The Obsidian Mirror, page 28
Sierra drew her breath in sharply, and Clancy went for his gun. It was gone, lost in the shock of the collapse and the confused scramble to get to Sierra. Chaco’s lips drew back from his square, most uncoyote-like teeth, and he growled. Jenna Simmons merely stared, the glassy blade at her throat.
The figure, thickly coated with dirt and detritus, lurched towards the little tableau by the altar—and abruptly resolved itself into three dirt-encrusted people, each supporting the other.
“Sierra,” croaked Kaylee. “Is that you?”
The cave entrance was smoking with dust, as though a fire raged within. The little group staggered out into the sweet, clean air of the forest. Clancy had taken charge of Simmons, tying her with the ropes that had been used to bind Sierra. Once Jenna was secured, Sierra had flung the obsidian knife against the wall of the cave as hard as she could, and it had shattered into a thousand glittering black shards. They had made another cursory search for Clapper, but it was clear the cave was slowly continuing to collapse, and they were forced to leave.
Not one of the little band of survivors was unscathed. Sierra’s head was bleeding from Jumlin’s attack, and she was dehydrated. Rose, Mama Labadie, and Kaylee were scraped, cut, and bruised from their fall, and Rose’s ankle was extremely swollen, black and blue. Chaco and Clancy had been well away from the initial collapse and were relatively untouched, though both were still coughing and wheezing. The wound on Jenna’s neck had bled freely, through the cut was superficial, and she coughed spasmodically between bouts of profanity and threats that involved everything from the vengeance of Tezcatlipoca to United States senators who would be displeased by their treatment of her.
Clancy handed Simmons over to Chaco for safekeeping—Chaco grinning wolfishly—and turned to fold Sierra in his arms. They rested against each other for several long minutes. If only we could stop coughing, this would be so romantic, thought Sierra. Then Clancy reluctantly released her and stepped back.
“I hope you have water in your car,” he said between parched lips. She nodded. “We’d better get back there.” Water, packs, gun, and everything else had been lost in the collapse.
“But what about Fred?” asked Sierra, eyes suddenly wide with horror. “They had Fred in there, too!” “She started back toward the cave entrance, but Clancy blocked her.
“You can’t go back in,” he said gently. It’s too dangerous.”
“But…”
Chaco spoke up. “He’s right, Sierra. We can’t go back.”
Sierra looked at the dark mouth of the cave, still billowing smoke, and tears dug channels through the dirt on her cheeks. She put her filthy hands over her eyes and stood in silence for a long beat.
Mama Labadie examined Rose’s swollen ankle.
“Clancy, I think Rose may have a broken ankle. Can you help me?”
Rose gratefully accepted the support, and they began to make their way back down the path, Chaco and Jenna Simmons in front, Rose hobbling between Clancy, and Mama Labadie, Sierra, and Kaylee bringing up the rear.
“How did you get that knife away from Jenna?” asked Clancy, panting as they made their slow and painful way along.
“I looked at Jenna’s face when the roof began to fall in. She was so surprised that she wasn’t paying attention to anything else. I grabbed her wrist and twisted it, and she dropped the knife on the altar. Then all hell broke loose, but I went for the knife because,” Sierra paused. “Because my life depended on it,” she finished simply.
Chapter 35
Before reaching the road, the little band paused to discuss their next move while they were still screened by the trees and undergrowth. Everyone sat wearily on the soft pine needles except for Chaco, who stood alertly by Jenna’s side, never taking his fierce eyes from her drooping form.
“We need to get Rose to a doctor,” said Clancy. “Does anyone else need medical attention?” He ignored Jenna, who pointed at the shallow cut on her neck. No one else said anything.
“All right. We’re going to have to split up, I’m afraid,” Clancy continued. “Someone needs to take Rose to a doctor. The rest of us have business with Ms. Simmons here.” He glanced briefly at Jenna, who glared at him defiantly.
“What about Fred?” Sierra asked. “We can’t just abandon him.”
Clancy sighed. “I understand how you feel, Sierra. I think we all feel terrible about Fred. But we don’t know where he is. Remember, he spent hundreds of years right here…”
“Thousands,” Chaco put in, without taking his eyes from Jenna.
