by Cara Adams
“I wonder if there’s cell phone reception down there. Maybe Grace has been trying to contact us,” said Ty.
“You stay here and keep watch. We’ll go and pack a backpack of what we need. Thea, you’ll need to remain with the RV to go for help if we aren’t back by nightfall tonight,” said Zane.
“No. I think you need to plan to stay overnight in the canyon. If he’s injured, by the time you bandage him up and take turns carrying him, you’ll never make it back before dark. If he’s injured or can’t walk stay there tonight and start walking at daybreak. Take your cell phone and keep checking for reception. If you get even one bar try to text message me with what you need,” said Thea.
Zane sighed. She was right. They would be hard pressed to get down to the base of the canyon, find Grace and Mr. Patterson, solve the problem of whatever needed to be done, and get back all in about seven hours of daylight. But fuck. He hated the thought of leaving Thea all alone overnight.
Zane followed Thea back up to the rim, making a mental list of what they’d need. A heavy sweater each for night time. A blanket for the old man which would also function as a sling to help them carry him on their backs. Water, a lot of water, and food. Both Pattersons were going to be damn hungry. He and Ty had better take a meal with them and eat it as they walked or they’d be hungry, too.
The two backpacks were very full by the time he was packed and he pushed the blanket through the straps of the backpack he carried. He liked how uncomplainingly Thea shouldered the second backpack. Likely he could have carried it as well, he was a lot taller and stronger than her, but she’d already shrugged it on so they locked the RV and returned to the ledge.
“Still no sign of them,” said Ty worriedly.
Zane kissed Thea. “Be inside the RV with the doors locked at dark.”
“There’s no one here. We haven’t seen a single person since we left Vulture Valley. But I promise not to take risks. Remember to text me as soon as you can.”
Zane took a moment from worrying about Thea to worrying about whether or not he’d forgotten to pack something important.
“Eat your lunch,” ordered Thea, handing him one of the tuna salad sandwiches she’d made for each of them.
Zane took it and kissed her, then followed Ty down the trail. If it could even be called a trail. It was a narrow, windy, almost invisible track. As he walked he munched and looked back regularly to wave at Thea. She remained on the ledge watching and he kept waving even when she was only the tiniest of dots and likely couldn’t tell he was waving any more. Then he concentrated on eating his sandwich.
“I really don’t have a good feeling about this. We should have seen them by now. I doubt they could make it up before dark if we can’t see movement yet,” said Ty.
“I agree. It’s taken us an hour already and we’re not much more than halfway. Going up will be slower as well. I just hope we can find them when we get to the bottom.”
“If there are no signs of Grace I think we’ll need to split up, one going right and the other left,” said Ty.
That made sense but it was scary as well. What if they stopped looking just yards from where the old man lay hurt? But what if they kept walking and walking and never found him? This had all the hallmarks of turning into a massive clusterfuck. “Grace seems like a sensible woman. I hope she’ll have left us a clue if she isn’t just down there where we can see her,” he said.
If he hadn’t been tied in knots worrying about the old man, Zane would have enjoyed the hike. The canyon was truly beautiful with amazing rock formations and tiny flowers and grasses growing in surprising places. The view was ever-changing with each twist and turn in the path, and the multicolored rocks were spectacular.
Except that somewhere ahead of him, but who-the-fuck-knew-where, was an old man likely injured. And a long way behind him was the woman he loved and who he ought to be looking after. He’d left her alone and unprotected in the middle of nowhere while he raced to the rescue of a stubborn old cuss who he hoped Ty would handcuff to the bed after they found him.
When they finally made it to the bottom Zane was surprised how late it was. It couldn’t have been much after one when they’d started hiking, but down here shadows were already forming. It wasn’t dark or even dusk, but night was a lot closer here than at the top of the canyon.
He looked around. “I don’t think we should separate tonight at all. It’s going to be dark sooner than I thought.”
