Pan was the one who had goat legs right Grace said They’d been reading Greek legends to prepare for the trip One of the gods had the upper body of a man and the lower body of a goat He was a faun like Mr Tumnus from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Right Dad said They picked their way around knee-high boulders covered in green moss To the ancient Greeks Pan was the god of the wilderness shepherds and hunting Grace glanced back The small entrance was a bright slash of light Otherwise the cave was dark except where Dad’s flashlight hit Why would they want to worship here when it’s so dark They probably would have used candles or lanterns Dad said I like it in here Jaden said It’s dark and spooky He yelled the last word and it echoed around the room Dad chuckled You aren’t the only one who appreciates it Caves were considered holy places You can see how mysterious and special they seem This cave was used for thousands of years Archaeologists dug here some years back They found statues flutes made out of bone rings and clay figures Also thousands of knucklebones Long ago people used bones for prophecy telling the future Jaden laughed How did the bones talk The prophet would toss the bones on the ground Then he or she would look at the pattern the bones made and decide what it meant That’s crazy Jaden said Dad shrugged People always want to know what the future holds There’s no science behind fortune-telling Still people
love fortune cookies and reading their horoscopes I guess it’s comforting to think you know what’s going to happen They walked across the cave floor which was shiny with water in places Large lumpy columns of stone rose up from the cave floor Stalagmites Dad said They’re made when the water drips down over thousands of years Each drop leaves a tiny bit of mineral behind Over time those mineral deposits build up into a column Don’t touch he warned as Jaden reached out a hand You could damage the column Jaden sighed and moved away Dad turned the flashlight to the ceiling The ones that hang down are called stalactites You can remember that because they have a C for ceiling and they hold on tight stalac-tite Stalagmites have a G for ground He handed the flashlight to Grace Let me get my camera and I’ll take a picture You two stand on either side of that column Grace stood next to a tower of rock that was more than twice her height She wouldn’t have been able to wrap her arms around it even if she’d been allowed to touch it Dad got out his camera and looked up Where’s Jaden Grace shone the flashlight all around No sign of her brother Dad took the flashlight and made his own search That kid he sighed I can’t turn my back for one second I’ll be glad when we get on the boat so he can’t go far He hesitated On the other hand we’ll be out in the Aegean Sea so if he does go anywhere oh boy Jaden His yell echoed around the cave like many Dads calling at once As the echoes faded Grace thought she heard a whisper of laughter But where had it come from He must have gone back outside Dad started for the entrance I hope he didn’t get far No wait Grace said I don’t think Jaden would leave
someplace this cool Besides She pointed to a darker area on the cave wall an opening almost hidden by one of the stalagmites Dad turned the flashlight on it Jaden crouched in the hole grinning Got you There’s another room back here but it’s too dark I should have known Dad said shaking his head We won’t crawl through any tunnels today The guidebook said you need special equipment for parts of this cave We’ll leave that for the serious cavers They took pictures before heading toward the cave entrance The opening shone like a blinding spotlight as they got closer Outside the sunlight seemed especially bright They shaded their eyes for a minute as they adjusted to daylight It will take us a few hours to hike to Delphi Dad said Fortunately some of it is downhill The family did a lot of hiking back home in Washington State so they were used to long walks They walked along a path through a forest of sweet-smelling fir trees After the forest they passed a farm They stopped for their picnic lunch sitting on some rocks It felt like they were on top of the world looking down on rounded mountains and blue water in the distance I wish Mom and Joy were here Grace said Me too Dad said But I like spending time alone with you guys as well Mom and their little sister Joy had stayed in France Mom was a guest teacher at a college for the summer The whole family got to spend the summer in France with her Then Dad got a job writing some articles about Greece He’d taken Grace and Jaden along but Mom couldn’t take the time off Joy was only two so this trip would have been hard for her Plus Joy had been adopted from China just a few months before Mom said she was looking forward to spending time
alone with the youngest of her three adopted kids Grace understood but she still wished they could all be together A small brown goat wandered near them grazing on the grass Grace sat quietly hoping it would get closer But Jaden jumped up and ran toward the goat It turned and darted off disappearing in seconds They kept walking past hillsides where sheep and cattle grazed They hiked for a long time stopping to take pictures In mid-afternoon they came to a path lined with stones It was steep zigzagging down the mountain Dad went first and made Jaden stay close behind him
