Masters of the Arches

This story was posted a few years ago on another site under my pen name of mandil.

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Money had always been the main preoccupation in Vincent Manning's life. How to earn money, how to make more money and of course how to keep it, which is sometime more difficult than making it.

Ever since he was young, everything he did or thought about had to do with his goal of becoming a millionaire before he was forty. When he decided to attend university and get a degree in administration, it had been in his mind that such a degree would greatly increase his chances of earning that first million.

He had started his own business in the import-export sector soon after he graduated and women had no place in his life since he was much too busy taking care of his growing business.

It was therefore a tremendous shock to him when he found himself completely ruined one day. Before that fatal day things were going very well. He had twelve employees working for his company and he was almost half way to his first million dollars. Besides the fact that he owned a big mansion in a well-to-do district of Montcalm, he had a country cottage in the Adirondack Mountains. Of course, he didn't go there very often since being in his cottage took too much of his time away from his business, but when he did, it was mostly for hunting and fishing. Since his summerhouse was over 150 miles from Montcalm, he usually went there to hunt and rest for a few days at a time. Vincent enjoyed living in close contact with nature. He especially loved the tall trees of all kind on his land and the abundance of wild life all around his place. Had it been at all possible for him to live in his cottage while at the same time being able to take care of his business, he would have gladly done so. But his export-import business had to be situated in the city since his clients and their money was there. He therefore had no choice on the matter of where he had to live.

Before the incident that took away his business, he had a very high profile in Montcalm. He was a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and he also sat on the board of directors of the Montcalm General Hospital.

Yes, life had been sweet for Vincent until that day when they found over two pounds of cocaine well hidden in his imported furniture. From that day on, his luck changed for the worse. In less than six months he lost everything he owned except for his cottage and a few thousand dollars that remained in his bank account when everything was over. Even then, he had barely managed to escape from serving time in prison. It was only the fact that he had hired the best lawyer and that he also paid the stiff fine that kept him from spending a few years in jail.

Of course, he knew nothing about the drugs. But still, someone or a group of people had been using his business to get the stuff into the country without any risk to themselves. Being the sole owner of the company, he had been held responsible for the trafficking and therefore he was suspect number one.

When everything was finally settled, and after paying the hefty fine plus the court and lawyers fees, he was left with five thousand dollars and his country cottage. Everything else he had owned was now gone. On the verge of depression and broken in spirit, he packed his used car with foodstuff and the few possessions he still owned and he drove north to his cottage in the Adirondack Mountains.

The stone house was situated three-quarters up the crest of a tall peak and the view of the valley below was fantastic, to get there he had to drive on an old gravel road for five miles after getting off the paved road. The closest neighbors was five miles away and he had refused to pay for the installation of the phone poles since it would have cost over ten thousand dollars and of course his cell phone didn't work in such a wilderness. Even so he loved to be there since he could forget all about his problems and truly relax.

As for electricity, well the hydro line did not go that far into the wilderness so he had installed a generator and he was happy with that arrangement. Once a year he would have the fuel truck drive there and fill his five hundred-gallon tank with fuel for his generator as well as heating oil for his furnace. Whenever he was there he felt like a different man. In other words, he was in his 'milieu', and he often wished that he could remain there forever.

He had been living as a hermit in his cottage now for over a week and he was still very depressed. Whereas before the unfortunate incident that had ruined him, his only goal in life was to get rich very fast, he no longer had such aim. The events of the last six months had taught him the futility and fragility of his old ambition.

It was while he was in his usual depressed state of mind that one day he went for his daily walk on his three hundred-acre property. Upon returning to the cottage that day, he observed a fox running into a bush at the foot of a vertical rock formation not far from his house. The rock wall was part of an extremely large bolder. Such a rock wall was very common in that part of the mountain.

He was an expert hunter and even though he was not in a frame of mind to engage in such a sport at that moment, curiosity got the better of him. Therefore, he went to investigate the bushes where he had last seen the fox only a moment before.

As he approached the spot where it had last been seen, he saw the beige animal dive away on its right and run away into the edge of the wood a few hundred feet away. At the same time he noticed a small opening or crack-like fissure in the rock wall. After stepping on the lower growth and bending a few saplings, which were growing everywhere and were still hiding much of the hole, he was soon standing next to an almost circular opening through the rock.

He bent over and touched the edge with his hand. It was a hole indeed but judging by the discoloration of its sides and also by the moss growing over the rock all around it, he could tell that it had been there undisturbed for a very long time. No animals were living in there since the constant rubbing against the side would have scraped away the moss and there also would be a visible trail leading to it.

He got on his knees and he looked inside. He couldn't see much except that it went into a sort of cave-like opening and he threw a small rock inside. Judging by the sounds it made, and also from its echo, he was able to tell that there was a large cavity inside the rock wall.

