Lucy looked up at Ted and he was grinning at her, his curly black hair tousled across his forehead, eyes sparkling. He took hold of the saddle horn with a white knuckled grip but he didn’t lose the boyish grin.
“Hank, you’re going to sit on Daddy’s lap,” Lucy said.
“Up you go, Hankster,” Eileen said, raising the little boy until he was sitting on the saddle in front of his father. Hank, who’d been on a token horseback ride already, was clearly delighted. “Take hold of the saddle around Hank, Ted. Don’t hold onto Hank, hold the saddle. Let me get the stirrups for you.” With quick, practiced movements Eileen lengthened the stirrups so that Ted’s feet, shod in black loafers, fit into the stirrups. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Lucy looked around and saw that Paul and Brumby had already disappeared up the slope of the ridge and the hunters were close behind. The hunters disappeared so completely into the surrounding terrain that the horses looked as though they were walking alone. Eileen held Starlight’s reins and looked up at Ted.
“Okay?” she asked.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Eileen started walking and Lucy nearly went headlong into the sun-heated pine needles as she tried to walk and look at Ted and Hank at the same time. She grabbed Eileen’s arm to keep from falling and then paid attention to her footing as the slope quickly became steep.
“Quick lesson about lion and bear,” Eileen said, as they entered the blessed cool shadow of the trees. They angled up the slope of the hill, following the hindquarters of the horse ahead of them. Paul was picking a slantwise course up the hill, probably to keep from leaving gouges in the soft pine needles of the forest and marking their trail.
“I’m listening,” Ted said.
“Me, too,” said Joe, who was walking on the other side of Starlight.
“Horses hate bear and lion. If they smell them, they’re going to try to bolt. So if Starlight starts to drop out from under you, that’s what you’re feeling. She’s trying to dislodge you so she can run. If that happens, get your feet out of the stirrups. Hand Hank down to me and then jump off. I’ll hold her until you’re both free.”
“That’s the instructions? You jump off?” Lucy asked.
“Brumby won’t run,” Eileen said, “But it’s a rare horse who won’t go berserk at the smell of a bear or a mountain lion. It’s best just to let them go, strange as that sounds. Don’t worry, we probably won’t run into any predators. They’ll smell us a long way off and they’ll go the other way. You need to know, just in case.”
“All right,” Ted said, drawling the words. Lucy looked up at him suspiciously. He was looking up the trail, through the trees, his arms around Hank, swaying back and forth on the saddle as Starlight walked uphill. He was still smiling.
“Ted’s going native, Lucy,” Joe said solemnly. “It happens. Nothing can be done. Prepare to move to Wyoming and be married to a cowboy.”
“Shut up, Joe,” Lucy laughed. She was increasingly out of breath as the horses and people climbed to the top of the ridge. The footing was treacherous, covered with pine needles and small rocks that wanted to turn underfoot. The smell of pine was everywhere in the unmoving air, pine and horses and sweaty people. Lucy wondered if Rene could track them by their smell alone. Then she remembered what she’d read about Rene and felt better. Rene probably didn’t know how to walk on ground that wasn’t paved over.
She glanced behind her, to see Tracy and Jorie walking with Fireball. Zilla’s shaggy head poked out of a wide-mouthed carrier on Fireball’s side. Tracy reached up to pet the dog and Zilla panted happily. Lucy had wondered how the little three-legged dog was going to keep up, and she smiled to herself. Tracy thought of everything.
“Water?” Eileen asked. Lucy turned to see Eileen offering a bottle. She took the bottle and drank gratefully, noticing with interest that it seemed to have some sort of structure inside it. “Keep it. See, it’s got a snap for your belt. It’s a water purifier bottle,” Eileen explained, taking another bottle out of Starlight’s saddlebag. “I fill it anywhere, and the filter takes out germs and microorganisms. We all have them, and Dad has a collapsible tank for tonight. That way we don’t have to carry water. Don’t forget to fill it when we cross streams.”
“A water tank for tonight?” Ted asked. “How far away is Devils Tower?”
“Six miles, give or take,” Eileen said. “We’ll see it when we camp tonight.”
“We can’t walk six miles in an afternoon?” Ted asked, puzzled. “Why not?”
