by K. F. Baugh
Gus moaned, licked his lips, but stayed glued to her side.
“Good boy.” Sage scratched his ears and turned back. “Stay close, Gus.” The two returned to the rotting boards at the entrance. After several minutes of prying, one finally came loose. Sage threw it to the ground, but something caught her attention. Crouching to study the board more closely, she noticed a row of shiny nails. They glinted in the afternoon sun, and in comparison to the rust-covered originals, were obviously new.
Sage gulped and continued to rip away rotten pieces of wood until she made an opening that Gus could jump through. She then squeezed her lithe frame through the small, jagged opening. A terrible odor greeted her, and it was all she could do not to gag. Placing her nose in the crook of her elbow, she held out her light. Its thin beam reflected off an underground stream that ran along the left edge of the mine shaft tunnel. The trickling water continued into the yawning darkness, past what her beam could illuminate.
Grazing her fingers against the cold, damp stone to her left, Sage walked slowly forward. The temperature dropped at least fifteen degrees inside the chamber, and she was glad for her flannel shirt. The gurgle of the small stream was distinct in the tunnel, then suddenly it wasn’t. The space to her right had opened up into a large cavern. She flicked the flashlight toward the gaping emptiness.
Something skittered across the beam’s edge, and Sage trailed the light after it. A pair of yellow orbs appeared. When they flicked away, another pair blinked to life, then another and another. The muffled quiet of the cave dissolved and growls surged in a chorus of menace. Gus returned their angry greeting with his own.
Coyotes, at least a dozen of them. The wavering gleam of the flashlight caught the remains of a bloody feast at the pack’s feet, which they circled around protectively. Sage hushed Gus and forced herself to hold the flashlight beam steady. She watched the largest coyote from the corner of her eye and took a slow, deliberate step away.
“It’s okay, guys,” she spoke in a soft, soothing tone. “We’re not here to disturb you. Or hurt you.” Sage calmed her pounding heart. She had faced coyotes before. They were rarely brave enough to follow their growls with anything other than a hasty retreat. It wasn’t in their nature to attack anything much larger than themselves. Sage focused her mental energy on the group. You are safe. Your kill is safe. Ignore me.
Another snarl, more fierce than the others, erupted and the coyotes quickly moved to cut off the path toward the entrance of the mine. Gus stepped in front of Sage, hackles raised, and squared off with the lead coyote.
Why aren’t they listening? Sage stumbled over a piece of rotted wood. Confusion battled with the tenuous link she had tried to establish with the coyotes. Instead of responding to her, as animals usually did, they herded her and Gus backward, toward the yawning dark tunnel that went deeper into the mountain. The coyotes snapped at her legs when she tried to inch back toward the entrance of the mine.
Be calm. Go back to your kill. We will leave. She reassured them, but it was no use. Something was blocking her communication with them. Their aggression, if anything, intensified, and the pack continued to force her and Gus deeper into the cold, musty mineshaft.
Sage switched the flashlight to her left hand and, giving up on any connection with the hostile animals, pulled the knife out of its sheath on her hip. The stream filled the entire pathway now, and she struggled not to slip over the icy rocks. One large coyote darted toward her and tore at the bare skin on her shins. Crying out, she stumbled over a pile of rubble, barely catching herself against the damp, slimy wall. Fear licked at her stomach like growing flames. Sage knew the coyotes would be on her in a second if she fell.
An almost deafening growl echoed over the others, and the beam of Sage’s flashlight began to flicker. Moments later it went out entirely, and panic surged through her. She shook it desperately but nothing happened.
Sage clenched the knife in her right hand, the butt of the flashlight in her left, knowing they were all but useless against a hoard of predators who could smell and probably even see her. She felt Gus dart from her side. An eruption of angry snarls and barking sounded from back toward the large opening where they’d first discovered the coyotes. Sage sensed that Gus was trying to lure the pack away from her.
Her shoulders drooped in relief, but suddenly a slash of teeth cut against her leg, and Sage beat at it with her flashlight. The animal hesitated. She screamed and stabbed at it with the knife before it finally retreated, but she sensed it was still only a few feet away. A loud growl confirmed her fears.
