Taken by the Cowboy (39 page)

“Wow,” Lewis said,
stepping toward the mouth of the tunnel. “Look at these carvings,
Callie. This is incredible!”

As they stepped into
the tunnel, torches on the walls lit themselves, the orange flames
softly illuminating the ancient structure before them.

Callie and Lewis walked
slowly through the tunnel, taking their time, marveling at the
intricate carvings which decorated the walls.

Several scenes showed
magical beasts-winged horses and lions, huge herds of unicorns
prancing through thick forests, fire-breathing dragons, frightening
serpents, and even stranger creatures which Callie and Lewis had
never seen before. There were scenes of clashing armies, royal
hunts and processions, kings and queens adorned in all their
finery, with jeweled crowns upon their heads and scepters in their
hands, sitting upon magnificent thrones.

They were deep in the
tunnel now, so deep they couldn’t see either end. It was a bit
creepy. But what was even more creepy was the next panel of
carvings. Callie saw a woman, her face obscured by a veil but
wearing a crown. Obviously a queen.

But instead of subjects
before her, there were birds. Ravens. Hundreds of them. One in
particular was perched upon the queen’s shoulder, and looked like
it was whispering in her ear. One of her arms was extended, and her
hand was stretched out over the ravens before her, who all seemed
to be waiting for her command. In the other hand, the queen
triumphantly held aloft a small round globe. The letter ‘T’ adorned
the top of it.

Lewis stepped closer.
“What a weird globe. Whoever they got to carve it certainly didn’t
know geography very well. I don’t recognize any of these
continents. Hey Callie, isn’t that the lady from your dream? The
Raven Queen or whoever?” Lewis asked, pointing.

A cold shiver passed
through Callie’s heart. “Yes, I think it is. But how could I have
dreamt about this? I’ve never seen any of it before.”

“That’s a good point,”
Lewis agreed. He stopped for a moment, getting that special look he
always got when he had a particularly brilliant thought. “Maybe you
didn’t dream it after all. Maybe it’s precognition.”

Callie frowned. “What’s
that?”

“In layman’s terms,
precognition means knowing something is going to happen before it
actually does happen.”

“If that’s true…”
Callie didn’t want to think about what that might mean. She had
dreamt she was a princess, but she had also dreamt she’d lost an
important battle, people had died, and the Raven Queen and her army
were trying to kill her.

“I think I like the
dream scenario better,” she said, turning her attention back to the
carvings. Then she saw something that made her heart and stomach do
a flip flop at the same time. “Lewis, look at this.”

They both peered at the
next panel in wonder. It was a detailed carving of a young woman
who looked like a princess. She wore a long, flowing gown and an
extravagantly jeweled tiara. In one hand she held a sword. The
other hand rested on the back of an enormous throne covered in
strange writing. Around her neck she wore the pink diamond necklace
and key that was now around Callie’s neck.

“Callie,” Lewis said
slowly. “She looks like—”

“Me.” Callie stepped
forward and touched the carving. Something traveled through her
fingertips, like a series of tingly, electric shocks.

“Me, me, me.” A voice
said from a few feet behind them. “Is that all you ever think
about?”

Callie and Lewis turned
in horror to see what terrible creature had snuck up behind them in
the depths of the secret tunnel. But they already knew who owned
that voice.

It belonged to Wanda
Morris.

http://www.daisypiper.com/

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