“…thousands of years here in the Sierra Nevada. He’s probably OK, but if he isn’t, I personally don’t see any way to help him. We’ve just got to hope he’ll find his way back to us. Right?”
Sierra swallowed hard, feeling as though she had a stone in her throat, and nodded, unable to speak. She felt she ought to be triumphant. She had bested Jenna Simmons. Jack Clapper was probably dead in the cave-in. But then, Fred might also be among the casualties, and she could only feel grief for the tubby little creature. She had come to rely on his presence and companionship—and while often annoying, Fred had also been loving and loyal. No, triumphant was the last thing she felt.
“Listen Sierra,” said Jenna suddenly. “You won this round. I admit it. Just let me go and we’ll call it even, OK? You can’t get away with kidnapping me, you know. If I disappear, Black Diamond will call in the cops, the FBI, the whole enchilada. I don’t know what you think you can accomplish by doing this. Just let me go, and I promise I won’t come after you. You can even have your job back at BDSC. And you can keep your job,” she looked at Clancy. “We’ll just call it quits and agree to a truce.”
Sierra stared at the woman in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said. Clancy opened his mouth to speak, but Jenna preempted him.
“You’re going to get nailed for this, you know. Disgruntled employee. Head of security disappears the same time I do. Don’t you think you’re going to be in the crosshairs when they realize I’m gone? They’re going to be all over you like flies on shit within forty-eight hours.” She allowed herself a small, contemptuous smile.
“So if we agree to let you go, everything will be back to where it was before you fired me, is that the idea?” asked Sierra. Jenna nodded, smiling more broadly. “How are you going to explain Mr. Clapper’s disappearance? And, while we’re on the subject of repulsive creatures, what happened to Chris Jumlin?” Even speaking Jumlin’s name made her skin crawl.
Jenna shrugged. “Jumlin’s not a problem anymore,” she responded. “He got in the way.” Her tone was cold, dismissive. “As for Clapper, well, he’s just gone back to his agency in New York. There will probably be a terrible plane crash. His remains were never found. So sad.”
“You’d crash a plane with hundreds of innocent people on board just to cover your tracks?” Clancy demanded, disgusted. “Don’t you have any conscience at all?”
Jenna returned his horrified gaze with an icy stare. “No, I gave up being weak when I joined Tezcatlipoca. And I have never regretted it. Now, what about my offer?”
Sierra shook her head. “I’d have to be crazy. I’ll take my chances with the police, the FBI, whatever, before throwing in with your bunch.” Turning away from the disheveled, bleeding Jenna, she asked Clancy, “That being said, what the hell are we going to do with her?”
“We need someplace private to talk to her,” he replied. “Chaco, any suggestions?”
“Yep. There’s a lot of territory east of here with no one and nothing in it. All the privacy you could possibly want,” Chaco said, baring his white teeth at Jenna in a wolfish smile. She glared back. “As a matter of fact, I know just the place. Go back to Mono the way we came. Then turn right on 167. When we get past the Nevada border, there’s lots of little sidetracks that go off into arroyos and there’s nobody around. We’ll need to take our own food and water, though. And firewood.”
Clancy considered this for a few minutes. “That OK with you, Sierra?”
“I guess so. I have what’s left of my camping gear in my car. And I brought a lot of water and food because I didn’t know what might happen out here. But what about Rose?” Food, yes. Water, yes. But no coffee, she remembered.
Rose spoke up. “I do think my ankle is broken,” she said in her calm voice. “Anyway, We’ve got seven people here,” she turned a suddenly steely gaze on Jenna, “if you count this one as human. That’s a lot of people to be running around the desert without anyone noticing, no matter how desolate it is. I’d just get in the way.”
“Right you are,” said Kaylee. “If I can borrow Sierra’s car, I can get Rose to a doctor, and then home. The Jeep is big enough for the rest of you. Clancy, did you bring camping gear?”
