The Grotto's Secret: A Historical Conspiracy Mystery Thriller by Paula Wynne

ruins. Impatiently she asked Marina, ‘What has this got to do with what you found on your farm?’
    ‘It’s the same woman.’
    ‘But you said the documents weren’t named.’
    ‘I went to the Bibliotecas Públicas del Estado and other archives in Madrid. Herbal de Carbonela is still in print today. I took the herbal guide I’d found in the cellar and matched the two. They’re identical. It’s been rewritten and reproduced, and many new authors have taken the information and published their own herbals.’
    Doctor Robson said, ‘Strangely, we found lots of information about a sailor named Carbonela who was associated with Christopher Columbus, but not much about Ana-María. She disappeared late in 1492 after her herbal journal was published.’
    ‘Have you tried to contact an expert?’
    ‘ ¡Dios! It’s more than that. I think the skeleton we found in the ruins is Ana-María de Carbonela’s! If it is, she deserves to be honoured but I don’t know how to go about it.’
    Roy patted his sister’s hand again, ‘More important is finding out more about this plant. The herbal journal names a herb called “rizado”.’
    ‘Which,’ Marina interjected, ‘has never been found! I spent hours on the internet reading documents and days in libraries and museums.’
    Doctor Robson nodded. ‘Carbonela’s herbal says rizado was mixed with other traditional remedies. It speeds the healing process. Carbonela’s stories —’
    ‘¡Eh,’ Marina slapped his arm, ‘ call her Ana-María. Don’t refer to her by her surname.’
    Doctor Robson turned back to Kelby. ‘Marina’s right. Ana-María’s chronicles reflect the healing process. Take one of her stories archived in Madrid. It’s about a woman herbalist who concocts a potion with incredible healing powers. She does this inside some kind of secret grotto near an underground waterfall.’
    Marina said, ‘Maybe this herbalist was her mother.’
    Doctor Robson cut in, saying ‘The herbalist in her story was named Carmen. She may have been Ana-María’s mother.’
    ‘Why do you think that?’
    Marina flipped the book closed and pointed at the symbol again. ‘The two C’s are back-to-back. They could stand for Carmen Carbonela.’
    Kelby stared at it. ‘Hmm, I see the two C’s now. When Gary gave me the pendant I thought it was an elaborate X.’
    Doctor Robson said, ‘It could be either.’
    Marina shrugged. ‘If it’s two C’s I wonder if that was Ana-María’s way of honouring her mother’s knowledge.’
    ‘Marina thinks Carmen named the herb. The first mention in the journal is listed as “rizado”, which means “curly”, so it must be a funny looking plant.’
    Marina shuffled more research documents. ‘I found an old book on the Spanish Inquisition. A woman from the Granada area called Carmen was condemned as a witch. It doesn’t give her family name because they didn’t know much about her.’
    ‘But you said you lived near Malaga. Granada is miles away.’
    ‘ Lo sé, I know, but in those days the whole of our area fell under Castile de Granada. That was eventually divided into Andalusia, and later Malaga got its own province.’
    ‘I see. So, this Carmen was a witch?’
    Doctor Robson’s steady gaze bored into Kelby. ‘She may have been a herbalist, but the Inquisition would have considered her an heretic.’
    Marina chipped in, ‘Maybe they accused her of being a witch because she mixed herbs to make medicines.’
    Doctor Robson, lowered his voice and leaned closer to Kelby, ‘Heretic or witch or neither, Rizado needs to be protected.’
    ‘Protected?’
    Doctor Robson and Marina looked at each other.
    His intense gaze penetrated Kelby’s as he said, ‘There’s a lot of noise on the web about this herb and why it hasn’t been heard of since the Middle Ages. The big pharmaceuticals have been trying to find it and replicate it.’
    ‘Ancient secrets breed weirdos.’ Marina added.
    ‘Rizado could be extremely powerful in