Write Now! – 3 Days, 16 Authors, 1 Incredible Story

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Tobias Hart sat in the squad room. He was waiting on Detective Carly Hart. His mother. He had waited here often for her; but tonight he needed the detective not his mother. But she was busy.
He fussed with his bangs, the dark hair falling too often in his eyes. He refused to cut it. He was entering the time in his life that his ancestors had gone on quests. Little did he know that his quest was going to be finding a murderer on the loose.
“What’s going on Toby?” A woman with the same dark eyes said.
“Mom, I have to show you or you won’t believe it.”
Carly Hart exhaled a sigh, “I don’t have time for teenage games.”
“This isn’t a game, Mom,” Toby fixed his eyes on his mother.
She could see he was serious. She double checked the battery on her police radio and headed out the door with her son.
They drove along the main drag of their small valley town. Citizens of Mountain Meadows waved at the police car and Carly Hart gave them her serve-and-protect smile.
“How did you find this?” Carly asked as they turned down Scotch Broom Lane, which led towards the trails that weaved through the forest and up to the Paintbrush Mountain, which towered over the valley.
“Eli and I were …” Toby trailed off, a deer darted in front of the patrol car and Carly had to hit the brakes hard.
“We were messing around in the woods; you know, Mom, ‘keeping out of trouble’,” he put his fingers into air quotes and mimicked his mother’s voice.
“Sounds like you found some,” she said, slowly easing on the gas to move the car forward again.
“I don’t know, Mom. There’s something about this…this message,” Toby said.
“Tell me again what it said,” Carly maneuvered the police cruiser onto a side dirt road.
“Well it was more than one message,” Toby looked out the window and paused.
“Right, you said that,” Carly had a twinge of irritation in her voice. She wanted to believe her son. Wanted to take him serious, but she also thought this might just be a juvenile prank.
“They all will die,” Toby said. “It was in red, scrawled in, you know, like spray paint in the little cave off the river. The one where Eli and I have taken you to before.
“Right,” Carly nodded.
“There were lists of people and a map of the festival grounds in an old ammo can in the corner,” Toby said.
“The festival grounds?” she spoke aloud.
“Yes, I told you that in my message,” Toby said. It was his turn to sound irritated. “There was black spray painted graffiti, too. It said ‘I will rise again.’ There was other stuff, too painted, but I couldn’t make it out. Some pictures or like symbol things.”
“Yeah, Toby,” Carly said. “The more you talk about this, it sounds like maybe Elliot Burkhard is setting you up.”
“Mom, he’s not like that anymore,” Toby said. Carly just nodded, not in agreement but to stop her son’s defense of Elliot Burkhard. Despite her attempts to keep Toby and Elliot from being friends, they were inseparable.
She park the cruiser into a trail head area and grabbed her flashlight. Toby led the way into the brush and towards the outcropped rock that hosted the cave near the Prakis River.
It was the middle of the day, but mosquitoes buzzed thick and viciously around Toby and Carly. Carly could hear the water breaking over rocks at the bend in the river. She wished this hike was something recreational and not a possible goose chase on the town’s dollar.
They approached the mouth of the cave and Toby stopped and faced his Mom. His eyes narrowed, “It smells in there, too, Mom. Just warning you.”
“Smells? Smells like what?”
“Dead animals.”
“Lovely.”
“Someone was living here, I think,” Toby said.
Carly led the way in, her flashlight bouncing with her steps. They could see rather well until they got about fifteen feet in; but, then the dark of the cave blinded them temporarily, until their eyes adjusted to only having the flashlight to lead the way. Carly was beginning to smell what Toby was talking about. Old food and urine co-mingled with the stuffy air of the cave and hung thick around them.
“It’s entirely possible that some kids just holed up here and messed aroun, Toby.”
“Just wait, Mom; the cave curves to the right and then you’ll see the first message.”
Sure enough Detective Carly Hart saw the black painted words:
I WILL RISE AGAIN
Next to it looked to be some sort of bird-like artwork.
Carly danced the flashlight’s beam all over the cave’s wall. She made a little humming noise, which Toby recognized as her thinking sound.
“Move a little further in, Mom,” Toby said.
Carly moved forward and the cave opened up into a wider circle. She immediately saw a small circle of rocks, likely a fire pit.
“See that bigger stone there, mom?”
“I do.”
“That’s where the ammo can was hidden.”
“Did you…nevermind, you told me you had opened it to look inside, yeah?”
“Yes, that’s where the list of people and festival grounds map was.”
“When was the last time you were in the cave before you found this, Toby?”
“It’s been months,” Toby said.
Carly carefully pulled a pair of purple latex gloves from a pouch on her utility belt and put them on. She opened the can and used the flashlight to see the contents inside. There was indeed a map of the festival grounds — to the Mountain Meadows’ harvest festival, just three days away. Inside was a spreadsheet of names with dates attached to them. There was also a small key — like to a gym locker or something. It was a bit rusty, but fairly modern.
POP POP POP — something like fireworks sounded outside the cave.
Carly moved with trained speed towards the entrance of the cave.
“Mom! Wait!”
“Come on!” she hollered. Toby raced after the bouncing beam of light.
Blinded by the sunlight, Carly could see smoke but no fire.
Toby caught up to her, “What is it, Mom?”
“I don’t know,” she sniffed. “That’s definitely not the smell of fireworks.”
He took a sniff at the summer air. It seemed to b
have gotten even warmer while they were in the cave, but that was impossible, as it had been such a short time.
The smell of the smoke reminded him of soemthing that he couldn’t put his finger on. Something like campfires. Not quite.
“In the car,” his mom barked.
“But, Mom!”
“Get in there. I’m not having you in the line of fire.” She twisted her key chain and removed a few keys and slapped them into his hand. “Start it up and get the air conditioning running, but don’t go anywhere.”
Toby gawked at the keys. He had the keys to a patrol car. Amazing. And awesome.
His mom unclipped her holster and trotted in the direction the smoke had come from. It was rapidly dispersing on the breeze. She looked back at him while she pulled her radio from her pocket, and he hurried to get into the car to stay out of trouble, as she was always after him to do.
He fumbled with the keys for a little bit, but once he was inside the car, it was easy enough to start it up. He cranked the air conditioning on all the way and watched out the window for his mom to return.
The car got cool fast while he looked around inside, familiarizing himself with things he’d only heard of or seen on TV. Well, he’d ridden along a few times, but sitting in the driver’s seat was different.
Eli so had to hear about this. He called him on his cell phone and they laughed about the situation. Toby pretended to pick up the radio and said, “Breaker, breaker!”
Eli laughed his butt off, as Toby knew he would.
Then they talked about nothing for a while, and Toby had to listen–again while Eli gabbed on and on about Valerie. Her hair, her legs. It was getting pretty dull.
He made an excuse and hung up.
He kept on looking out the window in the direction his mom had gone, but didn’t see her. The car was getting downright cold. He turned the fan down to the lowest setting and moved the temperature lever over to the left, too.
* * *
That evening after supper, Toby asked his mother yet again what she had seen. “Come on, it must have been something. You were gone long enough.”
She ran her fingers through her hair, hair as dark and thick as his own. “I didn’t see anything. I told you that, and I’m not making it up.”
“Yeah, fine,” he said.
But it wasn’t fine. Of course she had seen something.
“You need to stay away from the cave until this is over. It looks as if something bad could be going on out there.”
“How do you figure, if you didn’t see anything?”
She shook her head. “What we saw in the cave was enough. Someone might be planning to do something bad at the festival. That cave has always been a hangout for kids, but an ammo box, and the list and plans… It’s a police matter now. I want to thank you for bringing it to our attention.”
“And that’s it? That’s the end of my involvement?”
“Exactly.”
She stood gazing at him in her I-am-a-cop way, and her I-am-your-mother way at the same time. There was no way he could buck both of those.
He shrugged and said, “Good night, then.”
“Hey, Toby.”
He turned and wiped the hair out of his face. “Yeah?”
“It was just a BB gun.”
He frowned. “It was? Why didn’t you say so?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Good night.”
He headed up the stairs and at the landing he realized that he wouldn’t have smelled or seen any smoke from a BB gun. The smell, that campfire smell, was a lot like roasting rabbit from his Boy Scout survival training. Weird.
When he got to the top of the stairs he realized that whoever had fired the shots might have done it to get them out of the cave.
And when he’d brushed his teeth and stripped down for bed, he knew there was no way he was going to let this go. He talk to his mom again in the morning. See what she needed help with. The festival was only three days away, and they had to keep the people safe who were coming to see it.
* * *
That night he dreamed of a great eagle, larger and stronger than any real life eagle could ever be, flying on the updrafts over Paintbrush Mountain. Higher and higher it soared on the thermals, then drifted in circles as it came down. It was majestic, full of life. The swelling of pride in his heart made him know that this was the guardian of his people, the watcher of the mountain.
Then, as he watched in horror, the eagle lost the power of one of its wigs, as if it had been shot through with an arrow. It plummeted, its circling uncontrolled. It crashed into the summit of Paintbrush Mountain, the very mountain it protected and drew its life from, dead in a horrible mass of bloodied feathers.
He wanted to run to the eagle, to see if he could help. But he was held fast, and could not move. Tears of rage against whoever had struck the eagle, tears of helplessness as he didn’t even know who or what had caused the noble one’s fall.
When he woke, all that was real were the ache in his heart and the itchiness of tears on his face.
Toby had also realized some time in the night that if some person had wanted him and his mother out of the cave the day before, that he had either been in there with them, or there was another exit from the cave that he didn’t know about.
She was awake already when he got to the kitchen, or else she’d slept in her clothes. He remembered suspecting that when he was little–either she didn’t sleep, or she slept in her clothes.
“Hey, Mom,” he said over a cup of coffee, a rare drink for him, but after last night he needed to wake up. He wished it tasted as good as it smelled. He stirred in another spoonful of sugar. “When we were in the cave yesterday, did you shine the flashlight all around it real good? Because I don’t remember.”
She nodded. “Of course I did. I wasn’t going in there with my kid without knowing exactly what I was going into.”
There were no passages that didn’t show up in the main room, and they’d already walked through the entrance. It didn’t make a lot of sense.
Toby got on his bike after breakfast and met Eli up the hill from the cave where they could watch. Cop cars littered the place for an hour, but after they cleared out, Toby and his best friend rode down the hill and scooted uner the yellow do-not-cross tape.
It said “do not cross,” it didn’t say “do not go under,” so it didn’t really count.
Eli stood in the middle of their old hideout and looked around. “Now what makes you think we’re going to be able to find something the cops couldn’t find? You don’t think we’re smarter than they are, do you?”
“No, but we’ve got history. We’ve been here more than they have–lately anyway. Some of them were kids here, too, like my mom.”
Eli snorted. “Who is a girl.”
Toby frowned. “Girls have adventures.”
“We’re looking for a new passage out. A back door. I think one of the little side caves has been made into a tunnel.”
