Page 28 of Sapphire Nights
Sam pointed the stout flat tip in Mariah’s direction. The stick seemed to quiver on its own, then circle and nod. It felthappyin her hand. “Positive?” she answered tentatively. Did sticks normallyfeellike anything? Like cream in her coffee, she couldn’tremember.
“Good. Let’s give this a try. We know the lines are polluted uphill and south toward the vortex.Let’s spread out and try going downhillawayfrom the resort. Don’t take any dangerous routes that we can’t all follow. Ideally, we’ll find ground flat enough to gather.Ready?”
With the tactical skill of a general, Mariah divided up her army and sent them out to search forsafeground.
“I’ll take the most polluted section,” she told Sam as the others traipsed off. “Stay to my left,just far enough that we can see and hear each other. I’m sorry I expected you to jump into this with both feet. We’re kind of desperate and had hopes Cass had found someoneskilled.”
“That wouldn’t be me. I don’t even know what skills youexpect.”
“Listening is a good one,” Mariah admitted while her gaze tracked the path of her army marching downhill. “Did Walker tell you anythingwe shouldknow?”
“Only that the victim is local. He says you’ll know soon enough.” Sam had a horrible thought. “He would have said something if it were Cass, wouldn’t he? Is anyone elsemissing?”
Mariah looked troubled. “If it happened last night, I think one of us would have known that Cass was back. And it’s too soon for anyone to report a missing person. Whoever it was createdenough disturbance that he was found before he was declaredlost.”
Sam nodded. “OK, lead on. Let’s see what I cando.”
Even though she was doing as Walker had directed—keeping the Lucys occupied, she felt like an idiot. She was ascientist. Walking through the woods, holding a walking stick in front of her, waiting for it to take a nose dive like a divining rod was just too ridiculous.At least she knew what a divining rod was, even if she’d always believed they found water, notsafeground. Although maybe if there was water below, it carried off evil pollution? Alice, meetWonderland.
As they searched, Mariah carried on a running dialogue about the old mill that had once occupied the area, the sisters who had lived in the cabin marked by fallen logs, and the villagewell that had once been up here and lost in anearthquake.
Sam tried to take in the concept of all these people living here over the centuries—while she held onto a staff with a mind of its own. It dipped and jiggled and shook back and forth like an old man saying no, no, no as they slowly proceeded downhill. The blasted thing practicallytalked.
She was trying to find the peaceshe’d found on the other side of the valley, but mostly, she felt edgy and scared. Did a killer live on this mountain? Could he be watching them now? She’d be a lot happier if Walker told her someone had died in a bearfight.
The staff dipped so forcefully, she almost fell. At the same time, she felt her fears lifting. Positive energy soaked through her shoes, and all the muscles she hadn’tknown were tense, relaxed. She took a deep breath. Even the air smelledcleaner.
With no memory, she had no preconceived notions to fall back on, so the sensation didn’t strike her as weird or out of the ordinary. Maybe everyone felt safe on some ground more than others. Would that be in hertextbooks?
“Mariah,” she called, afraid to sound too certain. “Is this what you’re lookingfor?”
“Did you find it?” Amber called from the left. A crashing of underbrush and old leavesfollowed.
Mariah arrived on silent feet just as Amber stumbled over a log and caught herself on a tree trunk. Both women looked around expectantly at the tall grass andsaplings.
“It feels right,” they agreedsimultaneously.
“It’s not too hard to reach,” Amber said, gazing skepticallyback up the hill they’ddescended.
“It’s flat and wide enough and the walking stick approves,” Sam added, hoping this would draw Val out of thehills.
“I think this is where the old church was.” Mariah turned around to study the trees. “That was back in the day when even the spiritualists still believed in good and evil. They would have blessed this land when they consecrated thechurch.”
Amber beamed proudly at Sam. “Your cards said you would were the Earth Mother. Let’s bring this meeting toorder.”
Earth Mother? Sam felt more like Class Clown, even more so when the Lucys began arriving without any particular command for them to do so. Convenient, when cell phones didn’t work. She needed to learn psychiccommunication.
Maybe desperation had made hera littlenuts.
“Daisy, will you be able to reach Val from here?” Mariah asked as the numbers filled the smallclearing.
“Val is already here,” Daisy replied, settling on a rock. “She is watching for Cass. The buzzards are circling. It is almost time to dispelthem.”
Sam glanced questioningly at Mariah, who shrugged. “She’s time walking, seeing a different circle in a differenttime where Val is present. But she can communicate from anywhere, so let herbe.”
That was one step past crazy into Twilight Zone. Sam wanted to run back to the lodge and the familiarity of technology, but she feared she was letting down her new friends if shedid.
Desperation had apparently given her a ridiculous niggling hope that maybe woo-woo could return her memory if modernscience couldn’t. That thought fled when she saw her new friends lighting dry tree branches in a makeshift rock basin they’dcreated.