“Yes. I brought a couple of sleeping bags, a tent and some other things. We’re not going to be out there for days, just overnight. That ought to be plenty of time to do what we need.” He ignored Jenna’s scowl. “Mama Labadie, are you going with Rose and Kaylee, or with us?”
“Oh, I am coming with you, most certainly. Wouldn’t miss it,” said Mama Labadie.
“Okay. Let’s get going, then. Ms. Simmons, where’s your car?” Clancy asked.
“Why?”
“Because I want to know, that’s why,” Clancy returned, a dangerous glint in his eye.
“It’s hidden. You won’t find it, and neither will the cops,” Simmons said stubbornly.
“Okay! That’s good to know,” said Clancy, and clambered to his feet. Dust clouds arose from his clothes as he stretched. The others rose as well. Jenna’s hands and arms were tied, so Chaco lifted her to her feet with a businesslike tug.
When they arrived at the cars, they laid Jenna on the floor of the back seat. “That’s going to be uncomfortable for you,” said Chaco cheerfully. “Sierra and Mama Labadie will have to rest their feet on you, too. But we can’t have you popping up when we drive through Lee Vining and yelling for help, now, can we?” Jenna gave him a look of pure loathing as she was bundled into the car. After Sierra’s equipment was transferred from her car to Clancy’s, Rose and Kaylee said an emotional goodbye to the others.
“I’m sorry, Sierra,” said Kaylee. “I feel like I should go with you, but Rose really needs to see a doctor. She may be a healer, but a broken bone is a broken bone. Anyway—you know how I am about camping. But I’ll be worried about you the whole time until I see you again.” She looked at Sierra with worry in her warm brown eyes.
Sierra hugged her friend. “Not to worry,” she reassured Kaylee. “Rose is right—there’s too many of us. We’ll be fine.”
Kaylee handed over Sierra’s backpack, which had been stowed in the trunk of her car. “You sure packed for every contingency,” she observed. “This thing is heavy!”
Sierra took the backpack. It did seem heavy, but then, she had packed a lot of food and water. “Thanks,” Sierra said. “Be safe. We don’t know what else might be out there. Please be careful.”
As Kaylee opened the Ford’s door, she said, “Sister, after what I’ve seen, you don’t need to warn me. Careful does not begin to describe what I will be.” She blew a kiss at Sierra and shut the door.
As Kaylee drove away with Rose in the passenger seat, Sierra stowed her backpack in the rear of the Jeep. She turned to Clancy. “So what exactly are we going to do with Jenna out in the desert?” Clancy looked grim.
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” he said.
Chapter 36
Kaylee drove behind Sierra’s car until they came to Lee Vining. At the highway turnoff just before town, Kaylee pulled off the road. She and Rose waved at the others as they went by. Clancy’s Jeep headed through the little town—which took perhaps five minutes—and then they were in open country again.
Four or five miles out of Lee Vining, Chaco spoke up. “Take a right here,” he directed, and Clancy pulled onto Route 167. The road stretched ahead, straight for as far as they could see, rising up the other side of the great stone basin.
For part of the way, Mono Lake was easily viewed to their right. Sierra gazed out across its blue waters, speckled with flocks of white birds, thinking that if it were not a saltwater lake, it would be refreshing to take a swim. She felt grimy and sticky, as though she had been two weeks backpacking without washing. Jenna squirmed under her feet. Everyone had considerately taken their boots off before resting their feet on the woman, but it must still be hot and uncomfortable.
“Do you need water?” asked Sierra, feeling slightly guilty. She had been pulling freely from her water bottle, but Jenna was tied up and must be thirsty.
“Fuck you,” growled the president and CEO of Black Diamond Semiconductor.
“Language!” said Chaco primly.
They began to ascend as they neared the rim of the rocky bowl. The landscape was desolate; only low scrub grew in this dry wasteland. They began to see the low hills that began at the Nevada state line. There was very little traffic out here. A car or a long-haul semi might appear and pass them every now and again, but Sierra began to feel they were a very long way from civilization. Even Lee Vining began to seem like a major metropolis.
They passed the state line, marked by a modest blue-and-white sign that read, “WELCOME TO NEVADA THE SILVER STATE.” Not far from this delineation, Chaco instructed Clancy to pull into a dry wash to the right.
