by Kathi Daley
“I suppose someone might have climbed the fence. We probably wouldn’t have seen them if they did,” I found myself saying.
Ellie frowned. “You think that is what happened?”
“Not necessarily. You know my natural inclination is to look at a situation and consider all options.”
“Aren’t you the one who was just telling me to relax and not to panic until we see how things work out?”
I shrugged. “Yes, that is what I said, and I meant it. I guess our plan for a late-night swim is off, but I noticed a deck of cards in one of the drawers in the desk. Would you care to be beaten at gin rummy?”
Ellie laughed. “As if. I don’t think you have beaten me once in your life, but I’m game.”
Chapter 5
Monday, July 15
I got up early the next morning and went for a run. Not only do I try to run most mornings but now I really wanted to get the lay of the land. I jogged as far as I thought I had time for, but, as I already suspected, I found no signs of roads or vehicles. There were trails for hiking and fantastic views. I noticed stables that looked to have held horses at one time but were empty now. The only other evidence of civilization was the trailer parked far below the lip of the ledge Ellie and I had been sitting near the day before. If I had to guess, the lake we’d seen when we flew overhead was at least a mile straight down the mountain. Maybe more. Distance was hard to gauge when you were looking at one location that was directly below another. One thing was for sure: it didn’t look like the lake or the trailer could be reached by hiking. At least not directly. The drop-off was too steep for anyone other than an experienced climber with gear to handle.
I jogged off in another direction, looking for a trail that might wind its way down the back of the mountain. It would probably take forever to get to the lake that way, but it seemed as if it might be doable if push came to shove. Of course, I had no idea what sort of natural barriers could be found between the camp and civilization. Rivers? Lakes? Other drop-offs not readily observable?
I had tried to convince Ellie the previous evening that there was most likely nothing sinister going on here, but after tossing and turning all night I had awakened with the conviction that Ainsley’s death hadn’t been due to a natural cause like a heart attack or even suicide. I wasn’t sure where this overwhelming sense of foreboding had come from. I certainly didn’t have any evidence to support it, so I hoped it was nothing more than my imagination kicking into overdrive. Based on my prior experiences of bad things coming in normal wrappers, I often saw conspiracy where conspiracies did not exist. Of course, that was rare. More often than not, if my Zodar was activated, there was a reason for concern.
Ellie and I had discussed our remaining under the radar, which meant I needed to get back in time for breakfast. If something awful was going on, we’d be better able to snoop on it if no one realized that we suspected anything. I was a smart woman, but if I needed to play dumb, I could play dumb. We’d also talked about not doing anything to put our girls in danger. If we didn’t have the girls with us, I’d probably pack some supplies and take off down the mountain, dragging Ellie behind me, but that didn’t seem to be doable with eight teenagers following behind us too.
I was just beyond the edge of the compound’s building when I came across Electra talking to Athena. I ducked behind some shrubs and listened.
“It was awful,” Electra said. “She was just lying there. Someone had covered her with towels, but there was no doubt there was a body beneath those towels.”
“So why are they trying to keep it a secret?” Athena asked. “The girls might not realize that someone is missing, but the other staff members are beginning to ask about Ainsley, and Adira’s vague answers aren’t fooling any of them.”
“I don’t know why I was told not to say anything,” Electra shared. “I’m not comfortable lying to the others. And I’m a terrible liar, which is probably why I ended up telling you what I knew.”
Athena chuckled. “You are a terrible liar, which is how I knew you weren’t telling me the truth when I brought up Ainsley’s whereabouts and pressed harder for answers. So what exactly happened? Who other than you, and now me, knows that Ainsley is dead?”
“I’m not sure who all knows. When that mom came running into the welcome reception, I happened to be in the back, talking to Ceres. I told her to go and get Adira, and then I went with the woman back to the sauna. There was another mom waiting with the body, so the two moms, Ceres, Adira, and Isis know, along with us.”
“What did you do when you found out?”
“At first, I thought the whole thing was just Ainsley trying to get attention, but then, when I realized she was actually dead, I almost freaked out. I would have too if I hadn’t reminded myself about harnessing my inner power even in tough situations. I think I kept it together pretty well. I was glad Isis showed up before I had a meltdown. She took control of the situation and told all of us to go back to our cabins. She also told us not to say anything until they could contact the authorities. I guess that makes sense. They wouldn’t want thirty-two teenagers and six parents interfering in the investigation or going crazy over the fact that someone had died and wanting to leave.”
“Yeah, that would be a mess for sure.”
“I heard that the organization is in trouble,” Electra added. “Financially. I’m sure they need the income from the camp and won’t want to cancel the week if they don’t have to. They collect the registrations up front, so part of that money is probably already spent. I’m not sure the organization would even be able to make the refunds if they were asked to.”
“There has been talk among some of the other goddesses that there is something about to go down. Something big,” Athena informed her friend. “I don’t know what it might be, but I keep expecting to hear that the camp is closing or that the entire corporation has been sold.”
“It does seem that Adira and Isis have been spending a lot of time behind closed doors lately,” Electra agreed.
