Finding A Way To The Front Door

As Allison showed Joseph how to break bigger blocks free easier Maelyn climbed down into the initial hole and started breaking more pieces free that were over the palace's roof. As she got towards the side of the pit they had dug she was surprised when she say that the roof had ended and she had come to the side or it. Expecting to see the basalt against the side of the palace walls she wasn't expecting to see that there was a solid stop to the basalt going straight down from the roof. Using a flashlight she then shined it down into the are under the roof and wasn't expecting to see an open area under the roof instead of walls and a window.

Thinking that maybe the wall had collapsed or that maybe the heat of the lava had caused the wood to burn away while it was forming the straight edge while pooling up against the walls as it enclosed everything within the walls that enclosed the block of basalt they were currently digging into, Maelyn asked, "Second Minister! What type of material were the wall of the palace built with?"

"They were built from stone!" Harmon haughtily informed her, "The ENTIRE kingdom devoted an entire YEAR of their lives to building this palace by doing to the granite that is at the bottom of this mountain what this girl is doing in this other hole!"

"Hmm!" Maelyn hummed in thought for a reply as she looked further at the side of the roof and tried to picture what might cause the lava to look like that while still allowing the roof to stay standing after the five hundred years it had been encased in the basalt. Finally after a moment she hollered over to joseph, "Are you two down far enough to level out with the bottom of this pit? Cause I'm thinking if I can get enough room to tilt my head back and get enough of a view we'll be surprised at the layout of this top floor!"

"We could get down there by the end or the day and break through first thing in the morning at the current rate!" Joseph told her then wondered, "And what kind of surprise are you thinking we're gonna see?"

"It's looking open and lazy butt here says this palace was built with stone so I'm thinking they may have an open porch type setup on this top floor!" Maelyn excitedly shared, "If they do I think it would be a PERECT place to have one! Cause the way this place sits almost at the top of this mountain would make for a perfect view down the mountain and of the sky from up here!"

"What about the wall though?" Allison asked, "Wouldn't they get in the way of the view down the mountain?"

"Yes and no." Maelyn answered, "Some of the wall would. But if the gates were opened they would be able to see a wide slice of the capital at least. Maybe even a little bit further down the mountain but unfortunately we won't be able to tell for sure until we get it all clear!"

"Well we can make that happen if you want!" Allison volunteered, "I could come up here and help Joseph clear like a small bit each day while you're waiting on old grumpy to get here!"

"I AGAIN insist that you are not permitted to be within three feet of this palace!" Harmon ordered, "And you will not even be allowed within the area of it's walls once it becomes visible!"

"Ok mister grumpy butt!" Allison told him as she continued to work on breaking fee the next block, "I was suggesting a way that would enable you to walk through the gate and then enter through the front door, butt you DO need the exercise you'll be getting from walking all the way up that ramp and then down these steps we're setting up to get into this palace. Either way, it's YOUR choice to go through so much trouble cause it don't bother me either way!"

"Allison," Maelyn scolded her, "While I appreciate the offer and I like your thinking, we DO have to stay within the rules the Prime Minister sets and the Second Minister here makes us walk the line on."

"I think he might change his mind though once we get inside Mae." Joseph said as he offered his opinion, "Because I can almost guarantee he's gonna hate having to wait for us to catalog each and every room we enter before we can go to the next room. So it could very well take us at least a week or two just to get from this top floor down to the throne room."

"WHAT?!?!" Harmon shouted, "I THINK NOT! When we access this palace we are going STRAIGHT to the throne room FIRST THING!"

"Sorry but no we're not." Maelyn informed him, "The agreement I have with the Prime Minister is that this WHOLE SITE is an archaeological dig and will be conducted according to those rules and standards outside of who would be allowed where! And, the standard RULE for EVERY archeological dig is that you go SLOW and one room at a time!"

"Besides," Joseph added before Harmon could force out what was fixing to explode from him, "How would you feel if Maelyn had to report to your Prime Minister about you breaking one of the rules and then we end up fining it on the top floor on like the very next day from where they were trying to make sure it didn't melt in the lava?"

"I will give you THREE DAYS to clear that gate and open it." Harmon reluctantly grumbled with a challenge he didn't think they would be able to meet, "If you do then I will allow you three MORE days to clear a tunnel to the front of the palace. But YOU little girl will NOT get within three feet of the palace whether it be up here at the top or down on the ground! Is that CLEAR?!"

"Yes! I've been clear on it since we got on that plane to come this way!" Allison testily answered, "I KNOW the rules! And I can't help it if you keep throwing these rules at us that make you wait longer to get what you want from this dig!" Allison then scratched out an outline of where she wanted the cracks to go on the block between them and Maelyn before tapping in two of the corners to make the block become mostly loose before turning to joseph and telling him, "Now, If you will excuse me I'm going to go over to to that gate and get started on clearing it out so I can work out some stress if you get what I mean." as she pointed her thumb behind her in Harmon's direction.

"I'm cool here. Thank you for your help!" Joseph told her in gratitude then teased, "But don't take out too much of that stress! I don't want you breaking that gate!"

"I'll try not to." Allison told him with a grin of her own as she walked back up the stairs they had constructed, "But I can't make no promises that you're not gonna have to be clearing two ton blocks in the morning!"

Joseph then waved her off with an exaggerated groan and asked Maelyn as he braced to catch the block, "Mae! Knock this corner over to your right to knock it the rest of the way loose and we're in business!"

Maelyn did as he requested and then helped push the block back far enough to tilt back wards so Joseph could brace it against his back as he carried it up to the top of the staircase. As he slowly made his way up the steps she told him, "On your way back up could you bring me a the scanners? I'm gonna break a piece free and scan this open space to see if it more like a huge window or a gazebo type porch setup."

"Will do boss!" Joseph hollered back down to her from the top of the steps, "Gonna take a minute though! I've gotta make a run up to the caldera first!"

While waiting for him to return, Maelyn chipped out a little ways back from the edge and down several inches so they could see the extent of the palace's top floor. She also made sure that all of the samples she had cleared from the roof were present and had been labeled and sorted in the basket to make easy retrieval if some of the pieces turned out to be an important piece. When he finally returned and walked down the stairs to hand the scanners to her quicker, She asked, "So do you think you two will be able clear that gate in just three days without damaging something? "

"She should." Joseph joked, "Unless Harmon lights that little firecracker he was playing with today. If he does than she might be through in like an hour or two tops."

"Well let's hope for the best then." Maelyn offered as she grabbed the first scanner and started to run scans on the empty space under the roof.