by Dennis Yates
“Then you better leave this place now. Get above ground before it’s too late.”
Robert didn’t stop to think about it. He ran from the shrine and followed the trail of glow sticks up to the top. For awhile he felt as if Horn was following him, but when he took a moment to catch his breath he turned and saw nothing. A few minutes later, when he came near the remains of Billy and the research crew, Horn’s shadow reappeared, beckoning him to take another route leading out of the glacier to the mountain’s red surface…
CHAPTER 63
Peggy and the others watched as a man emerged from the crevasse. At first they thought it might be Robert, until they recognized Marsh’s stiff movements and blockish frame. They hid behind a boulder and watched him pull-start the gas-powered winch positioned near the edge of the gaping hole. His back faced them, and jammed into the hardened snow nearby his rifle stood sentry. The ebony cable attached to the treasure-sled far below began to slowly wrap around the metal spool as the winch belched smoke and growled.
“Wait here.” Will whispered. “If it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it I want you to leave right away. Do you understand?”
Peggy and Connor nodded and Will pressed his face next to theirs before leaving. They watched him run silently across the snow, keeping as close as he could next to the shadows of rock outcroppings. He eventually stopped and crouched down, waited to be sure Marsh hadn’t heard him before sprinting for his back and tackling him to the ground.
The advantage of a surprise attack did not last long.
Marsh slipped rapidly out of Will’s hold from behind and pulled his rifle up one-handed from the ice. When he attempted to swing the weapon around at Will’s head, Will rose briefly to his feet and kicked it from Marsh’s hand. The rifle skittered across the ice and disappeared over the edge of the crevasse.
The two men dove into each other, rolled as one tangled mass in the same path the rifle had slid. Occasionally their bodies separated enough so they could throw punches at each other’s faces. Will finally managed to perch himself on top of Marsh’s chest, and pounded the man’s flesh until his knuckles swelled to twice their size.
Marsh, however, appeared unfazed. After all that Will had done he still clung to consciousness.
And he was laughing…
Jesus. What’s the fucker on, anyway? Will couldn’t understand were Marsh was getting his energy. For someone so badly burned he’d expected him to wear down much sooner.
Marsh couldn’t sense a whole lot anymore. Will’s punches to his blistered face felt like they were just bouncing off rubber, as if someone was throwing chunks of soft meat at him. He waited patiently for an opening, when Will would have to catch his breath. Then the moment came, and Marsh piston-shot his arm upwards. Will didn’t see it coming. After Marsh’s fist connected with Will’s windpipe he crashed onto his back, clawing for air.
****
Robert emerged from a narrower opening in the ice not far away, and as soon as Nugget recognized him, she broke from Peggy’s grip and ran.
“Nugget!”
But Nugget was already a dog-blur.
Peggy grabbed Connor by the hand and they chased after her.
****
Will coughed, tasted blood at the back of his throat. The blow had paralyzed him. He couldn’t do anything but stare up helplessly at Marsh’s grinning mouth. The man’s face he’d recently showered with his fists appeared to be sliding off. The flesh of his forehead now bunched up into a thick angry lump that nearly hooded his eyes.
“Didn’t think I had the fighter in me, did you?” Marsh said, poking Will in the chest with a stubby finger. His eyes were lit up now like two dancing flames.
Will didn’t even want to try to speak. What could he possibly say that would stop this man from killing him? Or was the damage already done? Did he only have a little time left? Something moving several yards behind Marsh caught his attention. He rubbed his eyes, worried that the black dots he saw now would become fatter and fatter, until he could no longer see anything at all.
Marsh stood up and grabbed Will by his calves. Farther away he could hear Robert shouting at Marsh to stop. Marsh turned to chuckle at him as Will slid his hand beneath his jacket and grasped his revolver. When Marsh turned back to what he was doing there was no time for him to react.
Will lifted the revolver and fired.
