The Celtic Symbol

by V M Jones

  Dr. Ryan pulled out a large sheet of paper and began to draw.

  “To help you better understand what to expect, I’ll give you a simple layout of a medieval castle from the thirteenth century. Given the location of this castle I’m assuming that it’s rectangular in shape. The rooms are likely built along the inside perimeter of the castle walls. The center of the castle or courtyard would be an open area. You would access the various rooms of the castle from the courtyard or at each end of the connecting rooms. Since the castle is buried, there will be no access from the courtyard,” explained Dr. Ryan as he drew each piece of the castle.

  “Unless you want to dig tunnels,” said Brody with a grin trying to make everyone feel more at ease.

  Aine gave him a disapproving look and shook her head.

  “We’ll access the castle from the exposed tower here. I think the only way to explore the castle will be to access each room from the adjoining room. Once we have explored the entire inner perimeter rooms, we’ll have to retrace our steps to get back to the tower and out,” said Dr. Ryan as he pointed to the crude castle layout.

  “That may take us hours,” said Aine with a sigh.

  “That’s right,” said Dr. McNamara as he looked up from the drawing. “So we better get a good night’s sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

  Everyone stood up and made their way to their sleeping arrangements.

  Dr. Ryan had a difficult time falling asleep between the excitement of being the first to step into the old castle and the urgency of finding Tevan.

  Dr. McNamara didn’t do much better at sleeping as he was trying to figure out a way to protect the group and how to open a portal into the netherworld without being pulled in by the king and the witch.

  Morning soon came and the group assembled on the patio behind the kitchen of the Murphy cottage. Ansley had insisted on preparing a breakfast for the group.

  “Ansley, you don’t have to feed us,” said Dr. Ryan trying to be polite but enjoying the smell of the food.

  “I do,” she responded as she continued laying out the food. “I feel like it’s the only thing I can offer you, Dr. McNamara, and his team for what you are doing for my family and me.”

  After seeing and smelling the appetizing meal, they stopped objecting.

  “I want to thank you again for helping us,” said Patrick somberly. “It seems we can’t thank you enough.”

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” replied Dr. McNamara on behalf of his team. “We are close to getting Tevan and bringing him home,” he added sympathetically.

  After eating breakfast, everyone made their way to the tower. The group stood in front of the ladder that lead to the top. The morning sun shone brightly and felt warm.

  Dr. Ryan looked up at the ladder and put his foot on the first rung. With each step of the ladder he became more excited. He reached the top and carefully stepped onto the platform.

  During excavation, Dr. Ryan was worried about the strength of the old wooden roof of the tower. He had the excavation crew place 4x4 planks in a lattice design along the top to provide extra support. Plywood was then nailed to the lattice support structure to provide a level walkway.

  As he stepped onto the deck he surveyed the top of the tower. Towards the back of the structure was an opening in the plywood revealing a heavy wooden trap door with an iron ring handle. He brushed away the dirt on top of the trap door and found another metal symbol similar to the one removed by Declan.

  While he waited for the rest of the group to climb onto the top of the tower, Dr. Ryan stood surveyed the surrounding landscape. He tried to imagine what if would have been like to look over the valley when the castle was in use. He then knelt down near the trap door.

  “Liam, can you help me with the handle?” he asked as he gripped the iron ring.

  The two men both pulled up on the iron ring but without success.

  “I think you might need this to give it a little persuasion,” smiled Brody as he handed them a crowbar.

  Dr. Ryan brushed the dirt away from the side of the trap door revealing the outline of the door and the rusted iron hinges. He carefully placed the crowbar near the iron ring handle and positioned it for the best leverage. He wanted to be careful to not damage the door or the flat wood roof of the tower. Dr. McNamara took hold of the iron ring with both hands and waited for Dr. Ryan’s signal to pull.

  “Now,” said Dr. Ryan as he pushed down on the crowbar.

  Dr. McNamara pulled with all his strength. Thy heard a loud pop as the rust on the hinges gave way from the pressure. He carefully swung it open and laid it flat on the other side.

  Dr. Ryan felt a thrill of excitement as he looked down at the opening and the stone stairs that lay beneath it.

  These were the first rays of light to enter the castle since the 13th century. The shafts of light were filled with a small cloud of dust in the air from the door being opened. The daylight gave enough light for the group to see the top of the spiral staircase along the back of the stone tower.

  Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Aine each had an oxygen tank along with packs to hold equipment and tools needed. They each had a radio with a headset. Dr. Ryan also insisted that they wore a hard hat with a headlamp attached.

  “We have to expect the unexpected in a structure this old,” he told them from experience.

  The square opening to the tower was about a meter square. It was just large enough to allow a person through without anything strapped to them.

  They laid their packs and equipment near the opening of the tower to be handed down once they cleared the opening.

  Dr. Ryan stepped down onto the first step. There was just enough daylight to give an outline of the stone staircase. He took careful steps as he lowered himself into the tower. He wasn’t sure how secure the stone staircase would be. Once his head cleared the tower, Dr. McNamara handed him his oxygen tank and his backpack.

  “Carefully follow me down the stairs. I’ll test each step to be sure that none of them are loose,” he cautioned the others.

