Firelight at Mustang Ridge (20 page)

*   *   *

The next morning, with the breakfast dishes washed and the crowd starting to get restless, Danny finished lacing her hiking boots and announced, “Okay, now I'm officially in heaven.”

Sam shot her an amused look over his second mug of coffee. “All it takes is a pair of hiking boots? I'll have to remember that.”

“Hiking boots.” She leaned in and laid a smacking kiss on him. “Bacon and eggs. A pretty morning. A tent away from the crowd. Sharing a sleeping bag with my sweetie. Take your pick.”

“How about all of the above?”

“That'll do.” Stepping up on one of the sawed-off logs that had been set near the firepit as makeshift seating, she waited until the buzz of conversation died down. Then, pitching her voice to carry, she said, “Okay, Mustang Ridgers. What do you guys say? Are you ready to hunt some gems?” That got her an excited cheer, with
lots of clapping and happy noises. As it died down, she took a quick headcount, relief kicking in when she caught sight of Mindy and Declan at the edge of the crowd, each with a kid by the hand. She couldn't tell if they had worked things out, but at least they were standing within touching distance of each other. When things went quiet once more, she continued. “I know you're all itching to get on the trail just as much as I am, so I'm just going to say watch your step, keep an eye on each other and your surroundings, speak up if something starts hurting or you see something that doesn't look safe, ask as many questions as you like . . . and above all, have fun!”

Sam led the rousing cheer that followed, and the prospectors-to-be set off down the path. As they strung out along the trail, Jon lifted his voice, clear and cheerful, leading them in a cadence. “
I don't know, but I been told . . . Misty Hills are full of gold . . .”

As the repeats echoed off the rocky hillsides that rose on either side of them, Danny looked back and saw Krista and Wyatt holding hands and marching along, with the Bright family behind them, linked together with the kids in the middle.

“Mus-tang Ridg-ers,” the chorus rang out loud and clear. “Mus-tang Ridg-ers!”

There was no doubt about it—today was going to be a good day.

“I
think I found one!” Maura shouted from the shallow pocket she'd been working, where bluish streaks of crumbling stone hinted at gemstones beneath.

Feeling the familiar kick of interest, Sam headed to where the others were crowded around her, doing the ooh-and-aah thing. “Well, gang? What's the verdict?”

“Gemstone, definitely,” pronounced Doug, squinting at the rock with all the expertise of a guy who had flipped through a couple of field guides. “I'm thinking topaz.”

Maura squealed and held it out to Sam. “Topaz! Say it's topaz!”

“Geez, Mo.” Abel pretended to clear out his ear. “Bordering on dog-whistle territory there.”

But Sam grinned. “You know what? I think you may have something here.”

Her brothers cheered, and Danny stepped up with the rinse bucket. “Here. Give it a swish.” She was wearing a T-shirt that read
WE WILL ROCK YOU
across the front, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and dirt was smudged along one cheekbone. And as far as Sam was concerned, she was looking mighty fine.

Shooting her a wink of thanks, he swished the stone in the rinse water, then whistled as he caught a gleam of greenish blue. “Hello.”

“Is it topaz?” Maura demanded.

“Looks more like aqua.” He held it out to her. “And a nice one to boot.”

“Boo-yah!” She did a happy dance, arms and legs flying. “Queen of the Claim! Oh, yeah. That's me!” Hooking arms with Danny, she did a do-si-do.

“Is there more?” Abel hunkered down where she had been digging.

“Maybe.” Sam held out a rock hammer. “How about you have a go? You're going to want to look for—”

“No!”
The sharp word cracked across the claim, whipping Sam's head around, to where Mindy, Declan, and the kids had been digging. Except now she was glaring at her husband with her fists balled at her sides like she wanted to take a swing at him.

Flushing, he snapped, “Calm down, Mindy. We can talk—”

“No, I won't calm down, and no, we can't talk about it later. We never do.”

Kevin and Sonja had been picking through the shale at their parents' feet, looking for fossils. Now they were frozen in place, staring up at their mother's angry face as she drilled a finger into her husband's chest. “I've had it, Declan. I can't take it anymore. I want a di—”

“Time-out!” Wyatt stepped between them, making a T shape with his hands. Krista was right behind him.

As Sam started forward to help, Danny swooped in and crouched down between Kevin and Sonja. “Hey,
you two. I think it's time for us to check out the Crystal Cave. Are you up for an adventure?”

“Great idea!” Sam dropped the rinse bucket so hard that it sloshed. “Everybody make sure you've got your flashlight, and a camera if you've got one. You're not going to believe your eyes.” And if moving the cave up on the schedule meant that the kids didn't have to hear whatever was coming next, he was all for it. Especially when their mother—red-faced and miserable—shot them a grateful look.