Two bullets struck their target, while a third hissed off into the dark. The gun was empty now and he tossed it away.
Marsh grunted. The bullet holes in his chest squirted small streams of blood and then stopped. He gripped Will tighter and continued pulling him across the ground.
Will made feeble kicks with his legs to free himself. His fingers became raw and bloody as he tried to keep the man from sweeping him across the ice like a human mop. Marsh was possessed by a kind of power Will never imagined possible. And yet he’d seen it once before, back when he and Robert were in Mexico. As badly hurt and outnumbered as Robert was, Will had witnessed his friend tear men apart with his bare hands, had even been forced to turn away as Robert pulverized the man in white’s skull against a dirty concrete wall…
“Here comes the fun part,” Marsh said.
He positioned Will as close to the edge of the glacier as he could without falling in himself, then kicked him with the heel of his boot. Will slid into the dark maw in the ice…
Marsh stood waiting for screams that didn’t come. Frowning, he stepped closer to the edge, fearing Will may have caught himself on something. A smoky black figure whirled up from the crevasse, seizing Marsh about the waist and pulling him Anaconda-tight.
Marsh’s eyes bulged in total terror at what he saw. It wasn’t Will’s eyes staring into his but Jared Horn’s.
“I told you I would come back for you, Horn hissed, his face now a swirling vortex of broken ghost stuff.
As much as Marsh struggled to free himself, the disintegrating shadow showed no signs of weakening its hold on him.
“We had a deal. You promised me I’d be rewarded,” Marsh whined.
“I lied.”
Now dissolving quickly out of his material form, Horn raised Marsh high above the mouth of the crevasse. For a moment Marsh looked like he was riding a gusher of oil before being dropped shrieking into the abyss below.
Will turned his head to watch as the cable hoisted him up to the razor sharp lip of the crevasse. He couldn’t recall how he’s managed to grab hold of the line. After Marsh had pushed him over he’d fallen through the dark, waiting for the moment when his body would strike the bottom, wondering to himself how long he’d suffer unspeakable pain before his heart stopped. Then, somehow, he felt his frozen fingers being forcefully wrapped around a cable he couldn’t see and he’d magically started to rise…
As he neared the top he saw Nugget crouching by the edge. When he tried to pull himself up over the rim and slipped she thrust her head forward and sank her teeth into the sleeve of his jacket, holding him there with her jaw clamped shut until Robert could assist her in bringing him all the way out. Once cleared, Will collapsed on his side, struggling to regain his breath while Nugget happily poked his face with her nose.
“Give him some space, girl.” Robert said.
A distant thrumming sound soon caught their attention but it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.
Will rolled over onto his back and blinked away frost. “What the hell is that?”
“I don’t know,” Robert said. “But it sounds like it’s moving this way. Are you well enough to stand?”
“I think so.”
Robert pulled Will to his feet. He steadied him for a moment, waiting to make sure he could hold his own before releasing his grip. Nugget rubbed against their legs and wagged her tail. Robert looked into his friend’s eyes and smiled.
“It’s good to see you again buddy.”
Will coughed, and freed his throat of bloody spit. It took several times before his spit was clear again.
&nbs
p; “I really thought that was it, Bobby. I really did.” Will’s voice was hoarse but he no longer believed he’d been badly hurt. He’d taken a good ass kicking though, no doubt about it.
Robert wrapped his arm around him for safe measure and they began to walk away from the crevasse. The gas-powered winch was still hauling in cable, but they paid no attention to it. Down slope they could see Peggy and Connor running toward them. Will soon patted Robert on the shoulder and stepped aside on quivering legs.
“Go get them. I’ll catch up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Go, damn you!”
Robert nodded and broke away from Will without turning back. He spread his arms out wide and ran to reach them when a chopper suddenly roared over the looming cliff to the south and hovered above. Its blinding floodlight splashed everyone in harsh white light.
The rescue crew, come to take them back to safety.
