After breaking free of the caves, I sighed as I looked up into the snowflakes. Deputies made their way quickly over to us. The next hour was a blur of patrol cars, paramedics, and interview rooms.
We all had to give statements before we could leave. Crews had been dispatched to attempt to get the bodies out of the mines, but the entire area was unstable, and the crews had to be called back.
There was a good chance that before morning, the whole cave system would collapse under the strain of the increasing tremors. News outlets from across the state were reporting on the earthquake. Oliver stayed busy coordinating press conferences for the local authorities and keeping an eye on the local newspaper’s own coverage.
It felt strange to not have the odd pains in my arm as I moved it back and forth. Thorn stomped in through the back door, and I glanced up from the manuscript that I was working on. "Any news?" I asked curiously.
He pulled the ponytail holder out of his hair and shook his hair out, as if keeping it pinned up infuriated him. I waited patiently. When he dropped down into the kitchen chair across from me, he finally spoke. "The caves are almost completely collapsed. I believe the geologists are saying that the whole mountain has sunk a good foot into the ground."
I wondered at how little I felt about that. "It's good that people can't go back in that mountain, but I am sorry we couldn't get those bodies out."
"Yeah," Thorn said. "Still worried about your dream?"
"A bit," I said quietly.
Thorn nodded. I was also thinking about Arthur. We’d been talking a lot about the man. He had apparently dabbled in the occult before Caroline's disappearance, and after she vanished, the man went mad with guilt that eventually culminated in his plan to kill himself, Sheriff Mullen, and Thorn.
I didn't know why the man's mind had fixated on calling a dreamer to find the river—perhaps so he could go be with Caroline after he’d killed the others. My dream also had not stopped. Whatever was going to happen hadn’t yet finished with me. I wanted to believe that the worst was over, but somehow I couldn’t, with visions of my own death greeting me every night.
That evening, we arrived at the Durant family cabin, where we were all gathered because the sheriff wanted to talk to us all together. Mrs. Durant had been a bit anxious, but Sheriff Mullen assured her that none of us were in any kind of trouble. We all sat on the chairs and sofa around the fireplace in the main room. Sheriff Mullen sat in one armchair, and Mrs. Durant sat in the other as the older man began his story.
"Twenty years ago, Caroline Marion came to Carver's Corner. I thought nothing of it. We had lots of visitors back then. Then Mara showed up at the police station wailing about how some woman was going to die on the mountain. Most of the police laughed it off, but I knew Mara's gifts were real."
I glanced over at Thorn, who was impassive. Oliver looked raptly interested. I gave my attention back to the man as he continued his story.
"When Caroline went missing, I went to see Ms. Mara. She never much liked my family and wasn’t receptive, shall we say. Gabriel, though…we grew up together, and so I contacted him. I made sure I was on the case so I could control the investigation. Gabriel searched for the girl on his own. I found out partway through the investigation that my cousin, Gregory Horn, had put a compulsion charm on the woman to make her find the river. He had always been obsessed with finding it. Not everyone in my family felt the same. Eventually, those who thought like me became the majority, and when I became the patriarch of the family, we swore off the dark arts. I’ve made every effort to redeem my family, Mr. Shelton."
Oliver asked, "What happened to John?"
Sheriff Mullen sighed. "Same thing that happened to Caroline, I imagine. Gabriel and I came to the conclusion that John had tried to stop Caroline and inadvertently followed her to her fate. Try as we might, we never found them. Gabriel would not let me go with him, but he went to the river. He said she was not there, but he found her shirt at the water's edge."
"She probably couldn't resist the water's call," Thorn said.
Sheriff Mullen nodded. "Gabriel and I had differing opinions on how we should handle things. I knew that we would need to do damage control, but Gabriel was so determined that there had to be some sort of vindication for Caroline. Gabriel said he would handle Gregory. I handled the investigation."
"But people saw John and Caroline together?" Oliver ventured.
