Conard County Watch

by Rachel Lee

  Dreams, such dreams, filled her waking thoughts and even some of her nights as she imagined the stories that might be found within those rocks.

  It was also beginning to occur to her that if she didn’t get some rib-sticking food into her soon, she was likely to spend the night being a comatose guard. Even those canned baked beans that everyone had curled their lips at yesterday were sounding excellent.

  Ahh. She let a long sigh escape her and put her head on her knees. It was all going to be all right. Gray Cloud was aware of yesterday’s hanky-panky and by now he probably had more than the Bear brothers keeping an eye on things.

  She had the distinct feeling, a very strong feeling, that Gray Cloud wanted the information in the rock strata to be unearthed. He was curious, of course, but he’d also mentioned several times that they would reveal more of the history around here.

  Whether one faced up to it or not, the Native Americans had been left with very little by the storming of settlers across their lands. Oral tradition had been all that remained, and plenty of schools had been ruthless about expunging such tales.

  Of course the fossils she was looking for reached back further in time than the first humans who had lived on this continent, but she could still easily relate to wanting to know.

  There was a whole picture here of times lost, a picture that could help provide some context for those who wanted it.

  And if some guys wanted to mine promethium, or whatever it was, they just needed to stand in line.

  Reaching out her gloved hand again, she traced the outline of the egg and felt that ineffable connection across time.

  Then she heard a strange sound. Like a flute, but so far away it couldn’t be from around here. One of the Bear brothers?

  She leaned sideways against the rock wall, curled protectively around the egg, and listened. Beautiful. Haunting. The longer she listened to it, the more she felt it was otherworldly. If it hadn’t been so beautiful, she might have been frightened. It was nearing night, after all, and there was no reason that anyone should be making music on this mountain.

  Closing her eyes, listening, she thought about whether Thunder Mountain might be alive after all, if it might be making this enchanting music. Her rational mind said no. Her emotional mind nearly wanted to believe it.

  Then as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, and heavy booted feet reached the ledge. She looked toward the ruckus and saw Cope with the two Bear brothers.

  “Did you hear that?” he demanded.

  For an instant she was taken aback. “The flute? It was lovely.”

  Three men exchanged looks. Burdens were dropped and the two Bears took off into the woods in different directions.

  Cope knelt beside her. “Are you all right?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” Now she was feeling totally confused.

  Cope hesitated. “Gray Cloud will answer that when he gets here. It seems there are some things we don’t know about Thunder Mountain.”

  Chapter 10

  Cope pulled up the large bundles the rest of the way. One was Renee’s sleeping bag and camp pillow. The other was Cope’s. He wasn’t going to leave her here all night alone.

  Then he unpacked plastic containers offering sandwiches made with cold cuts, and some carrot sticks. “The gang brought some food out with them. Eat. They’re going to spend tonight in town at my suggestion.”

  She felt a chill creeping along her bones, and it wasn’t from the deepening evening. “Cope, what happened? What’s wrong?”

  “I’ll let Gray Cloud explain it.”

  She resented having to wait, but she was growing seriously tired. Biting into a ham sandwich, she hoped food would give her more energy.

  “Don’t look like that,” Cope said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like your dream is about to go down the drain.”

  “Maybe it is.” And as quickly as that she felt like crying. The feeling shocked her. She ordinarily kept her emotions well in check. A professional woman had to do that. It was hard enough getting to the top ranks in any field without letting emotions of any kind show. Men were allowed anger, but not women. If she got angry she was labeled a bitch. She knew it too well.

  Cope surprised her by wrapping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her close. “We won’t let it happen, Renee. We won’t.”

  “You can’t promise that.” Her voice hitched and she hated the sound of weakness. Pulling away, she sat up and resumed eating a sandwich that now tasted about as good as sawdust. She couldn’t afford to lean on anyone. She knew that. Everything she did had to be her own effort and better than everyone else. How else could she keep ahead when she was starting from behind?

  Focus on the job. Put everything else away.

  Cope didn’t say anything. She’d pulled away from him as if he smelled bad or something—and nothing could be further from the truth—but he didn’t seem in the least offended. Thank God. Right now she didn’t need one more thing to deal with.

  Someone had hurt Larry. That weighed heavily on her. Her determination to get at these fossils might be endangering others. Was she obsessed? Maybe so. She’d been so career-focused for so long that maybe she was only half-human now.

  “What’s the thing with the flute?” she asked when she trusted her voice.

  “I don’t know. I just know the three of them reacted to it as if it were important. I assume that’ll be part of what Gray Cloud tells us when he gets here.”

  “I thought it was beautiful. It made me want to relax and maybe sleep.” She darted a look his way and caught his smile.

  “It was nice.”

  “Then why did everyone get so activated? Although I was starting to wonder if the mountain was making the music.”

  He shook his head. “We’ll have to wait for Gray Cloud. He has the answers, not me.”

  She sighed and leaned her head against rock. “All I need is a magic mountain. You don’t have to stay up here with me tonight, you know. I’m not afraid to be alone.”