“And why didn’t you tell your mom about this, little goody-goody?”
“It’s just a hunch I have,” he said, looking right at the words painted on the wall. “I WILL RISE AGAIN.” He hoped he knew who had written them.
Sort of.
* * *
They began to poke around the edges of the cave.  Eli’s mini-maglight began to fade.
“Hey, Toby, batteries over here.”
But Toby left his friend in the dark.  He saw some debris on the ground that didn’t match the rock and dirt.  “Sawdust,” he mumbled as he looked up.
“Eli! Come to my light.  I think I found something.”
Eli shuffled his feet toward the wobbling light which rose up the cave wall as Toby scrambled up a pile of boulders.
“Hey!  Wait a minute.  Shine some down here so I can catch up.”
Toby huffed with impatience but turned the beam so his friend could climb up beside him.  Then he shined the light on the prize.
“A door!” they burst out in unison.
They continued to climb and Eli won the way to the top.  He jammed his shoulder against it.  ‘Oof!’  “No go!”
Toby came to his side, out of breath.  “Look, you goof.  A keyhole.  You…gotta…”
“Yeah, get the key!  Gimme your flashlight.  He stuffed his in Toby’s hand.”  Eli pushed past him and was down to the bottom in a flash.
Toby methodically loaded the batteries in the dark.  He turned the glow on the door.  His hand brushed over the wood and he fingered the keyhole.  He was sure the key would fit.  He was breathing heavily, but this time in anticipation.
“Eli!  Hurry up!”
No answer.
“Eli?”
Toby flashed his light below.  “Did you find the key?  The cops didn’t take it did they?”  Toby was alarmed.  Eli was the yammeringest guy ever.
“Eli?!”
Toby scrabbled down the rocks at breakneck speed.
He flashed the light madly around the cave.  Nothing.  Nobody.
“Eli!” He ran in panic, blinded by the late morning sun.
Panting he came to the river’s edge and realized he needed to calm down.  He went into Detective Carly mode.  He returned to the mouth of the cave and tried to make sense of the footprints in the mud, glad for once it rained in Mountain Meadows in the summer.  He saw Eli’s Sketcher’s print–different from his own Converse.  And It was leading out.  He had been here.
Toby took a deep breath and looked for more.  There didn’t seem to be any other clear prints nearby, but there was a strange double trench as if something had been dragged into the brush.  He bent down to look more closely.
“Hey, Toby, what’s up?”
Toby near hit the top of the nearby firs.  “Valerie!  You scared the hell…I mean heck out me.”
“I know!  Police lines and everything.  This is so cool.  What’s going on?”
“No.  Not cool.  Not cool at all!  Eli’s missing.  I mean.  He was with me a few minutes ago but…”
“I’m sure he’s around…”
“Did you see him?”
“Geez!  No.  Calm down.”
Toby sighed.  He hated girls.
“I am calm.  But he’s really gone.  We were in the cave…”
“Cave?! Cool.”
His expression stopped her cold.
“We were in the cave, looking for clues to what’s going on, and Eli went down to get the key and…well his footprints coming out of the cave and then…” he pointed.
“Weird.”  Valerie’s features drew down.  “Why did you need a key?”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“Try me.”
Toby could see he wasn’t getting out of this.  He told her about the strange messages and the list and then hesitated to reveal the door.
“Key?” she insisted.  “I do need to know what’s up if I’m going to help you find Eli.”
“Um, well, we found a door.  Up near the roof of the cave.  It’s locked, but there was a key in the can with the list.”
“Okay, so do we look behind door number one, or try to find Eli in the woods?”
“Find Eli,” they chimed together.
To his great annoyance she giggled briefly.
“This is serious!” he chided.
“Sorry, nervous habit.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Hey, look over here.”  She squatted next to what was clearly a large boot print.  “Probably from a cop?”
“Nope, not department issue,” he spoke with authority.  “My mom’s a cop.”
“Oh.”
He glanced at her but couldn’t determine the lean of her take on that.
“Hmm.  Look, there’s another one by that tree.
They ran over.  As they bent down to look, they bumped heads.
“Ow!  Watch what you’re doing!” he growled.
“Whatever.  You weren’t looking either,” she said absently as she inspected the ground.  “There’s that weird double groove again.  Do you think it could be from Eli’s toes?  Maybe they knocked him out.  We should get your mom.”
“She’ll kill me if she knows I came up here.”
“Eli’s missing.  You dead from Mom, or him dead from…”
“He’s not gonna die!”
“They ALL will die,” she mocked.
“It’s not funny.”
“I know.  Let’s get your mom.”
POP, POP, POP!  broke into their argument.  They ran into the bushes.  And Valerie put her hand on his shoulder as they squatted to hide, and he felt her speeding pulse.  “What was that?” she asked.
“Same noise that drove us out last night.  This time, I’m not waiting while my mom checks the scene.  Let’s go down by the river.  It came from this way.”
“I’m willing, but don’t you think…”
“Listen! If we chicken out now, and wait for my mom, Eli could disappear! I want to follow that sound first, and then, if we can’t find anything, I’ll call my mom!”
He realized he was yelling at the girl, and felt a moment of regret. He was pretending to be such a great detective, but here was, shouting so loud that any creeping, oozing, insane and smelly wretch could hear him. He might as well go for it.
“Eli!” he screeched, so sudden that Valerie jumped out of her skin beside him. “Eli, can you hear me?”
He  didn’t expect to hear any answer, but he did notice something.
“Shush!” he spouted, just as Valerie opened her mouth to speak. She took a second to send him an annoyed look.
But there it was again, a rustling noise. It all lead down to the river. As he got up to stare down the steep ravine below the cave mouth he felt caution stir inside him for the first time. Up here, by the road, he still felt connected to home, and relative safety. But once they went down, they weren’t going to get back up easily. For a second he was tempted. After all, he had his cell phone. He could call his mom. He could go down a few feet, just to prove he could, and then tell Valerie they should wait for help to arrive.
But the girl wasn’t waiting through his doubts. She was already slithering down the slope. That wasn’t going to fly. He hustled, and shouldered his way in front.
“Careful!” she snapped.
“Be quiet!”
“Me quiet, what about you! You’ve already been loud enough to announce us!”
They found the trees, tight until they had to crouch and push through the branches. That rustling noise, he had heard it before, a short while ago. The light dimmed into an evening shade, the uneven ground rough and yet moist with the mysteries of the woodland environment. The air grew still and silence laid down on his shoulders like a blanket. He saw a break in the tree branches and aimed for it, slowing as he came up to it.
Valerie was right beside him, and she made a small noise as her foot stumbled. For the first time, he took her in.
She was tall, almost the same height as Eli, and nose to nose with himself. She was pretty, he supposed, but there was more there in her face.
“Why are you staring at me?” she whispered, so quiet that no real sound came out. She frowned. “You’re not thinking of trying to leave me behind?”
No way was he thinking that. In fact, he realised that he was glad he wasn’t alone.
“Just come on.”
He pushed apart the branches, looked into a clearing, and saw a living space, outdoors in the woods. There was a space for sitting. An alcove for lying down in. There was a small creek with an old banged up metal coffee pot on the rocks. He pulled back. He didn’t like the look of the place, and more, he didn’t like the feel of it. It was halfway down the mountain, and his dream came back to him, and the spot where the eagle crashed to its death.
“Let’s go back,” said Valerie, pulling her clothes tight against herself. All of a sudden, Toby agreed.
Someone was living here. They were trespassing. And this person was used to the area, knew all the hiding spots, and was willing to drag off one kid. What was to keep him from dragging off two more? No doubt the stink of a man was hiding behind those tight trees over there, just waiting for them to come closer.
A noise jangled in his pocket, and his skin leaped right off his head and settled back down again.
It was the theme song to Rin Tin Tin, an old show his mom used to make him watch on the western channel.
That was his mom calling him, as if she were connected and knew just when he was getting into the biggest trouble.
“Come on, Toby,” Valerie urged. “This is beyond us down here. Maybe we’ll find Eli back up top!”
It was hard to turn around. What if he was Eli’s last hope? But she was right.
Turning, he pushed his way back through the branches, into the silent part of the underwoods, and scrambling back up to the top. He was shaking once he got there. Fear caught them both at the same moment, and they rushed their bikes. Eli’s was sitting there unused beside his. He went into the cave, unable to relax until he was certain. He shone his flashlight all around. No one was there, but just as he was ready to leave, the beam fell on the words.
I WILL RISE AGAIN.
Time to leave, before the stink man climbed back up the ravine. He dialed as he rode his bike in the other direction. Not to go home, but back to the main road while he waited.
“Mom!” he said, his voice feverish. He had cut off her ‘hello’. “Mom, I’m sorry!” he yelled.
She began to scold him but the phone was wiggling against his ear as he reached the main road and swirled around to a stop.
“… Tobias, you tell me what’s going on, right now?” her voice was rambling on.
“Mom, it’s all the worst you could imagine! I’m here! At the cave!”
Valerie had followed his frantic pedaling, and now she had pulled up to a stop at his side.
Meanwhile, he heard the sound of his mother drawing a deep breath, so she could unleash the tirade. He cut her off.
“Mom, you have to come! It’s Eli, his missing, and I think he was dragged off!”
The sound of his voice and the words he was saying got through.
“Where are you now, Toby?”
“Up at the main road, Valerie’s with me!”
“Who’s Valerie?” she demanded, and then switched. “Nevermind!”
“I’ll wait here for you!” he spewed. “Just hurry and bring people to help us search!”
He hung up on his mom. And then he put his head in his hands, and breathed.
“Toby,” said Valerie. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay!” he roared, his voice vicious. “Eli’s gone! And I didn’t help him!”
“Well, you don’t have to yell at me,” she grumbled.
“Who asked you here, anyway! Who even knows who you are!”
“You were happy enough to have me when we were down the ravine!”
“Well now I wish you’d shut up and let me think!”
“What can you think about? Eli’s gone and you called your mom! What else can we do?”
He dragged his fingers down his face in frustration. Then he felt relief. Down the mountain, still far away, he heard the distant sound of sirens. The argument they had been having dropped away. They stood frozen, listening to the help arrive, waiting for someone else to deal with the problem. But as the first of two cop cars came into view, Toby felt unsatisfied. He wasn’t going to be able to leave this in his mom’s hands, and he knew it. He would see what these cops produced, but if it wasn’t enough he was going to keep investigating.
The cars drove by them, over near the cave. He and Valerie moved to meet them, and his heart thumped as he saw the look on Detective Carly Hart’s face.
She was ticked. She had been disobeyed, scared without knowing it, and proven right. If she wasn’t so insufferable, he might feel bad about it.
“You,” she snapped, pointing in his direction. “Sit in the car.”
“Mom, you can see Eli’s footprints outside the cave! It looks like he was dragged off!”
She said no more, but if mom’s could catch fire, her face did it. He got in the car. Valerie went naturally along with him. They got in, in the back seat, and slammed the door. Silence ticked in a few dust motes.
“Your mom’s pretty mad at you,” Valerie said, pointing out the obvious.
“No duh.”
“I said you should call her.”
“Whoopee for you.”
“You are such a brat! Did you know that?”
“You’re a…”
Just then the front door of the police car opened, and Carly’s parter, Detective Harley Nubber. Figures she would send him. The man was her best friend, or something like that. She was always suggesting that he get to know Harley, and telling him about how he knew about computers and stuff.