“What we should do is gather as much deadfall as we can. At least we’ll have a fire to keep warm and if Grace isn’t too far away she might see it. Of course she won’t know it’s us. I suppose she might worry it’s someone else,” said Ty apparently changing his mind halfway through his sentence.
“This isn’t a tourist area. I think she’d know it’s us or someone we’ve sent for her. This seems to be a place the tribes people use. Hell, I hope it’s not sacred land that we’re defiling by being here.” Zane shuddered. He was here to rescue the old man, not cause trouble. Ah shit. Can this get any worse?
Together they walked along the rocky beach moving slowly looking for branches to use for a fire.
Zane wasn’t very keen to go too far, but that seemed silly. One place was much like another really as long as they could find the start of the track to get back up. Oh fuck! They hadn’t marked the trail. How stupid was he not to leave a sign where they’d reached the beach? Well, that settled it. They absolutely had to find Grace now because she was the only one who could get them home.
* * * *
Ty had never felt so emotionally torn ever before, not even when Walter and Joseph had locked them in the closet. At least he knew why they were doing it. Now, part of him wanted to run up and down the beach screaming for Grace, to know where she was or at least which way she’d gone. But a bigger part of him was back at the RV with Thea. He hated leaving her all alone here in a place none of them knew anything about. This was the desert. There’d be rattlesnakes, scorpions, bees, wasps, ants, and a million other vicious deadly insects, animals, and plants that could harm her, even kill her, and she was all alone with no one to aid her or hear her cries for help. And if she wasn’t alone that was even worse. What if there were outlaws and criminals hiding in the desert? What if they saw her all alone and decided to steal the RV? They could bash her, rape her, murder her, and it would be all his fault for not protecting her as she deserved to be cared for.
Yet Grace and Mr. Patterson were his responsibilities as well. Dr. Thorne had sent him here to care for them and they were lost, missing, and very likely the old man was most unwell, possibly even dying. How was he to cope? He couldn’t be in two places at once and he needed Zane. He was fit and strong but walking back up the canyon to the rim wasn’t going to be a picnic. There was no way he could carry the old man all that way alone. The trail was much too narrow for him to stop and rest for much of the way. Although the old man wasn’t a big person, carrying him for more than half an hour at a time uphill on a dangerous track would be a challenge. It required two of them to take turns. Fucking hell! This was a mess. And he hadn’t even found Grace yet. What if they couldn’t find her for days? Likely she’d be dead of starvation and the old man would be delirious from his wound with no medication for it. Shit. Shit! Shit!
Ty stomped down the beach, trying to look everywhere at once. He desperately wanted to move faster, to run, to find the old man, but he forced himself to move slowly and to be sure to check every inch of the narrow beach for signs the others had walked this way. Sometimes there was a narrow strip of sand beside the water. It was easy to see that no one had been there because it was smooth and pristine. But it was harder to tell on the rocks. He had to stay alert.
He could feel a matching tension to his own rolling off Zane. Zane’s head was constantly turning from side to side, just as he was doing. Every now and then they stopped to look back and check the rim, but there were no signs of people at all.
Ty worried about the coming night.
It’d been obvious from the beginning they’d have to spend the night here and he guessed it was going to make last night sleeping on the RV floor feel like luxury. He supposed he’d be sitting up leaning against the rock wall. Great. There was no way he’d lay on the sand in case the river was tidal and he ended up under water. He could swim but he didn’t have a change of clothing if he got wet, and the nights were cool now that it was fall. Getting wet at night was a guaranteed way to catch a cold if, not pneumonia. Fucking hell. Being tied up in the closet at the mating party was starting to look like a pleasant dream compared to everything that could go wrong right now.
Ty’s ankles were starting to ache from walking on the rocks, and he was about to suggest to Zane they take a rest for a few minutes, when up ahead he saw darker patches on the rock wall. Beside him, Zane grunted and began to walk faster.
“Do you think it’s caves?” he asked.
“Possibly.”
