“So, you are going to climb to the bottom, swim out through the tunnel and then back into the cave and climb back out, up the rope?” Sophia had insisted on coming along today and would not be shielded from any of the pertinent details. Ignoring Dev’s instructions for her to step aside while he and Harold cleared the rocks away from the cave, she continued picking up some of the smaller stones and tossing them to the side.

Dev had not been able to go to her the night before. Nor the night before that. For the newly married couple had established that they slept in the same bed, and to do differently, might signify that they’d lost interest in one another.

And Harold was determined to leave his mother with a favorable memory of her second son. He’d told Dev he would not back out of this stunt. He’d been swimming every day, growing stronger and more agile, at Sophia’s urging.

Today, they were to investigate the condition of the tunnel.

It had eroded considerably. Dev saw this right away, as they moved the rocks back. He only hoped that the underwater channel would still present a clear passage. Pulling the last of the larger stones away, Dev then turned to the sturdy tree nearby. Sophia opened the picnic basket and pulled out the rope.

As she handed it to him, his fingertips brushed her palm. Her hand felt especially soft. He hesitated just a moment before relinquishing her touch.

The rope she handed him was thick and heavy. After testing the weight of it, he tied it around the trunk of the tree methodically and then tugged. It would do.

At the tunnel, he dropped to his knees and went to crawl forward, but suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Dev…” He looked back and saw bright blue, concerned eyes. Sophia would not try to stop him, he knew, but neither would she pretend no danger existed. “…be careful.” And then, despite Harold’s presence, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

He’d not had an opportunity to touch her intimately at all since arriving. And he would have prolonged this kiss but for, well, Harold was but a few feet away, waiting for him to climb into the tunnel. Dev allowed his lips to linger on hers, though. He missed her taste. He missed her essence.

“This shouldn’t take long,” he assured her.

She touched his face and then sat on her haunches, away from the cave’s opening. His brave Sophia. She would not cling to him and cry. He would return to her. He would find a way to go to her tonight.

Dev was not afraid.

He did, however, respect the elements involved in what he needed to do. He imagined that this edge of unease was akin to fear but refused to dwell upon unproductive emotions. Instead he sharpened his mind to the task at hand.

Except…

Impulsively, Dev withdrew from the opening once again, pressed another quick kiss against her lips, and then ducked back into the cave. The ground extended just a few feet and then dropped off. He remembered this now. Even the musty scent was vaguely familiar.

Water splashing against the rocks below echoed off the cave walls. Good then. The fissure in the rocks hadn’t been blocked.

The rope was coiled loosely, and without hesitation, Dev tossed it into the darkness below. After a moment, it made a thud against the rocky side wall, and then a less emphatic clunk onto the floor. He carried with him a flint. Harold was to toss down the torch once Dev reached the bottom.

Sliding on some fitted gloves he’d worn in combat, Dev proceeded to climb, hand over hand, down the slick rocky wall. The memory of doing this as a boy gradually returned as he found footholds, and various outcrops on the way down. Just as his muscles began to burn, his feet landed at the bottom.

“I’m down!” he shouted up. The small amount of sunlight that had illuminated his way was temporarily blocked.

“Are you ready for the torch?” It was Harold, watching him from over the edge of the drop.

Dev lit the flint and held it out away from him. “Go ahead. Drop it!”

He saw the torch for a moment, and then an instant later, it was in front of him. Not even thinking, he grabbed it out of the air with his empty hand before it could hit the ground. The flint had stayed lit, and so he held it to the torch. Much better.

Turning around, he waved the fire toward the water. It looked much the same as it had, all those years ago — only smaller. As a grown man, how much more confined would the underwater tunnel feel? His own shoulders were slightly broader than Harold’s. That was good. If he could fit through, then Harold ought to as well.

Waving the flame around, he found a ledge where he could prop the torch to illuminate the room. Ah, yes, he remembered the importance of the illumination. When swimming back through, he would need to follow the light from the fire. Very important.

He then pulled his boots off and slipped his shirt off over his head.

As he did so, he took slow, deep breaths.

The light at the top shadowed again. “Please be careful, Dev.” It was Sophia.

He smiled. He’d never appreciated the concern of a woman before.

He hoped to hell this worked. He hated the secrecy, the deceit. He could only imagine how Harold had felt for most of his life, hiding who he really was.

“Don’t worry, love.” He spoke casually and then dove cleanly into the pool.

It was cold, but not overly so. This was England, after all, and the ocean was always cold, summer or not.

He acclimatized himself to the water by diving under several times before returning to the pool’s edge to slow down his breathing. Going out was not the difficult part; coming back in would be trickier. “I’m going to head out shortly!” he shouted upward. “Once outside, it will take me a few minutes to return.” He closed his eyes and took deep relaxing breaths. As he did so, he felt his heart rate slow. He’d gone over all of this with Harold, but it wouldn’t help much in the long run. Harold would have the waves to deal with. And the rocks.

As would Dev, after he’d slipped out the other side.

God, they’d been daredevils as children. He’d have his own sons’ hides if they ever attempted to do anything so dangerous.

If he ever had any sons, that was.

One long, slow breath, and Dev purposefully submerged himself in the direction of the tunnel.

It was still there.

It did appear smaller but not impossibly so. He resurfaced again and then, taking another deep breath, dove decisively toward the fissure.

