We slipped into the cove and followed the rocks until we reached an area clogged with floating branches and logs. A faint animal trail cut across the grassy bank rising behind it. We picked our way through the deadwood and helped each other pull the kayaks out.
A great thrashing came from the tall grass a few feet away. I lunged for my bow-it was still in the back of the kayak. A splash sounded, then the grasses grew still. The whole cove grew still. I forced myself to loosen my grip on the weapon.
“I don’t know what that was,” I said, “but it wasn’t big enough to be our monster.”
“Nah, the monster would have jumped toward us instead of away from us,” Simon said. “It was probably a fat beaver.”
Despite his words, he had his phone out, probably with his camera app loaded. I hoped his obsession didn’t get us all killed. I was already beginning to think coming out here had been a mistake, the coolness of an undiscovered cave not withstanding.
Temi turned slowly, gazing up at the rock on all sides of us. “How are we going to figure out where Eleriss and Jakatra are?”
“We’ll have to climb up to a high spot and look for smoke,” I said. “If they use… whatever they used before, there’ll be some smoke or fumes at least. Though I admit, it’ll be hard to see outside.”
“In other words, we’re hoping to get lucky,” Temi said.
“That’s usually how our business goes.”
Simon grunted in agreement. As soon as we’d put on all of our gear, we hunted for a promising spot to ascend. The mounds were uneven, some tall, some low, and some in between, so we didn’t have to scale any cliffs, but the climb was challenging. Temi struggled because of her leg, I struggled because I was carrying the bow as well as my backpack, and Simon struggled because he couldn’t be bothered to buy a pair of real shoes. We were all sweating by the time we clambered onto the top of one of the higher rocks. The view was magnificent though, with the lake stretching behind us and the lumpy granite formations heading off to the horizon. I spotted the rail trail about a half a mile away. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any smoke or anything that would suggest our employers were in the vicinity.
“Where are we in relation to their bikes?” I asked.
Simon pulled out his phone. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean? They left?”
“No, I’m not picking up a signal any more. They were over there a half hour ago.” He waved toward the trail. “But now, I’ve got nothing.”
“Meaning they drove out of range?”
“Or finally found the tracking device and destroyed it,” Simon said.
“Oh.”
“We could wander around these rocks for days and not find a cave entrance,” Temi said.
“I know. Anyone have any ideas? Simon, would your program be able to show a newly constructed tunnel?”
His “uhm” didn’t sound promising, but he did start poking at his phone.
I sat cross-legged and watched the sky, still hoping to catch a wisp of smoke. An eagle that had a nest on top of one of the outcroppings took off, flying away from us. Maybe it found our presence intrusive. It flew straight, but it banked and did a few circles, rising higher with each revolution. At first, I simply watched, but then I bolted to my feet.
“That might be it.” I squinted, trying to note landmarks beneath it and pick out a route for us to take.
“What might?” Temi asked.
The eagle reached the altitude it wanted and headed out.
“A thermal?” Simon asked.
I nodded. “That’s my guess. If we’re right, something’s heating up the ground over there.”
“Let’s check it out then.”
CHAPTER 22
Temi didn’t complain as we climbed and descended, weaving through the dells and scrambling over the rocks, but I caught winces on her face more than once. I also winced a few times from scraped hands and banged knees. When I’d first seen that eagle, my heart rate had tripled in anticipation of finding a fresh tunnel and following Eleriss and Jakatra into some underground chamber that had been sealed for countless centuries, maybe forever. After almost an hour of trying to reach that spot, my excitement had waned.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Simon asked.
“I’m sure we’re closer to the place than we are to the Winslow rest stop,” I said, bringing up our long-standing joke.
“How comforting,” Temi said. We’d have to fill her in on the story later. Or perhaps not. That hadn’t been my bladder’s finest moment.
A clatter arose in the distance somewhere ahead of us. Rock fall. Our feet-and our mouths-halted as one. We exchanged long looks with each other. As agile as Eleriss and Jakatra were, it was hard to imagine them knocking rocks loose.
We were down in one of the hollows and couldn’t see far ahead. I listened for further noises, but not even the birds were talking.
“What was that?” Temi whispered.
“Rock climbers?” Simon suggested.
“Who would be out climbing when there’s a man-slaying monster roaming around town?” I whispered.
“Uh, us?” Simon said.
A faint scraping sound reached my ears. It wasn’t continuous but intermittent and so faint that it might be in my imagination.
“Are those claws?” Simon breathed.
Not my imagination. He’d heard it too.
I wished I had something more deadly in my hands than a bow. We could have stopped and bought firearms-from what I’d seen, Arizona had some of the most lax gun laws of any state in the country-but I reminded myself that neither bullets nor arrows had put a dent in that creature at the campground the other night. The glowing sword might be the only thing that could hurt it. In that case, we’d be best served by catching up with Eleriss and Jakatra and staying close. Well, technically that wasn’t true-we’d be best served by going back to the motel and locking the door.
“Is anyone else having second thoughts about this adventure?” I whispered.
Temi nodded. “Yes.”
Simon shook his head. “No.”
I stared at the dust and tufts of grass at our feet while listening for more scrapes. I didn’t hear anything. It’d either moved on or it was hiding in the shadows somewhere, waiting for a chance to pounce on us. Except that it hadn’t proved that subtle yet. It simply attacked when it wanted. Maybe we’d heard something else. Or maybe it had bypassed us and was after the sword. Either way, I was less enthused about hunting for caves. When I’d agreed to follow the riders, it had been under the assumption that our monster friend wouldn’t be roaming about during the day.
“Why not?” I asked Simon quietly.
He shrugged. “We need to keep an eye on our employers. Once they get what they want, they might take off and we’d never see them again.”
“I believe Eleriss would return to the vet parking lot to bring us our coin,” I said.
“But he wouldn’t explain anything. I want to know what they’re looking for in there. Besides, they might need our help with that creature. They already fought it with the sword and barely hurt it, if they hurt it at all.”
“How would we hurt it?” I asked.
“With our crafty cunning.”
“How… optimistic.”
“That’s not the word I would have used,” Temi said.
“All I know is that someone needs to kill that thing,” Simon said, “because it’s murdering people left and right. And if we’re there when it faces off with those guys-if we can help when it happens…”
“You can get a picture of yourself standing with your foot up on its dead corpse?” I asked.
“Well, yes, but it’ll still be dead, won’t it? That’s gotta be the goal here, not just to learn languages and look at artifacts. Getting rid of it has to be the most important thing.”
Simon of all people was lecturing me on morality? “I don’t disagree with you,” I said, struggling to keep my voice calm, “but I don’t think we’re qualified to do it.”