  “I’m sure you’re not,” he said easily. “I’m equally sure that between a priceless egg and what happened to Larry, I’m not going to leave you here alone. Don’t bother arguing. I’ll just move farther along the ledge.”

  The image might have made her laugh, the idea of them planting separate camps on this ledge, if she hadn’t suddenly started to feel so blue.

  “Finish that sandwich. There’s a treat that you might like.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Corn chips and guacamole.”

  She sat up a little straighter. “Really? Where did that come from?”

  “You’d have to ask Maddie. She said something about a guy named Tino who used to be DEA but now works a few days a week in Melinda’s bakery...” He paused. “I’m sure it’s a fascinating story. But I didn’t get all the details. Which makes me feel kind of dumb because I’m living here now and I should know this stuff. I need to get out more.”

  She felt her spirits lifting a little. “So I’m not the only one with a case of nose-to-grindstone?”

  “Clearly not.” He reached for a second sandwich and stared out into the darkening cavern of night, across the ravine toward the trees on the other side of the river. “I’ll be honest, Renee. While I’ve been luckier than many, I’m still having some readjustment issues from the war. Nothing like PTSD, but occasional moments where I fall into a memory. Or get uneasy about nothing in particular. Even a rare outburst of anger that’s hard to explain. So for now I limit my socializing. I thought this expedition, out in the woods with a small group of people, might help me. Plus, I’m fascinated.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” That was the truth. She was really glad he was here. Something about him seemed to have a calming effect on the hijinks she would have expected from some of her interns, given their ages. Of course,
that might not last, but if looking at the big former soldier encouraged them to act more like adults, she wouldn’t complain.

  Of course, in fairness to all her interns, they were here out of a serious interest in paleontology. Man, why else would they come to the middle of nowhere for a summer?

  “Anyway, I’m not ruthlessly using you,” he continued. “From the moment Gray Cloud told me about what had been revealed when this cleft opened up, I was on board. I could hardly wait for you guys to get here.”

  “I could hardly wait to get here myself.”

  “You must have broken land speed records to get a grant so fast.”

  She looked at him and could see, even in the failing light, the dance of humor in his eyes. Some of the tightness of worry that had been binding her chest let go. She figured Cope must have dealt with threats she could scarcely imagine. Good hands to trust, this man’s.

  Then she answered his indirect question about the grants. “There was a danger that the find could be lost if the mountain moved again, plus weather is always a threat to exposed fossils. I think my proposal got shoved to the top of some priority lists.” She finished her sandwich and put the wrapper back in the now-empty plastic container. She regarded it thoughtfully. “It’s amazing. We can’t do anything these days without pollutants.” She waved the container at him.

  He answered. “Don’t get me going on that. I’ll keep you up all night. It sounds like the dark ages, but I remember my grandmother washing and reusing plastic bread bags, aluminum foil was off-limits and everything was wrapped in waxed paper. Although I’m not sure the waxing made the paper much better, pollution-wise. And then of course, she never had a scrap of cloth that she didn’t use as a rag until finally it fell apart in the washer. I don’t believe she ever bought a paper towel.”

  “Times have sure changed.”

  “While no one was paying attention, I guess.”

  “Yeah. Convenience is everything.”

  He took the container from her and stuffed it in the bag beside him, only to pull out another container and a bag of tortilla chips. “Now, a very odd dessert to a ham sandwich.”

  “I could eat guacamole all day. I should probably learn to make it but getting the avocados to the right ripeness defeats me.”

  He nodded, giving her another smile. “I have a friend with a method he says never fails. I’ll email him and let you know.”

  Dipping chips with him into the generous tub of guacamole seemed pleasantly intimate, and finally Renee felt some of her tension releasing.

  “I can’t possibly stay wound up for the next three months,” she said. “I have to find my peaceful place.”

  “You’ve got one?”

  “I used to live in it,” she said wryly. “Delusion, I guess.”

  That drew a laugh from him. “Peace seems like a rare part of life.”

  “I think most of mine came from keeping my head down and my eyes on the floor.”

  “Really?” Though it couldn’t have been comfortable, he twisted around on the gravel so he could look straight at her. “You don’t strike me as the type.”

  “You’d be surprised. Even in academia, a woman needs to be careful.”

  He sighed, actually sighed, and just shook his head. “I’ve seen it,” he replied after a minute, his tone clipped. “In the military. The last place I’d honestly expect to see it because we have rules and regulations, and when you’re in a foxhole, who the hell cares who is guarding your back? Well, apparently some people just can’t get over it.”

  “I’ve heard.”

  “I imagine you have. Some of the headlines have been downright ugly. I’d have expected better at this level because you’d be dealing a lot with more mature men.”

  “Is there such an animal?”

  Far from being offended, he grinned at her. “I’m working on it.”

  Man, she liked him. He was so honest and so unassuming, and his lack of a fragile ego made him comfortable to be with. Heaven knew, she’d worked with plenty of egos since embarking on her graduate program. It was odd, perhaps, that highly intelligent men could feel threatened by a smart woman or need endless praise to feel good. She sometimes thought of them as having artistic temperaments. Maybe that wasn’t fair to artists, though. How would she know?

