A
rounded log
lying on the edge nearby was almost perfectly placed to
protect the rope from any grinding
along the sharp shale. I tossed the remaining length loosely over the edge, across this piece of relatively smooth wood, and it sailed down.
> No cursing, a good start. A scratch that I won’t even have thanks to you by the time I get back to the top is a small price. Thank you. Wow. You should have bet me. I really thought this would fail... such a shame! Who knows what you could have gotten me to do? <
I’m surprisingly
honorable
when it comes to such things. My wolf sends impressions of letting myself be marked... by that Alpha....
willingly
. So, I grimace rather uncomfortably as I repack the shovel and stalk back toward the rope.
"...That’s just taking it too far. Can you not just be satisfied with making me send her a photo or something?"
The
ascent
proved easier than expected. Hand over hand, the climb up the rope felt less strenuous than it ever did in my old body and I reached the top without the exhaustion that likely would have plagued a
pure human
climber.
Raising up the rope from the bottom, I coil it in a loop as I walk toward the container. Summoning the new crate inside... I
notice how clean it is
. And pushing on it shows me how
heavy
it was. Glad I didn’t need to carry it.
"What did he hide all the way down here like this? So much weight. And he refused to make notes about the contents like he did for some of the others."
It was obvious why when I unsealed the lid.
Precious metals
were arranged inside, probably his life savings. Sleeves of gold coins, stamped silver bars, and according to a ledger on the
underside of the lid
... small platinum ingots.
Each piece was labeled with dates and weights in
more meticulous handwriting than usual
, but still his. Not like it was for another note inside, which was clearly a
different
individual’s handwriting... less formal and clipped to some device.
[ Hey, GreyVictor. Crypto cold storage wallets like I promised. Instructions are inside the case. This stuff is going to be worth something someday. Don’t lose them for me, you hear? - JP]
Tucked between the precious metals were several of these
small electronic devices
- black rectangles about the size of ’playing card’ decks. I had
no idea what cryptocurrency was
, but if this ’JP’ person thought they’d be valuable, they were worth looking into.
"Later. I’m really happy. Vrika, I don’t know much about this world yet, but this has all got to be a small fortune, right?"
Obviously, my wolf had no idea either. But I was suddenly
filled with energy
! With three caches down, each one revealing more about the hunter’s preparations and past connections... which I didn’t really
care
about... I was more than halfway through the Task for today!
"Two more to go. Next stop: the pond cache. Ah, I’m so happy. Can you believe it! Gold coins. Gold coins."
I
repeated
the word over and over, even after I raised my hand and pulled the shipping container
into nowhere
.
⧖
☾ ❄ ☽
⧖
The pond appeared past a break in the trees after a
brisk run
. Its dark surface reflected the sky that was growing overcast like a
black glass mirror
. Quite larger than I’d expected from the hunter’s description of a ’small pond’.
Perhaps
fifty feet
across at its widest point, with cattails and sedge grass along the shallow edges. I plopped the container nearby and consulted the journal one more time, reading his
cramped handwriting
.
[Large diameter PVC, both ends sealed and painted to match pond stones. Submerged it in the basin so it appears as a natural rock formation.]
"Of course it does. Because nothing can ever be sitting conveniently on the side of the pond looking like a rock. It has to be where I need to get wet."
Dark shapes barely visible beneath the
murky surface
could have been many such rocks, logs, or the cache itself. Sediment had been stirred up by the rain last night or
maybe creatures underneath, probably fish
...
Making
visibility
even worse in the water. I wouldn’t be able to see much even if I opened my eyes down there. I’d have to do this all
by feel
rather than sight.