The Crystal's Curse Read Online Free

that whatever happened, Joshua is still alive. We will find him. No matter how long it takes.”
    Maria scooted over to lay her head on his shoulder, draping her arm across his chest. He wrapped both arms around her, held her tight, and kissed the top of her head. Neither of them got much sleep.
    Sam woke up first but continued to lie still, not wanting to disturb Maria. He thought about her real question. Could Joshua have been killed? It was the same question he’d been asking himself and why he examined the niche so carefully. He’d found no trace of ash or residue. Besides , he theorized, anything hot enough to vaporize a body would have killed them as well. They hadn’t felt any heat. Joshua was still alive somewhere. While he couldn’t totally discount Maria’s theory of kidnappers, he felt sure that the key to getting Josh back lay in deciphering the meaning of the carvings surrounding the oval. He wanted to talk to Ricardo before he left for the village. No, what he really wanted was to be able to go himself, to be up doing, searching, anything except standing around waiting. Still, he felt he should stay in camp in case Josh reappeared or someone contacted them.
    When Maria stirred and rolled over, Sam slipped out of bed. He dressed quickly in jeans and a cotton shirt before going to the tent where they kept the artifacts and documentation of the dig. He sifted through the stack, lifting out a few sketches Maria made of separate glyphs. Then he went to find Ricardo.
    Maria, up and dressed, was making coffee when he entered the mess tent. He crossed to her quickly and gave her a kiss. “I was hoping you’d be able to sleep a little longer,” he said, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes weren’t red, so at least she hadn’t been crying again. The depth of her pain last night had been like a hot poker in an open wound. Thankfully, she looked calmer this morning. He saw Ricardo walk in with Juan and Rob, the two locals going with him to the village.
    Ricardo went over to Sam and Maria while the others got coffee and breakfast. “How are you two holding up?”
    They both shrugged.
    Sam held out the sketches to him. “While you’re asking about Josh in the village, I’d like you to show these sketches of the glyphs around and see if anyone has seen anything like them. Also as discreetly as possible ask if there are any stories or legends about people disappearing.”
    Ricardo lifted one eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
    “Caution the crew that I would like to keep the new room a secret for now. Of course, once we shut down the site and let the locals go, word will get out, but I don’t need a bunch of sightseers here until then.” Protecting the privacy of their find would be much more difficult with Joshua missing, but he had to try.
    Maria said, “I’m going with you. I’m taking the satellite phone. I’ll check to see if we have any messages once we get clear of the canopy. I don’t think Joshua knows the number, but he’s a smart kid and if it’s possible, he’ll try and get a message to us.”
    “Should we contact the authorities about Joshua?” Ricardo asked.
    Sam thought for a moment. “It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet. I’d like to wait a little longer in case he shows up or we receive a ransom note.”
    After breakfast, Ricardo and Maria left in the Jeep for the village, about ten miles away. They planned to go slowly searching for any sign of Joshua.
    Sam and the rest of the crew spent hours scouring the hill surrounding the cave looking for another entrance. Chopping their way through the underbrush was slow and tedious work. Unfortunately, they found no indications of any other openings. Sam finally gave up.
    After organizing the crew to begin cataloging and classifying all the artifacts, he spent the rest of the day compiling notes and organizing the documentation every dig required. Every few hours he would check the recess room. Each time it looked the