Hide Away (29 page)

Enough. Don't push it. Back away.

She let Cara go and picked up her coffee cup again. “So you need to go to the north bank? Why can't we wait for MacDuff's super-duper lights?”

“Because it would change what's there. It would be like wearing a bulletproof vest. I wouldn't be facing what I'm afraid of at all. Do you see what I mean?”

“I think I do. Though a bulletproof vest doesn't sound that bad to me.” But she suddenly realized that Jane would understand what Cara was saying. “Without the mist it loses … integrity?”

Cara nodded eagerly. “I know MacDuff has to have those lights to find what he's looking for, but he'd be losing something, too.” Her smile faded. “Right now there's a music to it. When you shine the lights, and the mist vanishes, will the music go, too?”

What could she tell her? Eve couldn't hear the music. “I don't know, Cara.”

“I think it might. I want to face it all now.” She paused. “With you, Eve. I don't want anyone else along.”

Face the fear, face the beauty, with no protection, no raising of barriers. Wasn't that what Cira had done all those centuries ago when she had challenged a new land, a new life?

“Eve?” Cara was gazing at her.

Eve nodded. “Okay, no bulletproof vests,” she said brusquely. “But it's not going to be easy pulling this off.” She finished her coffee and got to her feet. “And we'd better get busy before MacTavish's truckload of lights and batteries comes rumbling down that road.”

Cara eagerly jumped to her feet. “What are we going to do?”

“Finish getting dressed, eat breakfast, then go face MacDuff, Jock, and Caleb.”

“I didn't see Caleb.”

“Not surprising. He's not into hobnobbing. Jane?”

“She's still in her tent.” Cara's eyes widened as she saw Eve reach into her suitcase and draw out her .38 revolver. “Why are you taking that? I was joking about the bulletproof vests. I meant—”

“I know what you meant.” She tucked the gun into the pocket of her jacket but didn't put it on. “But if I can persuade MacDuff to let us go into that mist without them trailing after us, I want all the protection I can get. He told me that he has five of his Marine buddies in those hills near the north bank keeping an eye out for trespassers, but I don't want to have to count on them.” She grinned at Cara. “And I may need it to shoot off a distress signal if we get lost in that mist. Though I hope not. It would be most humiliating.”

Cara's gaze was still on the pocket into which the gun had disappeared. “I don't want to cause trouble. Am I being stupid, Eve?”

“No. There's no sign of anyone's knowing where we are, and MacDuff has given us adequate protection. The only danger is the mist, and, if we're careful, we can handle that.” She grabbed her toothbrush and comb and headed for the portable canvas table against the tent wall. “But first I need to wash my face and brush my teeth. Go get us a plate of that bacon Jock is cooking and whatever else is available. Okay?”

“Okay.” Cara's cheeks were flushed and her eyes shining with excitement. “Shall I tell them that—”

“No, leave it to me.” She didn't want Cara to face the uproar alone. “After we have some hearty sustenance. We may need it. But first, I want you to go to Jane and tell her what we're doing. In a very real way, this is her lake, her territory. She has the right to know.”

She shook her head ruefully after Cara ran out of the tent. It was true that there appeared to be no obvious danger, but that didn't mean that it was the safest thing on the planet to do. But Cara's problem was that she'd had to be careful, hide, always look behind her all her short life. How could Eve not understand and let her stop running if there didn't appear to be danger?

Appear was the key word, she thought dryly. She didn't know what was behind those mists.

With her luck, that north end of the lake was probably inhabited by a creature on the scale of the Loch Ness Monster.

*   *   *

When Eve and Cara left their tent fifteen minutes later, Jane was standing alone at the clearing, where only the embers of the campfire were still flickering.

“Let's go,” she said quietly. “We don't have too much time. It took me quite a battle with MacDuff and Jock to get them to back off. They gave us ninety minutes; and then we can expect an invasion. Less if that truck with the power lights shows up while we're stumbling around out there.” She gave flashlights to Eve and Cara and turned on her heel. “Come on, Cara. It's your show, you lead the way.”

