All the Time in the World (English)

Chapter 12 - Tell My Tale

The air in the dungeons was damp and colder than Alicia had imagined, and the woman wrapped herself in her coat with a shudder. She raised her face to look at Guy who was walking beside her, following the guardian and the archaeologist.
"I shouldn't let you in here, this part of the dungeons is closed to the public," Jonathan said, worried.
The archaeologist made a vague gesture with his hand.
"They won't tell anyone, will you Dr. Little? Guy?"
Alicia nodded.
"Even if I did, I don't think anyone would believe me," Guy said with an ironic smile.
They kept walking, and Alicia watched Gisborne, noting that the more they went into the dungeons, the more he seemed to become tense and immersed in his own thoughts.
"It's all right, Guy?" She asked quietly.
"This place... It hasn't changed much..."
"This isn't a good idea, I shouldn't have taken you here. Let's go back."
"No, that's fine. I would still see it in my memories. Maybe coming here could be a good thing."
Alicia took his hand.
"If it gets too hard, we'll go back, okay?"
Guy nodded.
"When I came here the last time I was looking for my sister," he said in a whisper, so only Alicia could hear him. "I fell into her trap, she wanted to get me here and deliver me to the sheriff... And she succeeded perfectly."
They entered a room and Guy shuddered.
"It's here, isn't it? Is this the place where they wounded me?"
Jonathan heard him and nodded with his head.
"Right there."
Guy looked down at the floor and he could see a darker trace, a remnant of the blood stain, of the blood he had shed when the Sheriff and Isabella had wounded him and left him to die.
He knelt down and put his hand on the ground: here was where he was supposed to have died, the place where the miracle had happened.
Alicia touched his shoulder and Guy raised his face to look at her.
"I'm fine," he reassured her, with a slight smile. "It's strange, but it's not that terrible."
The woman stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being honest, then she turned to the archaeologist.
"What did you want to show us? This?"
Peter pointed to one side of the room where they could see a table and where some wooden chests had been gathered.
The archaeologist carefully lifted one of the smaller boxes, laid it on the table, and removed the lid, inviting the others to come closer.
Alicia let out a exclamation of surprise, seeing a human skull, and she was astonished to see the precious gemstone decorating one of its teeth. She turned to look at Guy and she was scared to see the expression of his face.
To see the place where he had almost been killed hadn't shaken him so much, but being in front of that skull had upset him: he had become white in his face and he began to tremble convulsively.
"Guy..."
Alicia tried to touch him, but Gisborne flinched, turned his back to her, and ran away.

Alicia climbed a flight of stairs and sprang outdoors. She paused and looked around. She had tried to follow Gisborne, but the knight was younger than her, his legs were much longer than hers, and she was almost immediately left behind.
"Guy!" She called, distressed. "Guy, where are you?!"
"Dr. Little!"
Jonathan and Peter reached her, panting too, and the archaeologist looked at her, sincerely sorry.
"It's my fault, I shouldn't have shown that skull to him..."
"No, you shouldn't have," Jonathan said. "What were you thinking?"
"I didn't think he could react like that."
"What did you expect? You showed him the corpse of the man he was working for, how did you think he could react?"
"Won't you think it's true? I admit that what he said has proven to be right, but there are other more plausible explanations."
"That doesn't matter at all. It doesn't matter whether it's true or not, for him it is. You archaeologists are more used to dealing with mummies and ruins than with people! Now let's go and search for him. Dr. Little, do you have any idea of where he might have gone?"
"Maybe he went back to the car... Oh, we have to find him right away! Guy is not used to the modern world, he could be in danger!"
"Go and check the car, I'll look for him in the museum. Peter, make sure he's not in the dungeons. Do you both have a cell phone? The first one who finds him will be able to alert the others."