Maybe it was losing his own mom early on, but Sam had never understood why someone would want to hold on to something after it had gotten so bad, so hurtful. More, he didn't get how parents could put their kids in the middle of something like this, or even on its edges. Sonja was pale and wide-eyed, her brother resolute, like he wasn't all that surprised by what was going down. And damn, that pissed him off. If a man couldn't commit a hundred percent to sticking by his wife and kids, then he shouldn't have signed on in the first place.

Wyatt caught his eye and jerked his head. “Go on. Get them out of here. Krista and I have got this.”

Which was probably a good thing, because if Sam had to deal with Declan right now, it wouldn't be pretty. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Okay, gang. We're moving out. Next stop is the Crystal Cave!”

*   *   *

Grateful to Sam for taking the lead, Danny kept up a bright, brittle-feeling stream of chatter as the group walked the short distance to the cave. She pointed out
a hawk soaring high overhead, a bush loaded with poisonous berries, and the tracks of a lone coyote. Kevin nodded now and then, but Sonja kept looking back over her shoulder with her lower lip aquiver.

Whiz, bless him, stuck close to the kids, sniffing from one to the other like he wanted to chase away their held-back tears as the group turned off the main trail and clambered up the rocky hill.

“This is it,” Sam announced, stopping at a pounded-flat spot where there were numerous bootprints in the dusty soil. There, Midas and Murph had dug out a low triangular opening, worming between huge slabs of rock.

Keeping up the facade, Danny enthused, “I know it doesn't look like much from out here, but that's part of the fun.” She hadn't been inside, but she had seen pictures. So she wasn't exactly fibbing when she went down on her knees in front of Kevin and Sonja and said brightly, “It's really pretty in there. Like a cave full of treasure!”

Abel, Jon, Maura, Chase, and Doug crowded close, peering at the opening with exclamations of “I don't know if I'm going to fit through there” and “What happens if we get stuck?”

The last one hit a little too close to home, but Danny kept her attention on Kevin as his eyes darted from her to the cave mouth and back. “Do you want to go first?” she asked. “Sam can take you, if you want.”

“Me!” Sonja piped up suddenly, unexpectedly. “I'm first!” She grabbed Danny's hand and looked at her with utter trust. “Come with me?”

“I—” It came out as a wheeze. “Oh, no, honey. I can't
go in there. I'm . . .” She trailed off, not wanting to say she was scared of the cave when the little girl had every reason in the world to be afraid. But that same world pressed in on Danny and threatened to spin when she looked at the dark opening leading into the hillside.

She couldn't go in there. She just couldn't.

Right?

A reassuring hand gripped her shoulder, and Sam crouched down close enough that she felt his warmth on her too-cool skin. “I'll take you in,” he said to Sonja. “I'm a cool dude, remember? We found the bunny in your rock the other night.”

The little girl's lips curved slightly, and she echoed, “Bunny.” But she didn't let go of Danny's hand. If anything, her grip tightened.

“Danny needs to stay out here,” Sam said. “You can either stay with her or you can visit the cave with me.”

Sonja's eyes filled, but she didn't argue. She probably didn't dare, after what had just happened. But, darn, she was tough. She was the one with the here-and-now reason to be afraid, and she was trusting herself to a bunch of adults she barely knew. A thin trickle of oxygen made its way back into Danny's lungs, and for a second, she felt the stomach-swooping terror-slash-excitement that used to grip her in the last few seconds before a race began, when the timer counted down and the barrier fell. Then, not sure she believed the words were coming from her mouth until she heard them out in the open, she said, “It's okay. I'll do it.”

Sam's grip on her shoulder tightened and he leaned in to say in an undertone, “You don't have to prove anything. Not to me, and not to them.”

No, but maybe she had to prove something to herself. “I can handle it,” she said softly. Seeing the doubt shadows, she added, “Please.”

She didn't need his permission, of course. But she could sure use his support.

He held her gaze for a long moment—long enough for her to wonder what he saw in her, whether it would be enough. Then he nodded and held out his flashlight. “Take this. It'll be pitch-dark in there without it.”

The words brought a shiver, but his approval steadied her. She took the flashlight, gripping tight where it was warm from his body heat, and studied the opening. She had heard the others talking about the short tunnel and had seen pictures of the cave. And if Murph and Midas had fit, then she and Sonja would have room to spare.

If she kept telling herself that, she might not hurl.

“Okay, kiddo,” she said to Sonja. “You ready?”

The little fingers—as hot and sticky as her own—tightened on her hand, and the child nodded, stern and serious. “Ready.”

“I've got your back,” Sam rasped. He pressed something into her hand. “And I won't leave you behind. I promise.”