  Then there were the outsize egos. The ones who couldn’t see past their own brilliance to any idea offered by another person. She didn’t know which was tougher to deal with.

  “Penny?” said Cope. “Or is it more expensive these days?”

  She smiled his way. “Just meandering. Nothing of import.”

  He held up the guacamole. “More?”

  “Thanks, but I’m stuffed.”

  “Then I’m going to put this food far enough away that if a bear wants it, it won’t need to bother us. We can just sit here and watch the party.”

  “I love your sense of humor.”

  “Constructed in response to tough situations, although I must say if a bear does actually show up, I won’t be telling jokes.”

  She leaned her head back against the rock, watching with a smile as he carried plastic containers back toward the far end of the ledge away from them. He returned carrying a sleeping bag under each arm with a roll of foam pads perched on his shoulders.

  No question that he was a man used to carrying items over rough terrain. He had it down to a science.

  “I don’t know how much good these foam pads will be on the gravel,” he said as he dumped his load a few feet away from her. You use both of them, because I don’t need one.”

  “That’s not fair to you!”

  He just shook his head. “Dear Dr. Dubois, if you’d slept on some of the ground I’ve slept on, you’d know I’m impervious. Don’t argue. I’ll probably be more awake than asleep anyway.”

  Now she felt bad. Was she being unreasonable refusing to leave the egg unattended tonight? There was no reason to believe anyone would try to damage it, at least not this soon after the rockslide. Whoever had made that mess must have been aware the cops had crawled all over the place.

  Obsessive. Maybe she ought to talk to someone about that.

  Cope insisted on tucking one of the pieces of foam behind her back as she leaned against the rock. It actually made her more comfortable. “That feels a whole lot better, Cope. Thanks.”

  “I thought it might. Suffering in the name of science has its limits, don’t you think?” He opened her sleeping bag and spread it over her like a blanket. “It’s getting chilly.”

  More than chilly, actually. Her fingers were beginning to stiffen. “When is Gray Cloud supposed to come back? You said he had some stuff to tell us about the mountain. And did he explain that flute?”

  He tucked his rolled sleeping bag behind him and propped himself on one elbow. “The flute seemed to galvanize him in some way. That’s when we started hurrying up the path. The Bears heard it, too, and got kind of antsy, but Gray Cloud seemed surprised that I heard it at all. Then you heard it.” He tilted his head a little as if pondering. “I don’t know where it came from, but I think you and I weren’t supposed to hear it. That’s the feeling they gave me.”

  “Well, that makes me feel better. A secret signal? Something going on that we’re not supposed to know about? Something that shouldn’t have happened and has them worried?” Her questions were growing by the minute now.

  Cope gave a quiet, short laugh. “Nothing like a mystery to get the mind running at top speed. I have as many questions as you, but Gray Cloud doesn’t move or speak until he’s ready. Surely your cousin told you that.”

  Mercy certainly had. “I’ll be honest,” she said, lowering her voice in case anyone might be approaching. “I’ve sometimes thought that being married to that man could be taxing. He can shut down like a sealed chest. But Mercy seems awfully happy with him. Different strokes and all
that.”

  “Gray Cloud carries a lot of responsibility,” Cope told her. “From what little I’ve learned, he’s the personification of what we might think of when we say tribal elder. Font of knowledge. Caring for all. Playing Solomon when necessary. Setting an example.”

  “And guarding this damn mountain.”

  “And guarding the mountain,” he agreed. “Protecting the sacred land for his people. Considering how much has been stripped from Native Americans despite the treaties we signed, I imagine he’s fended off more than one attack on their rights.”

  “Probably. Mercy doesn’t say much about it. Seems like she took a vow of silence about tribal matters. Which I can understand, if she did.” She paused. “It’s a different world, though, Cope. From what I’ve learned from my studies, there are so many sacred teachings, so much essential oral history, so much that is private. When ethnologists go to live among a people for several years, thinking they’ll be allowed into all the secrets of the society, I think they’re fooling themselves at least a little. Worst case, they simply don’t understand, coming themselves from a totally different culture.”

  “You might be right. One thing for sure, we haven’t left them much but their secrets.”

  “I like the way you think.”

  He pushed himself a little higher on his elbow. “I’ve been lucky in one way. I got to see some other cultures up close and personal. Mind-opening, if you let it be.”

  She slid down a bit against the foam padding and raised her knees, forming a warm tent beneath the sleeping bag.

  Then she heard the crunch of booted feet on the ascending path. Craning her neck, she saw Gray Cloud emerging from the deepening darkness.

  “Howdy,” he said as he approached. “Are you planning to stay up here tonight, Renee?”

  “Yes. The egg. I’m obsessed.”

  Gray Cloud squatted in front of her and Cope, smiling faintly. “Good reason to be obsessed. If you want I can place a guard on it, but tonight...” He let the words trail off. Then he fixed her with an intent stare. “You heard the flute?”