Sage backed up again. Her head and elbows cracked against the narrowing shaft as she stumbled in the darkness, wondering how much longer the tunnel continued. Another couple feet, and her back struck something hard. Had the coyote led her to a dead end? Snarling and snapping at her legs, she felt it draw closer and closer.
Desperate for escape, Sage careened to her left and lost her balance as the rocky floor disappeared from underneath her feet. Her legs shot out from under her, and she slid down. Loose gravel ricocheted off her face and upraised hands, tearing against her legs. Pinwheeling her arms, she dropped both her knife and flashlight and groped frantically into the darkness. Her hands struck against a jagged ledge. Sage grabbed at it with a choking sob, and her legs kicked at vast emptiness beneath her.
Panic pried its way into her chest. So this was how it ended? And where was the Wind now that she really needed it? Regret, followed by a rage so strong it made her shake, bubbled up inside Sage. Her entire life had been one tragedy after another. A cosmic joke with this pitiful grand finale.
The coyote fell silent. After a moment, a grating, rasping laugh echoed against the impenetrable walls and into the emptiness below her, pulling Sage from her wild thoughts. She tightened her grip on the slippery ledge.
“Hello? Is someone up there?”
The terrible stench, the one she’d smelled when she first entered the cave, overwhelmed her. Her eyes strained in the darkness, and two glowing red pricks of light appeared.
“If you can hear me, help. Please!”
A shower of gravel rained down on her, followed by larger stones, ones that almost seemed to be aimed at her head and hands.
Sage screamed as a large rock smashed her weakening fingers against their tenuous hold. Adrenaline exploded in her veins, and Sage’s rock climbing skills took over. Pulling herself up, she hooked her left forearm and leg over the rim of the ledge. Desperate fingers found a crack in the wall above. She slid her right hand into it before tensing it into a fist to anchor herself into the cliff. Sage used her body’s momentum to swing her other knee over the lip of the overhang.
A roar neither animal nor human ripped through the air, followed by a whooshing sound. Something small and powerful, like a silent bullet, slammed into Sage’s left shoulder. The pain was debilitating: liquid fire that radiated from the point of impact through the rest of her body.
Sage slipped back over the edge. All that suspended her from the vast emptiness below was her clenched fist wedged in the crack above. She tried to raise her left arm, but it dangled uselessly by her side, still burning from whatever had shot it.
She could barely breathe against the pain. Jagged rock sliced into her clenched hand and fingers. Her forearm and shoulder trembled against the weight of her dangling body. Warm blood trickled down her arm, and she felt herself slip a few inches. The end was close now.
“Sage!” A voice echoed through the darkness. “Sage, are you in here? I’m coming for you.” A faint bobbing light illuminated the cavern above her head, and she heard Gus’s angry barking.
“Where are you?” The voice called.
“Here,” Sage answered weakly.
Gus’s barking grew louder, the light in the cavern swelled, and suddenly a headlamp shined down on her from the ledge above.
“Holy--Gus, shut up!” The dog quieted. “Can you reach my hand?”
“No, something’s wrong with my arm. I’ve got m
y other hand wedged in a crack.”
“Let me find something to tie myself to.” The male voice sounded vaguely familiar.
Minutes later loose earth and pebbles peppered her face, then a pair of rough hands clasped her forearm and tugged.
“I’ve got you. Unclench your fist, and I’ll pull you up.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Just do it!”
Forcing her mind to focus on the fingers of her numb fist, Sage finally felt her hand relax. She slipped down the rock face for an instant before the strong arms jerked her roughly up the incline, then encircled her.
“Hang on just a second.” The arms shifted, pulling her against a warm, sweat dampened shoulder. She heard the rustle and clink of climbing gear as he unclasped himself. Sage tried to catch a glimpse of her rescuer’s face, but the headlamp blinded her. One of her trembling legs gave way, and the arms lifted her up. She was carried hurriedly from darkness into the dim light at the mouth of the mineshaft.