Once again Ty wanted to run, but the rocks were too rough to risk it. Also, in racing toward the caves—well, potential caves—he had to be careful he didn’t miss looking around. He could run right past a big clue or message from Grace if he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings. So Ty forced himself to look at the ground, look to the right and left, look at the wall, and not move too fast.
As they got closer Ty could see it wasn’t a cave as such, more a hollowed out area under an overhang. “It’d be a good place for us to stay tonight, but we really need to keep looking for them.”
“Yes. We need to use the light. Obviously it’s going to get dark earlier here and stay dark later in the morning, giving us a shorter day, so we can’t waste it,” added Zane.
Ty sighed. They stopped and had a brief rest at the overhang, drinking some water and then filling their water bottles again from the river.
“I hope Grace is right and this water is okay for a non-local to drink,” said Ty worried again.
“We can’t even boil it. I didn’t bring a pot because it was just one more thing to carry and Grace already has one. It’s flowing fast though, so that’s usually a good sign.”
“What a crapfest this has turned out to be.”
“Clusterfuck was the word that came to my mind,” said Zane.
Ty snorted. “Yes, that’d work. Okay, let’s keep walking.”
They picked up the logs of wood they’d collected for a fire, and walked until it was getting dark. Just as Ty was about to suggest they start looking for somewhere to stop for the night, Zane raced over to the sand. “Look!”
Up until now the small patches of sandy beach had been smooth and untouched, pristine, clean, and like something to be seen on a travel advertisement. But here the sand was scuffed and disturbed, and then there were some bird tracks.
“Mr. Patterson,” exclaimed Ty.
“You can recognize vulture footprints?”
“Hell no. But those are bird tracks so let’s assume we’ve gotten lucky and it is him.”
The tracks wandered and wavered down the beach. “It is the old man. He’s not walking well. That’s not a happy meander. He’s struggling to walk,” said Ty.
“I agree.” Zane’s head was turning this way and that. Then he walked over toward the canyon wall. In the growing dusk it was getting harder to see that far but Ty really didn’t want to leave the sand. He was certain this was the old man and that any moment he’d find the bird, or the man, lying on the ground.
At the exact time the tracks stopped Zane gave a yell. “Over here.”
Ty peered at the rocky ground, trying to tell if the bird had walked across the rocks to the canyon wall, but it was impossible so he hurried across to Zane. “Have you found him?” he asked his heart filled with hope and worry intermingled.
“No. But he’s definitely been here. Look. Feathers.”
Ty unstrapped his backpack and located the flashlight Thea said she’d put in there for him. He switched it on and immediately could see much more clearly. This was another overhang, deeply shadowed against the canyon wall. A sandy ledge offered them space to sleep protected from any rain, and on it were three black feathers. Ty picked one up and stroked it. “How do you tell if feathers are fresh, or of they’ve been here for years?”
“Feathers are light. They’d blow away in the first puff of wind. It has to be recent,” said Zane.
“I hope the fuck you’re right. I hope he’s nearby.” Ty switched off the flashlight.
“There was a huge dead tree branch not far back. Let’s go get it. With what we’re already carrying it’ll be enough to make a fire. Maybe he and Grace will see the fire and come to us. They have to be damn hungry by now.”
Ty sighed and stood up again. Leaving his backpack on the ground, and rolling his shoulders to ease their tense muscles, he followed Zane back down the beach. “I hope you’re right.”
* * * *
Thea stayed on the ledge, watching the men gradually get smaller and smaller until they were the merest speck in the distance, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding rock. Sitting in the sunshine, surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in the world, she felt very privileged. Millions of workers currently slaving their asses off in office cubicles would likely kill to be where she was right now. But that didn’t stop her being nervous and worried. Not for her personal safety. Thea was certain if anyone came near here they’d be local residents looking for the old man, or just on a regular visit to the canyon. No, what disturbed her was worrying whether Grace and Mr. Patterson were okay, and the need to be sure her own men remained unhurt. They weren’t used to the desert and she worried they’d be the ones to break an ankle, or pick up a stick which was actually a snake, or make some other innocent, naïve mistake.
