Tyler eyed Marc with irritation. "I assume Dad called you?"
"No, Rose did," Marc said. "And just for the record, you're not to go any further. As of this moment I'm designating Whispering Springs a sacred site. There's also a hole in the floor big enough for a person to crawl in!"
Tyler pulled himself up to a sitting position, shot Rose a look that could stop a charging grizzly, and said to Marc in an attitude and tone that matched his, "There could also be enough geothermal energy down there to run this ranch!" Grabbing his head, he held it for a moment, then flopped back and stared at the ceiling, his eyes moving back and forth, and Rose knew he'd been hit with another bout of dizziness.
The anger on Marc's face of moments before faded, replaced by concern. "What's going on?" he asked. "You look like you're dizzy."
"That's because I am," Tyler replied.
"When did it start?" Marc asked.
"If you really want to know, while I was drilling," Tyler replied. "And just for the record, I felt air coming from the hole I opened up, and when I stuck my head down I found a natural passageway that goes back into the mountain. But you're not interested in knowing what's really causing your voices in the mountain so let's drop it. I'll stop drilling and you can go back to the Kincaid and your petroglyphs." He flopped his arm over his eyes again.
"Is that when the dizziness started, when you opened up the passageway?" Marc asked, ignoring the rest.
"Maybe, why?" Tyler replied, while remaining as he was.
"Because you could have opened up a pocket of any number of poisonous gases that were trapped and that's what made you dizzy," Marc said. "Did you smell anything, like rotten eggs?"
"No," Tyler replied, in a muffled voice against his bent arm.
"Then it wasn't methane or sulfur dioxide," Marc said. "Most likely it was a high concentration of carbon dioxide. In a small cave it can be just as deadly as methane or any of the poisonous gasses. I'll be roping off the spring until I check it with a gas detector and find out what's going on. In the meantime, no one is to go inside."
"Fine, I got the message, now just go away, both of you." Tyler raised his arm and glared at Rose long enough to get his point across, then covered his eyes again.
CHAPTER 14
Marc motioned for Rose to follow him out of Tyler's bedroom, and they started down the passageway. Once outside, he said to Rose, "Damn kid's been speculating about the sounds in the mountain from as far back as I can remember, but I never thought he'd take a jackhammer to it."
Rose wanted to argue that Tyler was not a kid, but Marc, being over five years older, would always view him that way. But she also wondered if Tyler's brothers saw him as the little brother who needed all the help. That alone had to be disturbing to Tyler. "At least he won't be drilling anymore, now that you've designated the spring a sacred place," she said.
Marc let out a little sardonic laugh, and replied, "I don't have the authority to do that. Under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, only sacred sites on Federal Land are protected, but I figured Tyler wouldn't know the law and I wanted a reason to stop what he was doing."
Rose felt exasperation with the whole system of government regulation. She'd been working with a tribal group that managed to change the designations of two sacred sites, but both sites had been on federal land, and the issue of protecting a site on private land had not come up. "I just don't understand," she said. "Indians have been coming to Whispering Springs to commune with spirits for ten thousand years, which clearly makes it a sacred site whether it's on private land or not, so why can't it be covered under the protection act?"
"Because that would arguably be a taking of property within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment, which would require compensation," Marc replied. "But after learning what Tyler was doing, Kit and I came up with an idea that might protect the spring, as well as other sacred sites on private land, which would be, in exchange for economic compensation, legally binding agreements could be drawn up between tribes and private land owners that would provide the tribes easements to the sites along with the guarantee that the sites would remain unchanged."
"Who owns the parcel of land Whispering Springs is on?" Rose asked, thinking that could be a feasible option.
"My grandmother," Marc replied. "I plan to talk to her about approaching the tribal council with an offer that would guarantee them access to the spring by way of the trail that's always been used, along with the assurance that the spring would remain untouched. That way, Whispering Springs would be protected without negatively impacting the ranch and its activities, since the spring would still be outside government regulation."
"Do you think your grandmother will agree?" Rose asked.
"I'm sure she will," Marc replied. "She has pretty much turned over the Indian mound and the spring to me. But before I do anything, I need to find out what gas or gases are in there. My guess is it's elevated levels of carbon dioxide, partly because Tyler didn't smell anything, but also because CO2's heavier than air so it concentrates in low places, like the passageway Tyler opened up. I'll know as soon as I test it with a gas detector, which I'll have to get from the county since I left mine behind. I'll also have Adam put boards across the entrance and post a warning sign until we know what we're dealing with and how to vent the gas, if that can be done safely. A high concentration of carbon dioxide in a small cave can be a death trap, so Whispering Springs could end up off limits with an entirely different designation, but I hope it doesn't come to that."
Rose thought about the thousands of years that Indians have been going to the spring for medicinal and sacred reasons and felt renewed anger toward Tyler for being so relentless in his crusade. But she also realized that if he hadn't drilled into the floor and released the gas, maybe it would have escaped over time and built up, and later someone would be found dead, so maybe what he did had been a blessing in disguise. Which raised another question.