  Aine lowered herself into the opening next stepping carefully to support her weight. Dr. Ryan was just below her to help with the equipment that was lowered to her.

  Dr. McNamara was the last to enter the opening. As he cleared the opening, Brody handed him his equipment.

  Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Aine slowly made their way down the staircase. As his head cleared the top of the doorway, he stared out into the dark room. The stairs opened up into a circular room on the top level of the tower. Dr. McNamara and Aine joined him in the room.

  “I want you to put on the oxygen masks,” said Dr. Ryan. “I don’t want to take any chances on the quality of the air in here just yet.”

  Dr. Ryan shone his headlamp around the room and said to the group, “This looks like the living quarters for some of the guards.”

  The room was about two and a half meters tall made completely of grey stone. It had two cots, two tables and chairs. The tables had old used candles sitting on top. There was a cross slit in the east side wall.

  “This looks like the opening where Declan removed the metal symbol,” he contemplated.

  He took out a small hand pick and began clearing the clay stuck inside the opening. As the clay gave way, the group could see sunlight entering the tower room. The room seemed to absorb the light that had been missing for so many centuries. Dr. Ryan continued clearing the loophole opening until all the clay was gone. He looked through the opening and could see the Murphy home and the museum team busy working on excavating the top of the castle wall below the tower.

  With the sunlight filling the room, the group was able to get a better perspective of the room. The floor had a thin layer of dust. There were a couple of old torches and metal holders on the old stone walls. They could see black soot up the side wall and the ceiling where the candles had burned nearby. The sunlight also gave them a better view of the old spiral stone stairway towards the back of the tower. A few of
the stairs were cracked but were still in good condition otherwise.

  Dr. Ryan turned his attention to either side of the tower stairway where there were two entry ways on the west and south end of the tower.

  “These doorways lead to the walkway on the castle wall,” Dr. Ryan explained pointing to the doors.

  “Which is still partially covered in dirt,” said Dr. McNamara.

  “A few more days of excavation and we would have the doors cleared,” said Dr. Ryan wishing more of the excavation was done.

  “Aine, please bring me the DRD.”

  He carefully took the device out of its cover and hooked up the cables. The hard drive was strapped to her back and connected to two wide angle cameras attached to the front and back of her helmet. Dr. Ryan inspected the microphone bar and the sonar transmitter. He turned the device on.

  “You start recording by pressing this button here,” he explained to Aine pointing to a button on the side of the pack. “Now we can start getting the layout of the tower.”

  Aine pushed the button and started recording.

  After making a few notes, Dr. Ryan led the team back to the stairs. The sunlight from the small loophole gave enough light to see the top few stairs. Beyond them the stairway faded into darkness. He made his way down the stairs to the next room of the tower. Dr. McNamara and Aine followed single file as the stairway was narrow.

  The staircase opened up to another room similar to the first. Without the sunlight the group could only see what the headlamps on their helmets revealed. With all three in the room, their headlamps gave them a fairly good view. It also had two cots with tables and chairs along with a few spears, bows, and arrows. There was also a loophole in the wall overlooking the outer wall.

  “This is a guard room but was probably also used to defend from attackers,” observed Dr. Ryan.

  Unlit torches were attached to the wall around the room. Dr. Ryan had Aine walk to the center of the room and turn 360 degrees to get a full recording of the room. The floodlights from the recording device lit up the room and gave a clearer view of its contents. After making a few more notes he walked back to the stairs. He carefully made his way down followed by the other two. The stairway ended at the next room.

  “Now we know the towers are three stories high,” said Dr. Ryan making a mental note.

  The tower opened up into a small room with several tables and wooden racks on the wall.

  “This looks like a storage room,” observed Dr. Ryan as he touched on of the tables rubbed the dust between his fingers.

  “Aye, it has a lot of wine casks in here,” observed Dr. McNamara with a grin. “I wonder if they’re empty.”

  “No time for wine tasting,” replied Dr. Ryan with a smile.

  The room was L shaped facing west and south of the tower. Besides casks, there seemed to be old crates and broken pots whose contents were now long destroyed by time.

  “Brody, this is Liam, can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear boss,” replied Brody.

  “Good. I just wanted to test the radio. The tower is three stories high. We’re at the lower level in some kind of storage room.”

  Dr. Ryan pulled off his oxygen mask to get a better look around the room. He noticed that the air was musty but surprisingly breathable. The others pulled off their oxygen masks as well.

  “That feels better,” said Aine. “I was feeling a little claustrophobic with the mask on.”

  "There must be a connection to an underground cavern where a natural spring comes into the castle,” said Dr. Ryan offering his expertise. “I have seen similar situations in other excavations.”

  The floor was covered with dust which they stirred up with their feet as they moved forward, making it a little harder to breath. Dr. Ryan stopped the group and pulled out some surgical masks from his backpack.

  “I have found,” he said as he handed each one a mask, “That when the excavations are dusty, a surgical mask is helpful in keeping dust out of your lungs.”

  The three put on the masks.

  “This is the northeast tower of the structure,” observed Dr. Ryan as he got his bearings.

