"Did you see Donna that night?"
He nodded. "Yes, Mom. She let us go, and then we left. That was the last time I saw her, I swear."
She said quietly, "You remind me too much of your father, Thorn. He never could stay away from that mountain. I just don't want it to cost you as dearly as it did him."
I asked as gently as I could, "You know something about what happened to your husband, don't you?"
"I saw two men go out to the workshop that morning. I didn’t think much of it until Gabriel failed to come back for lunch. I went to check on him and found him." Her voice broke on the last word, and Thorn put his arm around her shoulders protectively. "I couldn't tell the boys that I thought their father had been killed. It was investigated, but there never could be any connection made to foul play."
Thorn asked, "Who?"
Mrs. Durant deflated as she leaned against Thorn. "That Rogers man and another man that I had seen around, but I didn't know who he was. Gabriel had become increasingly private about his dealings in the months leading up to his death. He’d been working on some project that he wouldn't speak about."
Thorn looked over at me. "You said Darren was in your dream, right?"
I nodded. "And not in a good way."
Mrs. Durant appeared worried. "Please...both of you be careful!"
We assured her we would be.
"You sure you want to do this?" Thorn's voice interrupted my mental preparations.
I thought for a second. "No, I don't want to do this," I said. "I do, however, feel like I need to before anyone else gets put in danger on my behalf. I feel they deserve to know the score."
Thorn concentrated on the road as he drove us to the spot where he'd told Oliver to meet us. I wondered whether telling him and Ginger at the same time was a good idea, but I decided I'd rather not do this any more times than I had to. Eventually, he said, "It's not your fault, you know?"
"It's not yours either," I countered. Thorn fell silent, and we did not speak again as we drove to a park that Thorn was familiar with.
There waiting for us were Ginger and a very put-out looking Oliver. They were sitting awkwardly on the top of a cement picnic table, looking as if they were trying hard to ignore each other. Thorn parked, and we made our way over to the estranged couple.
Oliver shot me a glare. I gave Ginger an encouraging smile, which she returned hesitantly. I said quietly, "I know you both have offered to help, but let me be straightforward with you. I believe you need to know the truth before you go any further. I won't hold it against you if you leave after you hear me out." I waited, and they both nodded. "I have a grandmother much like Thorn and Oliver's. She, too, spoke of cunning folk and wise blood. Our family is marked with a particular propensity for prophetic dreams. It's a genetic lot that fell to me, and I've tried as hard as I could to run from it."
I took a deep breath. "I came here because two months ago I started having a recurring nightmare, all of which I could remember was the town limit sign of Carver's Corner. I had no idea about the old case. I stumbled across it looking for anything that could explain why I was here. That's what Thorn and I have been doing. We've been looking at the old case, yes, but we've also been looking at my dreams and trying to figure out what it all has to do with Maiden's Peak."
Ginger spoke first when I stopped talking. "I believe you, Victor. You already know why I want to help. Thank you for telling us."
"You might wanna wait to thank me until we tell you the last part." I looked at Thorn, whose face did not betray confidence in my plan. "The last time Thorn and I were there, not only did someone disappear off the mountain, but we went in the mines." Ginger looked interested, while Oliver looked like he was trying to keep his mouth shut. "We saw something," I said awkwardly, glancing at Thorn.
Thorn sighed. "While we were in the mine, we saw a shape—a black shape that absorbed the light. There were no features, and we didn’t stick around to investigate it. Victor actually saw it before I did."
Oliver scoffed, "You were probably messed up on the gases in those caves."
Thorn gave his older brother a considering look, but it was Ginger who spoke up. "Oliver, why do you have to mock everything that you don't understand?"
The plump man folded his arms and said simply, "I'm not mocking it. I'm disputing it. I need evidence."
"So, come with us," I urged. "Or don't. I just wanted you both to know what it was you were signing up for."
"You just want to get us all keyed up so we'll be jumping at shadows," Oliver said in irritation.