"Gabriel and I assumed it was Morlans or some sort of glamor, but it wasn't anything we did. We never could find evidence or a source of any glamor, either," Sheriff Mullen said with a shake of his head. "We wanted everyone to forget about the incident, and we needed to take away the connection to Maiden's Peak as much as possible. Of course, Gabriel's mother wouldn’t leave well enough alone. Ms. Mara was a force to be reckoned with. Gabriel put on a show at town councils, but he knew that we had to protect the mountain."
"Did he take care of Gregory?" Thorn asked quietly.
Sheriff Mullen shook his head. "No. We found Gregory dead on Maiden's Peak. It looked like he had shot himself."
"Arthur said he’d killed Gregory," Thorn said somberly.
The sheriff frowned. "I heard him when I was pretending to be unconscious. Arthur showed up after the investigation was wrapped up and quickly enlisted your father to help him. At first, Gabriel wanted to give the man closure, but he said something felt off about the man. I thought maybe he was just unstable."
Charles Mullen looked older then. He looked weary. "I think it's time our families put the past behind us. With the mountain collapsed, there's no way to the river anymore. There's nothing to stand between us as families."
Thorn studied the man for a moment and then nodded. "I agree."
Olive chimed in behind him, "Me too."
When Mrs. Durant nodded, Sheriff Mullen smiled. "Thank you all. It means a lot for my family to earn forgiveness. We've worked hard for it." He cleared his throat. "There's one more thing. I was hoping that your family would show support in the upcoming council meeting on a proposal to put Maiden's Peak off limits to the public due to safety concerns. It would help garner a lot of support if our families were seen working together on this."
Oliver said, "Sounds like a good plan to me. Thorn?"
He agreed. "You have our support, Sheriff Mullen."
TEN
Thorn, Oliver, and their mother had gone to attend the council meeting. I’d elected to stay at the Durant family cabin because I had no desire to be stared at.
I sat and thought about the dream and the man who had brought me here. Arthur was most likely mentally unstable, and we might never know all his motivations. Maybe he was once a perfectly normal person until the trauma of losing his wife in such a way did this to him.
I pondered it so long that I flinched when I heard something fall over outside. I tensed for a moment thinking of the Morlans, but then they didn’t seem to like the daylight, and it was very much daytime now.
The sound came from the side porch, so I tiptoed through the kitchen. There was a window in the door that led out onto the porch. I peered through it but saw nothing.
Hesitantly, I twisted the knob and peeked out the door. There was no one there that I could see. With a bit more confidence, I pulled open the door and then gave a yelp of surprise as a squirrel leaped off a barrel that had fallen over.
"Damn," I said as I put my hand over my heart. It was understandable that I’d be jumpy with all that had happened. Unfortunately, I never saw what hit me. The world just went black.
When I came to, I was being dragged along the snow. I struggled, which made my attacker stumble. I quickly pushed myself up to my feet despite my unsteadiness.
Robert scowled at me. "Get back here," he growled as I fled.
I had no idea what direction I was going in. I was just trying to get some distance between myself and the man. I ran through the trees, weaving in and out of their trunks to keep out of the man’s direct line of sight.
I could hea
r his heavy steps behind me as he fought to catch up. There were snowflakes floating around me, and I shook my head. "No, no, no," I muttered. "This isn't happening."
I suddenly broke free of the trees and hit an open lane. I saw the mountain up ahead, and I ran toward it. I heard the gunshot, and the impact threw me into the snow.
Pushing up again, I staggered forward. My hand went to the burning sensation in my chest, and it came back red with blood. "No," I muttered again. "No!" I shouted at the mountain. Robert had stopped and then took off running.
"No!" I shouted after the man.
I dropped down to my knees, and my head swam dizzily. I fell forward into the snow. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t get up. My brain fuzzily informed me that I had finished the nightmare, and all my visions were accounted for.
They say when you freeze to death, you are actually warm. Whether it was the snow or the blood loss, I felt a warmth spread over me. I felt safe. I did not remember anything else for a long time after that.
