“He is,” Dane said. “I thank you both for your help. What can I do to repay you?”
“Nothing,” the woman said in her coarse, faint voice. “I taught him to do right by others, but we don’t see many others out here. We mostly like it that way. Our family’s lived here for generations, but there’s nobody left but me and my grandson. We sure don’t see many people out walking in the desert without any water. What were you thinking?”
“It’s a long story and it wouldn’t make much sense if I told you,” he said. “Ma’am, would you happen to have a phone I could use?”
“Afraid not,” she said. “And them fancy cell phones don’t do no good out here either.”
“Can you tell me if we’re anywhere near Angel’s Landing?”
“The Land of Zion?” she croaked. “You’re heaven-bound, are you? We’re not too awful far, but I think Justin wants to take you somewhere.”
“Eah!” Justin said, taking Dane by the hand and leading him to the front door of the house.
“You boys be careful,” she said as they stepped out into the blistering sun.
Justin led him through a twisting dry wash, up a rocky hill, and through snarls of cactus and gnarled pine, and down into a tiny box canyon surrounded by steep walls of red rock. At the far end of the canyon abutting a sheer cliff a small pool lay hidden behind a screen of juniper and sagebrush
“Eah.” Justin said, pointing down into the water. “Go dah.” He made a diving motion with his right hand, dipping it down and bringing it back up. “Sim.”
Swim under there. Dane was growing accustomed to Justin’s manner of speaking. He thought it over. Could this possibly be a way to the treasure? If they were close to Angel’s Landing, who was to say Justin had not happened upon the treasure, or at least a small portion of it that had been carried away by the underground stream. In any case, there was no harm in checking it out.
“And the cavern where you found the treasure is in there?” He pointed to the cliff face.
“Eah.” Justin nodded vigorously and again made the down-and-up motion with his hand.
“All right,” Dane said. “Guess I’ve got nothing to lose. Thank you for everything, Justin. You’re a good man.” He gave Justin’s shoulder a squeeze and turned away, but the youth grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“Choo choo,” he whispered. His eyes no longer danced with infectious good nature, but were serious. He looked Dane straight in the eye, as if trying to convey a message beyond his capacity to verbalize. “Choo choo.” His voice took on a pleading tone. “Choo choo.”
“Right. Choo choo.” Dane said. “Thanks again.” He pulled off his boots, tied the laces together, and draped them around his neck. Taking a deep breath, he leaped feet-first into the water. The icy jolt as he broke the surface felt like an invigorating boost of energy. With powerful kicks and easy strokes he swam down into the waiting shadows. A circle of absolute darkness tugged at him like a black hole. As he swam toward it, he could see that there was indeed an opening in the rock. He swam through, an eager sense of hopefulness surging inside him. The waning light from outside faded away, and he fished into the thigh pocket of his hiking shorts and took out the mini dive light he always carried with him. He hadn’t actually expected to do any diving, but he preferred a waterproof light in any case. He clicked it on, and the intense beam knifed through the dark, clear water. The water above him churned in a torrent of milky bubbles.
He broke the surface in a large cavern. A roaring filled his ears, and he saw that the pool in which he swam was fed by a dozen narrow cascades of water pouring in on all sides. At the far end of the pool, the cavern wall sloped gently upward to the yawing mouth of a tunnel, above which was carved the shamrock and cross of Fray Marcos de Niza. He had found it!
Chapter 25
Jade muttered a curse as the tunnel ended in a blank wall. She had realized this tunnel was a mistake as soon as the booby-trapped ceiling caved in on Jacob. Obviously the missing clue contained something more vital than she had assumed. They gave up the idea of digging out almost immediately. There was no way to make it through the mass of rubble. They continued on, their nerves stretched like piano wire as they watched for further traps, but all they found was a long stretch of tunnel coming to this dead end.
“Any ideas?” Jarren asked, letting his light play up the wall and across the ceiling.
“Put your light back up there in the corner of the ceiling.” She thought she had seen something. She added her light to his and the twin beams revealed a gap in the ceiling where the rock had crumbled away. There was a passage above theirs! “Boost me up.”
Jarren hunched down and Jade clambered up onto his shoulders. He was very strong, and had no problem lifting her up to the gap in the ceiling. She peeked through, shining her light back and forth. It appeared that this passageway ran directly above the one in which they had been traveling, but unlike the lower passage, it continued on. She hoisted herself through, and then turned back to the others.
“Who’s next? I can help one of you through if you need it, then we’ll drop a rope and haul the last person up.”
“I’ll give Jarren a boost up,” Thaddeus said. “I’m lighter, so it’ll be easier to bring me up the rope.”
A few seconds later, Jarren’s head and broad shoulders appeared in the hole, and he clambered through. Jade had already fished the rope out of her pack and was looking for a place to secure it. Finding none, she instead secured it around Jarren’s waist and tossed the other end through the hole.
“Ready when you are.”
“Just a minute.” Thaddeus’s voice was soft and urgent. “I hear something in the tunnel. I’ll be right back.” He drew his pistol, turned off his flashlight, and headed off down the passageway.
“There can’t be anyone in the tunnel,” Jade said. “Both ends are blocked off, and we didn’t see any side passages.
“He’s an idiot,” Jarren muttered. “I ought to go down there, but in the dark, he’d probably mistake me for a gentile. I should just go shoot him myself and be done with him.”
Jade wanted to laugh, but the sounds that suddenly burst out through the hole in the floor chilled her marrow. A shout. A single gunshot. A shriek of agony that died into a wet, choking squelch.
“What the…” Jarren sprang to his feet. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” He untied the belt from around his waist, slipped feet-first through the hole, and dropped with a thud to the floor below.
Jade sat in the darkness, her heart racing. What had happened to Thaddeus, and what would she do if Jarren did not come back? She entertained the frightened thoughts for only a moment before steeling her resolve. She would find the treasure by herself. How many years had she dedicated to finding the truth behind the story of Cibola? She had joined forces with an organization she despised, and betrayed a man about whom she cared deeply in order to fulfill her personal quest. She had heard of treasure hunters catching “the fever” and she knew it was true about her. Cibola was her passion, her purpose, her very life. She could not go on until she had seen it through. Perhaps, when it was over, she could find Maddock and make him understand that what she had done, she had done to protect him. Drugging him was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but if it kept him from walking into the hands of the Dominion, it would be worth it. Whether he would even believe her, much less forgive her, was another question altogether.
The thoughts fled as Jarren returned. It was all she could do to help him get back up to the second level, but they managed.
“I take it you didn’t find him,” she said.
“I found this.” Jarren held up a Taurus PT92 that she assumed belonged to Thaddeus. “And lots of blood.” Only now did she notice the reddish tinge on the Taurus’s grips.