“I feel like the tension that I’ve been picking up has escalated in the past two weeks. If there is a takeover afoot or something similar, I’m sure Ainsley’s death won’t help matters.”
“I guess I sort of get why they want to keep things quiet,” Electra added. “We always want every week to be a success, and if there is a buyout or takeover in the works, I suppose it is in all our best interest to present the camp and the goddesses in the best light possible.”
“Yeah. I guess.” Athena sighed. “I heard the chopper came to pick up Ainsley’s body last night, after we were all sent back to our rooms for prayer and meditation. It is so weird to think about her being dead. She was only a year older than me. How could she have had a heart attack, even if she did stay in the sauna too long? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Something has been wrong with her since the last group left,” Electra said. “She seemed really stressed, and I noticed that she was called in to talk to Adira on more than one occasion in the past few days. Maybe she was doing drugs. Maybe that is why her heart gave out when she was in the sauna. You know you aren’t supposed to take a sauna if your heart has been weakened, and I guess drugs could weaken your heart.”
“Ainsley didn’t seem like the sort of person to do drugs, no matter how stressed out she was about something,” Athena pointed out.
“Do you have a better explanation?”
“No,” she admitted.
“We’d better get over to the dining hall. Isis will have our heads if we’re late.”
As soon as they left, I continued on to the cabin. I’d need to take a quick shower rather than the long soak I had planned if I didn’t want to be late for breakfast, but overhearing the conversation between the two goddesses seemed worth the change in plans. If Ainsley had been stressed before she died, I had to wonder what she had been so worried about. It also occurred to me whether what she had been concerned about was what had gotten her killed.
I decided to
stop by the cabin Ainsley had shared with Venus on my way back. I only knew which cabin it was because I’d overheard Venus saying to Ceres that she hoped they would find a new goddess soon because she hated being alone at night. It seemed to me that pretty much everyone knew that Ainsley had died despite the fact that it was supposed to be a secret. As far as I was concerned, it would be best if they just made an announcement and got it over with.
When I arrived at Venus’s cabin I knocked on the door even though I was pretty sure she had already gone over to the dining room to help set up for breakfast. When there was no answer, I let myself inside. It was laid out in much the same manner as the cabin Ellie and I shared, although the view wasn’t nearly as spectacular. I supposed that the person who designed the camp wouldn’t have wasted the best views on staff housing.
One of the bedrooms showed signs of recent occupancy. The bed was unmade, and there were several items of clothing spread over a chair. The second bedroom was spotless. I opened the closet and the dresser drawers and found all empty. It seemed kind of odd to me that Ainsley had already been so totally eradicated from the place, but they’d had time to gather her belongings before the helicopter had arrived for the body. Maybe they figured they’d just send her belongings down the mountain with her body.
I didn’t think it was likely I was going to find anything that might explain what had happened to Ainsley, especially once I saw all her stuff was gone. I opened the drawer in a bedside nightstand, and it was empty as well. There were things in the bathroom, but I supposed they belonged to Venus. Just as I was leaving the room, I found a piece of paper under the bed. The only thing that was written on it was a time and a date, which coordinated with the next day at four o’clock in the afternoon. I guessed Ainsley might have had a meeting to keep or a class to teach then. I realized that I wasn’t going to find the clues I needed, so I slipped cautiously out of the cabin and headed back to the one I shared with Ellie.
After I showered and dressed I headed out onto the deck at the back, where Ellie was waiting for me.
“How was your run?” she asked.
“Good. It’s a beautiful morning. I stumbled onto Electra and Athena talking on my way back. They didn’t see me, so I listened to what they were talking about. It seems that Ainsley had been stressed in the days before her death. The goddesses thought her stress might have led to her taking drugs, which might have contributed to her death, along with the heat in the sauna. I have to wonder, however, if whatever she was stressed over didn’t get her killed in a more direct way.”
“You think she knew something she shouldn’t have?” Ellie asked.
“Maybe. I figured that would explain her untimely death. I stopped off to search her cabin and room, but all her stuff has been cleared out.”
“Already?”
“I was surprised as well, but there would have been time to clear out her room before the chopper showed up last night. I can see them thinking it was a good idea to send her possessions down the mountain with her body.”
“What do you think she might have known that could have gotten her killed?” Ellie asked.
I wrinkled my nose and bit my lip. “I’m not sure. Maybe nothing. Like I said, I didn’t find anything in her room other than a piece of paper with tomorrow’s date and four o’clock written on it.”
“Four o’clock is the time the afternoon sessions start,” Ellie pointed out. “I suppose the note could have been a reminder.”
“I guess that makes sense, although they have classes every afternoon, and the information written on the note is not enough to tell us what it was she was trying to remember. We should get over to the dining hall now. Eat light. We have a full day of hiking and zip lining ahead of us.”
Chapter 6
The hike up to the zip line was gorgeous. I live in a location that allows me to experience beauty every day, so it takes a lot to really impress me, but I had to admit that the dense forest with trails leading to hidden waterfalls and crystal-clear pools left me breathless.
