Secret of the Loch (Nick Caine Book 5) by Aiden James

Author:Aiden James [James, Aiden]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Manor House Books
Published: 2014-12-03T00:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

During the past twenty years of my life, I have been fortunate enough to participate in quite a few spectacular treasure finds. You might call them, ‘Opportunities to secure artifacts that would likely be lost to the modern age’, if not for my help. I like to think I keep many modern museums relevant… while pocketing a very small portion for my own personal collections.

Warped altruism, perhaps?

Most likely the truth, but a multitude of other looters are far worse than I could ever be. Yes, I have amassed a small fortune doing what I do, though what I’ve taken for myself is a very small percentage…. Just some trinkets, coins, and a few figurines.

Why am I bringing this up now?

Because Marie was right. Completely.

“Oh my God!” whispered Ishi, reverently, as I came up behind him and Marie at the mouth of a large cavern filled with organized piles of gold objects—many of them encrusted with jewels. And the figurines I expected to see were there in abundance.

In addition, figurines I didn’t expect were also present. These were very similar to the Celtic deity depictions we encountered when we first arrived. They were made of gold, forming a half-circle in the middle of the cavern. The intricacy of the sculptor’s work made all thirteen statues look real. But the fact that each one was nearly as tall as the doorway we had just passed through made them stand out even more, amid the piles of priceless artifacts.

Though not known as a Celtic goddess, Morag was the largest statue. Literally head and shoulders taller than any of the others, it would be untrue if I were to state here that Ishi’s and my gazes weren’t drawn to the serpent-mermaid’s voluptuous features.

“Men!” huffed Marie, playfully. “Let’s start taking pictures and marking the site for when we visit the foreign ministry to pursue our bona vacantia claim, either tomorrow or next Monday.”

She didn’t wait for us, moving down into the trove. It was especially amusing for me to watch her wade through cobwebs with nary a concern. Then again, insects and spiders wouldn’t likely be present this time of year.

“Can you believe this place, Ishi and Nick?” she asked, when she reached Morag’s statue. The details were even more impressive up close. The statue seemed quite authentic to what a living representation of Morag would be like. “I bet you’ve never seen anything quite like this before, have you, Nick? Papa talked about the artistry before he died, and it truly rivals anything I’ve ever seen from ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt…. But even if these statues were made of bronze or a metal more common, they would be priceless—strictly from their age and what they tell us about the ancient druids….”

Suddenly, the room shook, and rock debris accompanied a pair of stalactites plunging toward the cave floor.

“Did you hear that?” Ishi asked

“The explosion, you mean?”

Before he could respond to me, another smaller explosion followed the first. Meanwhile, Marie appeared to be in private consultation with her invisible Papa again, based on her excited hand gestures.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.