Uri and the other five men would lower and raise the rope when we needed them to. We would tug on the rope in quick jerks to communicate when we needed to go up or down. 3 jerks to go down and 2 jerks to come up.

            Pelle went go first. He was lowered down to the halfway point, and then I was lowered down to that point. Our goal was to maintain communication all the way down. After me, Bayne came down, followed by Simon.

            This plan worked smoothly. It was difficult for me to crawl through some of the spaces, but I managed. I was taking note of the space as I was going down. I wanted to make sure we would have a clear path to get a bone that was approximately four feet in length through the same space. I was six feet tall, but my body could bend and maneuver through the space more easily than a bone. It was likely going to be a challenge to get it out.

            After I had reached the halfway point, I waited for Bayne to arrive. It seemed like it was taking forever for him to come down. I continued talking back and forth with Pelle. He spoke no English and I no Greek, but we had devised a system for communicating. We could use words like “good”, “help”, “up,” and “come.” He reached the bottom very quickly as I waited for Bayne.

            “Bayne, you alright?” I asked.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “Just not used to this type of work. You know I’m a professor, not a mountain climber.” We both laughed. I couldn’t believe it myself. Never did I ever imagine that being an anthropology and history professor would lead me to something like this.

            Finally, I felt sand and dirt falling on my head and arms. Bayne was moving right above me. I looked up and could see his foot.

            “You’re right on top of me. Watch yourself.”

            “Hey, one less professor on this trip would only make it more profitable.”

             He was kidding, or so he made it seem. But I was wise to Bayne. I was not too trusting of my research partner at this point. He didn’t believe in what I did. It seemed his truer colors were coming out the longer we were on this assignment. I reached out to his legs to give him some direction as to where I was. I began to pull the rope up from Pelle as he had tugged on it to let me know he had untied it. Bayne and I were now face to face. The space between us was close. Our faces were inches away from each other.

            “I had an apartment much smaller than this when I was in college,” he joked. “And, I had two roommates.” We laughed.  He untied his rope and sent it up. I put the rope around my waist through the harness we had made. And I began the rest of my descent. This part of the descent was much easier than the first half. The opening was wider. I was going as fast as I could. I was excited to see for the first time the bone of an ancient giant. As I lowered myself, I could hear Pelle’s voice get louder and louder. He was saying “good…good”. I then felt his hand on my foot and as I looked down, the lantern light was showing on the ground. I could see the floor. I was finally on the ground. I untied the rope from my harness and yelled up to Bayne.

           “I made it!” I gave two tugs on the rope and up it went. I then looked around. The space was quite small. There were no additional ways out. The ground felt solid. I then turned around the other way, and there it was.

            Coming out of two platelets that had a three-inch crack in them was a bone. It was clear as day. As if it were right there waiting for us, I reached out to touch it, and it was fossilized hard. It was encased in a compression of rock and thousands of years of temperature changes. The bone was well preserved. It was still half tucked into the rock wall and would need to be chiseled out. I measured the length, and it was 44 inches long. The bone looked to be a femur of some sort. If it were human, it would be giant in proportions. I looked at it in wonder, imagining the giant skeleton that the bone was a puzzle piece to. I imagined it without a head. As the stories went, the giants were beheaded and thrown into the valley.

            I could hear Bayne on top of us.

           “Jack, what do you see?” he asked.

             I answered, “It is definitely a bone. Looks like a femur. Not sure of its origins, though.” Sand began to run down the wall over the bone as I stared at it. It was like time washing over right in front of me. It was calling to me to get it out. Just then, Pelle was helping Bayne touch the ground. He untied himself quickly.

            “Where is it?” he asked. He turned to where I was and stood right next to me.

            “My god,” he said. “We found it. We have found it.” He patted me on my shoulder.

            “Let’s just get the bone out of here and see if we can determine what species it belongs to.”

            “Sure, Jack. But I know you. You cannot think that this is just a mistake. You want to believe. Hell, you probably already do. This bone is in the precise location you figured we’d find something. The precise place where the ancients probably discovered similar bones, you must be thinking that.”

            “Bones of what? Giants? Dinosaurs? We cannot be sure just yet.” I answered. I was being cautious. He was right, though.  I wanted to believe, but I did not want to put my faith in this just yet. There were still questions about this bone to be answered.

           “Jack,” he looked me in the eyes. “We need this now. Do not blow this opportunity for us. Do not jeopardize my reputation by questioning integrity now. We have worked far too hard not to make a leap of faith with this. We need this.”

            His eyes were filled with fear. I had never seen him look so desperate. I didn’t know what to say. We had work to be done, and it was not the time for us to argue about what we could gain from this.

            “Bayne, let’s just get the bone out,” I said.

              The three of us chipped away at the rock around the bone. It was a slow process. We were careful not to damage it. Then it came loose in my hand all at once. As the bone came free and I was holding it, Bayne grabbed onto it as well.

            “Let’s get out of here,” he said, “I am getting a bit claustrophobic.”

            “Simon,” I yelled. “It’s free. We're bringing it up.”

            “Sir, yes sir,” He answered. “Both Dr. Haralambos and Miss Mimi are here.”

             We went out in the reverse order we came in. Bayne went up first with the bone. We figured he could carry it up just fine from the bottom to the mid-point. From there, two people would need to maneuver the bone the rest of the way out. There were some tight spaces that we were sure would need to be carved out along the way in order for the femur to fit.