“Come on, Gus!” He called, his voice angry, worried. “Come on. Get out of there!”
They crashed through the remaining boards into bright, blinding sunlight. Sage blinked, trying to regain her vision. After being gently released to the ground, something soft was placed under her head. A wet nose and tongue drenched her face.
“Back,” he ordered. “Give her space.”
The blur above her gradually re-arranged itself into someone she knew. Her mind scrambled, and then came recognition.
“Mr. Tim?” She rasped, “What the hell are you doing here?”
“You’re welcome.” He swiped a fist across his sweaty forehead. “But why don’t we go with just Tim?”
Chapter Five
“Fine, just Tim. How did you … Where did …” She struggled to sit up but he gently pushed her back.
“Let’s get a look at these injuries before we get into details,” he said.
Incoherent words stumbled from Sage’s mouth as she tried to argue, but Gus bounded next to her shoulder and snuffled her face. He forced her mouth shut with his relentless face washing and nuzzling. In too much pain to fight both Tim and Gus, Sage wearily closed her eyes. Her mind still reeling, she decided to allow herself a few minutes of recovery.
Tim’s firm hands probed the bleeding bite marks that crisscrossed her shins and the numerous cuts on her hands and arms. Nothing too serious, Sage concluded as he moved from one injury to another. But when he touched the wound in her shoulder, red hot pain arced a trail of agony through her body. Sage felt herself hover on the edge of consciousness. After a few moments of semi-awareness, she blinked away the haze and found Tim crouched next to her with a canteen. He was pouring water over her shoulder and using a balled up shirt to wipe away blood.
“The ones on your arms and legs don’t look too bad, but this one on your shoulder is strange. I think there’s something in here. It’s stuck.” Sage gasped as his fingers grazed against the place that burned like liquid fire.
Tim moved away, and Sage saw him rummage around in his pack. A battered first aid kit emerged, and Tim pulled out a pair of tweezers and a small bottle of antiseptic. Sage watched as he poured it over the tool and then her shoulder. She allowed herself one groan as the antiseptic did its cleansing work.
“So a teacher and a doctor?” She spoke between clenched teeth. “How did that happen?”
“I did a couple of years of medical school before I decided it wasn’t for me. I know enough to do stuff like this. Not enough for open-heart surgery.”
“That’s too—” She bellowed as Tim dug into her shoulder with the tweezers and found the place of pain again. When he tugged, she felt like her shoulder was being ripped from her body. Finally, there was a release. Tim fell back in the dust, holding the tweezers high.
“Man, that did not want to come out,” he said, perspiration and blood streaking his white undershirt. Through the slowly receding waves of agony, Sage saw him study the small object for a moment, before setting the tweezers on a rock. She wondered what it was but couldn’t muster the strength to ask, especially once Tim poured antiseptic over the wound. She bit her cheek to keep from crying out when he patted the area dry and covered it with a large bandage.
“Looks like the bleeding is starting to slow.” He helped Sage sit up then carefully slipped his zippered hoodie around her shoulders before lowering her back to the ground. “I think we made a good start, but you’ll need to have a doctor go over these injuries soon. You might need a few stitches. Probably some rabies shots.”
It took several minutes of Gus’s comforting licks and Sage’s shuddering, deep breaths before she could speak again. “Where’s that thing you pulled out of my shoulder?”
Tim reached over and picked up the tweezers. “It’s smaller than I expected. A tooth, I guess.”
Sage took the tweezers with her good arm. Her mind raced to find another explanation, but inescapable dread enveloped her at the sight of the small, bloody ball. “Not a tooth.”
“How can you tell?”
“For one thing, it’s not shaped like one. Coyote teeth aren’t round.”
“Then what else could it be?” Tim asked, taking it back from Sage. Gus leaned against Tim and smelled the object. Rearing back, he barked and retreated behind Sage.
“I think it’s some kind of a projectile, probably made out of bone.” Sage closed her eyes with resignation.