For a second, she flashed back. A little piece of sky visible overhead. Heads poking through and looking down at her, calling, “They're sending a helicopter with better equipment” and “Hang on, Danny! It won't be long now!” Most of the time, though, that piece of sky had been empty, the chimney silent as she lay there, looking up and fighting to breathe.

Brandon had left her alone, let her down. Sam
wouldn't, though. He would be there for her, no matter what.

Emotion lumped in her throat, and she nodded. Opening her hand, she found that he had given her another light, this one a compact lantern. Pocketing it, she got down on her hands and knees facing the cut-through. “I'm going to go in first with the light,” she said to Sonja. “Then, when I say to, you crawl in after me. Keep your head way down. Okay?”

The little girl nodded solemnly, and mouthed,
O . . . kay
.

Danny stuck the flashlight in her mouth like she had done a thousand times before in her other life. And, moving fast so she wouldn't have time to think this through and back out, she went headfirst into the rabbit hole with no helmet, no gear, no nothing. Just her and the rocks.

Cool stone closed in on her, cutting out the light and sparking a wave of panic. But the fear couldn't close her throat when she had the flashlight in her teeth and a little girl counting on her.
Just keep going. It opens up soon
. She could see the inner chamber up ahead, glittering like a disco ball. The short passage narrowed, though, forcing her to crouch, almost belly-crawl.
Just keep going
.

Her head and shoulders made it through, and her body followed. And the first breath she took in there was a gasp of wonder. “Oh!”

The pictures didn't even come close. The beehive-shaped cave had a smooth stone floor and curved walls lined with pink quartz. The crystals glittered in the flashlight beam, creating shadows that moved and danced across her vision.

“How are you doing in there?” Sam called, his voice echoing strangely along the passage, which looked so much shorter from this side.

“I'm good. I'm fine. It's so pretty! Send Sonja in.”

There was a pause, then a scuffling noise filled the chamber and a small body blocked the outside light. Danny didn't let herself think about the mountain surrounding her, or the fact that her only exit was blocked. Her only air supply. Instead, she closed her eyes and pictured herself out in the great wide-open, happy and free. She had meant to imagine herself at Blessing Valley, sitting at the table and looking out over the river with Whiz at her feet and the squirrels carrying on overhead. Instead, she found herself picturing the view from the top of Wolf Rock, from within the circle of Sam's arms. Startled by the image, by its clarity, she opened her eyes. And realized that her pulse was under control, her hand steady.

Training the flashlight on the passageway, she called, “You're doing great, Sonja. Just a little more.”

Moments later, a blond head appeared in the opening, followed by a compact body, staying low and wiggling along like a little tadpole. Then, wide-eyed but unafraid, the little girl gathered herself, sat up, and looked around.

“See?” Danny panned the flashlight, making the crystals dance. “Isn't it beautiful? And just think, we're two of the first people in the world to see it, ever in all of history.”

She wasn't sure how much of that registered, but the little girl's lips parted in wonder and she gazed, transfixed.
“Woooow.”

Remembering the lantern, Danny dug in her pocket. “Let's try this.” She clicked it on, but instead of white light, it glowed purple. And where the flashlight beam wasn't touching, the pink rocks glowed. “They're fluorescent!”

Sam's chuckle reverberated along the tunnel. “It gets even better if you kill the flashlight. Just for a second, though. You don't want to give yourselves a tan in there.”

Danny barely hesitated. She clicked the flashlight off, plunging them into purple-tinged darkness. And she marveled as pink and purple danced through the air, seemingly floating in midair. “Isn't it beautiful? Sonja, isn't it pretty?”

There was a shuffling noise, and a little body hit her, driving the breath out of her lungs. Thin arms went around her neck tightly enough to strangle her, and little feet stepped on her thighs hard enough to bruise.

Danny knew it wasn't an attack, that it was just Sonja, just a hug. Still, panic slapped and the lantern slipped from her fingers. Bounced away. Went dark.

Dark.

Panic slashed, locking her senses. She was blind. Deaf. Insensate. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't—

Don't you dare,
she shouted at herself.
You can do this. You can do anything
. She refused to panic—she couldn't do that to Sonja or Sam. Or, most of all, to herself. She would pull it together, darn it. She was stronger than this!
Breathe,
she told herself.
Just keep breathing
.

And pretty soon, the darkness within the darkness started to ebb and the panic subsided. Then, suddenly, like a switch had flipped in her head, she could hear
Sonja's quiet sobs and her own harsh breathing. And she could feel the little arms around her neck, hanging on like she was salvation.

She was okay. She could do this. Sonja needed her.

As her heart broke for the child, Danny wrapped her arms around the shaking little body and rocked them both. “Hush,” she said. “Shh. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay.”