Ginger rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. I'll be glad to go with you. I need to."
Thorn told her, "We'd appreciate it if this was kept quiet. We don't want anyone who might be responsible for Donna's disappearance to know we are looking into things. It could be dangerous."
Ginger readily promised to keep our investigation to herself. Oliver also promised, but I wasn’t so sure I trusted his offhand manner.
Ginger asked to talk to me before everyone left. We walked a bit away from the Durant brothers, who looked about ready to start another of their arguments. If they did, at least we’d be out of earshot.
"My mother was a firm devotee of Oliver's grandmother. She begged my dad to let her take me to Miss Mara to get a reading done on me after what happened to my father in the mines. He refused. He just wanted to pretend it didn't happen. I think he had to so he could keep working there." Ginger wrung her hands. "Do you think Thorn inherited any of his granny's abilities?" she asked the question with her eyes to the ground.
I pondered the idea. "You'd have to ask him," I answered honestly. "Why?"
"I just thought if he did, then maybe he could give me that reading. Have you seen me in your dream?" she asked apprehensively.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I haven't. Mind you, the dreams are really confusing at the best of times."
She simply shrugged. "Oh well. Adds to the mystery."
I gave her an encouraging smile. "I promise if I see anything, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Victor," she said with genuine appreciation.
When we made it back to the others, she quickly excused herself. I saw her leave in a small white car before Oliver asked rather loudly, "What's the meaning of dragging Gin into this?"
I sighed and turned toward the plump man. "I did not bring her into it. She brought herself into it. She has a right to answers as much as anyone else does." I tried to keep my voice level and reasonable. The man looked red in the face. I watched the narrowing of his eyes and the way he clenched his fists. He was livid. I leaned my head to the side and grinned. "You still love her!"
Oliver gaped at me. "That's none of your business, buddy." He fairly shook when he spoke again. "Gin is a bit gullible when it comes to this stuff, and I just don't want to see her get taken for a ride."
Thorn shifted beside me. I saw the movement of his coat, and it brought my attention to the younger brother. He looked very much like he was no longer interested in the discussion.
I brought my attention back to the older Durant brother, whose face was now tomato-red. I said evenly, "I assure you, Oliver, that I’d never hurt her intentionally. She is, however, a grown woman, and she can make her own decisions."
Oliver seemed to deflate, raking an agitated hand through his hair. "You aren't wrong about me, but then maybe Thorn told you. He's always on about how I shouldn't have let her go."
I was taken aback by the man's candor. "If you love her, why did you break up with her?"
He shook himself as if he could shake off a bad memory. "It's a really long story, Mr. Shelton. One I'd just as soon not start. So, you two are seriously going back to that peak?"
Thorn sighed. "We need to."
Oliver shook his head. "I'll come along. If we get caught, I’ll just say you were helping me try to get a scoop for the newspaper."
I gave him a smile. "That's actually a pretty good idea."
The older Durant was looking at Thorn
now. "Does Mom know?"
Thorn nodded. "Yes. She knows we were up there. And she knows we plan on going back."
"Then it's all settled. Maybe this time the disappearance won't go unsolved," Oliver replied with a determination that was new for the stout reporter. He seemed to have tapped into what he believed in—the story. He was going to get to the bottom of this. I hoped for his sake that he did.
Before long, we all piled back into our vehicles and separated for the day. As we were driving away, I told Thorn about the conversation with Ginger to give him some warning. He listened but didn’t seem inclined to offer any revelations or responses to the question Ginger had asked me. I thought it just as well, really.
My mind went back over the previous days. I pondered the torn pieces of paper. What did they have to do with anything? I still had no clue. With Donna missing, time was short. I felt like I should drive to the peak right now and search for her. I told myself that the police had already looked at the area and were still looking all over the county for any signs of her.
