[RP] A hidden trail

Lys had bought the property and was now in the process of having it decorated and furnished. (How that will turn out is yet to been seen ! ) Everything was going well in his life ( even if you include the escapades with Louisa ! ) He had settled well into the village and had the very good fortune of beening reunited with his sisters, whom, he thought he would never see again.( Another story )

To cut to the chase.. Lys was sat going over the land deeds of the home he bought, and all the land that went with it . Being of the adventurous type......He decides that he would go survey the land he now own and to decide what it entailed . Early the next morning , he concludes he will go get his horse from the local livery stables and take a ride up to the property and survey the land. On paper, it seemed quite an exstensive area he owned, so a walk was quite out of the question . Besides he didn't know what he would find. The people he bought the property from were getting on in years , he had learnt the were selling up, and were leaving the village to move to family down south .

Folding the deeds up, then putting them away for safe keeping, Lys decides it is time to retire if he was going to make that early start in the morning.

A fresh warmish breeze floated through the windows as Lys stepped out of bed . Looking through the windows he could see the night blanket disappearing on the horizon, Leaving the warmth of a cloudless summer's morn start the day. By his reckoning it was a little before 5:00 am, perfect for his planned venture. Pouring a half pitcher full of cold water into a basin, heproceeded to wash the sleep from his face. Dressing in appropriate garb, Lys decends the stairs for a light breakfast, plus make a packed lunch for the journey.

Arriving at the Livery stable , Lys pays for his horse's care for the past week... Informing the stable owner he will carry on using his services a little while longer yet. Mounting his Stallion , Lys sets off at a gait, going through the village heading for his property. Once outside the bounderies he guive the horse his head. Heading due north east, Lys reaches the border of his land. By now the sun is beating down quite warm and Lys revoves his warm coat , tying it to the horn.

Skirting it's bounderies , Lys finds a trail leading inwards onto his land . Curiously, he follows it .

Not fifty yards along the hidden trail, A hare shot out of the long grass to his left, startling his horse . For the next few minutes Lys had a fight on his hands, the fright given to the stallion had him rearing on it's his hind quarters, fighting the the reins held firmly in Lys' capable hands. Finally he was able to bring his horse under control. Patting it neck whispering soothing words to him. Easing the stallion forward, Lys rounded a large bush only to find that the trail seem to end like a brick wall. Before him was dense undergrowth . Now to Lys' mind of reasoning that made no sense . " why would anyone use a trail to nowhere ?" Dismounting slowly trying to piece together this unusual mystery.

The stallion seemed more subdued, but Lys wasn't in the habit of taking chances. leading his horse by the reins held in his hands, Lys tied the reins firmly to a heavy branch jutting out to his right. Walking back to the trail, ending at the brick wall of thicket, Lys scoured all possible ways of by-passing this obtrusion. To him there had to be a way through it , a trail was here for a reason . Lys , the adventurous side of him was not going to give in to this mystery. No siree, there was a way to find the answer to the lost trail, and the explorer streak in him was going to find it.

Circumnavigating his way around the dense thicket, he was getting quite intrigued with the task he had set himself. Being a patient man, Lys... totally engrossed in finding a way through, let a smile play around his humourous features. A thought struck him at the realisation.... his appearance here was to survey and to valuate . Yet here he was, like a youth, exploring the unknown. Unbeknown to him.. a few hours had pased since he had encountered the hare . The Sun had reach it's pinacle overhead....it was mid-day..he could feel the uncomfortable warmth of his body by the stickiness of his clothes. Suddenly there was a thining out of the thicket....not realising it , he had pushed light branches to one side , which , when released, fell back in place to form a closing-in of the piece of open ground he was standing on.

" Well.... I'll be darned !..." Up ahead of him was a rock formation. From his view-point approaching the the undergrowth, there was no indication it was anything but vegetation. Trees, bushes and heavy thicket. And yet, before him was a gaping hole, cut into the rock.....man-made.. This intrigued him more.....why ? Taking a few steps forward..Lys peers into the void before him.....nothing was visable ..it was as black as night in there.

Looking around his environment, Lys searched ways of making some sort of torch. At the entrance to the black void he noticed thick vines trailing down from above . Lifting up the leg of his trousers , he released a 12 inch knife he had always carried on his person. A life saver, on more than one occassion, in his stark unforboding past . There were days, that without it.....well .. it saved him huge grief.