“Right.” Cara started at a trot along the bank.

Eve fell into step with Jane as they hurried after her. “I didn't want to force you into coming with us. But you had a right to know.”

“Yes, I did.” She smiled faintly. “And you didn't force me to do anything. I don't know how I feel about this little foray into Marcus's kingdom, but I think there must be some reason Cara feels so strongly about it.”

“It's not about Cira or Marcus or the treasure as far as she's concerned. It's about facing her devils.”

“She's very young to have to confront them,” Jane said. “And, who knows, maybe it's more about Cira and Marcus than she thinks. You told her the details about the dream?”

“Yes. I don't know, maybe she's somehow connecting Marcus's death with her sister's, Jenny's. She said something about Jenny's dying in a beautiful forest, too. She said she was too afraid that night, and she couldn't be afraid again.” She glanced at Jane. “And you were close to her age when you had devils of your own to battle. So Cara isn't all that young.”

“Young enough to be very fast. She's getting too far ahead of us to be safe.” Jane's pace quickened. “She's entering the mist zone.”

“Cara,” Eve called. “Wait.” She could barely see her in the mist, but at least Cara had halted and turned on her flashlight. Not that it was doing much good. Even though they were on the outer edge of the fogbank, the light was very weak.

But Cara's expression was glowing with eagerness as they reached her. “Isn't it awesome?” She held up her arm cloaked in mist. “I feel as if I could fly.” She turned and started deeper into the mist. “Come on.”

“Stay close,” Eve said. “And don't drop your flashlight.”

“I won't.” Cara's voice was bright, excited in the smothering gray of the mist as she moved ahead. “I was wrong, Eve. There's nothing to be afraid of here. Oops.” She laughed. “I almost slid into the lake. It's all muddy here on the bank. You warned me about that.”

“Yes, I did. The bank probably never gets enough sunlight to dry out. Be careful, the farther in we go, the denser the mist. These flashlights aren't doing much good. I can't see more than a foot in front of me.”

“Neither can I,” Cara said. “But that's okay; as long as I watch the bank, I'll be safe. Isn't it neat? It's like exploring our own private planet. I think there are some big rocks up ahead.” She stopped. “I think we can go around them, then come back to the lake.”

“How do you know there are rocks?”

“I hear the sound of the lake lapping against them, don't you? And the mist blows against them in a different way…”

“No, I can't say I hear that,” Eve said. “I don't think those college students got much farther than this. This is a heavier mist than I've ever gone through. And I don't see how they sketched as much as they did. Jane?”

“No, I don't hear what she hears,” Jane said softly. “But I'm not afraid either, Eve. It's … good here. I believe it's okay to go a little farther.”

Eve hesitated, then started forward again.

There
were
boulders ahead, and they felt their way around them and were once more making their way around the lake.

Total grayness, no hint of light, the flashlights totally useless now.

“The hills come straight down to the lake up ahead,” Cara said. “But I think the path around the lake widens there.”

“How do you know?”

“It just seems like it should,” Jane said simply. “Doesn't it, Cara?”

Cara looked back at her. “Yes.”

“What's going on?” Eve asked.

“I have no idea,” Jane said. “Tell us, Cara.”

“It's the music. The music is so strong here. And it gets stronger up ahead.” She looked at Jane. “And you hear it, too, don't you?”

“Not like you do. But I hear something. Words. Cira's words.” She quoted softly, “I can ride down here from the castle and imagine him running out of the mist and telling me how he'd just been hiding and playing in the caves and had great adventures to tell me.” She added, “That has a music all its own, doesn't it?”

Cara nodded slowly.

“And do you want to go farther and search out that other music right now? We could do it. Or do you think that you've been given what you were meant to have when you led us into this mist?”

Cara didn't answer for a moment. “I want to go on.”

“Now?”