When I next became aware of myself, I was being pulled on. Had Robert come back for me? I blinked, but everything was blurry. I heard a voice say my name, and I tried to respond but found I could not. Hands were on me, and they lifted me out of the snow.
Oddly, that was when I felt cold. I groaned, and the voice spoke to me again, but I couldn’t quite make out the words. The pain seared through me as my body was moved. I could do no more than groan at the sensations, but soon enough the blackness enveloped me again. I sank into it, almost joyfully this time, to relieve the pain.
There was a beeping sound that I couldn’t place. My eyes felt like they were glued together as I tried to force them open. There was someone beside me.
A feminine voice said, "Mr. Shelton, can you hear me?"
I nodded—or tried to. I felt like something was holding my head. My mouth was dry and felt like it had cotton in it.
My voice cracked as I spoke. "Where am I?"
Relief was evident in the woman's voice. "You are at Serenity Hospital in Marson. Do you remember how you got here?"
My foggy brain tried to think. "I got shot," I said sluggishly.
"That's right," she said, sounding pleased. "You were life-flighted to us from Carver's Corner Medical Center. You've had a rough night, and I want you to just rest. Do you understand?"
When I nodded, she spoke again. "I'm going to give you a little something for pain that should help you sleep. It's nice to have you back with us, Mr. Shelton." There were some clicking sounds, and then I felt groggy. Sleep overtook me.
"Don't you know it's lazy to be in bed at such an hour?" a deep male voice said right by my head.
I turned my head toward the voice. My eyes felt heavy as I tried to open them. When I did manage to, they wouldn’t stay open no matter what I did, and everything was blurry. I felt so tired. Helplessly, I sank back into sleep.
The next time I was awakened, I felt mildly more alert. The nurse put some drops on my eyes and told me to blink. The drops did help to make my vision less blurry. She set about giving me some medicine in the IVs and taking my vitals. I could tell by her voice that she was the same nurse who had attended me before.
As she worked, I asked, "How long have I been asleep?"
"About two days," she said in a chipper tone. "You suffered a major gunshot wound to your back and chest, Mr. Shelton. And that takes time to recover from. Now, if you feel awake enough, I think you have someone waiting to see you."
I nodded, looking at the wires and machinery around me. The nurse left the room and returned shortly with Oliver in tow. He gave me a bright smile. "Good to see you awake," he said happily. "Are they treating you all right?"
My voice cracked with disuse when I tried to speak, and the nurse gave me some water, which I took gratefully. "Just sip it," she instructed in a gentle yet commanding tone. I did my best to sip the cool liquid.
When I felt I could, I replied, "I haven't been awake much, but from what I can remember, they’ve been treating me fine."
Oliver smiled again and sat down near the bedside as the nurse finished up and then left the room. "You gave us quite the scare."
"Wasn't much fun for me either," I assured him as he laughed. "Where's Thorn?" I asked, taking another sip of the water.
Oliver replied, "He's in Carver's Corner giving testimony against Arthur at a bail hearing, and he'll be going before the council again to push for confirmation of the closure of Maiden's Peak."
"You’re missing all the good stories," I told the man with a giggle.
He shook his head. "I have people covering the stories. I'm an editor...not a reporter, after all."
The fatigue was tugging at me; I fought it off as best I could, but I was getting sluggish. "How's Ginger?"
Oliver cleared his throat. "She's giving me hell, mostly."
I rolled my head from side to side and said groggily, "You better treat my girl right, or I'll steal her from you!"
The plump man blushed and then said with a grin, "You could try."
I chuckled as my eyes closed. "Atta boy."
Sleep pulled me down, and I never knew when Oliver left or when the nurse came back in. I slept for so long that when I awoke next, I was disoriented and not entirely sure what day it was.
The curtain to my room was open, and it appeared to be dark outside. I sighed, shifting a bit in bed. The cords and monitors all shifted with me, and that deep male voice warned, "You’re going to tangle yourself up."
I startled and tried to sit up, but pain seared through me and I fell back on the bed. "Whoa. Take it easy," the voice advised me.