Could have used you a lot earlier, Robert thought.
A megaphone emerged from the side of the chopper and a voice blasted through the echo of the engine vibrating against the glacier. Robert thought he could hear the ice below them begin to crack.
“Do not move. Lie down with your hands in front of you,” the voice ordered. “This is Sheriff Foster of Wrath Butte County.”
Before they could begin to comply the chopper abruptly turned and moved up the mountain before slowly arching back. A powerful gust of wind had blown down from above making it difficult for the pilot to keep the aircraft stationary for long. Robert hugged Peggy tight in his arms, flagrantly ignoring the Sheriff’s orders. Connor and Nugget clung next to them. Tottering slightly but more or less holding his own, Will soon caught up.
“I’m not ever going to let you out of my sight again.” Robert said, covering his wife’s face with kisses.
“Can we go home now?”
“Yes. It looks like our ride is here.”
“I called for help hours ago.”
“Good thinking.”
“I guess they must have decided to take me seriously after all.”
“Well they’re making a big show of things now, aren’t they?”
Although the local authority seemed to be acting overly cautious, it was still fine by Robert. So long as his family was where he could see and touch them then everything else was merely a series of formalities designed to eventually deliver them to safety. The Sheriff would undoubtedly realize they weren’t the threat. They’d already taken care of the real problem on their own.
I still wish they’d hurry up before we freeze to death.
Robert glanced at Peggy and Connor’s bright red hands and faces. They were shivering hard. It would be stupid for them to lie flat on the ground like the Sheriff had asked. They’d get full-blown hypothermia for sure.
Another breeze whipped down off the mountain, scattering equipment and snapping the small tent left by the glacier research team. The cold passed through Robert’s chest like boxful of sewing needles, causing him to see white flashes of pain behind his eyes. He could only imagine how the others must feel.
Screw it. I’m not going to let them get sicker if I can help it.
“We’re going to have to get somewhere warmer,” Robert announced, placing an arm around Connor and squeezing him tight. The boy was deathly cold. The temperature on the mountain was plummeting fast. He’d have to figure out a way to communicate his decision to the Sheriff and he didn’t care if it pissed him off.
They watched as the chopper came back again, and this time the spotlight lingered curiously over the tripod-shaped winch. Robert thought it was a little odd except that maybe they were wondering about all the blood-covered feathers stuck to the ground.
A wave of relief came over him when the chopper finally began to hover toward them. But seconds later he was staring in sheer horror as the business end of an automatic rifle extended from the side door and began firing staccato rounds.
“Run!” Robert screamed.
They headed for the cave-covered hole where Robert had emerged earlier—a much gentler crevasse than the hellish mouth Marsh had fallen into. Bullets split the ice around them. One caught Peggy in the back, causing her to stagger next to Robert as they made their way below the ice.
“What the fuck is that about?” Will screamed. He wished he hadn’t used up his pistol on Marsh. Pinned in and nowhere to go but back down, it would be easy for their attackers to finish the job. Like shooting fish in a barrel..
****
Peggy lay on her side while Robert peeled away her jacket. Blood had already soaked all the way through. She was going into shock and her breath had become rapid. Robert took off his jacket and rolled it into a pillow. Peggy lifted her head and tried to speak.
“No baby, stay still,” Robert cooed as he lifted her back and shoved his jacket beneath her. For the few seconds her body was off the ground he’d glimpsed an immense pool of blood. He turned to look at Will and Connor. They could see in his face things were bad.
“What can I do, Robert?” Will asked.
Robert stared blankly outside the cave were the chopper paced the air.
“Nothing. There’s not going to be any time.”
Connor slid up close to his mother, choking back tears. He took one of her hands and placed it next to his flushed cheek and began to whisper to her.
“Mom. You can’t leave us now. We’ve been through too much. You promised me when this was all over we could go to the beach...”
Peggy didn’t move. He face was turning the color of ice.