“I know this is a Jeep,” said Clancy, “but is this really drivable?”
“Yep,” said Chaco. “For as far as we need to go, anyway. See where it curves around into that little canyon up there? That’s where we’re going to set up. We don’t want to run into backpackers or campers. And we sure don’t want anyone to see our campfire. This is nowhere. No sights, no hiking trails, no campsites. Just pray it doesn’t rain—not that it’s at all likely.”
“Flash floods? Sierra inquired.
“Uh-huh. That’s what formed this wash, not a seasonal creek.”
Clancy carefully guided the Jeep up the rock-strewn wash, causing Jenna to emit a nasty miasma of curses as she suffered every jolt. They entered a steep-walled canyon, well hidden from the road below. After they had progressed a hundred yards into the canyon, a huge boulder blocked their path. The boulder was wedged as tightly into the canyon’s rocky walls as a cork in a bottle of wine.
“This is it,” Chaco said, as he hopped out of the car. Sierra and Mama Labadie unfolded themselves from the back seat and helped Jenna to her feet. Jenna did not reject the proffered water this time and drank thirstily. They sat her, still bound, in the shade of the canyon wall under Mama Labadie’s vigilant eye while they unpacked the car and set up camp. These preparations complete, Sierra turned her attention to food. It had been a long day, and she had long since digested the morning’s apple and granola bars. She felt fatigue creep over her as she hefted her backpack. It had also been a long time since she had slept. She opened the backpack, screamed, and leaped backwards, dropping the pack to the rock-tumbled floor of the wash. Fred crawled out of the pack and stared at her with his bright orange eyes, woefully rubbing his rear end.
“Sierra,” he said in a reproachful tone of voice. “I thought you’d be glad to see me.”
Once the tears of relief and the hugging and celebration were over, it was discovered that Fred had made room for himself in the backpack through the simple expedient of eating all the food Sierra had packed and jettisoning the water to make room for his ample self. Despite their tremendous relief at seeing Fred again, they might have been seriously annoyed with him for this, but Clancy produced adequate supplies from his own gear.
“How did they catch you?” Sierra asked Fred. “When Chaco and I left the storage facility, you were invisible. How did they find you?”
Fred turned a deeper shade of green and looked at the ground.
“Chocolate,” he muttered.
“Chocolate? What do you mean?” Clancy queried.
“Um, well, Chaco and Sierra were doing fine, so I was just sort of looking around, you know, and, um…”
“Mannegishi!” snapped Mama Labadie.
“Yes?” Fred said, looking at her inquiringly.
“Get on with it!”
“…so I was kinda near Sierra’s house, when I smelled, you know, chocolate. It was in this really fancy box, and it was the kind of chocolates that have that pretty colored foil on it?” He looked hopefully at the group, apparently expecting sympathy and understanding. Chaco nudged him rudely, and Fred continued.
“So it was sitting in the back seat of this car, and there was no one around and the door was wide open, so what else could I do?” He looked at them hopefully, twiddling his digits.
“So you climbed in the car to get the chocolate, and then what happened?” Sierra prompted.
“It was a trap!” Fred looked so indignant at this that Sierra couldn’t help laughing. She laughed until tears streamed from her eyes. Clancy handed her a handkerchief He must be the only man left in America who carries a handkerchief, she thought. And she continued to snort helplessly as Fred’s orange eyes rolled and his mouth pursed up.
When Sierra’s helpless laughter subsided, Fred said severely, “It wasn’t funny, you know.”
“Right, I know,” said Sierra, who stifled further giggles with moderate success. “So how did you get out of that cage thing they had you in?”
“Actually, it was a pet carrier,” explained Fred seriously, and Sierra didn’t snort. Not out loud. “It actually was pretty easy. If you push up against the plastic hard enough, right where the wire cage front goes through those little holes? You can pop it out. I guess they hadn’t counted on that,” he concluded, with an air of smug accomplishment.
“Why did you let them carry you all the way up here? Why didn’t you just disappear and slip away when they opened the car door somewhere?” Clancy asked.