Dectective Harley Nubber was a tall man with a muscular build.  His face showed age but his eyes had a youthful gleam in them.  He had a big smile that made him mischievous looking.   But his voice was stern and at this moment he was very serious.  He ordered Tobby and Valerie  out of the car.   They looked at each other hesitating when the Dectective said,
“ I said now!”
Toby and Valerie  jumped out and stayed glued together like they were twins.   Toby started to speak when Detective Nubber put his hand up to stop him.
“First off, do not say a word until I ask you.  This is serious Toby and you have disobeyed your mother and you have broke the law by crossing over into a crime scene.”
Toby was shifting from foot to foot when Valerie poked him with her elbow trying to get him to stop.  He was making her more nervous than the Detective.
“Now who are you young lady and why are you here?”
Valerie was beet red now.  She did not know what to say.
“  I, I, I am Valerie Lynne and I followed  to see what Toby and Eli were doing.”
Toby piped in,   “ Stupid girl, you..”

“I did not ask you to speak did I Toby?  You are not to say a word until I ask you.  Do you understand?”

“Yes sir!”  Toby said so very quietly.  Now he was worried he knew he was in real trouble now.

Now Detective Nubber paced around them.  He could feel their fear.  That is excactly what he wanted.  He and Toby’s mom, Carly where very close so he knew all about Toby and he knew what it is like for young boys looking for adventure.  The only problem this time is that they stepped into something bad.  Harley was seriously worried about Eli. He also was worried about his partner.  He knew Carly was a good cop but things just did not sit right with this.  He turned back to the kids and looked at Toby and just stared for a few moments until Toby looked down at his feet. Then he knew he was ready to give answers to the questions needed without any lip.
“Toby, what did you and Eli do when you got here and I want it straight and simple from the moment you got here to the the time Eli disappeared.
Just as Toby started to explain they all froze as they heard shots.  Toby immediatley worried about his mom.  Harley was worried  too and barked orders for them both to get back into the back seat and keep your heads down.  “Do you understand me?”

Both Toby and Valerie jumped into the back seat without saying a word.  Detective Harley Nubber took off running with his gun pulled out.  Toby had raised his head just a bit and looked.  Valerie poked at him whispering,
“Get your head down, stupid, like he said.”
Toby did because at that moment they heard more shots.
Harley was running so fast now when he came up to where he could see some of the others he almost could not stop.  He dove down into the dirt behind a bush just as a shot whizzed by him just missing his ear by a hair.  He tried to look up and get his bearings and to see where Carly was.  Every one of his senses was on overdrive now.  The shots stopped but there was no movement.  He started to get up to see what was going on when the shots rang out again.

Carly was pinned down about half way down the hill.

******
“Toby,” Valerie said, causing Toby to jump.

“Shh,” he replied. “I’m thinking.” He turned to her and felt bad. “What are you crying about?” he asked her.

She wiped her face and held her chin up. “Nothing. I’m just upset that I got you into this mess.”

“You didn’t,” Toby yelled. “I got myself in this mess. If it weren’t for me Eli would be here with us. Now we don’t know where he is or what’s happened to him.” Toby rested his head on the back of the car seat. “So be quiet so I can think.”

Toby wondered what his detective mother would do. “Look for what you didn’t see,” she always told him. That’s what he did; he set his mind to thinking about what was missing.

Starting at the cave entrance he thought about what cave entrances should look like. What’s missing, he wondered. Dirt, rocks, plants. If someone lived in the cave there’d be more footprints but there weren’t any. Then he remembered the door at he top of the hillside, above the cave. There were ruts. Tire tracks? Couldn’t be. The ruts stopped and footprints started a distance from the cave.

Something bothered him about Valerie. When he came out of the dark hole this time, she jumped from the salal shrubs. He studied her face. Who is she, he wondered?

“What were you doing up here, Valerie?”

Wide eyed, she said, “I come here often. I didn’t think anyone was here.”

“Why do you come here?”

“Why not? It’s a free country. I can go wherever I want. Besides. It’s none of your busines what I do or where I go.” Valerie put her hand on the car door handle.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Toby asked.

“I’m done with this stupid cop show. Good luck Toby.”

Valerie stepped outside the squad car and slammed the door. Toby ran after her.

“Valerie. Wait. What if it’s out there and it gets you?”

Turning, Valerie said, “No one will get me. This whole thing is a hoax. You’ll see.” She waved her arm as she started for the main road.

Catching up to her, Toby said, “Wait. What do you mean, a hoax?”

Valerie twisted her arm to release it from Toby’s grasp. “This whole thing. Look at it objectively, Toby. It doesn’t make sense. Someone’s pulling someone’s leg. Now, I’m going and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

As she walked away, Toby looked up the hill. No movement. He heard a scream. A girl’s scream.

“Valerie?” He took off running in the direction Valerie walked just moments earlier.

When he caught up to her, Valerie was kneeling over something off the side of the road. As he approached closer, he noticed it was a dead animal.

“What happened?” he asked Valerie.

“It’s my dog. She must’ve followed me here.”

From near the squad car, they heard someone moving around.

******
“Don’t move. I’ve got you covered, Harley said to Carly.

“Hurry up. I’m about to slip off the side of the hill.”

A bullet careemed off a rock to the left of Harley’s shoulder. He hit the dirt faster than Carly could blink her eye. Another one hit the dirt inches from his face.

“Look up. Tell me what you see,” he called to Carly.

Carly held onto the salal branches and slowed her breathing. “Where’d it hit?” she asked Harley.

“To the right of my face,” he replied.

The forest this time of year was densely shaded from the alders and bigleaf maples. Her eyes scanned through the tree limbs.

“See anything?” he asked.

“Not yet,” she replied.

Something moved about a third of the way up a Douglas Fir. She scanned the moss and ferns growing from the limbs. “There. I see something moving. The Doug Fir, fourth branch up on the right.”

Harley looked in the direction she indicated just as a small dark blob moved behind the trunk.

Carly’s sweaty hand slipped on the salal. She let out a scream as her body slid down the hillside. “Harley,” she cried out. “Harley, help me.”

Keeping the tree in sight, he got up and crouched over to the place where Carly slipped. Thinking the perp was gone by now, he looked downhill.

“Carly?” he called. No answer.

Pulling on his black ops training from the Navy, former Seal Harley Nubber trod down the hill as though it were a Sunday walk in the park. Trained to notice anything that wasn’t supposed to be there, he scanned the perimeter of his visual field for anything that moved.

He neared the bottom of the hill. The sound of rushing water over river rocks came up to meet him. So far he hadn’t seen Carly. He stopped, piqued his ears and looked around.

“Carly. Answer me. Where are you, Carly?”

The rushing water seemed louder as he focused on all the sounds around him. He moved his head to the left. To the right. From behind him came a sound, like an animal’s heavy breathing. He turned in time to see what it was and hit the ground unconscious.

*****
“Okay, this isn’t happening. I’m out of here,” Valerie said to Toby.

“We were told to stay here. The worst thing we can do is split up. The second worst thing is to leave the car. If anyone comes looking for us, they will come to the car first. If we’re split up, they won’t have enough people to look for us.”

“Too bad, Toby. You can’t tellme what to do. It’s a free country last time I heard.”

Valerie put her hand on the car handle and walked away from the squad car.

“Valerie. Wait.”

By then Valerie was down the road. As Toby started out for her he heard a ping sound, like something solid hitting metal. He spun around and saw dust flying off the hood of the car. He ran after Valerie and heard a scream. A girl’s scream.

“Valerie?” He ran faster. When he caught up, she was huddled over something on the side of the road. “What is it?” he asked, panting from his sprint.

Sobbing, Valerie said, “It’s my dog. She must’ve followed me.Stupid dog! Why did she have to come here?” Burying her face in the dog’s fur and let loose with a wail that sent chills up Toby’s body.

“If it means anything,” Toby said, “I’m sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault,” she told him. “I came here on my own. It’s my fault my dog followed me.”

Toby stopped talking and stared at the dog’s neck. He reached down and pulled something out. Turning it in his fingers, he examined the sharp pointed projectile and admired the feathers at the other end.

“What do you think this is?” he asked Valerie.

She looked up, gulping air. “What?” she asked. Toby held it out to her. “What is that? It looks like a dart.”

“I think it is,” Toby said. “Someone killed your dog on purpose.”

“Who would do that?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her dog’s body and pulling his head to her lap. Looking up to Toby with questioning eyes, she said, “Who? Why?”

Toby turned his head up the trail toward the squad car. “What’s keeping them?” he asked. Valerie didn’t answer right away. Her eyes focused on the trail. Toby reached into his pocket for his cellphone, to call his mom. The pocket was empty. He reached into the other pocket. Empty.