An ‘adagąsh, or cursed object, here, miles away from any Navajo towns? If that’s what it truly was, Sage knew she was incredibly lucky Tim had located and removed it before it disappeared into her body forever. Even with her healing abilities, she probably couldn’t have survived its deadly corruption. Memories flitted into her mind, ceremonies she had attended with Grandfather Benally when he had been asked to perform a Sing. Sage shuddered. Only a witch would have access to an object this powerful and dangerous, but what was a witch doing in a boarded mine shaft miles away from Navajo land?
“It’s made out of bone?” Tim’s gaze traveled between the tweezers and her. “But I thought you were attacked by a pack of coyotes. How’d you get shot with this bone thing?”
“Where’s your canteen? I need a drink.” She wished he had something stronger than water.
“It’s empty,” Tim shook the canteen. “But I’ve got a fresh one in here.” He rummaged again through his backpack.
After he handed it to her, Sage took a sip. “What else you got in there, Boy Scout?”
“Everything I need. Some climbing equipment, a change of clothes, rain poncho, night vision goggles. You know, the typical.” He grinned at her.
Sage almost smiled too, but then the reality of last hour came rushing back. She shuddered. “I could have used the night vision goggles a few minutes ago.”
Tim’s eyes hardened. “To see the coyotes?”
“I’m not sure,” Sage said. “It was so dark, but I sensed … It was almost like—” She fell silent.
“What?” Tim leaned in.
The deeply tanned skin of Tim’s forehead creased in concern. Sage noticed a few stray strands of silvery white that speckled the rest of his jet black hair. Incongruous with the rest of his young face, he looked to be not much older than her, probably in his mid-20s. He radiated a stillness that tempted Sage to let her guard down, but she still didn’t trust the guy. The images the Wind had revealed to her earlier compelled Sage to come look for Shaun and Tabitha, but Tim wasn’t part of the plan. Wasn’t it a little too convenient that he happened to be here the moment she needed him? The sooner she got rid of this guy, the better.
A breeze touched her shoulder and a soft whisper sounded in her ear. You cannot fight this battle alone, Broken One. Sage shook away the words as soon as she heard them. She wasn’t thinking straight. It was time to regain control of the situation.
“So, thanks for the help. I’m fine now. You can head on out,” Sage braced herself on a nearby rock and shakily rose to her knees.
“Excuse me?
” Tim dropped his backpack and reached out for Sage. She swatted his hand away and stood.
“What do you think you are doing?” He asked rising with her, trying to steady her again, but Sage took a wobbly step back. “You need to get to a doctor.”
Sage slowly unzipped his hoodie and tossed it at him before limping over to her own backpack. She rummaged around its contents until she found her small battery-powered lantern and flicked it on. Sage shook it to see if there were any loose connections. It worked just fine now, but so had the flashlight before she went into the mine.
Frustration at Tim’s presence and dread at what she suspected was waiting for her in the dark tunnels of the mountain surged through her. She dropped the remains of her tattered flannel shirt and pulled on a fresh sweatshirt from her pack, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and the torn skin on her arms.
She felt his presence hovering behind her. “I found something in there.” Sage said. “I need to get back inside the mine and check it out. I think it might be … might have something to do with Shaun and Tabitha.”
“Shaun and Tabitha?”
“Those two kids missing from Black Mills.”
“I know who they are.” Tim’s voice came sharply from behind her. “That’s why I’m here. I couldn’t get them off my mind today, so I canceled my appointments and decided to help look around.”
Sage turned to study him. What a coincidence.
Tim continued, “I hiked a couple of trails in the area, looking for something, a clue, I guess, then heard barking. I followed the sound and saw a dog chasing a bunch of coyotes out of the mine. I thought I recognized Gus and told him to find you. We ran down the shaft and found …”
He shook his head and Sage’s stomach clenched. She knew what Tim would have found if he’d arrived only a few moments later.
Sage sighed. “Well, I’m going back in there.” She took a few more steps to test her legs. Almost back to normal. “You can come with me or not. I don’t really care.”