Having nothing better to do, he went into the house and got a flashlight. When he sent the beam of light into the hole, he was able to see the interior of a large cave and where the light fell on the opposite wall; the beam was reflected on something very shiny. He could tell that it was something either metallic or even made of glass.

Judging from the reflection of his light beam, it was a half-circular band of polished material embedded into the rock wall. It was about seven feet in diameter and didn't seem to have been affected by the humidity inside the cave since he couldn't detect any sign of rust on it.

There was no way for him to enter through the hole since it was much too small for his body to squeeze through. The following day, he returned with a metal bar and he began to chip at the rock to enlarge the hole. He was able to break away a few small rocks at the base but still the entrance was not wide enough to let his body through. With another hour of hard work, he managed to dislodge and roll away a large stone that had been part of the circular hole. Once it was well off to the side of the opening, he was finally able to squeeze himself inside.

The interior of the cave was cool and very damp. He immediately went to investigate the cause of the circular reflection that fascinated him so much. It was some kind of archway that had been smoothly cut from the stone. Deep into the rock and going all around it, was imbedded the circular band about three inches wide and made of a silver-like metal. The metal band went from the rock floor on one side in an almost circular pattern back to the floor again with a height of at least seven feet in the middle.

Someone and taken great care to carve the rock wall for a depth of about two feet past the silver band of the portal. From all evidences it was a portal indeed.

Where could it lead? Nowhere it seemed, since after a depth of a couple of feet there was the rock wall. The same rock that made up the rest of the cave.

"Who would go into that much trouble to built an archway leading to a flat wall?" thought Vincent.

On closer inspection, he discovered that the floor under - and also a few inches in front of the arch - was some kind of synthetic material. It had all the appearance of hard rock but when he actually placed his hand on the smooth surface, it felt like some kind of hard rubber.

After deciding that it would indeed support his weight, he stepped on the rubber-like material so as to get a better look at the flat stone wall, which made up the wall of the arch.

The instant that his feet touched the floor plate, he experienced a numbing sensation throughout his body and the next instant the wall in front of him was gone. He was now facing a doorway where just a few seconds earlier was the wall of the cave.

Of course, he remained frozen on his feet for a long time. His mind had a lot of difficulty adjusting to the impossible feedback that his eyes were registering. What was happening to him was something impossible. The flat wall of the cave that had been there just a few feet ahead of him was now gone and in its place was an opening. He couldn't believe the information that his eyes were sending to his brain.

As soon as the initial shock was over, he began to look beyond the newly created opening of the portal. He could tell that there was another cave on the other side, a cave much larger than the one he had entered just a few minutes earlier. Straight ahead, into this larger cave, he could also see daylight filtering through some kind of break in the far wall. Partly covering the break on the outside of the cave, he could see plants growing and hiding the opening. There were vines and small trees also and the light from outside was filtering through the numerous leaves.

He was still greatly shaken by what had just happened but even so, without thinking any further, he stepped ahead through the portal and entered into the large cave. He walked straight ahead until he reached the spot where he saw the daylight, he then pushed the vines and leaves aside and he looked outside. He was stunned and frightened at the same time with the sight before his eyes.

From his position, he could tell that he was extremely high above a grass-covered valley. Far below on his left he could see a river that curved here and there until it disappeared in a tropical forest of tall trees. There were no rivers on his property, and furthermore the closest river was at least fifty miles away. Vincent kept telling himself that he was dreaming and that at any moment he was going to come out into reality.

But after many long minutes while he examined the scenery below him, he finally had to admit to himself that he was not dreaming and the landscape below him was quite real. Still, this was not the land around his cottage and that grass valley bellow; the winding river as well as the tropical forest didn't belong in the Adirondacks. Where was he? More important still, how did he get here?

These thoughts soon made him panic and he ran back into the large cave. The silver half-circle on the archway was still there but a rock wall now blocked the open portal. Panic and fear were now his main emotions. His way back was now blocked.

As his fear began to increase his desperation made him bolder; he stepped on the rubber-looking plate under the archway. Again, he felt the same numb sensation throughout his body. Next he found himself facing the small hole, which was the entrance of the smaller cave. The same hole he had worked on for over an hour to enlarge so that he could get into the cave. He was back in the smaller cave where he had first entered.

The familiarity of his surroundings didn't help a great deal to calm him down and he got on his hands and knees and crawled out into fresh air as fast as he could.

As soon as he was on his feet again he hurried to the cottage and poured himself a large drink. Then as he sat in his favorite armchair, he began to review in his mind the strange events of the last hour.

He remained in the house for the rest of the day while the events of the morning went on playing back again and again in his mind. Still, the more he thought about it the more he felt himself the victim of his imagination. For one thing there was absolutely no explanation whatsoever to justify what had happened. Worse still, even if there was a possibility for him to accept what he had witnessed, it meant that there was practically no limit as to what could be out there in this new place he had seen.

The following morning, even though he had slept just a few hours during the night, he finally made up his mind to prove to himself that he was not going crazy. He still had a lot of doubts about what he had seen and in the back of his mind, he partly believed that the tremendous strain of the loss of his export-import company was responsible for the visions he had seen the previous day.