She was dying…
****
It got quieter outside.
Will crawled out of the cave to see what was happening with the chopper. He saw a man connecting a line between the chopper and the sled, while another man finished tamping down something in the snow. Even in the wavering spotlight beam he could tell what it was.
Dynamite.
Once they have what they want they’ll start an avalanche to cover their tracks.
Will quickly scrambled back to the others.
“They’re going to blow the place up!”
He froze as he got close enough to see their faces.
Robert and the boy looked at him with vacant eyes. Peggy lay still on the ground next to them. Will didn’t even have the courage to ask if she was still alive.
CHAPTER 64
Robert could barely hear his friend’s warnings. It was as if Will’s voice was coming from miles away. At the moment Robert’s head was filled with the ghosts of dark-skinned old men with bone white beards explaining something to him in crude sign language. There was a riot of screams coming from a jungle filled with animals watching him in the dark, and poles stretching the curing faces of men next to a blazing fire.
He heard several voices chanting. But as he listened they changed to a gentle, sweet song.
Healing music...
Without questioning himself as to why, Robert shoveled up some snow with his hand and placed it on each of Peggy’s eyes. He then leaned down and kissed the wound where Peggy had been shot before dipping his finger tips in her blood and pressing them into his forehead to create a cluster of four wet dots. He took a knife he’d had hidden inside his boot and held it over Peggy’s chest. Will stared at him in shock.
“Jesus Robert. What are you doing?”
“Put out a hand,” Robert said in a voice that no one had ever heard before. It caused the hair on the back of their necks to rise. Will and Connor tried to resist, but an invisible force pulled each of their left hands over Peggy.
Robert slit his palm and the palms of the others. He gripped their hands in his and squeezed until Will and Connor begged that he’d let them go. Robert chanted softly, his mind stripping down the truths of life and death and especially love to their most simple elements, to ribbons of pure light weaving themselves in and out of space and time.
Their blood dripped down on Peggy’s wound until it seemed to slow and scab over. Robert stared closely, ex
pecting fresh blood to erupt from beneath the newly formed crust but nothing happened. Then Peggy gasped for a breath of air and her eyelids moved and knocked away the snow Robert had laid there, reminding him of the wet cherry blossoms on the day he’d proposed to her. She shivered, and Robert wrapped her with her jacket and kissed her on the cheek.
Will and Connor sat back and stared.
“Is mom going to be okay?” Connor asked.
Robert turned his head and smiled. “I think she’s got a chance, son.”
Outside, they could hear the chopper’s engine starting up.
“Stay with her,” Robert said.
He got up and walked to the entrance of the cave. From below a shelf of ice he watched the chopper as it raised the sled up on the line. He stepped out from the shelter and into the open. Distant shouts soon followed and the rifleman in the chopper started firing again. Shards of ice spit up and cut Robert’s face, but as much as the shooter tried he was incapable of hitting him. Robert looked inward, traveling by his mind’s eye into the chopper where he saw the face of the man who’d shot Peggy in the back as well as the corrupt Sheriff who’d given the order.
He heard them laughing. Laughing over Marsh’s misfortune and the strangers below who had no idea what was headed their way. It wouldn’t be the first time people in the sheriff’s jurisdiction had become victims of some tragic accident, Robert knew. All it took was a small town where people kept their mouths shut and a corrupt sheriff could do just about anything he pleased.
Robert had just proven to himself he could heal.
Now it was time to exercise the opposite end of the power spectrum.
He wanted those men to pay…
Still standing out in the open with his head raised, he slapped his hands together in front of him like he was killing a mosquito. The chopper hovering above him suddenly coughed and thick black smoked poured out of its engine. He heard screams as the chopper fell toward the glacier, pulled into it even faster by the gold-laden sled. Robert felt as if a bolt of electricity was shooting through his body. In his mind’s eye he could see the horror on the men’s faces as they saw themselves dropping into a most certain inferno.