“Because we’re going six miles as the crow flies,” Eileen explained. “But we’re not crows, and we’re not flying. We’re going to walk more like twenty miles by the time we’re there. Up and down, around cliffs and ravines and brush that we can’t force our way through. Tonight, we’ll rest. Tomorrow, by the time we get there, the Park Rangers will be monitoring the demonstration and hopefully the State Patrol will be looking for all of us.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll be safe,” Lucy murmured.
“Then we get to be the hunters,” Joe said with a wolfish look. Lucy shot him a glance that said without words: Damn right.
Chapter Twenty
Outside Hulett, Wyoming
Rene, sitting in his stolen Chrysler with the air conditioning still going full blast, saw that the gas gauge was starting to dip below the full mark. He felt a burst of fresh rage for the thief who’d stolen his wallet. The money was an inconvenience, but the man had taken the picture of his father. Rene had more, but he was fond of that print. It was his good luck and Ted Giometti had stolen it.
Ken, in the other seat, had fallen asleep. His head lolled against the back of the seat and his breathing was harsh and bubbly. Rene wanted to let him rest as long as possible, but he was getting impatient. He had sketched out the outline of a plan, but he needed to discuss the matter with Ken. Ken, despite his sidekick amiability, had great instincts and was always willing to discuss them.
“All right, Ken,” Rene said finally, unwilling to let Ken’s irritating snores go on. “Let’s talk about the plan.” Rene reached out and shook Ken’s shoulder.
Ken’s head lolled over. His eyes, half-open, were blind. One of his pupils was enormous, filling his eye. The other was pinpoint, showing a vast blue iris. A line of saliva spilled from his half-open mouth and ran down his chin.
Rene was suddenly out of the car, in the blazing sunlight, coughing helplessly. He stumbled to the back of the Chrysler and leaned against the trunk. He wiped a shaking hand over his forehead. The cooler, purchased in a Rapid City supermarket, was in the trunk. Rene and Ken had filled it with water and soda and snacks from the supermarket. He reached back into the car, keeping his eyes fixed so that he couldn’t see Ken, and popped the trunk. In a few moments he sighed as cold water splashed over his face and into his mouth. He rinsed, and spat, and rinsed again. Finally he started to feel better, and rummaged in the cooler for some food.
The chilled slices of beef, the soft smoked Brie on crackers, started to bring him around at last. So, he’d worked with Ken for six years now. Only in America, and only a few times a year. Ken was a tool, nothing more, and when a tool broke it was replaced. Ken’s head injury had obviously been more serious than it looked. Rene knew what Ken’s extra-large pupil meant. The pupil was blown because Ken had hit his head hard enough to start a small bleed in his brain. Blood destroyed brain tissue. If Ken had been in a hospital for the past few hours a CAT scan would have showed the injury and the bleeding, and he would have had brain surgery to correct it. A hospital with a CAT scan was hours away, undoubtedly in Rapid City, and Ken was dead now, anyway. Rene knew Ken was still breathing, but he was dead just the same.
Rene wiped his mouth with a napkin and then folded the napkin and used the clean side to wipe his forehead. It was incredibly hot, hot and dry.
He stopped, looking at the wet surface of the napkin. The elusive idea suddenly fell on him like a rock bouncing off his skull.
Black Hills National F
orest, Northeast Wyoming
“Camp here, folks,” Paul announced.
“Alleluia,” Joe gasped. He meant it, too. They had walked, nothing more, but all the walking was straight up and straight down. Joe wasn’t sure if going uphill or going downhill was worse. Downhill gave him a chance to catch his breath, but his toes jammed into the front of his sneakers until they hurt. His shins, holding him upright against the steep slopes, felt like splintered sticks. His calves, on the way up the hills, screamed with pain. His lungs burned, his shoulders hurt, he was, in a word, finished.
Paul had picked a small clearing as their campsite. A rocky outcropping jutted into the center of the small area. Massive pine trees sheltered it all around. There was a pretty, grassy meadow just to the south. Eileen handed Starlight’s reins to Joe and helped Lucy and Hank from the horse. Lucy had done quite well, for a girl with sea-level lungs, but she’d grown increasingly tired as the day drew down to evening dark. Ted was obviously exhausted. He’d walked more than he should have for his first day at high altitude. Joe glanced at his watch. The time was nine p.m. and the sky was still light, but the sun was down and the dark would be coming soon.