Calliope had informed us that we would hike two miles up the mountain, taking a path that wound its way past the pools and waterfalls. When we reached the ridge we would zip line down, she told us two girls would go down at a time, and then we would all hike back up using a different trail. When we reached the midway point on our way back up the mountain we would stop for lunch. Each girl carried her own lunch, water, sunscreen, and whatever else she needed in her pack. Calliope also indicated that the journey would present surprises along the way that would challenge the group to reach deep down to access their inner power. When the first surprise along the way turned out to be a rope bridge that spanned a canyon at least half as wide as a football field was long, I was pretty sure it was Ellie who was going to be the first to turn around and head back down the mountain.
“I can’t do this,” she insisted. “You know I’m not comfortable with heights.”
“You’ll be fine. There are two ropes tied to boards at least a foot wide for your feet. There is only about six inches between those boards. The bridge might sway a bit, so just go slowly. Scoot your feet across. Don’t even lift them; that way you can’t lose your balance. There are also two ropes at shoulder height to hang on to. Hang on to the top ropes with both hands and don’t let go.”
“They don’t even have a safety line. If someone fell, they’d be killed. This is crazy.”
“The girls are doing it,” I pointed out, even though I secretly agreed that at the very least, there ought to be a safety line. I had to wonder if they had ever lost anyone on one of these hikes. I sort of hated to ask. “Look, I’ll be right behind you. If you start to freak out, I’ll grab you. Okay?”
Ellie took a deep breath. “Okay. I don’t like this, but I’ll do it.”
The girls all made it across safely. Only one of the eighteen who had crossed in front of us even seemed frightened. When it was Ellie’s turn I went right behind her, reminding her to look directly ahead and not look down. I reminded her to scoot slowly along and not to let go of the ropes she was hang on to. I repeated again and again that she was almost there until eventually she really was almost there. When her feet finally touched the ground on the other side of the bridge, she fell to her knees.
“I did it!” She grinned. “I almost had a panic attack about halfway across, but I didn’t. I knew I couldn’t give in to panic, so I just reminded myself to keep breathing.” She sat down on the ground. “Of course, now that I am safe I might pass out.”
I knelt down next to her and gave her a tight hug. “You did great. Just keep breathing. You need to slow your heart rate. Hera and Edris are behind us. I have a feeling we’ll be on our way as soon as they get across.”
Ellie paled. “I wonder what other challenges await us.”
I hugged Ellie again. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, we’ll get through it together.”
Ellie stood up on shaky legs. “If Phyllis had come instead of me as originally planned, she would never have been able to do that.”
“I doubt they would have asked Phyllis to come along on the hike. In fact, we are the only two chaperones fortunate enough to have been invited along on this particular challenge.”
“Yeah, very fortunate.” Ellie groaned. “Did you know the challenges would be dangerous when you agreed to let Alex attend the camp?”
I frowned. “Actually, no. Not like this. I knew the camp was all about harnessing your inner power and I knew there would be physical, emotional, and mental challenges, but I guess I didn’t think they would present activities in which death could be a possible outcome. I was imaging things like the ones on one of those gladiator shows or on that obstacle-course show on TV. Although they did require parents to sign waivers when the girls signed up for the camp, and they did cover any and all situations up to accidental death and dismemberment. Zak and I discussed it and decided it must be standard language to save their butts in case of accident. When we took the kids white-water raftin
g a few years ago, we had to sign a form with similar language, and even the waiver that comes with my annual ski pass talks about releasing the ski resort from possible injury or death.”
Ellie furrowed her brow. “I guess that’s true. I signed the form as well and had the same thought about liability, but I guess it didn’t occur to me that death and dismemberment was a real possibility.” Ellie looked behind where we were standing. “It looks like they are rounding everyone up to go on.”
Luckily, the next part of the journey was pretty mellow, consisting of a beautiful hike up to a wide meadow that was painted with wildflowers. The next goddess-building exercise was about trust and required everyone to team up for a hike from the meadow up a narrow trail to a summit. It seemed easy enough until it was announced that one girl in each pair would be blindfolded. The visually unimpaired partner was entrusted with getting both herself and her blind partner to the top of the ridge without either of them falling off. The mountain was on one side of the trail, providing a natural barrier, but on the other side of the trail there was a steep drop that would certainly result in death if anyone fell. I knew Ellie was already freaked out, so I volunteered to be the one to wear the blindfold. She seemed to consider the option but in the end decided that she felt better about me getting her up the steep, narrow trail safely than she did about her getting me up the trail.
Again, I had to wonder if the group had ever lost anyone over the side. I supposed they must not have. If they had, it seemed that they would change the way they went about things. I decided to walk directly in front of Ellie. I had her hold on to my waist on both sides, and then I took small steps and she followed. I reminded her to stay directly behind me and she would be fine. Amazingly, she was. She didn’t even seem to be freaking out during the steep part of the climb, where slipping on loose shale was a real possibility.
Once we made it to the summit, the blindfolded team member was allowed to take off the scarf and the rest of the hike to the zip line was easy and uneventful. The girls were strapped in two at a time and instructed to jump off the mountain. At least safety harnesses were worn for this activity. Calliope had gone down first so that she could meet the girls at the bottom and then send the harnesses back up for the next pair. I glanced at Alex, who had a huge grin on her face. She at least seemed to be having a wonderful time.