "Look, look there!" Rex stammered. He pointed a shaky finger.
    Gil stared at the seated skeleton in the corner. "This is almost too good to be true!" he exclaimed, thrilled with the discovery.
    "Is everybody okay?" Amanda called down to them.
    "We’re fine!" he called back. "The boys have found some human remains."
    Gil ventured forward to study the skeleton. His heart pounded with excitement. This was more than he had hoped for. The body’s flesh had disappeared long ago, but the bones and dried ligaments held the skeleton in its seated position. The empty eye sockets seemed particularly gruesome. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Michael crossing himself before ducking out of the chamber.
    "I’m getting out," the boy announced, making for the rope.
    "Anyone who wants to leave can, " Gil told them. He didn’t care if all the youngsters scampered back up the rope. Amanda would keep an eye on them, he knew. Rex, however, remained close to his side. He could hear the boy’s heavy breathing and knew Rex was as thrilled as he was.
    "Mr. Gladney, over here. Look!" His voice was hoarse with excitement.
    Turning, Gil held his candle high. Another skeleton. This one was lying on the floor with its knees drawn up to its chest and wrapped loosely in some sort of fiber matting. Several fine pottery vessels and an amulet made of turquoise and abalone shell had been placed next to the corpse.
    "I’ll bet he was a warrior… or a chief, maybe," Rex conjectured.
    "I think you may be right." Glancing up, Gil noticed Jerry standing at the chamber’s rough entrance. The red-haired boy was gaping with disbelief. All of the students hadn’t abandoned him and Rex after all.
    "What do you think, Jerry?" he asked. "Could these be the remains of a great chief?"
    When Jerry only shrugged and shook his head, Gil stared down at the second skeleton and proclaimed in an awed voice, "I’ve got to write to Phillips." Turning to Rex, he explained, "He’s my friend, the archaeologist, the one I told you about. He’ll want to see this for himself."
    From somewhere above the half-buried chamber, Gil could hear Rex’s dog barking accompanied by the faint laughter of the other students.
    "Your friend, Mr. Phillips, will he come here to dig for relics?" Rex