“We’re getting close?” Lucy asked hopefully, as she set Hank down on the soft pine needles. Hank crowed with delight and immediately began taking handfuls of pine needles and throwing them into the air.
“Look,” Eileen said, pointing to the south. Joe turned with Lucy and stood, transfixed, as he saw an enormous stone Tower through the trees. He hadn’t looked at the sky until Eileen pointed. He’d been too busy looking for their path. The Tower seemed as though it must be just over the next hill, it was so close. It was brightly lit by the setting sun. The lines that marked the sides of the Tower were drawn as sharply as knife scores – or tooth marks. It looked as though it was just through the trees. Then he realized the black specks circling the stone top were actually enormous birds, hawks or eagles of some sort, and the immensity of the Tower struck home. It was miles away from them.
“Yeek,” Lucy said in a gulping little voice.
“We’re a good two hours away,” Paul said. He handed Brumby’s reins to Eileen and walked off. Eileen glared ferociously at Brumby and jerked his reins.
“Don’t give me any problems, you brute,” she said. “I need to stake out the horses in the meadow, Joe. Can you help?”
“Of course,” Joe said. “What do we need to do?”
“Strip them of their packs and saddles here. We’ll stake them by their halters and strip their bridles from them after we’ve staked them out. Nolan, Jimmy, Doug, you know the drill?”
“We know,” Jimmy said. He already had Pirate stripped of her saddlebags and was working on the saddle. Pirate was a red horse – a roan, Joe guessed they were called – with a black mane and tail. Joe helped Eileen by stripping Starlight as she took on Brumby and they walked them to the edge of the meadow. The horses eagerly stretched their necks to the thick grass. They were munching, green foam around the bridles, before Eileen had tied two ropes from their halters to some widely spaced trees. She stripped Brumby’s bridle, glaring at the horse and swearing she’d murder him if he bit her, Paul’s affection or no. Brumby looked as though he might just go ahead and take a chunk from her, but then shook his massive head and let her strip the bridle. He then ignored her totally, even as she swept his coat with a currycomb.
“Here, let me do Starlight,” Joe said. Eileen gave him the currycomb with a grateful nod and he went to work on the sweaty hide of the horse. The horses must be as tired as they were, Joe thought, particularly Starlight who had carried Ted and Hank. She stood quietly, ears flicking, as he brushed dirt and hair from her smooth sides. The smell of her, warm and horsy and sweet, was as soothing as the touch of a hand. She brought her soft nose back to him as he finished. She nickered softly. Her mouth was foamy green with the grass but he patted her anyway, feeling an absurd rush of affection for her.
Beyond her, Joe saw Jimmy rubbing down Pirate and Doug looking after Fireball. Doug looked worried. Joe knew that Doug was more concerned about his wife missing him than the idea of Rene following them in the woods. Doug’s wife was certainly worried by now, but there was nothing any of them could do. There was no cell phone coverage and they’d decided to keep the walkie-talkies off, in case Rene had one himself.
On the other side of the meadow Nolan was patting Sunny, a pale blond horse with long legs and knobby knees. Nolan looked fit and rested, as though he’d spent the day lounging in an armchair rather than walking up and down perpendicular slopes.
“They’ve been scouting for a week,” Eileen reminded him, taking the currycomb from his hand. “They’ve been doing this every day.”
“That’s why the leftover desserts are missing in the morning,” Joe said. “I’m so hungry right now I could eat Fireball.”
“No need, that’s why Doug was cleaning her up instead of Mom. Mom’s fixing dinner. Come on.” Eileen pulled at his hand and grinned at him and he took the opportunity to kiss her, tired as he was. Suddenly all things seemed to be possible. The whole long evening was empty of threat and menace, out here in the depth of the woods. For the first time, he realized, he wasn’t afraid about Rene and his friend. He kissed her harder. She kissed him back as fiercely as he kissed her.
“I love you,” she said breathlessly, as he broke the kiss.