            I watched as Bayne and the bone were being raised. To pull us out, I figured that another one of the men would have to come down to the midway point with Simon and help support the weight of one of us. No one volunteered. Cadmus was a thin man, but not very strong, and Uri was too large to fit through the opening to begin with. This was going to have to work another way. Simon would have to help pull Bayne and the bone out from the bottom with a second rope at the midpoint. From there, the men up top would have to pull him up. Simon and Bayne would then have to help pull me up, and then I would stay and help Simon pull up Pelle while everyone else continued to work on getting Bayne and the bone to the surface.

            He had made it up to the midway point quite quickly with everyone pulling together. There was not going to be enough room for three men and the bone to stand at the midpoint all together. Bayne convinced the men up top to lift him and the femur out without stopping. Bayne was not waiting for me. As the team worked to get Bayne out, Simon began to lift me out. I could hear Bayne shouting up to the ground crew to raise him. As I was close to the midway point, I could hear Simon’s voice, and it was obvious that he was alone. I called out.

            “Bayne.”

             There was no answer. I could hear only distant talking.

            “He is gone, Jack,” Simon shouted back. “Gone?” I asked. “Yes, he had them raise him first with the bone.”

            “Damn it.” I crawled the rest of the way out until I was standing with Simon.

            “I am sorry, sir.”

            “It’s not your fault, Simon.” I yelled up to Bayne, “Bayne, how is it going?” He did not answer. I could hear him talking with the other men up top. I could also hear them picking away at rock and could hear the sound of dirt and gravel sliding down the opening. Because the space above us was not a straight path, we could not feel the rubble on us. But I knew Simon was thinking the same thing I was. If they make one little mistake, they could easily block the path for us to get out.

             “Simon, you go next. I will pull Pelle up myself and then be on my way.”

            “No sir, I should go after you.”

            “Simon, we don't have time to argue here. Just go. Now!” With that, he prepared himself to climb out. “Don’t wait for the rope. Start climbing up as much as you possibly can. And when you cannot climb anymore, then wait for the rope. But climb as high as you possibly can. Do not wait. We gotta get out of here.”

            “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” And with that, I helped lift him up and soon he was out. I then threw the rope down to Pelle and began pulling him out. As I did, I heard yelling and laughter but could not make out what was being said. I yelled up to Simon for an answer.

             He said, “The bone and Bayne have reached the top. But the rope is caught.” A panic raced over me. “Sir, I am going to climb up to see if I can reach the rope and help.”

            “You do that, Simon.”

            I continued to pull Pelle up. I was angry with Bayne. I was also panicked at the situation. There wasn’t a lot of sound above. What was going on?

            “Simon, how's it going?” I asked as I pulled Pelle up.

            He did not answer immediately. “Simon?”

            There was another long pause. “Sir, the rope is caught. We cannot get out.”

            I hesitated for a minute in a panic.

            “Can you free the rope?” I asked.

            “If I climb, I can probably reach it and see if I can get it loose. I will try and climb to where the rope is caught and get it free.”

            “Simon, do what you must to get it free.” I then called up to the cave. “Bayne, can you hear me?” He did not answer. “Mimi, are you there?” There was a pause.

            “Yes, dear. Uri is sending another man down to free the rope. It’s caught.” She said.

            “And, Bayne,” I asked. “What is he doing?” There was another pause.

           “He and Cadmus are checking the bone out, dear. Don’t worry. It all seems fine.” There was a slight hesitation in her voice. Mimi is a terrible liar. She held back something from me.

            Then I heard some hammering above us, and gravel began falling. Then “No! Stop!” It was Simon. I looked up.

          “Simon, what is it?”

           “The hammering is loosening the rock above us where the rope is caught. No! Stop. Get down.”

            I could then hear scurrying.

          “Get down!” Get down!’ Simon was yelling.

          “Simon…what is it?” I asked. And with that, there was a shake in the ground and a deep cracking sound like the crack of lightning and thunder. It was followed quickly by screaming. The gravel began coming down and hitting me. The gravel was freely flowing, which meant the force of the falling rock was strong and that the passageway was likely opening up. To cover my head as the rocks hit me, I let go of the rope that held Pelle. I then heard him scream below me.

           “Pelle!” I shouted as I leaned against the wall and tried to grab the rope. I lost my footing under the loose gravel that was now covering the floor and I slipped. After catching my fall, I noticed that the rope was on the ground and running loose.

            The rock and earth continued to shake and crack, and I could no longer hear the screams above me or below me. I could no longer even hear myself. Everything was in slow motion, and I could not move. I was continually being pelted with rocks and gravel from above. I had to move to the side to protect myself. The flow of gravel had knocked the lantern out, and now the cavern was dark. I sat in the corner, and I could feel wetness on my head. I reached up to check and it was warm. I pulled my hand back in front of my face as close as possible and could see that it was blood. My head was bleeding.

            Just then, a large chunk of rock broke from above and crashed to the ground in front of me. It scared me, and I jumped back and leaned as hard as I could against the wall. Now, a steady flow of gravel and rocks was streaming down in front of me. I put my hands over my head to protect myself, but from where I was sitting, I was not being hit. The ground was still shaking, and then there was another loud cracking sound as the intense weight of the falling debris pushed down further, and the ground around me gave way. I was now sitting on a ledge as the rock and gravel pushed farther down below me. The wall across from me was now sliding like a continuous chute. I then saw a man slide past me. I blinked as if it were not what I had just seen. Then I saw another man. I reached out to grab him. I pulled the man toward me. It was Simon. His head was covered in blood, and his body was limp.”