Looking at Marc, she said, "The spring has been a sacred place from the time of the petroglyphs, so if it's trapped carbon dioxide, do you think it's been there all along, or is it something recent?"
"That's hard to say," Marc replied. "Carbon dioxide's a bi-product of organic and micro-organic metabolism respiration by fauna, such as bats, so it could build up over time. But I'm puzzled because there has never been a large bat population in there, and there's never been evidence of rodents to any extent, or other mammals, so my guess is that carbon dioxide was absorbed by ground water as it passed through soil containing high concentrations of gas due to the decay of vegetation, which would result in weak carbonic acid, which then percolated through the rock strata and entered the cave system."
"What about Tyler? How long will it be before his dizziness passes?" Rose asked.
"That varies with the individual," Marc replied. "He's a big guy, but it could still take several days for his body metabolism to return to normal."
"Shouldn't something be done for him now?" Rose asked.
"The treatment for CO2 poisoning at the level Tyler breathed is to rid the bloodstream of the gas by breathing normal air, but if the dizziness persists, he should see a doctor to rule out other causes." Marc eyed Rose with awareness. "You were sitting on the bed when I arrived."
When he said nothing more, Rose wasn't sure how to reply. She also got the impression that Marc wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but she was fairly certain that they were on the same wavelength, which was defining what her relationship was with Tyler.
She was uncertain how to reply. Sophie and Emily already knew how she felt about Tyler. While weaving baskets, Sophie kidded her about Tyler finding umpteen reasons to stand with visitors at the museum while she addressed them, when before she arrived he hadn't so much as given it a sideways glance. And she'd responded to Sophie's comment by feeling her face burn as if on fire and her breath catch, at which point both women started laughing and telling her that they'd been where she was with their own Hansen men, and that's when Rose gave up
and admitted that she liked Tyler.
"Like?" Sophie had said, with a wide grin.
"Well, maybe more than like," Rose replied. "He's amazing with horses."
"Yeah, right, it's his ability with horses that's got you panting," Sophie kidded, "not because he looks like a male model. But he's not very good at keeping your secret from the family either. He's acting like a pubescent male with his first girlfriend, which actually you are. But until you came along, his life was all about horses. Rick and Adam and the rest of us are pretty amused."
"Then you'd all better have a good laugh while you can because things will probably change later this afternoon," Rose said. She went on to tell them about calling Marc, and why, and all the lightness of moments before died. She knew the women understood why she'd felt compelled to call Marc, but she could tell they were disappointed that the romance would probably end...
"Were you with Tyler when he first got dizzy?" Marc asked, refocusing Rose's attention.
"I wasn't with him in the cave, if that's what you're asking, and I only learned about his dizziness when I got here shortly before you arrived," Rose replied. "He didn't tell me he got dizzy while he was drilling, but I'll be staying with him for a while, even if he doesn't want me here, now that he knows I'm the one who called you."
"Then I take it he wanted you here before," Marc said.
"Yes," was Rose's simple reply.
Marc looked toward the stable, then at Rose, and said, "A woman's touch would be good for him right now. Maybe you know something that could help with the dizziness."
Rose knew Marc was talking about medicinal herbs because she'd told him earlier that she grew up learning about them from her grandmother. "Ginger tea will help," she replied. "I have some in the herb kit my grandmother put together for me before I came here. It also contains ground seeds and nuts, which help the lymph system get rid of toxins. The kit's at your house, on the counter in the kitchen by the sink, so if you drive me there I'll get it, along with Tundra, and walk back here to give him some exercise. He does fine in the corral here."
Marc again looked at her with awareness, and Rose realized, as soon as she said the words, he does fine in the corral here, that Marc knew she'd spent more time with Tyler than just an afternoon while he lay in bed because of dizziness. "Then since you'll be staying here a while I won't say anything to our mom. She'd be taking up residency with Tyler if she knew what happened, and I don't think Mom's the one Tyler wants right now."
"He doesn't want me either," Rose said in a morose voice. "He's not at all happy with me right now, as you must have noticed, so he actually might rather have his mother instead of me."
Marc laughed. "Trust me, he doesn't, which gives you the afternoon and evening to patch things up. He'll also need a reminder to breathe deeply to bring down the level of gas in his tissues and bloodstream. Drinking a lot of fluids helps too, so we'd better get back so you can pick up your kit and start pumping him full of whatever you have in store for him."
Thirty minutes later, when Rose returned with her medicinal herb kit in a small pack on her back and Tundra loping along on a long leash, she closed Tundra in the corral, along with a rawhide bone, then entered the stable, surprised to find Tyler padding his way along the stalls, like he needed them for support. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Going to feed my mares," Tyler replied.
"I can do that for you, but you need to go back to bed until the dizziness passes," Rose said.
When she went to take his arm to turn him around, Tyler shook it off, while grumbling, "I don't need your help."
"You'll get it anyway," Rose said. "What do the horses need right now? Grain, hay?"
Tyler folded his arms and glared at her, but finding himself swaying, he unfolded his arms and braced a hand against a stall and closed his eyes. From the movement of his head, Rose knew the world inside his skull was spinning. When he opened his eyes again, he said, "Grain, but they need to come into their stalls for that."
