From Across the Ancient Waters Read Online Free Page A

continual search to discover new forms of life she had never seen before, whether insect or flower, weed or bird, tree or unusually colored rabbit. On this day what drew her attention where sea met land happened to be the limpets, sea snails, mussels, tiny crabs, whelks, cockles, and water bugs made newly accessible in the swirling eddies of the extraordinarily low tide.
    The tide on this day lay lower than it had in years. The waves of previous weeks against the rocks and inlets of the promontory had rearranged the sandy floor of the caves and beach. The largest of the boulders remained unchanged. Yet the surface beneath Gwyneth’s feet was different as she scampered over it. Some rocks of great size previously exposed were nearly covered with sand. Others whose mere tops were partially visible before had been to all appearance thrust upward into the light of day. With every rise and fall of the tide, new changes came to the coastline.
    She walked into the largest of the caves, which sat at the foot of the sloping bluff where the beach sand mostly gave way to rocks and boulders. Its height was sufficient that she could explore to a distance of thirty or forty feet inside it without bumping her head. It was one of her regular haunts, though only when the sea was calm and never when the tide was in its flow. Smooth slate walls beside her as she entered glistened black from constant salty spray.
    The tide was still in retreat, and on this day there was no cause for concern. Gwyneth knew the signs of the sea, knew when danger was present and when it was not. She never allowed curiosity to compromise safety. She was, in truth, more “there” of intellect and savvy than most of the villagers had any idea.
    If she was different than other children, the distinction came more likely as the result of genius than fatuity. Like most genius, however, it was invisible to the commonplace mind and would be slow to reveal itself. Whatever rare gift she possessed yet lay at rest, growing, deepening in the invisible recesses of her character, awaiting the kiss of a prince to bring it awake in power.
    By now the shadows of afternoon were lengthening. The westerly sun cast its slanting rays against the cliffs of Mochras Head. It had not yet descended far enough on its daily journey to hover at the horizon and throw its light directly into the yawning mouth the girl had just entered. But dim visibility shone inside the cave as the tide approached low water.
    Gwyneth walked gingerly into the blackness, hands spread in front of her. As well as she knew the place, subtle changes in the sea floor made her cautious lest some stone or wall of rock loom before her unseen.
    All at once her toe caught something half buried at her foot. She stumbled and fell onto her stomach and elbows at once. She cried out softly, more from surprise than pain, as she hit the wet-packed floor. Quickly recovering herself, she rolled to one side on the sand and lifted one knee.
    Suddenly a terrified shriek echoed through the darkened chamber.
    A foot away, two dark eyes were staring straight at her!
    Black and vacant, however, they were eyes that saw nothing. The human skull, whose empty sockets leered silently in the blackness, lay two-thirds buried in the sandy cave floor. Thin light from the cave’s mouth played eerily on the polished bony cranium. That its season for seeing was long past only heightened the dread of the hideous spectacle.
    Gwyneth sprang to her feet and sprinted for the safety of sunlight. She did not once glance back in the direction of the macabre object uncovered by the storm. Not easily frightened, Gwyneth’s young heart now clutched at her chest with the horror of the unknown.
    Lightning and rain and legends of lake creatures were one thing.
    Dead human heads with black holes for eyes were another!
    She dashed across the open sand, turned for the promontory, and scrambled frantically along the narrow trail. All the way up the rocky bluff the