She also wanted to have them alone some more to talk. Ty’s teasing about BDSM had her panties damp with need. She knew he had Dominant tendencies, and also a well-equipped toy box, but was he a true Dom? And was she ready to be a sub? And what about Zane? He appeared to be more an onlooker right now. If she became Ty’s sub would that make Zane feel left out? If they were to be a true ménage they all had to be equal partners. But if she and Ty had a Dom/sub relationship, would that be fair to Zane?
She had so much to think about, but really, it was things she needed to talk to them about to get a resolution. More and more Dorothea thought she’d rather like to be Ty’s sub, but she wanted Zane there as well. She was fast falling in love with both these men and she needed some alone time with them to discuss the way forward.
Groaning, Thea stood up. After sitting on rock for several hours her ass was aching and her back was stiff. She stood and rubbed her butt for a while then swung her arms to loosen up her back. She needed to return to the RV and make it ready for Mr. Patterson. If he was ill he’d need to be washed and changed and have his wound dressed. Likely he’d come back with other injuries or pulled muscles, if not with broken bones from a fall. Old people’s bones broke much more easily than young people’s bones did.
Thea cleaned the RV thoroughly, then sorted through the closets and lockers until she’d assembled the things she might need and placed them in an easily accessible place.
Next, she went outside to collect more deadfall and build up the fire. She looked down at her hands. Remembering that if she got bitten by a spider she had no antivenin nearby, she went back inside the RV and pulled a pair of heavy work gloves out of the toolbox. They were much too big for her hands, so Thea took some rubber bands which she wrapped around her wrists so the gloves were tight against her skin. Happy that a spider was unlikely to bite her now, Thea wandered around the general vicinity of the RV dragging dead bits of cactus and wood over to the fire circle.
It was already getting dark so she broke up the deadfall into suitable lengths and laid the fire. Back inside she collected a saucepan, a small amount of dried soup, and some vegetables, filled her pot with water and then set it on a rock beside the fire. She lit the fire and sat back waiting for her meal to cook. It was almost d
ark now.
By the time she’d eaten and the fire had burnt down Thea was ready for bed. She moved the remaining fuel well away from the fire so it wouldn’t catch in the night and locked the RV door. Alone in her bed above the cab she slept deeply, but woke again at dawn.
“Damn, this is insane. I have to stop waking up so early.”
She dressed and hurried to the ledge even though she knew the men wouldn’t be visible for hours yet. They’d let the old man sleep until he was ready to make the trip, and then have to pack all their things. She’d be lucky to see them much before midmorning, maybe not until noon. But still she found herself sitting there, checking her cell phone every half hour in case she received a message. She’d brought a pencil and a crossword puzzle book with her from the RV, but they sat unused by her side. She kept watching the trail, longing to see her men return.
It was almost noon when she saw a huge black vulture flying along the canyon toward her. She jumped to her feet and waved. “Mr. Patterson? Are you all right?”
The bird flew past her and over the rim of the canyon. Thea hurried after it, trying to watch the rough trail as she almost ran up it, as well as keeping an eye on where the bird flew.
“Mr. Patterson, where are the others? Are they okay?” she called.
He flew on toward the RV so she ran after him and unlocked the door. “Here you go. Once you’re changed, I’ll make you a meal. I saved you some steak I can mix in with soup.”
But he didn’t go inside. He perched on the roof of the RV and looked at her, his head on the side, his black eye staring at her.
“Are you too tired to change? Is that the problem? Wait there a minute and I’ll get you some water.”
Thea climbed inside and grabbed a bowl filling it with water. She placed it on the roof of the RV. She could only reach the very edge of the roof when she stood on the step so he’d have to move closer to her if he wanted a drink. Thinking he was probably very hungry, she went back inside and found the steak she’d cooked for him. She cut off a chunk of it and diced it into tiny pieces, then put it on a plate. What else would a vulture eat? Grain maybe? She grabbed a slice of bread and cut that up as well, then took the plate out and slid that onto the roof beside the water.