The sun was striking the windshield at the most horrible angle, and I held my hand up in front of my face. As I did, something flew against the window. Thorn hit the brakes, which sent me forward to meet the seatbelt painfully. "Oww!" I complained.
Thorn was out of the truck before I was; I let him rush to the rescue, as was his tendency to do when there was any perceived risk. I wondered suddenly if he realized he did that.
As my feet hit the ground, Thorn walked over and snatched something off the windshield. "What is that?" I asked as he came around to my side, showing me the piece of newspaper. "Litter?" I raised an eyebrow and blinked. "Wow, that's an old newspaper." I showed Thorn the date.
"No kidding. That thing’s probably fifteen years old. I'm surprised it held together enough to hit the windshield." He looked around. "Where the hell did it come from?"
"No idea," I said as I scanned the paper. "Hey, look at this." I showed him that part of the article on the page was about the disappearances. "That's an odd coincidence," I mused.
"Yeah," Thorn said uneasily. "Get back in. I think I hear someone coming."
There was a storm warning looming in the coming days, and there had been no sign of Donna. I had dreams about her beautiful little girls. My nightmare plagued me less, replaced by ballerinas and guilt.
We were due to meet up with Oliver and Ginger that afternoon. Hopefully, we could get to the mines and push in with all the necessary equipment this time.
Ginger had proven useful in securing the bulk of the cave exploration equipment. Apparently, she had quite the store of equipment built up from the time her dad was a miner. It was in good shape, too.
Oliver picked up some air tanks from a sporting goods store a few towns over that catered to plenty of spelunkers. The man was still worried about the air quality, and frankly, it never hurt to be thorough just in case.
I thought I might go stir crazy. Thorn had been absent all morning. He’d gone to get ropes and hadn’t returned yet. I tried his phone but got no answer. I asked his mother if she'd heard from him, and she said she had not. I tried to not worry her, but surely it did not take this long to get ropes from the hardware store.
I called Oliver about noon, and he picked up on the first ring. "Oliver Durant," he said in a clipped, businesslike tone.
"Oliver, have you heard from Thorn?" I asked.
He seemed confused. "Should I have? I thought we were meeting at the house."
"No; I mean, we are. It's just that he went to go get some rope, and he's been gone for hours. With the way people disappear around here, I was just getting concerned." I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to act calm for Oliver or myself.
"He's probably at Gram's," he said.
"Oh," I said, and then I thanked him and hung up. I was more confused than before.
I was just getting ready to call Thorn's number again when I heard his Dodge pull up outside. I went to the door and opened it. I felt myself relax when I saw the blond striding across the yard, looking relatively unharmed.
"Where's the rope?" I called.
He nodded at the truck, taking the steps two at a time and coming to a stop in front of me. "What did you need?"
"When?" I asked in confusion.
"When you called me earlier!" He waved his phone at me.
"Oh. Just to check in with you. You’ve been gone all morning."
He shrugged. "Sorry. Lost track of time. Can I go in the house now?"
I moved out of the way and made a grand sweeping bow, which he rolled his eyes at as he went past me.
Mrs. Durant fed us a warm lunch, then she excused herself to go up to her room. She was surely trying to stay out of the way.
As we sat in the living room, waiting on the others to arrive, I noticed Thorn shuffling some cards. They looked odd but familiar. I suddenly realized they were tarot cards.
"Do you do readings?" I asked mildly.
"Nope," he answered with no detectable trace of humor. "Not for others, anyway."
"Must’ve been your grandmother's," I said casually.
He nodded. "They were." He slipped a card out and looked at it for a moment before he put it back into the deck then put the deck back into his duster's pocket.