*****

Carly couldn’t admit what had troubled her earlier when she and Toby made their first visit to the cave. When the three shots were fired, chasing mother and son out of the cave, Carly’s memories went to another time and place.
It was during a camping trip at Sapphire Lake on the other side of Paintbrush Mountain Carly had taken as a child.  She and the other kids had hiked the circumference of the lake just before noon, tossing pebbles across the water or trying to see who could skip rocks the most before the flat stones sank.
Why that particular visual came to mind, Carly couldn’t say, but the three popping sounds reminded her of a discovery she and the other kids had made that summer. The source wasn’t fireworks or a gun – BB or otherwise – but something just at the mouth of the Prakis River.
The adults had a picnic lunch laid out for the kids’ return, nodding their heads as the tales were shared, the mystery unexplained. Only Leroy Burkhard, Eli’s uncle expresed interest. True, Carly and the other kids were never given a clear answer, however they were not dismissed, either.
Focusing on the immediate concern before her, Carly’s mind returned to police officer mode.
Good news was the fact that Harley was still breathing. She didn’t see who was responsible, chiding herself for that, but Harley wasn’t in grave danger.
Of all the people she had worked with in the department, Harley was the one she trusted most. During the times she had doubted herself, Harley provided confidence and encouragement. That and Toby needed a strong male role-model.
She joked with Toby about how to connect with Harley, using computers as the tether, however it was Harley who taught her everything she knew. The joy was in the fact that she knew Toby could learn a few things from Harley who would be the perfect listener to her restless teen.
Why her son couldn’t stay home to try and solve the puzzle in relative safety was something she questioned but knew she would gain nothing by regret now. Her son was out there with an unknown individual or individuals who may or may not have taken Eli.
Carly sighed, trying to rouse Harley to consciousness. To go from worrying about one child to two was too much. It was rare times like these Carly wondered how she would have faired if she had a daughter.
***
“What do you mean we don’t have communication?” Valerie placed her hands on her hips. “Toby, what do-?”
She wanted to let him have it, to share the frustration and guilt, but it wouldn’t help them, wouldn’t bring her dog back or help find Eli.
“I goofed this time, big, all right?”
She agreed with Toby about the importance of staying together. It was one thing to be mad and alone. It was better to have someone to yell at, share the burden with, but more importantly, try to find a solution. That was the attitude Valerie presented now.
Relaxing against the side of the car, she folded her arms across her chest. “Let’s look at what we do have then,” she told him. “We have your missing friend, your mom out there somewhere, and little idea as to why someone would deliberately kill my dog.”
She watched as Toby’s eyes darted back and forth, deep in thought. Good, he had something to focus on in a productive fashion, a puzzle to unravel in concrete terms. Valerie had a few ideas of her own but chose to say nothing – for now.
“Does your dog have a habit of digging around where he’s not supposed to,” Toby asked. Valerie nodded. “What if we were to trace your dog’s steps, maybe find what it was that got dug up?”
“That sounds like a plan,” Valerie said, giving Toby a quick smile.
***
“So, what do we have, partner?”
Carly rested her elbows on her knees, surveying the area. “I’ve no idea.”
“Wrong,” Harley challenged. “I know well enough to say you didn’t tell your son the truth.”
Carly gave him a look. “I’m not that obvious,” she shot back.
“You may not join us at the poker games, but I know your tell. So, tell.”
She didn’t have a reason not to tell him and they both knew it. “Promise not to laugh.”
“Scout’s honor,” Harley said, giving a sloppy rendition of a Boy Scout’s salute. Carly laughed.
“The popping. I know I’ve come across explanations for it before. It’s been an echoing part of Mountain Meadows for decades.”
Harley gave a slight nod. “Go on,” he prompted.
Carly sighed, imagining for a moment the campfire by Sapphire Lake, the songs sung and the stories told. Leroy’s story was the one that kept them up long after the s’mores were cooked, the campfire died down to ashes.
“I will rise again,” Carly began, eyes closed. “The story of the phoenix and the eagle in battle above, the patch of blue sky surrounding the wings, the falling feathers. The screeching could be heard for miles, the birds going on until the bitter end.
“One of the birds would have fallen against the rocks along the Prakis River. When it was thought that the birds were done, one wounded and the other victorious, the only thing that could be heard would be the swaying branches scratching out a song of their own, of the rushing river and the few birdsong within the trees.”
Carly paused, the next part a thread to hold on to, to get to the root of the problem she hoped. “The stillness was shattered by ‘Pop! Pop! Pop!’ It had been said that it was either the birds facing off once more, wing-to-wing or perhaps a form of magic. Of course, magic and Mountain Meadows?” She blushed.
Harley propped himself up, looking intently at her. “So, whatever we’re dealing with in the cave could be-?”
“It could be something completely different,” Carly said. “I don’t know. Sometimes I ramble with or without the badge to make up for the fact that Toby doesn’t talk to me as much as he used to.”
This time Harley shook his head. “Don’t even go down that path, Carly. He’s a kid, a teen who is going to have to find the path he needs, just like we did. He’s got a level head on his shoulders, unlike Eli.”
It was Carly’s time to smirk. “Tell, Harley.”
He traced a pattern into the dirt. “He’s a kid.”
“He’s my kid and someday he’ll cross a line I won’t be able to follow.”
***
“I don’t see anything,” Toby said. “It was a waste of time to even-.”
Valerie slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t be a dunce, Toby. We have to find it – whatever ‘it’ is otherwise my dog died for nothing and I’m not going to stand for that.”
Toby raised an eyebrow. “You were going to leave earlier, you know. Or have you forgotten how this is all probably a hoax?”
Valerie shrugged. “Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I do know I don’t, and I repeat, don’t want to go back to the cave. The smell of it reminds me of a locker filled with week-old dirty socks or worse.” She paused, brushing away some leaves and flower petals that didn’t belong in the area. A small silver sphere emerged. She turned it around in her hand. “So, which way should we go? Take the car and go back to town or go out into the woods?”
She put the challenge to Toby because he had the most to lose, the most at stake.
“If we leave, who will be here for Mom?”
Valerie pivoted to go back to the car. “Well, if we’re going to look for your mom, I say we better be prepared.”
***
“Prepare yourself,” Carly said. “The fallout from this will be one of our careers I’m sure.”
“Because we’ve found the answer to a mystery or failed to?”
“Because we’ve yet to find Eli,” Carly said. “Do you think you can make your way back to the car, with a bit of help, I mean?”
Harley gave Carly his ‘devil-may-care’ grin, through the pain and all. “It will take more than a bit.”
Carly nodded. “Fine. Let’s do this – one step at a time, Leroy would say.”
“What else would Leroy have to say,” Harley asked.
This time Carly did grimace. She didn’t fear anyone – or at least she made it a point not to show any fear. While most folks had a distant relationship with the old man, she respected him, not because he was an adult and she a child at the time, but because failure to give the man what he was due seemed to be a bad choice.
“I think I have time enough to tell you a few more items,” Carly said. Of course, by the time we get back to the car…”
She furrowed her brow as another memory from the Sapphire Lake camping trip came to mind. Why she failed to see it earlier irritated her. The fact that it might – or might not – be part of the puzzle nagged at her.
“Of all the songs he chose to sing,” she muttered more to herself. “It wasn’t the words but the notes that were the thing!”
***
“Carly! Baby Girl you alright down there?”
Carly could hear the panic in her father’s voice as he called down the ravine.
“Dad! We’re fine, but I think it’s going to take some help to get us out of this,” Carly bit her lip as she called up to her father, Sherriff Tobias Hart to everyone in Mountain Meadows. She also hated that her Dad was rescuing her once again.
She had worked so hard to become the first female detective and here she was stuck in a ditch.
Sheriff Hart wasn’t only worried about his daughter but from his perspective this whole week was spiraling out of his control. And if there was one thing Sheriff Hart did not like it was to be out of control.
So far he’d had Mayor Jessup breathing down his neck about these strange happenings up at Paintbrush Mountain. The Mayor did not want anything spoiling his Festival this weekend.
The whole trouble had started with the dead birds. Last week The MacDougals had been camping near the river and discovered seven dead crows lying in a circle. They’d called up Sherriff Tobias whom the family had known for years, didn’t even call him Sherriff, just his nickname, Big Bow.

MacDougal told Big Bow that each bird had been impaled with little darts and arranged so that one’s mouth was eating the other’s tail feathers. It was creepy and disturbing but Sheriff Tobias  just assumed it was a childish prank, told MacDoughal not to worry and told Carly to keep an eye on that Eli boy. Didn’t tell her why, just forty years of experience told him something not right with that kid.

That was the first incident. The second incident was even wierder and much more serious. Thursday morning the Mayor received a letter, which he handed over to Sheriff Tobias, sweating and terrified.

The letter was cut out newspaper clippings spelling out a very simple but terrifying message:

YOU WILL ALL DIE
I WILL RISE AGAIN
THE FESTIVAL
MAYOR JESSUP
PREPARE TO FEEL
MY ART AS IT
CREATES ANEW
EVERYONE WILL BURN

Mayor Jessup was so scared he took off for Sherriff Big Bow’s office immediately, racking his brain over everyone he’d ever crossed. The list was long to say the least. He didn’t become Mayor without ruffling a few feathers but the truth was he cared about this town and knew what it took to keep it’s survival on track.
He’d been around long enough to see the timber industry fall and rise and fall again. He was sure the way to keep Mountain Meadows viable was creating an artist’s haven and tourist destination surrounding the scenic Paintbrush Mountain.
Sherriff Tobias read the letter calmly from behind the receptionist’s desk.  He’d just told Marlene, the part time office woman that she could run out to pick up her kid’s from school and when he saw the look on Jessup’s face he was releived. No need in scaring anybody.
Honestly, he’d thought it was prank from the get go. Just some grudge or another the Mayor had racked up. People around here were unhappy about his latest development. In his efforts to push forward on his agenda he had just announced the demolition of a whole of forest. that outraged a number of folks in town, Sherriff Tobias being one.
But now, his daughter was in a ditch, there was  dead dog when he showed up, and his grandson was nowhere to be found.
***
Toby was worried about his mother and decided to head back to the car with Valerie in tow. There wasn’t anything they could do about her dog right now and he was starting to think they’d just get into more trouble if they went deeper into the woods.
As soon as they cleared the woods he saw his Grandfather’s car and that put his stomach into a lurch. His grandfather only showed up when it was serious.
“Hey Lil Bow, get over here, what are you doing.” When his grandfather looked at him, Toby felt his heart leap into his throat. Big Bow had eyes that could look right through you and into your soul.
He knew his grandfather would be disappointed when he heard what Toby had to tell him about the cave, Eli and now Valerie’s poor dead dog.  Toby looked around for his mother and when he did not see her he asked his grandad if she was ok.
“Yeah son, she’ll be ok, but she and Harley are trapped in the ravine. I got some of my boys coming out to deal with the situation, but it’ll be a while before they can get up here with all that equipment. Wanna clue me into why you and your little girlfriend are out here?”
“She’s not my girlfriend!” Toby interrupted.
Big Bow looked down at his grandson with stern no-nonsense eyes. Toby knew this look and didn’t want to irritate his grandfather any further. It would not be wise so he explained everything just as if he were giving a statement. Toby was all to familiar with police procedure. When he had finished, his grandfather went to update a few new officers who just showed up and then asked Toby and Valerie to show him the way to the dead dog.

***
Deputy Jerry Stern who had just arrived on the scene went to the ravine to update Carly and Harley on their current rescue mission that was now under way.
“Yeah, folks looks like you got yourselves in a bit of pickle down there.”  the Deputy had an almost comical Minnesota accent.
“Yeah Jerry we did. So what’s the status on this rescue mission?” Carly hollered back.
“Well Old Tom is coming down from the junkyard with some heavy equipment to fish ya out like a couple of walleye.” he gave a little giggle of a snort and called down again.
“Ya sure everybody’s alright down there? Big Bow’s got an ambulance at the bottom of the hill the EMTs are hiking up now.”
“He’ll be ok. No serious injuries.”  Carly called back.

***
Valerie and Toby lead the way down to the place where Valerie’s dog had died, Sheriff Big Bow was close behind.
When the got to the spot where they thought they left the dog they were surprised to find that it had disappeared.

Valerie was starting to become upset. The events of the day were catching up to her.
“He was right here! Wasn’t he Toby?!” Valerie cried out.
“He was grandpa, he was right here!”
“I believe you, son. Now try and calm down Valerie. What was it that you said you found near the dog?”

“It was this.” Valerie dug into her pocket and pulled out the small silver sphere that she had found earlier. She handed it to the Sheriff.

Big Bow took the object and handled it carefully. A bolt of odd recognition flashed across his eyes. Toby was watching his grandfather carefully. He saw an emotion cross his face that was rare for his grandfather. The look was fear. Big Bow took a couple of steps backward and told the kids to stay put. Once he was out of earshot he grabbed his walkie talkie from his belt and brought it up to his face.

“Yeah, Jerry. I’m here with the kids. I found another one Jerry. We need to call in Matilda. It’s happening again.”

Toby was worried, he rarely saw his grandfather shaken, even just this little bit.
“Something is going on with that silver ball you found. He’s looking at it like he knows what it is, and he looks like he’s afraid of it.” Toby told Valerie.

Valerie had gotten herself calmed down but was still wiping worried tears from here eyes.
“I didn’t think anything could scare that guy.” Valerie took a seat on the ground next to a large bolder. Her legs were shaking and she was feeling faint. It had been sometime since she had eaten last and now she was feeling hungry too. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rest her head on them. Her eyes scanned the ground still wondering what had become of the dog. Suddenly she noticed a bit of red from behind a nearby bush. She pushed the bush branches out of the way and there just behind them was a red skate shoe.

“Toby! Look over here! Isn’t this Eli shoe?” she grabbed the warn out shoe and held it up. It was Eli’s, he had the habit of copying down test answers on the bottom of his shoes to cheat in Mrs. Ludwig’s  math class. Toby grabbed the shoe and took it over to his grandpa.