Cutting a length roughly the size of his forearm , He took from his pocket a tinder box and flint. The dryness of the vine would bring a flame of light within minutes. Striking the flint against the flint embedded in the box , Lys held them close to the vine. on the 5th attempt it started to smoulder. Holding the vine at arms length, Lys swished it in a fast circle...then it burst forth into flame.......,

Lys had never been a man to be frightened, or apprehensive. There again, he never took undue risks either. Gingerly stepping forward into the void, torch held above his head, he pears into the unknown. Lights from the flames of make-shift torch, danced across the water glissened walls of the void. This part of the cave measured approximately 20 feet wide and maybe about 10 feet in height. It ran inwards at least 30 yards, before bending to the right .... Cautiously Lys approaches this part very slowly.......without warning, a screech rang out in the still of silence... leaping backwards , nearly dropping the torch, a pack of rats scurried in all directions from this alien intrusion of their domain.... Collecting his equilibrium....... " Damm bloody rats...enough to make a man need the john !! "

His heart racing from the rats greeting, once more he ventured into the darkness . His feet trod slowly forward , eyes peeled ahead as the farther into the cave he went, another bend loomed in front of him. Turning this bend, his foot caught a large object . Looking down with the aid of the torches light , Lys froze ...... With a heart rate topping max... stretched out in front of him was the remains of a skeleton.... Moments passed before Lys's heart rate return to anything like working order. Slowly he squatted down to look at the remains . Beneath the skeleton the hand was wrapped around a gunny sack. To access it Lys had the unsavoury task of removing the remains.....He wasn't squeamish by any means , but, to invade the resting place of the unfortunate soul, was to Lys.... an invasion . But ,

...." needs must , when the devil drives..."

Gently with the toe of his boot, Lys lifted the ribcage of the skeleton. His pain-staking gentleness was really pointless, with no sinews, no cartilages to keep the bones in place, the whole lot collapsed into a pile of white formed calcium . A heavy sigh escapes Lys's lungs as he reaches for the protected sack. slowly relieving the poor soul of his un-needed item , Lys takes the sack to a tablet of rock at the base of the wall. Wedging the make-shift torch behind the tablet, he peers inside the sack.

Before he had even retrieved the sack from Mr Bones , Lys had an inclination exactly what he would find ...hell he had seen enough of the darn things ...knew the gunny sack and what they were mostly used for . Tucking the sack into his belt ,then retrieving the torch, Lys decides he had spent enough of his time in here ..the search for this cave had taken long a few hours .

Once he knew the way in, he could come back another day to continue a bit more...for now , he just wanted out of this tomb of that unfortunate soul. Discreetly, he would make some inquires as to who Mr bones was, then lay him to rest in a more fitting burial place. Holding the torch, that by now had burnt down to half it's size, Lys makes his way, a little quicker, to the entrance.

Once at the mouth of the cave, He took in a lungful of fresh air, he felt good , always did from passed experience...Quickly and quietly, he reached the camouflage of the bushes and branches . Inching his way pased, with a deftness of of a jungle native, Lys entered the clearing with the undergrowth at his back.Twenty steps forward, He turned, surveyed, and noted to memory his newly found andventure. Retracing his steps, Lys finds his horse still tied to the place he had left it. The stallion was quite content to nibble on the fresh grass, while enjoying the shelter of the trees from the sun's rays. Patting the Stallion's neck, Lys remounts and returns the way he had come. He now had another interest in this property he bought...and......he would be back.

Back at the village Lys trots his horse to the livery stable, dismounrts, then walks the stallion into it's stall . Unsaddling him Lys places the hefty saddle on it's station. Returning into the stall he fills the manger with hay, and the trough with clean water. Closing the stall gate, Lys picks up his saddle bags , throws them over his shoulder , then exits the livery stable. Walking along the dirt road to the Tavern , he greets the local townfolks with his usual cheeky smile . ' I have a little bit more to smile about.' Lys thinks as he enters the tavern. A quick look around the bar room shows the place is empty, that suited him, no questions . Going up the stairs Lys enters his rented room, nothing elaborate , basically sleeping quarters ..a bed, small wash stand, chest of drawers, wardrobe and a writing table.

Throwing the saddlebags on the bed, he decides to clean up and change his dusty clothes. The time spent in the cave left a very musty smell on them . Not the smell he wished to be sat in the tavern with. After a good wash Lys chose a checked shirt and a pair if denims. Satisfied his attire was more in keeping with his usual town clothes , he walks over and picks up the saddlebags. Placing the heavy one on the table, Lys unfastens the straps taking out the gunny sack, Letting the saddlebags sip to the floor from his grasp.

Sitting at the wooden table, on a very basic wooden chair. He takes each item out of the sack carefully, examining each one with a trained eye, slowly rotating them over in his hands At the end of a long thirty minutes, he concluded , with a very dry mouth.... they were better than any he had ever seen !..........Hell... until his house was ready, where could he keep them.......away from prying eyes ? ....Oh it wasn't that he distrusted the bar-keep, but a man never took chances ......not on this scale anyway. Then a thought struck him ......there's always one.....without any shoes on, he painstakingly scrutinises the whole room............." Never fails "... chuckling under his breadth . Satisfied there was every chance they would be safe , Lys leaves his room, decends the stairs, then enters into the tavern bar.