Thorn swam into view with a concerned look on his face. "You okay?"
I rubbed my eyes. "First time trying to sit up," I mumbled.
"Well, don't do it again," Thorn ordered emphatically.
I smiled up at him. "You were here before."
"I have to keep an eye on you. Look what happens when I leave you unattended!" He gestured at the bed.
We laughed softly, and I had to agree. "You probably do need to keep an eye on me. Are they going to close the peak?"
He nodded as he bent down to push a button. The bed slowly rose up until I was in a sitting position. "Better?" When I nodded, he continued, "After the recent events, it was decided the peak was a threat to public safety." He sat back down in the leather chair near the bed.
"What happened with Arthur and Robert?" I asked curiously.
Thorn sighed. "Arthur’s being sent for a psych evaluation, and Robert is being held on attempted murder."
"Arthur probably does need that evaluation," I said with certainty. "Why did Robert attack me after the fact?"
"Robert was angry that we’d messed up his boss's plan that he thought was going to make him rich. I guess in the end, he just grabbed you because he found you alone. He's all but shut down and won't talk to anyone but his lawyer now." Thorn added softly, "You should probably go back to sleep. I can feel how tired you are."
"I’ve been sleeping for days," I complained.
"Well, you deserve it with the weeks you've had recently."
"Are you going to be here when I wake up?" I asked anxiously, drifting off.
I heard his voice as I shut my eyelids. "Probably not. I'll be back, though."
The doctors insisted that I stay where I was until I was well enough for them to transfer me back to Carver's Corner. I hated being so far from where everything was going on, and although Oliver and Thorn visited, the time between visits was getting longer because of the pre-trial activities and police investigations that the latest round of incidents had sparked.
At the end of the second week in Marson, I was deemed well enough to be transferred for the remainder of my care in Carver's Corner. The ambulance ride had been jarring and left me far sorer than I would have believed possible. The stitches in my back and chest were constantly aching. If I moved too swiftly, they felt like they would rip out.
The nurses at Carver's Corner kept plenty
of water and conversation handy, but I rarely felt in a talkative mood. If I’d thought that Thorn would stand for it, I would have checked myself out against medical advice. The time at the hospital in Carver's Corner seemed to drag by.
I did my best to take my mind off of it. Sheriff Mullen had come by a couple times to get my statement and to just check in with me. Ginger had even stopped in a few times to play checkers with me.
I had contacted both my mother and father. They were relieved to hear I was all right, and I felt better now that they knew what had happened. My father wanted me to come home, and my mother insisted that I come and stay with them while I recovered. I did not want to go to either place. I wanted—no, more like needed—to visit my family, but I didn’t want to be there. As my thoughts were wandering, my phone jarred to life, and I scooped it up off the bedside table.
I put the phone to my ear and closed my eyes. "Hello?"
"On a scale of nothing to pancakes, where do I rank?" Thorn asked.
I smiled. "Nothing to pancakes? Well, I'd say just above nothing and right below pancakes."
Thorn laughed. "Wow. I'm glad I rank above nothing."
"You also rank above waffles...which are awful," I informed him.
Thorn's laugh made me smile. A nurse came in, and I nodded at her as she put my medicine on the table beside me. Thorn then asked, "They decided to let you out now?"
"Haven't even seen the doctor," I replied cheerily. "They said once I was done with the antibiotics that I could go, but they haven't actually released me yet."
There were some noises and voices. I waited as I heard Thorn speak to someone else before he spoke back into the phone again. "Let me know when you hear something."
"I will," I assured him. We said quick goodbyes and I hung up the phone. I took the pain pills the nurse had brought me and sighed, glancing up at the ceiling in boredom.
When the doctor came through hours later in the afternoon, I called Thorn's phone back, but it went to voicemail. I rolled my eyes as I left a message with the blond, saying I could leave as soon as they fixed my release papers. It was unusual that his phone went to voicemail, so I assumed that he was probably talking to someone already.
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