“Grandpa, this is Eli’s.”
Big Bow called over the walkie-talkie.
“Yeah Jerry, we just found the missing kid’s shoe.”

***

Matilda White was sitting in her study examining a tarot reading when her phone rang.
“Hello, this is the Amazing Matilda Psychic Medium. What can I do for you Jerry?”

“Matilda, hi it’s Jerry.”

“Yes Jerry. I know it’s you. What did you find?”
“Well, Ms. Matilda looks like we have another mystery on our hands here in the valley.  I know it’s been awhile since anything like this has happened. We always certainly appreciate your intuitive services during these puzzling times.”
“It’s my pleasure to always do anything I can to help.  Thank you for trusting me enough to call upon me,” replied Matilda.
Jerry frowned then said “Yes, this time we’ve got some kids involved. One is even missing.  However, the main reason I called is about some silver spheres that one of the kids found.”
“Sphere?  Are they large or small?” asked Matilda.
“Ohhh,” Jerry contemplated as he replied “About the size of a silver dollar. A little larger but not by much.”
Matilda sat back in her chair reviewing flashes of the past history in the area.  She gasps then stammered hesitantly, “It, it sounds like THE amulets”.
“Amulets?” asked Jerry.  He wasn’t familiar with the mysterious spirit world of the elders around there.  It wasn’t a subject of interest to him until now.
“Was it found in the forest?” she asked.
“Yes, near the ravine.  One of them was laying on some sort of foreign petals next to a murdered dog. The dog was shot with a poison dart of some kind.” All I know is that we really need your help!” Jerry exclaimed with a confused tone in his voice.
“Yes, you do.  More than you will ever know.  These amulets are from the ancient elders who used them to bring in the power of their desire of action.  The actions can be of a positive or negative action.  If I am correct to my suspicions we could be in a lot of trouble.  I need to see them as soon as possible for confirmation.” Matilda spoke as her heart raced.
“Ok, Ms. Matilda, can you meet me at the ravine or should I bring them to you?”
“I will meet you at the ravine as it would be best for me to scan the exact area where they were found.  I will be there as fast as I can.”  She grabbed her keys while trying not to panic.  As she was driving the images of the amulets danced in her head.  The symbols on the amulets  would determine which side they are used for… the dark or light, she thought.
All the way there she prayed that the symbol of the eagle not the crow would be the result.
Upon arriving she saw a grey wolf cross the road.  He stopped to lurk at her as though he was sensing her mission.
Matilda’s psychic abilities were kicking in stronger and sooner than she wanted them to.  Her mind was sending her ancient visions with ashes of fire dancing in the moonlight while elders performed rituals.

Toby, his grandfather, and Valerie left the scene of where her dog had disappeared and went back to the cars. His head felt fuzzy. What was going on around here? And all the while and during all this confusion he was still missing his best friend, Eli.
He felt like a box of puzzle pieces had fallen at his feet, with some clues glaring in screaming colors, and some pieces upside down and hidden in brown cardboard. There was a lot to be said for the comforting presence of his grandfather, and the continuing mystery had the effect of keeping the man’s stern eye from focusing on him, but all the same, Toby wanted to get back to the main trouble.
His grandfather went over to talk to Jerry, and Toby followed him.
“What you going to do now?” Valerie asked.
“Shhh!”
“What’s that, Toby?” his grandfather asked, reminded that they were still beside him. “I want you two to stay in the cars.”
“I just want to see if Mom’s okay,” murmured Toby. Just then Jerry turned, and as he had hoped Sheriff Hart’s mind focused on all the problems at hand.
“I called Ms. Matilda,” Jerry called, “Says a’she’s a coming right over.”
Toby frowned. Ms. Matilda! Why’d his grandfather call her in? The woman always gave him the creeps, looking through him and declaring his hidden spots when he wanted to keep them to himself.  All sort of new information would occupy his grandfather’s mind once she returned.  But this wasn’t the time for the big picture.
A hail raised up from the edge of the ravine, and Toby hurried over. The rescuers had just succeeded in pulling up the two that had been stuck down the sharp edge of the ravine. Perfect! He took a moment to see that his mom was on her feet, and unharmed. Then he nudged Valerie in the arm.
“Come on,” he whipered.
He backed away, walked in the direction of the cars so that he would appear to be following orders, and then, as soon as he was out of sight, melted behind the trees at the top of the road.
The hike was steep here. The trees were thick. Up, and over, he would be in the area above the cave where all the trouble had started.
“Why are we going up here?” Valerie panted beside him.
“I want to get a good look at the place.”
“All I see is trees.”
He grunted but didn’t respond, and he picked up the pace. Now that he was taking an action, even if it was pointless, the restless energy of reaction urged him to go faster and faster. Soon the gradient was so steep that the bast of some of the trees was bent, out and away from the hillside and angled to the sky.
He felt like he was a mosquito on the run, with barely any hold on the surface unless he planted and took hold.
For no reason he felt as if he had gone high enough. He angled over, to where he could see a stand of rocks.
He reached the spot and caught his breath, with Valerie standing insecure beside him. He looked down.
As she had said, the main thing they could see was trees. But away, far down to the bottom, something flashed in the sun.
“What was that!”
“Something metal. There’s something down there, below the ravine.”
“So I suppose you want to take flight from here?”
“No, but I’ll bet you that whoever’s down there knows something about Eli.”
“How can we find it again?”
“We have to go down the ravine.”
“Your mom’s not gonna let you do anything but sit like a good boy in her cop car.”
He scowled, but before he could make the decision to turn back the way they came, he heard something. A moan.
“Come on!”
He rushed away, his heart thumping. That sound wasn’t an animal. It wasn’t an enemy. It was the very sound he had been longing to hear, the voice of a person who needed help. He pushed by the rocks, and on the other side the trees began to thin, as the skin of the mountain side had a few bare patches. The curve of it began to appear impassable, but he pushed on.
There, thirty feet away, he saw a rough trail that was coming from down below. White dust from rocks, a few pebbles, and some broken steps of hearty wildflowers lined the edges of it. Soon he and Valerie were following it, and once they were going that direction, the clear evidence of what they sought filled their eyes.
“Eli!” Toby screeched, rushing forward.
There was his friend. He was lying on the ground, like a heap, with his eyes closed. He and Valerie climbed and scrambled, arriving at his side.
Eli had his hands tied behind his back. He looked like he couldn’t wake up from a bad dream, even though Toby began shaking him.
“Eli!” he was shaking. “What happened? Who did this? Are you okay?”
But he never got a clear answer. Something struck him, like a sharp bee sting that clung to his shoulder. Like a flood, his awareness was being washed out of him, flooding like water out past his knees. The last thing he saw as he fell asleep was the face of Valerie, looking concerned, alarmed, but very much awake.

Detective Carly Hart was sitting on a boulder, and she had been listening to all the reports and suggestions that her fellow investigators were bringing to the table. She was still exhausted. Its a draining thing, being stuck on the hillside with an injured partner. Harley stood there now, next to her father, and hadn’t told the Sheriff that he had been knocked unconscious. She considered spilling the beans, but she could tell by the determined look on her partner’s face that he wouldn’t appreciate it. Harley wanted to be in on things now, a part of the action, not sitting, being pampered on the back bumper of a paramedics unit. And speaking of men who wanted to be in on the action, she rose and interrupted the conference.
“Where’s Toby?” she asked, her voice breaking in with sharpness.
“I sent him back to the cars,” her grandfather said, turning back to the others.
“And he went?”
“Sure he did. I saw him go over there.”
But now she had her father’s attention. Even Harley’s eyes narrowed, as they all three realized at once how strange it was that Toby hadn’t said anything, and seemed to be so quiet and obedient in the cars.
“I’ll just go look in on him,” her partner said, turning to go look. He stopped as a new car drove up, and a trim, very alive-looking woman got out. She pushed back a strand of long, gray-black hair.
“Ms. Matilda,” he said. She hurried forward.
“Where’s Sheriff Hart?” she demanded. “Something’s wrong.”
Harley’s heart sank. Somehow he knew without bothering to look, but he strained his eyes looking into the cars anyway.
Inside the spaces were empty. There was no young, native american lad with thick black hair and animated brown eyes to be seen in any of the three cop cars. And there was no girl either. The two youngsters were gone. He didn’t want to have to report this to Carly, but it turned out he didn’t have to say a word. She was right behind him.
“Oh, no!” she gasped, and her voice, for the first time ever since he had met her, sounded like a little girl’s, a young frightened little girls. Her father was by her side.
“Now, Carly, sweetheart,” he tried to say. “You know your son as well as I do. He probably wasn’t satisfied that we weren’t finding his friend quick enough. He’s probably nearby, looking.”
“No, that’s not right!” she said, her voice sounding as if she was trying not to panic. “There’s something, wrong, Dad! I know there is!”
Harley tried to prepare for the long haul. There was a lot more going on here than he knew about, but they should’ve kept their focus where Toby had said it should be. The kid was right. The real question to be asked had to do with a kid missing, and now there were three.

“That boy is intuitive beyond his years,” Matilda said as if she were reading Harley’s thoughts. “He is in danger but his courage will lead him out if he allows his mind to trust his heart.”

“What are you saying?” Carly shouted. “That boy as you call him is my son. My one and only son. And now you say he is in danger. What exactly is it you know, lady?”

Harley laid his arm on Carly’s shoulder holding her in her seat. He knew she would soon be flinging accustations and insults that would send their one and only hope – in his opinion – off never to return.

“Carly, let’s calm down. Let’s listen to what Ms. Matilda has to say. She’s been helpful to our teams in the past. Getting everyone riled up is not going to help.”

“Easy for you to say. It’s not your son who’s disappeared,” Carly said whipping her head around to search out her father.  He seemed to have disappeared also.

“Let’s just hear Ms. Matilda out. Please tell us what you know.”

“It is not what I know, Detective Nubber. I know very little. I feel and I listen. What I sense is that a great insult has been heralded at your people and upon this place. The spirits are reacting in ways that will get your attention.”

“What spirits? How do spirits knock people unconcsious? This is ridiculous,” Carly said. “Where is my dad?”

She shouted out beyond the cars. “Dad! Dad!”

“Hold on Carly. He was just here. Sit still. I will go find him.”

Harley walked off with a heavy determination. He had grown weary from people disappearing. All this searching for one and then loosing two once the one was found was distracting them from unraveling the mystery of the cave paintings. That stupid kid should have stayed put like he was told. And dragging that young girl along with him. Though she was a spunky girl and most likely Toby insisted she stay behind. She was the kind who wouldn’t listen to logic – a lot like Carly. But that was what had attracted him to Carly – her spunk and self-assuredness. Sparkling eyes and a warm smile to go along.

“Sheriff Hart?” Harley called out. Damn if that big man was no where in site. But there was Jerry leaning against a narly old birch tree, chewing on a toothpick.

“Hey,” he called out. “Sheriff Hart had to take a leak. He just wandered over to the edge of the woods there. Said to tell you he’d meet us back at the cars.”

“Okay, we better get back over there before Carly insults Matilda so bad she decides not to help.”

“You don’t take that psychic crap seriously do you Harley?”

“Well, she has been right on so far. And she described Toby perfectly even before I mentioned his name. I’m not closing my mind to anything. This business has to get solved sooner than later.”