When he squeezed himself back into the hole early that morning, his eyes rested on the same silvery metal band and he was both relieved and a little distressed at the same time. The fact that he was once again seeing the same things as the previous day was a relief to him since it confirmed that he wasn't going out of his mind. But at the same time, accepting what his eyes were registering implied such gigantic possibilities that it was scaring.

More than once, as he stood there in front of the arch, he was tempted to turn back and leave the cave, thus forgetting the whole matter. But curiosity, plus the fact that he wanted to prove to himself that he was not going crazy, drove him on, he finally stepped on the circular plate of the arch once again.

He experienced the same numb feeling again for a few seconds, and as expected, as soon as he opened his eyes he was facing the entrance of the larger cave. The flat, solid rock wall which had stood in front of him a few seconds earlier was now gone. Even though he was not as shaken as he had been the previous day, he was sweating all over and still reluctant to move forward thus stepping off the plate. It seemed as if his mind didn't want to accept what his eyes were registering as facts. At last, after willing himself to move, he slowly walked toward the daylight that he could see coming through the dense vegetation partly shielding his way to the outside world.

With his heart beating very fast, he stopped just behind the curtain of vines and small trees that were hiding the entrance. He pulled aside the vines as he had done the previous day but this time he noticed that there were great quantities of big green grapes hanging on them. Never before in his life had he seen grapes of that size. They were as big as golf balls.

He did pluck one and took a small bite in it, being ready at the same time to spit the contents of his mouth out if it turned out to taste bad. The grape was succulent, very juicy and just a little sweeter than he expected. So he took another bite and soon he had eaten half of it.

With the grape still in one hand, he pushed the tall vines further aside until he had enough room to step out into the open. Once again, he proceeded to examine the winding river on his left and the rich plain sloping down toward the river. Everything was as he remembered from the previous day. The scenery before him was still a great shock to him but at the same time he felt a certain amount of relief, it was quite evident that what he was now seeing was not the product of his imagination or of a sick mind.

Still, the series of strange events that had just occurred was enough to make his legs shake and he went to sit on a rock that was on his left just outside of the entrance. He remained there a long time, thinking and looking around at the beautiful sight before him. It gradually entered his mind that all of what he was seeing was very real, even though his mind couldn't explain any of it. One minute he had been standing in a cave near his home and the next minute he was somewhere else, some place that he couldn't even begin to guess where he was. The mental pressure on his mind -- which had to accept and process the inexplicable -- was once again getting to him, at the same time it was also sapping his physical strength.

When he felt strong enough -- he couldn't say how long he remained seated on the rock -- he got up and went inside. Without any hesitation whatsoever he stepped on the plate and he was soon in familiar surroundings within the small cave near his cottage. After crawling out of the came he slowly walked back to his house, trying not to think of the arch and the scenery. Then as he entered the house it occurred to him that he had used the power of the arch to get back to his own world without a second thought. His mind now accepted the fact as to what stepping on the plate of the cave implied and didn't try to explain how it was done. Vincent had used the power of the arch as it had probably been done for countless of years before this day.

That night while in bed he thought about the events of the day. He came to the conclusion that the plate and the arch were some kind of transportation device -- a doorway to another part of the world, or more probably to a completely different world. The latter was probably the case judging by the large grapes he had found there and also because of the strange landscape, which he knew was no part of his world. Nowhere on earth were there grapes as big as those that he had seen and tasted in front of the entrance, of that he was certain. As for the winding river, the tall grass plain and the dense tropical forest farther back, these were too exotic and strange to be a scenery belonging to his world. He had never seen the like of those before, either on television or in magazines.

The following morning he was back in the cave. This time he crossed over to the other world without any hesitation whatsoever, he did so as if it was the most natural thing to do. How surprising he told himself -- as he stepped on the plate -- that he was no longer afraid to use the arch.

Much to his surprise, he found himself in complete darkness. With the help of his flashlight that he still had in his hand, he walked out of the cave. It was just starting to get brighter in the sky on his right, so he sat on the same rock that he had used on the previous day, and he waited. While he sat there he examined the stars overhead and he tried to identify some of them. But they all looked strange to him; even the numerous constellations were unfamiliar, as each and every formation of stars was new and unknown to him. This only helped to reinforce his theory that he was no longer on Earth.

As soon as the first rays of sunlight felt on the valley below, he got up and proceeded to look around once more. After a couple minutes of carefully examining his immediate surroundings, he noticed a path leading downward and away from the ledge on which he now stood. The trail-like pathway was covered with all kinds of growth but if he was careful enough he could easily walk on the five-foot wide trail. He thus slowly began his descent down into the valley. The trail went winding downward and the further down he descended the less steep it was. Finally, after almost two hours of descending he was standing at the foot of the mountain peak from which he had arrived into this world.