* * * *
'Bigfoot expert,” Gideon muttered as they walked back along the road to the ranger station. “Thanks very much.'
'Well, I had to tell them something to get them to stick around long enough to show you the spear.'
'What were they doing way out there, anyway?'
'Actually, it isn't way out there. They found it on Pyrites Creek, not even a mile from the trail—as the crow flies, that is. For people, it's well over a thousand-foot climb. More like mountain climbing than hiking.'
'Then how did the Zanders get there? He didn't seem like the mountain-climbing type.'
'They'd gotten lost coming back from Chimney Peak and were following Pyrites Creek downstream. They hoped it would get them to the trail eventually, which it did.'
They stepped to the side of the road, out of the way of one of the dusty pickup trucks, complete with rifle and grim, lean driver.
'Bigfoot hunter,” Gideon said.
'Or bounty hunter. Either way, they make me nervous.” As they continued to walk again, Julie went on: “They smelled smoke from somewhere, and one of them spotted a path leading up from the creek.'
'A path?'
'They said it was like an animal path, just a wearing away of the brush. They barely noticed it themselves. They went up it, hoping to get directions from somebody. They climbed way up—almost gave it up—but finally found a big ledge near the top. They found their smoke, too, just a dead campfire, with a few warm coals. But no people. They waited around for an hour and left.'
'And that was where they found the spear?'
'Yes, in some bushes near the ledge.'
Gideon walked along pensively for a while, his hands thrust into his back pockets. “Julie,” he said, “would you take a rain check on Kalaloch? I'd really like to see that ledge.'
'I thought you might. You think it's where your Indians live?'
He looked at her, smiling. “You mean you think there
'I'm beginning to think so. But you have almost ten miles of trail to get there, and a rough climb at the end of it. You can't get in and out in a day, especially when you start this late.'
'I'll camp out overnight, then. It'd be fun; like spending a night in a haunted forest. No. I can't do that; no sleeping bag.'
'That's not the problem. We have all kinds of gear you can borrow.'
'What's the problem, then?'
'The problem is, you'd get lost.'
He stopped walking and drew himself up. “Miss Tendler, I have managed to survive very well in the trackless sands of the Sonoran Desert, the Arctic wastelands of Baffin Island, even the Boston subways—all without getting lost, or hardly. I'm sure I can make it in a national park.'
'Yeah, you'd get lost,” she said soberly. “You'd need a guide.'
'Julie,” he said, standing in the middle of the road with his hands on his hips, “with a topographic map and a river to follow, I assure you I'm competent... You wouldn't care to go along with me, would you?'
'I'd love it,” she said happily.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 9
* * * *
At the ranger station, John lukewarmly endorsed the idea. “Yeah, you never know. You might find something interesting. Incidentally, did you know they've been finding those bone points around here for years? They're nothing new.'
'They're not?” Julie said. “How is it that I didn't know?'
John shrugged. “One of my agents, Julian Minor, heard a couple of old guys talking about them at the market in Amanda Park. He told them who he was, and one of them took him home and showed him his collection. Three of them. Found one over fifty years ago. Plus a lot of other stuff.'
'Indian stuff?” Gideon asked.
'Yeah. Baskets, that kind of thing. I wish I could go to the ledge with you,” he said halfheartedly, “but I can't spare a couple of days. I'll send an agent along with you, though.'
'What for?” Julie asked quickly. “Protection?'
'That's right, protection,” John said, blustering and concerned. “A bunch of people have been killed in there, you know.'
'Two people,” Julie said. “And that was six years ago. Claire Hornick is still missing. Look, John, we haven't sealed the place off to ordinary weekend hikers, and we don't send a bodyguard in with them, do we? So why