When they walked up on the two women, Ms. Matilda was holding Carly’s hands in hers. Both women were siting cross legged with their eyes closed. Ms. Matilda was feeding Carly calming thoughts encouraging her to draw from her energy to quiet her fears.

“Free yourself from the shackles of fear. Bring the wisdom of calm into your heart. Know your son is safe. Draw from your love to create a way to connect with him. Send your loving energy out…”

“Geez Louise,” Jerry exclaimed. “Don’t you need some incense, white robes and brass bells Matilda?”

“Jerry. We meet again.”

“You two know each other?” Harley asked. “I thought this was your first time in our neck of the woods.”

“Matilda was a regular at one of the bars in our town. I kept having to run her out of town for setting up her crystal ball and taking money from unsuspecting drunks.”

“That was a long time ago. I was just developing my intuitive skills then.”

“Where’s my dad?” Carly asked in a much calmer way than before. “I thought he was with you Jerry.”

“He had to take care of some business behind a tree. Said he’d be right here where we are.”

Harley couldn’t quell the sinking feeling that kept creeping up in him. It was as if a hot flame started at his toes and boiled his blood all the way up into his stomach, stopping like a knot in his throat. He didn’t need Ms. Melinda to tell him someone was up to no good and figuring out who that someone was seemed obvious right now.

“Listen, we aren’t getting anywhere sitting here. We need to either head out to search for Toby and Valerie. We’re going to need flashlights and warm clothes. Someone should go back to the station and pick up some supplies. And Matilda, are you okay with hiking around these woods with us?”

“It could be dangerous,” Carly said her voice laced with a new found affection for the woman.

“I’m here to help in any way you decide dear,” Matilda replied.

After sending Jerry back to town, the three-some loaded a couple packs from the car with a few provisions. Harley said they would limit their search to three hours. An hour up  and hour back down with the time in between hopefully spent locating the kids. He threw out the idea that they’d probably run into them on the way up, insisting Harley would know well enough not to stay up around the caves after nightfall.

A few steps up the trail, they discovered Sheriff Hart slumped against the ragged bark of a cedar tree. A trickle of blood inked down from his hairline. He was conscious but seemed unaware of his surroundings. Carly dropped to the moss-covered ground at his feet and held his face in her hands. Harley drew his weapon and whipped around eyes peeled for any movement beyond the trees.

“Dad! Dad,” Carly said urging him to hold her eyes in his loopy gaze. He did not or could not respond.

“Let’s get him back to the car. He’s probably got a concusion.”

As they lifted him to his feet his big gangly arms batted at them as though they were gnats swarming his head. An anguished howl rose from deep in his throat, like a wild animal caught in a trap. Carly stumbled back and nearly fell, her feet caught up by the tree roots entwined along the surface of the ground. A hoot owl called out its lonely serenade. Nighfall was near. Carly felt a panic well up in her but knew she had to stay calm for her dad now. Toby, wherever he is would have to lean into his inherited wisdom of the natural world in order to make it till morning.

When they got back to the cars, Matilda’s was gone.  Carly’s center wobbled again.  It seemed nothing was there to hold onto.
“Steady there, Carly.”
She eased at Harley’s familiar reassurance.  Maybe there was someone.  She surprised him with a deep-eyed smile.
They strong-armed the dazed Sheriff into the car. Carly leaned into her seat as Harley called in the situation to Jerry telling him to skip coming back out and get Doc Jensen down to the clinic instead.
When they arrived, the Doc accepted their help to get the Sheriff into his office but asked that they wait in the waiting room while he examined him.
“I think Matilda is right.”
Carly’s comment pulled Harley out of his thought.  He waited, knowing she would go on.
“The spirits are unhappy with what’s going on around here.  The spirits are restless.  Who knows the old stories, Harley?  Who would know about the amulets?”
He began thinking but let her ramble her with her muse.  He knew it was the straightest path to answers.  Her talking, him letting it sink in.  They’d done it so many times before.
“Matilda said one eagle, one crow.  Maybe the restless one wants to preserve and destroy.  What if they want to do good by destroying something bad?”
“Hmmm,” he agreed.
“A map of the festival.  A list of people.  A rusty key.  It’s obvious the festival is threatened to be disrupted.  Maybe the festival is the something bad.  We’ve been assuming it was good and must go on.  But it promotes growth in this town.  Not everyone here is for it.”
“And growth threatens the land.  The eagle guards the mountain,” Harley encouraged.
“I wish I hadn’t been so worried about getting Toby home and so furious at him for hanging out with Eli and finding trouble.  I think we’re going to have to look at the cave a little more closely.  Toby really thought there was another passage.  I’m sure that’s what drew him back here.  He can’t let those kind of feelings go.”
“I know someone like that.”
She looked down and smiled instead of sending him a barb.
He felt protective and shy with her so vulnerable.
“Toby will be fine, Carly.  He’s got that Valerie with him too, and she had some pluck.  And you know Toby didn’t head out without a flashlight and some way to make fire.”
She withdrew.

The doc entered quietly.  It’s not a concussion.  It seems like he’s got a strong sedative in his system.  I took some blood, and I’ll check it out and let you know in the morning.  I’ll let him sleep here, and just take the other cot in there myself in case he fully comes to and gets feisty.  He’ll want answers, and I don’t want him out of my sight until we figure out what hit him.

***
Toby woke up to a shimmering orange light. When he collected himself enough to focus his eyes, he found himself laying on cool damp dirt several feet across from a small campfire. Toby knew where he was, he was inside the cave. He was confused as to how he had gotten here but when he opened his mouth to call out for Valerie he found that he had been gagged. He wiggled his arms around and found them uncomfortably bound behind his back. His feet were bound as well. Toby began to panic. He struggled with the ropes on his hands and legs but they were too tight he was not going anywhere, and after a while he grew tired and sore and laid still and tried to think.

Toby began to hear other noises once he got his erratic breathing  under control. There was the shuffling of footsteps much heavier than his own nearby. They approached him, then Toby saw a filthy boot the size of a man’s come down and rest on his side nudging him a little.
Toby looked up and saw a tall shadowy figure lurking over him.
“Tobias Hart. You don’t know how long I’ve waited to meet you.”
Toby struggled a little but the man drew back his boot and delivered a fierce kick to Toby’s ribs.
“I knew your daddy Toby, a long time ago before you were ever born.” the man lifted Toby up and took his gag off.

“Who are you?” Toby was surprised how weak and frightened his voice sounded. He felt helpless, like a child, he hated this feeling.

“Burkhard. Leroy Burkhard. That’s what they used to call me.”

“Eli’s uncle? Eli told me you died when you were seventeen?”

“I wouldn’t say died. It was more like I was reborn. You see your dad and I had a flavor for adventure when I was your age, just like you and Eli. We played here when we were children, that’s when we first found the stones. We loved this place and it’s ghostly fables. Our fathers told us stories of the Kala Caw tribe.”  Leroy pulled out an old leather pouch from under his jacket and pulled out several stones like the amulet that Valerie had found near her dog. Toby remembered ghost stories about the Kala Caw tribe but as far as he understood they were old wives tales that parents told their kids to keep them out of the woods at night.
He remembered his grandfather telling the stories to him on their summer fishing trips. The legend was that the Kala Caw tribe found magic stones buried under ruins that were ancient even to them. The stones were valuable to the tribesmen and treasured for their beauty. Thirteen stones were all together unearthed. At the Kala Caw’s harvest celebration the wealthiest men of the tribe brought the stones to the sacred alter to give thanks to the spirits for their bountiful harvest. When the stones where brought together a mystical porthole was opened and powerful spirits were released. The tribe’s shaman was the first to feel and recognize the power of the spirits, but before he could execute his blessing to bring the spirits to the light the Chief of the Kala Caw became drunk with a dark power and turned into a demon. The tribesmen watched in horror as their chief morphed into a beast of fire, but the shaman knew one way to fight such an evil. He ran to the alter where the stones were gathered and swallowed them one by one. Then he took his alter knife and plunged it into his own chest. A great white light shot from his mouth and encompassed the demon that they had released and the Chief and Shaman burst into flames and turned to ash. The tribesmen gathered the stones separately and returned them to the earth. All that was left was the fables and legends that Toby heard from his grandfather.
Toby tried to put the pieces together and make some sense out of all this; the stones, the harvest festival, the list, the door the key. How did the puzzle fit?

Leroy was standing over Toby staring at him and fondling one of the stones in his hand.
“Your dad and I loved the stories of the Kala Caw. We were curious and craved adventure, we wanted to perform the ceremony like we had heard of in old legends. It was like a game at first, we never suspected that the legends were true.”

***
Carly pounded the palm of her hand against the dashboard, knowing that it wouldn’t help make the car go faster, however it helped relieve some of the building pressure.

“Why didn’t I see it before?  Harley, why didn’t I see it before? The notes spelled everything out – in a limited fashion, but they spelled everything out!”

Harley kept his eyes on the road, still sorting out what he had learned since this whole mess began. The thing that frustrated him most was the fact he failed to realize he didn’t know the people he always thought he knew.

Carly’s fingers uncurled from their previous clenched state and now she moved them about like a pianist. Humming one of the campfire songs softly, she ‘played out’ the notes with one hand and wrote them down with the other. She continued this until they were almost at the road leading back to the cave.

“Carly? Talk to me,” Harley said. He surveyed the setting for signs of any other disturbances, relieved to find none. “Carly?”

“Matilda pretty much knows everyone in this town or at least has a connection in one form or another, right? If we gave her the list of abbreviations, do you think she’d be able to decipher which family they descend from? I have a feeling that if we go back far enough we might find the true start?”

Harley sat in the car, the engine stopped and his mind racing faster still. “The true start? There are so many different things going on that-.”

“Why do we even have the festival days? Is it to celebrate the current accomplishments, future goals or things in the past?” Carly turned to face Harley, her face animated as her eyes danced back and forth. “With this particular celebration, its new location, its new structure and everything else, we’d still expect to see the craftsmen of old, the weavers and the dancers, the carvers and the singers, the painters and-.”

“I get that,” Harley said exasperated. “But how does a list of names or ‘maybe names’ help?”

“The key.”

“The key,” he repeated.

“The purpose of the key is to be a turning point of unlocking one door, of going from one place to another. If that portal is locked, a key is required to continue.” Carly jumped out of the car, practically running towards the cave as she realized the various follies she had dismissed from her teen were more important now than first appeared.

“My husband used to tell me that the key to living a content life was knowing when to take a leap of faith and knowing when to simply jump.”

Harley was glad that Carly was in front of him so she couldn’t see the expression on his face. While it wasn’t practical or wise to redefine the partnership between them, Harley had hoped for a more permanent place in the Hart family. Then again, it wasn’t as though someone long lost could possibly return again.

***
Valerie sat at the water’s edge, skipping stones across the entire width of the lake. She hated some of the things she had to do but it was the only way to get those involved to move faster.

Would Toby forgive her or allow her to tell him the entire story? Probably or probably not. She didn’t care what Eli thought because it was for his own good and if he failed to see that then Valerie failed completely.

She chuckled to herself as she recalled the ‘words of wisdom’ that the grownups had tried to impart. The notion that age brought great wisdom only proved itself true half of the time, the young woman thought.