His head and torso entered easily, and he intentionally pushed all thoughts of turning around out of his mind. The water had an ebb and flow to it.

When it ebbed, it sucked him into the tunnel farther.

He kicked his feet and pulled at the rocks with his arms toward what he could now see was the other side.

The water at the end was not black, but a lighter blue, aquamarine.

He maneuvered around a few outcroppings of rocks and carefully kicked his feet.

When his lungs began to burn, he merely focused on the lighter blue water.

He was almost through.

A tug, a pull, a painful slash along his side, and he felt himself pulled out of the tunnel.

Now up, up, up…

Air.

He inhaled a few gulps of air and then laughed.

This was why they’d done it as young adventurous boys. This sense of danger and then an even greater sense of triumph.

Dev treaded water for a few moments as he took in the dangers around him.

Some rocks to his left had not been there a decade ago. They must have fallen during a storm, or perhaps centuries of the surf, pounding below them had finally taken its toll. Either way, they now presented a definite danger.

He watched the swirls of the water and swam away from them accordingly.

The positioning of the rocks and the moving water prevented a swimmer from resting. Climbing the cliff was impossible as well. The only way out of the cove was back through the tunnel.

It was perfect for what they’d planned.

Relaxing into the waves, he rested for a moment and then, taking a deep breath dove back under.

It took him five tries before he could reach the tunnel again. He felt his heart begin to race faster and emptied his mind to decrease its pace.

He knew exactly where the tunnel was now. He emerged from the water, took in a great breath, and submerged himself once again.

He headed straight for the opening.

Almost impossible to see, he found it with his hands and pulled his body inward. On this attempt, he avoided the rocks that had slashed at him before.

But the water worked against him now.

As he used his arms and legs more, he knew his body would require extra oxygen. He emptied his mind and continued pulling at the rocks and kicking, and pushing off them with his feet.

A weak glow caught his eye.

It was a glimmer of light from the torch.

He focused on it and pulled and pushed and tugged his body through.

The difficult part was that the water wanted to expel him back into the lagoon again. He could not let it get ahold of him.

A great lunge with one foot, though and…

Yes… that sense of triumph once again.

He took a few breaths and then swam over to the other side of the pool.

“What do you think, Dev?” Harold must have heard him return. “Is it much the same?”

Dev did not want to scare Harold, and yet he didn’t wish to give him a false sense as to the level of difficulty the stunt would require.

He knew that Harold’s heart rate was going to increase dramatically as soon as he hit the water from above. It was a long, exhilarating, jump. Perhaps if Dev could mark the tunnel somehow… “I’ll be out in a moment.” He was non-committal.

* * *

Sophia had never heard a sweeter sound than Dev’s voice when it echoed out of the top of that blasted cave. She and Harold looked at each other in relief. And then, Harold was backing away, and Dev’s water-slickened head poked out.

He was like a seal, with black sultry eyes and a powerful, well-defined physique.

Her Dev.

He winked at her before turning to Harold. “It’s much the same, Harold. I think it was always tricky. We simply were too foolish to recognize the dangers.”

“But you recognize them now,” Harold said grimly.

Dev nodded. “I do.” Standing up, he gestured for both of them to follow him.

They were headed for the cliff, and when he stepped into the sunshine, she noticed the large crimson stain on the side of his shirt.

Dev was explaining something to Harold, though, and pointing downward. “There would have been a rockslide since we last dove. If you look down there…”

Harold was nodding. “I thought it looked different. Do you think the jump still possible?”

Sophia felt her heart squeeze. Harold’s determination and courage were admirable, but she would not wish him to be harmed… or worse…

Dev had pulled his dry shirt on carelessly, most likely not even realizing that he had been hurt. It was not tucked in and hung long past his waist. Sophia wanted to rush forward and examine Dev’s wound, but she knew it was not the time.

“If we jump from over here, we miss them,” Dev said walking about ten paces to the left. He then pointed again. “See that outcrop of brush, with the large rock just below it?”

Harold was nodding.

“The tunnel is about four feet to the right of it. It’s dark when you go down, so you need to search for it with your hands. And be prepared for the pull of the cove. You must not allow it to take hold of you once you are inside of the tunnel.” He then began swinging his arms back and forth as though to loosen his muscles. “The tide is still high. What do you think? Shall we do the jump together a few times, while we have the chance today?”

Sophia wished she would faint.

But she’d insisted upon coming and would not become a liability now. Dev was grinning at Harold, and she realized he did this intentionally. She knew he’d already spent a great deal of time discussing techniques and problems to watch for. Now, she knew, he was ready to share his courage.

Gritting his teeth, Harold nodded.

“Here.” She stepped toward Harold, taking the lead from Dev. “I’ll hold your waistcoat.” If Harold was not ready to do this, then now would be the time to back out.

She also knew that Dev would not lead his cousin into an impossible situation.

As did, apparently, Harold.

Harold handed Sophia his coat and then sat on the ground to remove his boots. When he stood up, he began moving his arms back and forth as well, and jumping from one foot to the other. “All right, then, Dev,” he said. He flashed his cousin an impulsively wicked grin. “On three?”

Dev merely shook his head and took a running leap. As his body flew off the side of the cliff, he tucked his feet beneath him into a tight human missile.

Not waiting even another second, Harold followed him enthusiastically into the churning cauldron of the cove’s murky depths.

Sophia covered her face. She knew what she needed to do now. She was to return to the cave and wait.