Lys enjoyed last night as much as he had most evenings, it had been entertaining and eventful . Retiring fairly early, wanted to purchase a few supplies from the market before another day at the cave.......... He slept soundly that night, more soundly than he had in quite a while

It was still dark when he awoke in the morning. Arising from his bed, he readied himself for another step into the unkown.. Not knowing what the the hand of fate had to offer, the rush of adrenaline had Lys, riding a crest of a wave of expectation . First destination, the market.

Knowing what he wanted, Lys purchased the supplies. Mainly it was oil lanterns and a supply of oil . " Six lanterns lad...aint you the one that bought the ' Llanhydrs ' place on the outskirts of the village ? " Smiling in his usual friendly manner , Lys nodded..." Aye... fine house it is too..I have Bruce redecorating and furnishing the whole place out.. been left to run down a little .." And so the pleasantries went on, Lys did not want any one asking akward, or suspious questions . Giving a relaxed, everyday, purchase occurrence, Lys even laughed and joked with the trader.

Tying the two sacks to the pommel horn of his saddle, He left the market behind him. Riding the black stallion to his property on the outskirts, not the house entrance path, but the track that he had taken on his previous venture. To survey the vast area he owned.Daylight had reached the skies and promised to be another warm day. This time he had come prepared, for what looked like a longish stay, four canteens of water for him, and the stallion. Travelling across the land though the longish grass, Lys slowly picked his way around the bushes and grassed area at the same pace as he had the day before. Soon he found the ' trail .' Making his way to the same spot as he had left his horse previously, and there was not greeting from that ' I'm-in-hurry ' hare they had encountered, Lys dismounted and tied the reins to the same stump, allowing enough slack for the stallion to graze.

After placing the pail on the ground within reach of his horse, Lys emptied two canteens of water into it. Slinging the other two over his head and arm, he untied the two sacks and picked up the trail. This time he walked to the land marks he had set to mind. Carefully picking his way through the entrance , this time he was burdened with supplies , the going was a little awkward, his hands were otherwiase engaged, they held the sacks. At the entrance to the cave, he took out one of the lanterns, filled it with oil, lit it, then entered the road to mystery.

" Okay you little blighters.....Lys is back ! " The facets of light, along with the echoes of his call, danced and bounced off the walls as Lys' vivid imagination pictured a pack of rats replying... " Hey Lys, no problem.. we were just leaving . "
Chuckling to himself he ventured deeper inside, passed Mr Bones, and around the next bend. On that stretch of the burrow, he saw in the light, two caves off to the left. Standing at number one cave, he reasoned that this would have been trial one and the next , trial number two. More than likely finding ahead fruitless, or used up . Turning into number two, Lys edged his way forward. It ran for, at his estimate, 40---50yds . Twisting and turning.

If some one had stepped out of the darkness, a pan shovel in their hands , and smacked Lys full in the face , they would not had shocked him more. In front of him was the end of the tunneling.......With the lantern held high in his right hand, Lys mouth became as dry as a desert floor.The wall to the left, the wall to his right, and the end wall was a bright yellow! Mr bones had found a rich seam of gold......and it was on Lys's property ! he owned it !! Falling slowly to his knees, then as if in automation mode , he uncorked one of the canteens. Lifting it to his lips , eyes transfixed ahead, he removed the dryness from his mouth. A full five minutes Lys knelt there in this statued-like pose.

He had worked a gold mine before. He owned one in the Bryn Garw hills. That had a very thin seam the width equivalent to the edge of his hand. But this ? this was the big one ! the one every prospector dreams of finding. and Mr Bones had found it for him. That thought made Lys wonder who was he ? what was he doing in the cave...... and on his property ? Could he have been a previous owner ? or a decicated man of a team that worked it a long time ago ? Faithfully believing that a seam was there somewhere, when the others had given up at the end of the main tunneling. Questions, that in reality, Lys did not wish to pursue. They were of no consequence , not to him.

The vast fortune decorating the walls before Lys' eyes set his mind making plans. His power of reason told him that there was more here than he wll ever need even if he lived to be 100years old. The ideas that ran through his head of what to do with it all, went against the grain of what others had done in the past. The thought that came to mind, and the way he could make it work, satisfied his senses. he had a very shrewd plan of how he would carry it out .
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Returning to the mine Lys worked hard over the next week excavating as much from the seam as he could . He took each day as much as he could to a secret place making as many trips as his body would allow . By the end of the week he had removed as much as he wanted for him self plus the amount he had ear-marked for another project.

Now all he had to do was to put his other plans into action . They will be accomplished as soon as he is able, from start to finish, he has the whole event covered.

The first part of his plan he will set in motion tomorrow . Some one has a shock coming........A big shock.