Then again, Valerie was much older than her years, much wiser than she appeared.

The sound of the grinding muffler and blasting of the booming bass of the radio meant only one thing, the thing that Valerie had patiently waited for.

“Matilda,” she said to herself, unfolding herself to her full height. The notion of having to remain grounded for such a long period of time irritated Valerie. She couldn’t wait until it was time enough to fly.

“My dearie,” Matilda said as she almost fell out of the car. “I think they’ve finally got it!”

Valerie shook her head ever so slightly, saddened by the smell of scotch on the woman’s breath. Whether or not this was supposed to be a ‘mask to the insanity’ of Matilda’s gifts or the possible fact that the woman had fallen from her foundation of mystic faiths, the young woman couldn’t say.

“Well, it only took hitting Toby over the head – literally – for him to see the light. Now if he and his mother can get to the passage,” Valerie said, “there might be a chance.”

“Do you think we can do it this time? Do you think we actually stand a chance?”

Valerie felt tired and old suddenly. “Matilda, the time is now – right now. If they can figure out the group involved, the group at risk, then this is the group who can put the festival back on its purposeful track.”

“You’re assuming they know what to do with the key,” Matilda scoffed, twisting her long black-grey hair. “Do you know how many people have tried and failed with the pieces? Do you know how many people have been lost like wandering fools and-?”

Valerie remembered having this conversation too many times to count. The Hart family was the heart of the salvation and securing of the legend. The Hart family, if they believed and continued on the path before them, could help right past wrongs. Inactivity and apathy had allowed things to go on for far too long.

***
Carly sought the coffee can and hoped the key was still inside. She sensed Harley tensing up behind her but she didn’t care. First, find the key, second, hope it fit the lock. Third,…

“What if it’s booby-trapped,” Harley asked. “Did you think of that?”

She ignored him. Once the key was found, she felt around for the keyhole. Slipping the key inside, she held her breath, turned the key…and heard the clicking of the tumblers.

Carly gave a victorious smile, then stepped inside. What she saw took her breath away.

Harley stepped in front of her and said; “ Wait, don’t touch anything.  Let me check out to make sure there are no traps.”  Carly just stood there in silence, she could not believe her eyes.
Harley checked it out carefully making sure there were no darts that might be hidden in there or any other kind of trap.
He saw nothing out of the ordinary except all the money.  It was more money than he had ever seen.  He looked at Carly and they just noded to each other in understanding  .  Harley spoke first;  “Carly should we check the rest out?”  She just nodded, she still couldn’t speak.  She just followed Harley into the small room behind the door.  There was more money, and a small table and chair and some equipment for digging.  Then they saw a chest.  They both went over there and Carly bent over to open it.  Harley was going to stop her but decided it would be ok.  When they opened it both of their mouths just dropped.  To their amazement it was full of amulets and stones.  Shinny, bright and gold.  There was lots of gold too.  Carly was the first to speak.
“Harley do you realize that we can live the rest of our lifes without a worry in the world with just a few pieces of this?”
Harley just nodded.  “Carly, we need to find those kids, this is beyond their scope of things. This is not good.  This kind of money just means big trouble.  And I mean big.”
Carly whipped around and looked at Harley.  She could see the worry in his eyes.  She was afraid to ask but her training kicked in and asked; “Harley I with you, lets go find the kids?”  Harley took the lead and they looked around again and just looked at each other without a word then they walked out and locked the door.
“Carly put that key somewhere safe and do not,  and I mean do not leave my side do you understand me?”  Carly knew that Harley was serious.  They worked their way out of the cave and stood outside for a moment to breathe some fresh air.  Then they both checked the around and talked about which way to go first.  Harley took out his walkie talkie to try and reach someone.  Harley hoped to reach Jerry.  It was funny he hadn’t heard from Jerry in quite awhile.  In fact he turned to Carly, “Hey have you heard from Jerry lately?”
“No, infact he did not check in after dropping my dad off at the doctor’s office.  Why, what are you thinking??”
“Nothing for now.”  Harley answered.  But Carly could hear his wheels turning. “Harley tell me now what are you thinking?”
“Well it may be nothing but Jerry’s attitude about some of this is off and he and Matilda well for some reason I get the impression they know each other than police business.  I don’t know maybe I am grasping at straws but things are not adding up.”   Carly just tried to remember the events for the last 2 days.
“Well let’s go through the things that stand out to you, what do you think?”  “ Ok, good idea Carly, tell me what do you know of this Valerie Lynne?”
“Valerie?  What about Valerie?”
“I don’t know just tell me about her?”
“I don’t know her very well Harley, really I don’t”
“What, please tell me what are you thinking?  Please?”
“Really Carly I am not sure, just a gut feeling.  Let’s just start looking for the kids and we can think and figure some things out as we go.”
They headed out towards the ravine since that is where they were yesterday.  They walked about as quiet as they could listening and looking ahead at every moment or anything out of the ordinary.

Toby was so scared but yet he was wanting to hear about his dad.  Leroy just stood over him with a smirk.  He could see that Toby was scared but interested.  Toby looked around for Eli and Valerie but couldn’t see much.  Leroy said “You be a good little boy now Toby, I will be back!”  He laughed and it was so evil Toby shivered.
“Wait, please, where is Eli, is he ok and Valerie?
Leroy just laughed again and left.
It was so dark and cold.  Toby wished for once he had listened to his mom and no of this would be happening.  But for now he had to pull himself together and figure a way out of here.  He worked on adjusting his eyes to see.  He suddenly heard something.  He squinted and looked around.  Then he saw a lump on the floor moving.  He froze  for a moment then called out.  “Hello, Eli,  or Valerie is that you?”
He heard a soft moan and recognized it was Eli.  He was so excited he started moving around trying to get untied.  He kept pulling and twisting but no luck.  “Eli, Eli, wake up, please wake up.”
Eli started moving more but still was not really concious.

Harley and Carly moved forward checking under every tree and bush looking for clues.  “Carly, do you remember when Jerry came on to our team?”  Carly thought back and then she remembered the Festival years back when the amulets started showed up again and her dad had called Matilda in.
“Come to think of it Harley he came in when Matilda was called in years back when, well when Toby’s dad left.  Do you remember that? “
“Do I remember that, that son of a … Well I won’t say it.  Hey wasn’t that when we had that problem at the camp grounds also?  In fact that was the first time Jerry arrested Matilda and then she ended up convincing Big Bow to let her help him and there was Leroy died or at least we assumed him dead!  Carly I think we have something here.  Some how the legend is being used to hide something here.  What it is I don’t know.”
Carly couldn’t shake this feeling and suddenly was really worried about Toby and Eli too.

Valerie was feeling bad now.  She really liked Toby.  She wasn’t sure about hurting him but she was just doing what she was told.  Hopefully they wouldn’t hurt Toby and Eli like they promised.

Toby was still trying desperately to get loose and get to Eli.  He kept calling out to Eli.  No answer.  The fear set in again, what if??  That was the last thought before Leroy came back.