Cara was silent again. “No, not now. It's enough.” She turned and headed back toward the boulders. “Let's go back to the camp.”

“But not because you're afraid,” Jane said. “That's all gone?”

“Yes.” Cara's voice drifted back to them. “That's all gone…”

*   *   *

The truckload of power lamps and batteries that MacTavish had promised MacDuff didn't arrive until late in the afternoon. By the time they were unloaded and taken down to the encampment, it was almost dark.

Eve sat down in front of the fire beside Jock and watched MacDuff and Caleb checking over two huge power bulbs. “You're going out tonight?”

“Why not?” Jock lifted his cup of coffee to his lips. “We've got to experiment with the equipment. We might have to order something different. Though MacTavish seemed to think that it would be enough.”

“What do you think?”

Jock shrugged. “I'm no expert. I have to yield to MacTavish.”

“But MacTavish was never out in that mist, like you were, was he?”

He gazed at her face and smiled. “No, he wasn't. How did you know I'd followed you?”

“Your boots. They were coated in mud when I caught sight of you right after we got back to camp. But you disappeared, and they were clean later.”

“Very observant.”

“Did you flip a coin to see who was going to follow us?”

“No, I was the logical choice. I didn't give anyone else an opportunity to argue.” He took another drink of coffee. “It might have been blundered, and I never blunder.”

“No, we had no idea you were anywhere near.” She made a face. “Though I doubt if we would have known anyway. That mist is horrendous.”

“Yes. It's … unusual. I was barely able to track you.”

“I don't see how you could do it at all. We couldn't see anything.”

“I've been trained to track in all situations and weather conditions.” His lips twisted bitterly. “It was part of my schooling as a superassassin. That was why I was the logical choice. What's a little mist to someone like me?”

“You didn't have to follow us. We made it just fine.”

“Correction. I did have to do it. I could see how Cara felt bound to stretch her limits, but I had to be there to make sure that exercise didn't hurt her.”

“It was all about Cara?”

“No, don't be foolish. You and Jane are important. I would have gone anyway. But Cara is … she's too young to know— She'll get in trouble if someone doesn't watch out for her.”

“Jane and I managed to bring her back in one piece,” Eve said dryly.

“No insult intended,” Jock said. “You did fine.”

“Thank you. But you'll still be there to keep us from screwing things up for her.” She shrugged. “It's to be expected. She appears to feel the same about you.” She got to her feet. “And I believe I'll go check on Cara now and see if she's okay. She was a little quiet after she came back from the north bank.”

Jock looked down at his coffee. “I noticed.”

“Yes, of course you did.” She hesitated. “No matter what you think, that little trip into the mist was good for her. She learned … something.”

“I'm not arguing.” He got to his feet and threw the remainder of the coffee in his cup into the fire. “Learning is necessary. You just have to live through it.” He started toward Caleb and MacDuff. “Now I have to go and see if MacTavish's equipment is going to work.”

“You didn't answer me. Do you think it will?”

“No.” He didn't look at her. “I've never seen a mist like that one. The light will bounce off that fog like a ball against a wall. We'll need something better. But MacDuff wants to give it a try.”

Eve watched him join the other two men, then went into the tent to talk to Cara.

No questions.

No urging for confidences.

Just a silent affirmation that she was there if Cara wanted to talk.

She had no idea exactly what had gone on between Cara and Jane in that mist. She wasn't sure if Cara knew. So it was best for Eve to be silent and wait to be told.

“Hey. I just talked to Jock.” She smiled as she stood looking at Cara, curled up in her bedroll. “They're going to try to see what those superlights are going to do tonight. Want to come out and sit by the fire and wait until they come back?”

*   *   *

Eve waited until the camp had quieted down and Cara was asleep that night before she called Joe. She was tired and bewildered and wanted to touch base. She wanted to hear his voice.

“Things are fairly crazy here,” she said when he picked up. “Don't say anything. We're all safe. It's just that we took our first journey into woo-woo land and I have no idea where I'm fitting into this.”