“I love you too, and I want to—” he started, but suddenly there was a small smattering of whistles and clapping. They turned to see Nolan, Jimmy and Doug standing and applauding.
“It’s a ten from the American judge, and a, oh, no, it’s a four from the Russian judge!” Nolan called. “Too bad!”
“Get a room,” Doug growled, shaking his currycomb at them.
“You better finish up quick, or we’ll eat all the food,” Joe teased, then turned and hurried with Eileen back towards camp. He was barely ten steps into the trees when he began to smell something delicious. As they entered the clearing he saw that Paul had brushed away pine needles and revealed a round circle of stones under the large outcropping of rock. The underside of that part of the rock was burned black. A cheerful yellow and orange flame danced in the pit, with Paul tending it. Paul had cleared the ground around the fire to bare dirt, and the fire was half the size of the rock ring. Joe recognized this bit of dry-weather savvy and was glad, though he expected no less from an outdoorsman like Paul. Sparks from a campfire could be disastrous after weeks without rain. Paul was making sure there would be no sparks.
“This is one of our hunting camps,” Paul said. “The flame is under the rock and can’t be seen from more than a few yards away, but we still get to yarn around a fire.”
“Very nice,” Howie said lazily. He was lounging in a canvas chair, watching Paul tend the flame. Ted sat in another chair, Hank in his lap. Hank was chewing messily on a cracker. Ted looked hollow with hunger. He looked the way Joe felt. Zilla sat at Ted’s feet, as close as she could to Hank. Beyond the fire Joe could see Tracy working at a square table that had been erected on spindly legs. Another camp stove sat on the ground, two pots busily boiling something that smelled heavenly. Jorie, beyond them, was pulling canvas chairs out of a horse’s pack with a tired, mulish look.
“Let me help,” Eileen said. “We’re back.” She went over to the cook stove and was immediately directed to a saddlebag. Joe went over to Jorie and hoisted some of the canvas chair frames onto his shoulder. They seemed impossibly light and small, but one of them obviously held Howie’s weight comfortably. When he figured out how to put together the first one the rest went together quickly.
“We don’t have enough chairs,” Paul said, scowling. “This is our hunting party set and we never have more than eight in a party.”
“Are you kidding?” Joe asked, setting up another chair. “This is like being on an African safari, or something. I’m used to crouching by the fire and eating beans from the can.”
“We’re a bit better than that,” Paul said, his face re
laxing. “I guess we can put some sleeping bag pads on the ground for the others.”
“Steaks are ready, Paul,” Tracy called. Paul dropped a grate – obviously stashed in the clearing and dug up from the needles – onto the rock ring. The grate settled, perfectly flat, on stones that had been placed within the ring, and Joe again had to shake his head in admiration. The smell of pinewood, drifting in the air, was replaced by the heavenly scent of sizzling beef.
“I could eat that raw,” Nolan said, entering the campfire ring and staring at the line of steaks Paul was setting on the grill.
“No need,” Paul said. “These will be done soon. Let’s get washed up, and by the time you fill your plates with corn and barbequed beans, we’ll be ready.”
Joe thought he’d never eaten a finer supper. The dark came upon them rapidly, cutting off the sight of the Tower that seemed to leer at them over the trees. The stars scattered across the sky as they ate around the fire. Jorie refused the food and ate a crumbly-looking nutrition bar that looked awful. Hank only managed a few small bites of steak but ate ravenously of the beans and the corn. When he was done he gave a tired little sigh and was asleep instantly, his head lolling on Lucy’s shoulder. She disappeared into the darkness to change his diaper and put him in the sleeping bag Tracy had arranged for him. There were no tents; they would sleep in the clearing tonight, with the stars overhead their roof.
Eileen helped her mother clean away the few supper dishes. Joe clambered to his feet, managing not to howl with pain at his stiffening muscles, and collected plates. Eileen, scrubbing the plates in a small pan of warm water, refused to look at him as he came up to her.
“What’s up?” he asked softly.
“Thinking about Richard King,” she said shortly, her face turned to the soapy water. “What a damned fool he was. If he weren’t dead, I’d probably kill him right now. You never take a risk like that.”
The Thirteenth Skull Page 23