***
Matilda found Valerie struggling to restrain her emotions.  The girl appeared far too vulnerable at times and Matilda needed to realize that despite how mature Valerie appeared, she was not yet an adult.
Valerie pushed her hair back from her face, her fingers brushing across her cheek at the same time.  Matilda noticed a damp streak.  She smiled and cleared her throat.
“Aunt Matilda?”
“Thought I’d find you up here, away from everything for the moment.”  The older woman stepped closer and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder, giving a little squeeze.
“Just thinking.”  Valerie shrugged and Matilda noticed her great niece’s head droop ever so slightly.  “You promised the boys wouldn’t get hurt in any way.”
“And they haven’t been.  A little knock on the head isn’t too bad, dear.”  Matilda chuckled.  “They’re boys, they do far worse on purpose.”
Valerie smiled.  “Yeah, I guess you could say that about Eli at least.”
“It’ll be fine.  Just fine.”  Matilda stepped away, dropping her arm and clasping her hands in front of her chest.  “But, if you want to stay away when we move them, I’ll understand.”
Matilda looked toward the lake.  The sun had dipped lower and the tree tops were dark tendrils reaching up into the unknown.  “You’ll need to decide soon though.”
“Okay”
The older woman turned away, heading back into the cave.  She hoped Valerie would come to her senses and join them for the end.  But she wasn’t entirely sure that her niece had fully understood her heritage.  Matilda wondered if she ever would.
***
Toby blinked his eyes several times, the dim light playing with his mind, causing him to see nonexistent shadows.  At least, he hoped they weren’t there.  Eli’s breathing remained steady.  Man, that boy could sleep like the dead.  Of all times, too.
It was worth a shot to wake him up.  Even if Toby got free, he had to get Eli out somehow.  And who knows when Leroy was going to be back.  Wait, how was Eli going to react to seeing his uncle again?
Toby rested his face on the damp floor, the chill packed dirt refreshing his brain.  No time to think about Eli and his uncle.  Time to get up and get out and get to his mom.  Otherwise, he might never see her again.  And that wasn’t what he wanted to think about.
“Eli.  Eli, get up.”  Toby closed his eyes, trying to force his voice louder without echoing throughout the room.  “You need to get up right now.”
Eli didn’t move.
“Eli, if you don’t get up, when you do….”
“He’s not getting up any time soon, Toby”  Leroy’s voice boomed.
Guess not, with the way that shout ricoched.
Leroy crouched down next to Toby’s head and the boy flinched.
“I’m not going to hurt you.  I just needed you guys out of the way.  We’ve come too far to let you two interfere.”
Toby tried to roll over, to get a better look at Leroy’s face but pain shot up into his right arm.  “Interfere with what?”
“Nope, that I’m not going to say.  You’ll just have to trust me.”
Toby snorted, “Yeah, why would I want to do that?  ‘Cause it’s been working so well for me.”
Leroy sat back, crossing his legs in front of him, hands palm down on his denim covered knees.  “I know you have no reason.  But I won’t let anything bad happen to you.  I already failed once with the Hart family.”
Toby stayed silent.  He wanted to ask Leroy more, but at the same time, didn’t.
Fortunately, Leroy seemed to have guts that needed to spill because he continued.
“I’ve been lurking, hiding, waiting.  Seventeen years, Toby.  It wears on you, boy.  It starts to mess with you.  You think you know things about people?  You think you know your people?”
Toby nodded.  “Yeah, I think I know my people.”
“No,” Leroy’s voice boomed again, and Toby glanced at Eli’s still sleeping body.  “No, you have no idea.  What people can do when they think they have options.”
He fell silent again and Toby watched Leroy’s eyes move back and forth.  There was something the man needed to get out.
“We came down here.  To provide for our families.  Set them up forever.  Especially Gabe.”
Toby’s ears perked up.  “My father?”
But it was like Leroy hadn’t heard a word, lost in his memories.  “Gabe wanted to make sure his son had what he needed.  He had a ridiculous conscience.  Called him Honest Gabe just to get a rise out of him most of the time.”  Leroy laughed heartily and slapped the ground next to him.  “But in the end, you know, I think it was his conscience that got to him.”
Gabe blinked hard.  His mind raced to think that Leroy had known about his dad.  “All this time, you could’ve found me.  Told me what you knew.”
“What do I know, boy?  I know that one day, when we’d all but decided what to do with all our gain, your righteous old man wanted to give it back.”  Leroy stood up and hovered over Toby.  “Wanted us to just let it go if I couldn’t give it back.  Let someone else find it.  No way.”  He thundered.  “No way was that happening.”
Toby cringed at the emotion in Leroy’s voice.  He needed to know.  “What happened to my dad?”
Leroy shrugged his shoulders.  “He left.  He walked out of the cave in the blackest night I’ve ever seen.  I tried to stop him.  I called out his name.  Reminded him he had a son and that we’d had a deal.”  He thrust his hands into his pockets.  “But he wouldn’t stop.  And then I heard him yell.  And I heard a crash.”
After Leroy paused, Toby couldn’t take it any longer.  “What happened,” he yelled.
“His body was broken, he’d fallen off a steep section and right into the rocks.”  Leroy took his hands out of his pockets.  “There wasn’t anything to be done and I wasn’t getting blamed for it.”
Toby’s gut clenched. His dad was dead. He’d always hoped to meet him, but he’d always known in his heart that he was dead. There was no way that the man his mother had loved so deeply could have walked out on them.
And this guy, this Leroy who was supposed to be his friend, didn’t even tell anyone what had happened. “So you just left. Hid out like a coward? What good did that do anybody?”
Leroy shrugged, lowered his voice. “I still regret that. But it is what it is.” He met Toby’s gaze. “I know I can’t entirely make it up to you, but maybe I can do something.”
He got up and came over to Toby, crouched behind him.
Toby held completely still you’ll while the guy untied his hands. Then he flexed them and rubbed his wrists.
“Don’t get too happy, I’m just going to tie them in front of you so you’re more comfortable.”
Well, that was something at least.
Eli groaned again, then he muttered his favorite curseword. Made it obvious that he was waking up.
Leroy walked over to his nephew and crouched next to him. “Hey. How’s the head?”
“Uncle Leroy! What are you doing here? I thought you were dead! Everybody thinks you’re dead.”
Toby had no reason to stick around for the happy reunion, so he untied his feet as fast as he could and wiggled his toes.
Leroy’s back was to him, but he could hear him talking to Eli, explaining, trying to calm him down.
“And you knocked me out and tied me up! Is that any way for an uncle to act?” Eli shouted.
Eli didn’t mention Toby. Eli caught his eye.
Leroy shifted. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t want you interfering or getting in the way of what we’re doing.”
Eli said in a low and dangerous tone, “I was so looking forward to knowing you, and then you do this crap. You’re not worth knowing.”
Feet still asleep or not, this looked like the perfect time to split. Toby got to his feet and bending over, ran out of the little side room and groped his way down the passage into the main cave.
Only to run right into this old lady. She grabbed his arm.  “Whoa. Where are you going son?” she said, her voice smug.
He was taller than she was. He could take her in a fair fight–but hitting women, or even just knocking them down was not a thing he could do. His mother and Harley had taught him too well.
“I just need to get back to my mom. I’m sure she’s worried about me.”
“She can worry a little while longer,” the woman said.
Toby jerked away from her and stumbled back.
Valerie clamped her hand over her mouth. “Run, Toby. Get your mom.”
Toby took off running, and stumbled when he got into the blinding light of day. It seemed he’d lost a whole night somewhere.
He rubbed his eyes and tried to figure out where he was. He’d never seen this area before, and had no idea where he was.
He looked at the sky–the blazing sun wasn’t hard to spot, but it dint’ give him much of an idea of where he was, since he didn’t know what time of day it was supposed to be. Heck, he’d had such a bump on the head that he couldn’t remember how to figure out anything.
Oh, but wait. The river. He listened for it, and it was on the other side of the cave he knew of. He headed downstream, looking for the police search party that was surely in the area.
* * *
Valerie dragged her dear, old auntie out to the mouth of the cave where they wouldn’t be heard. “I’ll let go of your mouth if you promise not to yell,” she told her. “Deal.”
Matilda nodded.
“Now. I’m not in your stupid deal anymore. You guys hurt Eli and Toby, and I can’t stand that. You got me?”
“I got you,” she said. “I knew this was going to happen.”
“I don’t care about the money. It’s worthless if you don’t have friends. You know what I mean?”Valerie thought she saw tears in her great-aunt’s eyes.
“I know exactly what you mean. It’s too late for me, but maybe…” she took a deep breath.
Valerie tensed, ready to cover her mouth again.
“Maybe it’s not too late for you,” said Matilda. “Maybe you can have a better life, free of the greed. Free of the–”
“I don’t think so,” a big guy  said.
Valerie didn’t remember seeing him before, but he was a cop. “Thank God you’re here,” Valerie said.
Matilda said, “Hi, Jerry.”

*****
“Wait?” Valerie quickly put it together. “You know him?”
“Jerry and I go way back,” Matilda said. “We’ve known each other since we were you and Toby’s age.”
Jerry grabbed Valerie, cupping his hand over her mouth. Valerie kicked and bit at Jerry. “You little ….”
Valerie drew blood and ran.
“Get her!” Matilda yelled.
“I’m bleeding!” Jerry looked indignant.
“You’ll be doing more than bleeding if you don’t catch that girl.”
Jerry’s wounded look turned to determination and he dashed off after the girl.

*********
Toby ran into the river as fast as he could and swam with an Olympic swimmer’s grace to the other side. He didn’t know where he was going, he was just running. Running to hopeful erase all of this craziness. Dead father, a dead dog, a stupid girl, and his friend, like a brother, a lump in the wilderness with a crazy man –apparently risen from the dead. He just knew that if he ran he might find the path. That’s how the warriors of old had done it; they had gone into the wilderness…
But Toby didn’t find his vision quest, he found Valerie.
Or rather she found him.
“Hey! She merged into the same path he was running. “You better pick up the pace,” she panted. “Jerry — the cop,” she was breathless.
“What?” Toby stopped.
“No! Don’t Stop,” Valerie kept running. Toby heard crashing and grunting behind him and started running after Valerie again.
They found the road, but Valerie was still three or four strides ahead of him.
“Come on!” She yelled. The sun was hot and the beating of her heart reminded her of the Tribal Drums. Her ancestors would not be happy with her.
Toby finally caught up with her, “Who is chasing us?”
“A cop, but he’s dirty. He’s involved. We need help.”
They were cruising down the road and Toby looked back, there was no one there. “Stop, Valerie! Stop”
She looked behind her and saw what Toby had seen. There was no one there. They had lost Jerry.
The two teenagers stood with their hands on their knees huffing and puffing and trying to catch their breath.
Toby stood first and stared at Valerie. Her hair looked like a rat’s nest and remnants of tears streaked a clean path on her dusty head.
“What happened to you?” Toby asked.
“My Great Aunt Matilida happened,” Valerie said. She tried to fix her hair, and wiped at her cheeks. “Her and that cop that was chasing me are in some sort of deal, some sort of plan. I think they’re…”
“Did they hurt Eli?” Toby face colored with anger.
Valerie nodded and she started to cry.
“Oh man, don’t cry,” Toby said.
“I helped them,” Valerie said. “Auntie said I wouldn’t have to worry about anything any more ever again. Ever since Mom died…” her sobs swallowed the rest of her words.
Toby didn’t know what to do. He stood there, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He knew that he should try to comfort Valerie, but at the moment he was feeling more like slugging her to make her shut up.
Tires on gravel, however, didn’t let him debate what to do any longer. A big black SUV had pulled up the road and driven right near them. Toby moved to stand between Valerie and the vehicle. Its windows were all tinted. Valerie didn’t move, her head in her hands, just sobbing. The backseat passenger window rolled down and Toby saw the ruddy face and giant nose of Mayor Jessup.
“What are you doing here, boy?” the mayor said.
Toby didn’t answer him, instead turning to Valerie and he bent down and whispered to her, “We need to leave now.” He took her arm and tried to help her up. As he helped Valerie up he felt his own legs give way and the world went dark. Valerie looked at the big black truck and the driver’s window was now down and a man she had never seen before had a weird looking rife pointed at her. She heard a hollow poofing sound and she hit the ground next to Toby as well.

*********
Carly and Harley talked quickly and new they needed the Sheriff’s help. They headed back to town, they past the Festival grounds that were being set up by. A ferris wheel, rides and all the food vendor trucks littered the grounds and made Carly’s heart race for a moment, thinking about the last few days. She hoped they could wrap it up and maybe enjoy an elephant ear with her son and put this all behind them. They arrived in record time back to the doctor’s office. Big Bow was groggy but up and barking orders at his assistant who was judiciously taking notes.
“Sheriff Hart,” Harley interrupted. “We think we know what’s going on?”
“Well good, because I think I do, too,” But I can’t get a hold of the Mayor; he needs to know what’s going on.”
“Can we have a moment of your time alone?” Carly said. Big Bow gave a look to the assistant and she left quickly.
“I would advise against that,” said Harley.
“What?”
Harley and Carly filled in Big Bow on exactly what was happening. The money. The key. The messages. And finally the list and the clue that led right to Mayor Jessup.

“Sherrif Hart,” a voice from behind Carly and Harley boomed.
“Officer Stern,” Big Bow sat up a little on the clinic’s bed. “Oh! Mayor Jessup.”
Carly spun around, Harley following an instant later.
“Sherrif,” the mayor began. “It’s come to my attention that you have been shirking your duties. And obviously you’re incapacitated.”
“No just a little under the weather,” Harley broke in.
“I hardly call this being under the weather,” the mayor puffed out his chest a bit. “I spoke with the doctor. He’s unconvinced you’re going to be able to return to duty any time soon. I gave you an assignment to keep people off the Winkl Development’s land and instead you are letting everyone trample all over it and upsetting a huge investor into our community.”
“Mayor,” Big Bow began.
“I don’t want to hear excuses, Hart,” the mayor moved so that he was at the foot of Big Bow’s bed.
“I just am here to let you know I’ve appointed Stern here acting Sheriff as is in my authority until the election next year. You’re dereliction–”
“You can’t do that!” Carly objected.
“Listen, little girl,” the mayor said. “I’m also here to relieve you of your weapon and badge as well,” he motioned to Stern.
Stern approached Carly and she drew her weapon at him, rather than handing it to him.
“Carly!” Harley shouted.
A shot rang out! Stern fell forward. Matilda stood in the doorway, dart gun in hand. “I’ve had it with you people!”
She leveled the gun at Mayor Jessup. “You! Especially!” She fired. Twice. Jessup fell on Big Bow’s bed.
Harley was at Matilda’s side and wrestled the gun away in an instant.
Carly looked at her father, “Navy seal,” and raised her eyebrows. She grabbed a set of handcuffs off her belt and helped secure Matilda and began to read her the Miranda Rights.
Harley ran down the hall to get some medical help.
Big Bow got out of bed, “Well that’s about enough of that.” He put on his uniform.

Out in the parking lot of the medical clinic, Carly and Bow got Matilda in the squad car.

“How’s Toby?” Big Bow asked.
“I don’t know,” Carly said. “I have to find him.”
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That knocking?”
Carly listened. She looked over at the Mayor’s SUV and could see it shaking slightly. “Look, over there.”
Big Bow and Carly approached the SUV and the pounding sound grew louder.
Carly drew her weapon again and covered her father as he opened the door. Bound and gag in the back of the SUV were Toby and Valerie.
“Toby!” Carly cried.