  At each end of the room were doors. There was also a door on the west wall of the room.

  “Which direction do you want to try?” asked Dr. McNamara turning his head left and right.

  “Let’s go left,” answered Dr. Ryan decisively as he moved towards the door.

  The rest of the group followed. Dr. Ryan leaned on the door and pushed it open revealing a larger room. From their headlamps they could see that there were several stables and iron hooks on the walls. They could see old rotted pieces of rope and tack hanging from rusted iron hooks on the wall. There were broken buckets and pieces of wood scattered all over the floor. The dust on the floor was much thicker than the supply room.

  “Let me guess this one,” said Aine with a grin. “This was the stable.”

  “Correct,” answered Dr. Ryan with a nod.

  They also noticed that a fight had taken place in this room. There were all manner of weapons and skeletal remains strewn about. Tables and chairs were overturned. It seemed to have a slight green glow from portions of the floor of the room.

  “It almost looks like moonlight glowing in here,” remarked Dr. McNamara glancing around the room. “But since we are underground, that would be impossible.”

  “Maybe there’s some phosphorous scattered on the floor or some kind of chemical reaction,” said Dr. Ryan offering an explanation.

  The room was rectangular and was about six meters wide and about twelve meters long. On the west end of the room were two wooden doors leading to the buried courtyard. In the middle of the wall at the end of the room was a wooden door. After giving Aine sufficient time to record the room and making a few more notes, Dr. Ryan contemplated their next move.

  “I think we should continue through the middle door and see what’s behind it,” Dr. Ryan told the others.

  He put his hand on the iron ring on the door and pushed.

  The door opened to reveal a narrow room with several holes and slits on the opposite wall. There were various weapons strewn around the room. At either end of the room was a smaller spiral staircase. Dr. Ryan shone his torch through one of the holes on the wall. He could see a small elongated room with latticed iron gates on either end which were partially opened. Along the floor of the gatehouse were several skeletons, shields, and swords.

  “Take a look,” said Dr. Ryan as he gave a slight nod towards the wall.

  Dr. McNamara shone his headlamp through one of the holes in the wall as he and Aine could see the partially opened iron gates held up with large sections of logs. Dirt was pouring through the opening of the gateway. They also noticed the remains of soldiers along the floor of the gatehouse. The opposite wall was almost a mirror image of the wall they were looking through with holes and slits.

  “Look at the ceiling,” he said pointing up to the middle of the center room.

  The two looked up and could see similar holes in the ceiling.

  “This is the gatehouse,” explained Dr. Ryan. “This is the main entrance to the castle. There is a portcullis on either end of the entryway. The holes in the wall and the ceiling are called murder holes. The attacking army comes through the front gate. Once they get passed the entrance the iron gates are closed on either end and the soldiers become trapped. Unfortunately, the attacking army was Prince Nuallan’s army. However, it looks like he was able to keep the gates partially open by using logs to prop them open which gave them access to the courtyard.”

  “Everything ok?” interrupted Brody on the radio.

  “Everything’s fine,” replied Dr. McNamara.

  “I wish I was there to see the castle,” responded Brody, “Things are pretty boring up here.”

  “Maybe next time,” said Dr. McNamara with a laugh.

  “How do we get into the entryway of the gate house and over to the other side?” asked Aine looking up at the high ceilin
g.

  “We’ll be able to cross over the top of the gatehouse if the top floor is enclosed. Otherwise the walkway will be buried and we’ll have to circle back,” said Dr. Ryan gesturing with his hand.

  He had Aine take some time to finish recording the room.

  “Let’s go up the east tower and see where it leads,” suggested Aine turning towards the tower.

  “Sounds good to me,” replied Dr. Ryan as he gestured for her to lead the way.

  Aine went up the east tower stairway and up to the next level. Dr. Ryan followed and slid past her at the top of the stairs. The upper room ran parallel to the room below. It was about two meters wide and ten meters long. The lights from their headlamps revealed that it had a few cots and a place on the north wall to hold weapons. There were also weapons strewn about the room. The back walls held a couple of unlit torches in iron holders.

  “This was used for the defense of the gatehouse,” said Dr. Ryan as he stood contemplating the room.

  It also had murder holes along the south wall. Aine took a few minutes to record the room.

  “Let’s see if there is another room upstairs,” said Dr. Ryan hoping there would be access to the other side of the gatehouse.

  He led the group up the stairs to the next level. They only got part way up the spiral staircase when they were met with a pile of dirt blocking the way.

  “Looks like the top of the tower opens up to the walkway. We won’t be going any further this way. We are at a dead end,” said Dr. Ryan disappointed.

  “I wish you wouldn't say it that way,” said Aine with a chuckle.

  Dr. McNamara was behind the others on the stairway so he turned and started to make his way back down to the middle room.

  “Brody, this is Liam, the way is blocked over the gatehouse so we are turning around.”

  “Ok, be careful,” responded Brody.

  They made their way across the room and over to the west tower stairway. Dr. Ryan had Aine record both towers as far as she could to make the mapping complete for this section of the castle. They made their way down the west stairway and back into the stables. As they made the final turn down the tower stairs they could see the faint green glow from the floor.