Sue was getting taller, Gary noted. But she was still shaped something like Tuck, all odds and ends and angles. She had dark brown hair, cut short and a battered sombrero was perched on the back of her head.
"Gary!" called Mrs. Cole.
He got out of the jeep. "Get into the back with Lobo," he said casually to Sue.
Sue had one beautiful feature — a pair of big brown eyes that seemed to dominate her face. If a fellow didn't look at her braces, tip-tilted nose, and freckles too closely, she'd almost be considered pretty because of her eyes.
Mrs. Cole leaned toward Gary. "It wasn't my idea, Gary," she said in a low voice. "But now that she is here, I want you boys to treat her nicely."
"Yes, ma'am."
She studied him. "What happened last night?"
"Nothing."
She eyed him closely. She had an uncanny knack of knowing when things went wrong with Gary. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Where are you going today?"
"Over to the southeast side of the Espectros."
She smiled in relief. "Thank heaven for that! I thought you might be foolish enough to go poking about in the canyon near The Needle."
"Not today, Mother."
She half closed her eyes. "I see. What's up at the east end?" she asked quickly.
"I thought we might find some Indian relics."
"Nothing on the Lost Espectro though?"
"Well," admitted Gary, "if we find anything we sure won't just walk away from it."
"Your father and I will be home late this evening. Can you take Sue home?"
"Tuck can take her on his Honda."
"No! Absolutely not! You bring her home."
"All right, Mother."
The pickup turned and moved back toward The Wells. Gary shrugged, cleared his throat, then plodded toward the jeep. Sue was tucked in beside the bulk of the dog. She was all smiles. "Sure will be fun," she said.
"Yeh," said Tuck. He sagged lower in his seat.
Gary did not talk as he drove off to the east. Sue Browne had a hide like a rhinoceros when it came to figuring she was not wanted.
"Where to?" she asked brightly.
"East," said Gary shortly.
"I know. But where?"
"Got a lead on some Indian relics near a dry stream."
"Nothing on the Lost Espectro?"
Gary looked out of the corner of his eye at Tuck. Sue was a talker, sure enough. Tuck yawned. "Hey," he said suddenly. "You wearin' perfume, Susie?"
She seemed to swell up a little, Gary noted in the rear-vision mirror. "A little, Tuck," she coyly admitted. "Why?"
Tuck yawned again. "For a minute I thought it was Lobo," he said. He closed his eyes as though to sleep.
She had walked right into it. Sue flushed and looked quickly away. She'd be quiet now until they reached the watercourse at least. Still, Gary couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. She wasn't a bad kid if she'd only learn to keep her mouth shut.
4
Canyon of the Skull
The sun was in full spate against the eastern side of the Espectros. Gary had stopped the jeep against a perpendicular wall of rock. As he turned the engine off, the silence, with the exception of the softly murmuring wind, seemed to descend upon the empty countryside. The wide gap of the watercourse was to the north of them. Lobo, already on his way, was threading easily through the cactus and greasewood clumps.
"You sure that's the place, Gary?"
Gary nodded. He tapped the side of his head, "The map is in here."
"Lots of room for it in there," cracked Sue. She swallowed hard as she saw the looks they shot at her.
"Funny, oh funny," said Tuck.
"Just what are we looking for?" she asked.
There was no use in trying to deceive Sue Browne. She had the native shrewdness of the Brownes. "Arrastres," said Gary.
She nodded wisely. "Makes sense. I never could see fooling around The Needle. That so-called mining symbol in there isn't even a mining symbol from what I've heard. Now…" Her voice died away as she saw the intent looks on the faces of her companions.
"Just what do you mean, Sue?" asked Tuck.
"Well, when I was at summer camp, the cocinero there was an old man who said he had often looked in the Espectros for the lost mines. He said it was a waste of time looking about The Needle. He said he had heard about that sign in there you were supposed to see about four o'clock in the afternoon in August or September. Well, according to him it was just a big split in the rock."
"He knows so much," said Tuck angrily.
She placed her hands on her slim hips. "Sure he does! He said it wasn't likely those old miners would make a signboard pointing right to the canyon the mine was in. That would be a little more than stupid, wouldn't it?"
Tuck looked at Gary; Gary looked right back at Tuck.
Sue slung a canteen strap over her shoulder and picked up her big lunch bag, fastening it to her belt. "So, where there are arrastres, there must be a mine. Right?"
"Right!" they chorused.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sue took off briskly.
Tuck folded an arm across his lean stomach, rested his other elbow on it, then cupped his chin in his hand. He watched his cousin trudging through the cactus and greasewood. "Well, I'll be drowned in sheep dip," he said slowly.
Gary took the rifle, binoculars, and haversack from the jeep. "Get the rest of the stuff," he said. "Let's give her a good lead. Maybe she'll get lost."
"With that lunch! Sue isn't much for looks or anything else, but her mother can put up the best lunch you ever saw, amigo!"
They followed the slim girl through the growths. Lobo was waiting for them at the mouth of the dry watercourse. He trotted ahead of them as they fought their way through a tangle of catclaw. By the time they reached more open ground the heat of the day was pouring into the narrow canyon ahead of them.
"How far ahead?" asked Tuck.
Gary pointed to the huge, naked bluff that seemed to block the passage of the stream about one mile ahead of them.
"Funny I never heard of arrastres being in here," said Tuck. "Seems like someone would have spoken about them."
It didn't take them long to find out why the arrastres had been a secret for so long. Detritus had fallen from the huge overhanging walls of the canyon and had formed treacherous slopes of loose sliding rock, interlaced with catclaw and wait-a-bit bush that tore at their clothing and ripped their skin. Only Lobo seemed immune to the sharp thorns. At one point it seemed as though they would have to turn back until Lobo casually trotted around behind a huge split boulder. When they followed him they found themselves in a sort of natural passageway, affording barely enough room to squeeze through. After a zigzag passage they came out upon a flat rock area where they could see the bluff towering above them. Here the passage of the stream bed seemed unimpeded.
"Must have been easier to get in here years ago," said Gary thoughtfully. "No wonder these arrastres have never been seen in modern times."
"Except by Lije," said Tuck.
Sue turned. "Lije Purtis?" she asked.
Tuck nodded. "We talked to him this morning. He brought Gary's rifle back."
"From where?" she asked. "I never saw Gary leave that precious .30/30 of his anywhere."
Gary could have hit Tuck with a rock. That girl had an inquiring nose like an anteater.
"From where?" asked Sue again. She eyed them. "I'll bet you went into the canyon near The Needle yesterday sometime."
"You know a lot," scoffed Tuck.
"What happened in there? How come Gary left his rifle in there?"
"Nothing happened in there!" snapped Tuck.
"Then you were in there!" she said triumphantly.