"Fine," Rose replied. "I assume if I open the gate between the pasture and the paddock, they'll all know where to go?"
Tyler nodded and said nothing, and when his hand tightened around one of the bars on the stall, Rose knew he was struggling to stay standing. Taking him by the arm, she said, "Come on. You need to lie down."
Tyler didn't argue as Rose gripped his arm to steady him and walked with him down the passageway. But once in bed, with his back propped against two pillows, he looked at her steadily, and said in a bad-tempered voice, "I'm about an hour away from finding the answer to something that's dogged me since I was a kid, and the last person I want around here is Marc. I would have filled in the hole before he came home, and that would have been the end of it."
"Except that Marc might not have had his youngest brother when he got home because you might be dead," Rose pointed out.
"I imagine Marc will be around to remind me of that every day of my life, along with what a stupid idiot I am," Tyler replied.
"You know Marc isn't that way," Rose said, "but you were given warning signs." She glanced toward the window and saw Diana sitting on the limb, looking their way.
Tyler looked in the direction of Rose's gaze, then eyed her with irritation, and said. "Warning signs I assume you mean coming from a hawk that's here for handouts she's no longer getting, but hasn't figured that out yet."
"Diana is here for a reason that has nothing to do with handouts," Rose said.
"Fine then you tell me what that reason is because I haven't a clue." Tyler planted his mouth in a firm line and waited.
Rose felt annoyed with Tyler's mulishness, especially since he'd told her repeatedly that he was trying to understand the things that were important to her. But she also knew that a person's way of thinking can't change overnight. "Okay," she said, "if you're willing to listen, I'll try to explain, but first you have to be open to what I say."
"Go ahead then," Tyler said. "Not much else in my life so far has made sense, so what you have to say will probably be no less logical."
That wasn't exactly the answer Rose was looking for, but since Tyler was at least open to listening, she said, "It's clear that the horse is your life animal spirit guide. They know you better than anyone, and if you opened the gate they wouldn't leave because they've chosen to spend their lives with you, but because of their presence in your life, they help you live it more fully, they help you heal when you’re sad or sick, and they show you what unconditional love is. But unlike an animal spirit guide, an animal messenger touches your heart in a different way by helping you find your way when you get lost. Diana is here for that reason."
"I'm not lost," Tyler grumbled. "I was on the verge of finding a means of delivering power to the entire ranch and hot water to every household here in a way that wouldn't impact the environment, when you blew the whistle on me."
"But you'd be delivering power by destroying a sacred site!" Rose said.
"That's your take on it," Tyler replied. "I see it a different way."
"That's been our problem from the start," Rose said. "To you, my spiritual beliefs are nothing more than a bunch of myths and legends that have no scientific basis." She turned and started out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Tyler called after her.
Rose stopped at the doorway and looked back. "Does it matter?"
Tyler stared at her much like he had the day he'd invited her to his place to talk, then didn't know what to say or do because he'd never been around women much, which touched a special place in her heart because he was struggling with what to say now. After a long pause, he said, "Yeah, it matters, because I don't want you to leave."
Giving a little shrug, Rose said, "I wasn't leaving. I was going fix something for your dizziness."
Tyler eyed her uncertainty. "Something like what?"
"A mixture of herbs that work better than your scientifically prepared prescriptions," Rose said. When Tyler made no argument, and she saw instead the hint of
a smile, she sensed, for the first time, that he was beginning to give some credence to her customs and way of thinking.
In his refrigerator she found a carton of milk and a stick of butter, which was all she needed for her remedy for ridding his body of toxins. After taking a small skillet from a hook on the wall, she set it on the stove to heat then added a chunk of butter and two cloves. To this she sprinkled two teaspoons of Granna's prepared mixture of ground wheat, poppy seeds, almonds and pumpkin seeds, and stirred long enough to make a paste, which she'd later add to a cup of warm milk. She didn't intend to give it to Tyler yet, and wondered if he'd even be willing to drink it once he peered into the mug and saw what would look like a slurry of questionable ingredients, but she'd worry about that later. For now, she'd give him a mug of ginger tea with a squeeze of honey, which he should drink without too much fuss.
After fixing the tea, she returned to the bedroom to find Tyler staring out the window in the direction of the hawk, a questioning expression on his face, but on hearing her enter, he quickly looked away. Handing him the mug of tea, she said, "This should help. Indians have been using it for thousands of years for numerous ailments."
Tyler took a small sip. "It tastes like ginger," he commented.
"That's because it is," Rose said. "Scientific studies proved that ginger relieves dizziness faster than most drugs because it stimulates the flow of blood to the brain. Even NASA relies on it to counteract nausea in astronauts, so it isn't just some herbal mumbo jumbo."
As Tyler continued sipping from the mug, Rose said, "When you're done I'll give you a massage with thyme and oregano oils, which are strong antioxidants that will help your lymph system release toxins while stimulating the flow of blood, which in turn will help the dizziness." As she spoke, her eyes drifted down a broad expanse of muscular chest she could imagine running her palms over while massaging oils into his skin...
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