through a gap in the branches while talking to Cavenaugh on the walkie-talkie.
“That’s right,” she said. “There’s nothing here.”
“You’re sure you found a geothermal spring and not just a freshwater pond?”
“Please.”
“And you’re certain you can see that red bacteria down there?”
“For the hundredth time, yes. We found the hot spring. There’s all kinds of red slime around what looks like where the water comes in, but no sign of human remains.”
Only a crackle of static responded.
“We’re almost to our destination now,” Cavenaugh finally said. “Maura, how far out are you guys?”
“We’ve got to be close. We can’t see anything yet, but we can definitely smell it.”
“Excellent. Report back as soon as you’re there,” Cavenaugh said. “Jess. You and Gabriel hold your position until we both check back in, and be ready to move in either direction should we find anything. Out.”
Jess sighed and shoved the walkie-talkie into the backpack again. She looked out over the distant stream a moment longer before turning to face Gabriel. A gust of wind blew a sheet of snow between them.
“Looks like the storm’s getting—” Gabriel started, but Jess silenced him with a sharp look.
Their eyes locked and she steered his gaze to his right. She whispered the word “Slowly.”
He nodded his understanding and unhurriedly turned around. At first he saw nothing but the cloud of steam rising from the spring, until the wind shifted and he momentarily had a clear view of the water and the far bank beyond. Heavily-needled pines shivered loose a shower of snow, which descended as sparkling bits of glitter onto the shrubs beneath. And there, under the cover of a juniper, was a small orange shape with green eyes and one pricked ear.
“Toss me one of those granola bars,” he whispered, fearing even the slightest movement would send Oscar hurtling into the underbrush. He heard the rustling sound of Jess rummaging through the bag, and then the soft tap of something hitting the ground at his feet.
Gabriel never allowed his eyes to stray from the cat’s as he crouched and grabbed the bar. He had to glance down at the wrapper to tear it open. When he looked back at the forest, Oscar was gone.
He cursed under his breath and watched the tree line a while longer before returning to Jess, who must have read the expression of disappointment on his face.
“He followed us this far,” she said. “You’ll get your chance sooner or later.”
He smiled at the sincerity of her words and squeezed her hand. She smiled back, and he caught a glint of what might have been mischief in her eyes.
“Don’t look now,” she said, “but I think our furry friend’s overcoming his shyness.”
Gabriel turned to his left, and there was the orange tabby, standing right at the edge of the forest, thick winter coat spotted with clumps of snow.
Oscar sat on his haunches, cocked his lopsided head, and let out a meow.
***
The cat cautiously crossed the icy rock ledge to where Gabriel knelt with a chunk of granola held as far away from his body as he could manage. Jess crouched beside him with another piece of the broken bar at the ready. As Oscar drew near, his haunches trembled, but he pressed on. Once he was within three feet, he paused, then darted in, took the granola, and scampered back out of range. Only this time, he didn’t disappear into the woods. He dropped his meal onto the ground and positioned himself so he could watch them while he ate.
After he crunched down the last morsel, he inspected Gabriel, who was already offering another bite.
A burst of static from the walkie-talkie, and Oscar was gone.
“Shoot,” Gabriel said.
“It’s progress,” Jess said as she produced the communications device from the backpack.
The buzzing sound continued until she walked away from the thicker canopy toward the valley slope where the trees thinned significantly.
“…here now.” Cavenaugh’s voice took form from the white noise. “It’s roughly the size of a swimming pool, but I can’t tell how deep it is. The water’s fairly cloudy. I can maybe see the tops of some rocks…and they’re red. We definitely have confirmation of the bacteria.”
“We’re here now too,” Maura said. “This one is much smaller. Roughly ten feet in diameter, but it looks really deep. There are all kinds of tiny bubbles, like the water’s carbonated or something. I just…can’t see the bottom. There’s a lot of red stuff though. There’s a ring on the rocks all around the spring. It looks like some kind of sludge. Even the water has a pinkish tint to it.”
Gabriel looked at the spring behind him and then back at Jess. A knot of tension tightened in his gut.
“They’re only on the other side of the mountain,” Jess said. “Why would there be so much more bacterial growth?”
“Did you say pink?” Cavenaugh asked. “We’re getting a lot of feedback on our end. There are only a couple rocks with that stuff growing on them here. Do you see anything else, Maura?”
“It’s too deep to tell. Will broke a branch off a tree and tried to reach the bottom, but just ended up losing the stick. The spring itself is recessed into what almost looks like a crater. There are fairly steep, slick rock walls all around it. We’re surrounded by a ring of pine trees so large their branches nearly touch across the water.”
“Do you see any bones, Maura? Any sign that they might have been there?”
“No. Nothing. Wait…”
Gabriel heard the muffled sound of Will’s voice, too far from the microphone to be intelligible, a click, and then dead air. He looked at Jess, whose eyes reflected the anxiety that rose within him.
“Maura?” Cavenaugh called, his voice taut.
“Will found something,” Maura said. “Give me just a minute. It’s covered with this red slime. I’m scraping it off as fast as I…Jesus.”
“What?” Cavenaugh nearly screamed. “What is it?”
“It’s a bone,” she whispered. “Rounded and smooth on one end. Blunted and widened on the other. About the length of an upper arm.”
“Where did you find it?” Jess asked. “Are there more?”
“Will found it right at the edge. Just under the water, wedged between some rocks. He was looking for another stick to test the depth…”
There was a crackle of static.
“Maura?” Cavenaugh asked. “Maura!”
Jess’s face paled and she hurriedly donned the backpack.
“Jess,” Cavenaugh said. “You guys are the closest. Get moving!”
“There are more,” Maura said. The tremor in her voice was evident even over the underlying fuzz of white noise. “Dear God. There are so many more. Will’s pulling them out of the water one after another. More long bones. What are those? Jesus. Ribs. A spine. Is all of that still connected?”
“Maura,” Cavenaugh said. “Leave everything where it is. Stop pulling it out and wait for us to get there. Do you copy, Maura?”
“Yes. Don’t touch the bones. Now that Will’s pulled the ones with all the sludge on them off the top, we can see a whole pile of them. We’ll leave them where they are until you get here. What do you want us to do in the mean—?”
“Maura?”
“Shh.” Her voice was so soft it could have been static. “Did you hear that?”
“Maura, I can barely hear you.”
“Shh. There it was again.”
“Get out of there!” Cavenaugh shouted. “Now!”
Gabriel sprinted to the north, away from the spring, leaping over boulders and slaloming between tree trunks. He slipped, hit the ground, and propelled himself to his feet again.
“Please,” Maura whispered. “You have to be quiet. There’s somebody—”
She screamed so loudly through the walkie-talkie that it echoed off into the forest.
There was a clattering sound, a burst of static, then a dying hiss that bled away into nothingness.