I stood up, gathering my things and putting on my parka. When I got back, Thorn had pulled on his gloves and hat, and just then we heard the rumble of Oliver's jeep. Ginger would be with him, as her car would not make it up the steep mountain roads. They looked about as comfortable as I imagined they would when I opened the door to greet them.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to get the gear loaded in the back of the Dodge. When we all went to get in, Ginger slipped into the back seat. I saw Oliver go for the front seat, but Thorn locked the car door just as he did. I had to stop myself from laughing as the red-faced Oliver reluctantly stopped jerking on the handle and got into the back seat. Even Ginger was smiling a bit, and I felt more relaxed for the moment. Once Oliver was safely in the back, I got into the front seat, and Thorn put the truck into gear.
Ginger did not appear to like the steep access roads in these mountains any better than I did; I gave her an encouraging smile over my shoulder, which she returned, even if she looked bit nauseated. The relief on her face was evident when she realized Thorn was pulling the truck off the road to park it in the clearing at the base of the mountain.
He had pulled further off the road than the last time. We were soon all getting out and unloading the gear. Most of it was divided among the five packs, but I noted that somehow mine and Thorn's seemed bigger. I felt that was probably Oliver's doing, judging by the smug look on his face.
"Are we going in through the main mine entrance?" I asked Thorn as he looked up toward Maiden's Peak.
He leaned his head to the side, contemplating. "Would be easier than going through those narrow passages with these packs, but a bit of a longer walk."
"Yeah, I don't want to drag this thing through that little tunnel," I said with conviction.
Oliver shifted impatiently. "We going?"
Thorn rolled his eyes and set off toward the mine entrance with the rest of us trailing along behind him. I walked behind Thorn; Ginger was behind me. Oliver brought up the rear, as he seemed more interested in the scenery than where we were going.
The walk was not as long as I remembered it. A half hour later, we stood outside the mine entrance, which looked anything but inviting. Thorn set his pack down, and I followed suit as we made sure everyone got a mask to ward off any noxious fumes in the tunnel. Oliver slipped his on to test it. Everything else we left in the packs and slung them back over our shoulders.
As we stepped into the darkness of the tunnel, I hoped what we’d seen had been mere gases. Equipped with several small torch flashlights and a large spotlight, we trudged ahead cautiously. In front, Thorn held the spotlight, which comfortably illuminated the tunnel.
A couple miles in, I pointed out the small hewn tunnel that
Thorn and I had crawled through on our first adventure into the mines. Ginger gave it a wary, if curious look as we passed.
I had to admit I was more at ease this time. I felt calm. Maybe it was the equipment; maybe it was a safety in numbers mentality. Whatever it was, I was grateful for it. We moved at a normal pace, neither fast nor slow.
Before long, Thorn slowed, and I realized we were approaching the bend where we'd seen…whatever it was that we had seen. Ginger looked about eagerly, but all we saw was the bend ahead.
Thorn walked on, and we followed. When we got to the bend, we saw that at one time the tunnel had gone both ways, but there had been a cave-in. Oliver looked uncomfortable with evidence that the tunnel was not stable.
"Perhaps we should take this as a sign to not venture further," Oliver offered in the silence as we examined the cave-in.
"No way," said Ginger. "We're here. We have to keep looking!"
Thorn and I exchanged a look but said nothing. We all turned to face the part of the tunnel that was still clear. Dust swirled from our movements, and I was glad for the mask.
Thorn set off, followed by me, Ginger, and finally, Oliver. As we walked, I noted that the light from the other flashlights seemed to be moving around a lot more. I turned around. "What are you guys doing?"
Oliver said, "Nothing."
Ginger sighed. "It sounded like there was someone behind us."
"Oh." I shined my light back down the tunnel, but it just illuminated swirls of dust. "Maybe it's just the echoes of us walking." Oliver nodded, as if that was reasonable, and I swung back. Thorn had moved a few feet ahead while we were talking, and I hurried to catch up without causing too much dust to float around.
The tunnel branched off ahead of us to the right. We paused, and Thorn glanced at me. I looked back and forth between the two tunnels, and Ginger came up beside me with a map. It was a layout of the mine as it had been in her father's time. Oliver had found it in the records at the library to help us not waste time and to make sure we investigated thoroughly.
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