In the Arms of Stone Angels (18 page)

When I sensed it coming, I stopped to listen really hard. I should have run, but I was rooted where I stood, waiting. It didn't take long for the danger to find me. A low menacing
growl came from behind and it sounded like the deep throaty growl of a lion about to pounce. I didn't want to turn around, but I had to. My instinct for survival took over.

I forced myself to run and when I gaped over my shoulder to see what had made the noise, I saw the huge grizzly bear from White Bird's nightmare. My feet got tangled and I fell to the ground. And when I turned over, I stared up at the monster that towered over me. The twelve-foot beast reared up on its haunches and swiped its front claws at me. It bellowed a roar and gnashed its teeth. And I knew I wouldn't stand a chance if it got hold of me.

I scrambled to my feet and looked for someplace to hide, watching the predator over my shoulder. I expected the bear to follow, but it didn't. It plopped its butt down and watched me run with its head cocked. Guess I looked goofy.

I stopped where I was and turned to face it. We glared at each other for what felt like forever. Maybe it was, but eventually the beast tossed its head and turned to leave. And when it trudged back the way it had come, I got the distinct impression that it wanted me to follow.

“Hey, something I said?” I yelled. With a fresh shot of adrenaline in my veins, I gave the grizzly bear attitude. And it felt damned good.

All my instincts should have told me to run the opposite way, but since none of this was normal and I wasn't at some whack petting zoo, I did as Joe had said and trusted my gut. I took a risk and trailed the animal from a safe distance. After all, White Bird's adopted Euchee tribe was the
Dala,
the bear clan.

With my new traveling companion, I drifted through a dense monochromatic forest awash in shades of lime-green. It was as if I saw everything through polarized sunglasses. Trees
towered over me with light flickering through their trunks. And a thick green fog swirled at my feet and clung to tree bark before it drifted into the branches. The mist brought a muggy stillness to the forest.

And even though I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, I kept walking with the grunting bear, searching for any sign of White Bird. The farther I trekked, the stronger the sense I got that he was very close. And when the bear eventually broke free of the dense vegetation, it took me into a vast field of charred trees rooted in a sea of blood-red flowers. And the fog followed me. It spread its billowing clouds and the intense humidity made it hard for me to breathe. It was an annoyance I couldn't shake.

“Get a life.” I swatted at the trailing mist. My swipe didn't do any good, except to make me feel better.

Ahead of me, the burned field stretched over rolling hills. And beyond that, a steep rock face lurked in the shadows with its peak shrouded in a dense haze. And although the blood-red flowers made me flash back to the violence of Heather's death, I trusted my instincts to stay with the slow plodding bear as it lumbered across the open field. But the minute I stepped on the flowers, they gave off a foul odor.

“Oh, God. What the hell is that?” I checked the bottom of my shoes until I realized the stink was coming from the flowers.

What I smelled was the coppery stench of blood. It was so toxic that I had to hold my breath. I pressed my arm over my nose and kept the bear in sight. The animal was headed for a trail into the dark mountains. As we climbed, the fog snaked down to meet us, making it hard to see ahead. And when visibility got tough, the bear slowed even more. Eventually, it strayed off the path that had split in two. One trail led down
and the other way climbed higher and was much steeper. The grizzly plopped down and groaned. It bobbed its head and swiped a paw at me.

“So…you're a low road kind of guy. Is that it?” I shrugged and mumbled, “Guess that leaves me the high road. That'd be different.”

The bear had taken me as far as it would go. The rest was up to me. I stared into the thickening mist and took a deep breath to steady my nerves. From here on, I'd be on my own.

 

Dr. Ridgeway had called Matt Logan earlier and delivered the bombshell that Isaac Henry was coming out of his catatonic state. Time would tell whether that news would be good or bad. Sam Ridgeway had explained the medical jargon before, but he'd never placed any credence in a condition that got the kid out of serving the jail time he deserved. Up until now, that boy had gotten off light. Red Cliffs was no posh country club, but from the kid's perspective, the mental hospital was better than being locked in a box with hardened criminals.

After Matt got the call, he dropped everything and headed out. And hospital security rushed word to the doctor that he'd arrived. It didn't take long for him to be ushered into the observation room where he'd get to see it all for himself.

One thing he hadn't counted on was coming face-to-face with Kate Nash. He would have bet money that Brenna had come alone, leaving her mother in the cold again. The kid had no sense, but maybe he shouldn't blame her.

Apparently, that trait was hereditary. Kate had been a headstrong kid, too. She had been no shrinking violet. Even though he was older, he'd remembered that much about her.

“You and your daughter shouldn't be here, Kate.”

The sternness in his voice reverberated in the small observation room. And he sounded angrier than he'd intended.

“And you're like a vulture on roadkill, Matt. Why are you here?” Before he answered, she figured it out. Kate glared at Dr. Ridgeway and shook her head. “You're both feasting on this kid like he's raw meat.”

Wisely, Sam Ridgeway stayed out of the argument. He backed off and kept his eyes focused on the next room.

“In case you forgot, he killed an innocent girl,” Matt reminded her.

“Don't you have to convict him in a court of law first? Or does that silly notion not apply in your town?” The woman crossed her arms and cocked her head. “You've got a lot of nerve getting all preachy with me.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Your nephew is a bully and those kids he hangs with think they're above the law. And you can't see it.” She raised her chin in defiance. “So don't act all holier-than-thou, Sheriff. Not until you clean your own house.”

“You got any proof, Kate? 'Cause that sure would be nice for a change.”

Kate Nash always got him riled. She knew how to push his buttons.

“I know Derek and his friends trashed our house but, no, lucky for you, I've got nothing real to back me up, only my gut feeling.” She heaved a deep sigh. “But would it hurt you to look into it? I need help here, Matt. I think those kids hurt my daughter. And now they've trashed my family home. This has
got
to stop. You're not doing any of those kids a favor by ignoring their behavior. They'll only grow into mean, manipulative adults.”

Matt clenched his jaw and stared at Kate. The silence that
filled the room was only broken by the static from speakers and the occasional voices coming from the next room. After the watch incident with Derek, plus the suspicions about his nephew's character that he'd had for a while, Matt had a strong feeling that Kate was right.

And that meant he was wrong, a notion he didn't like at all.

“Look, I know you've had your share of trouble since you've been back. My deputies will investigate the vandalism at your house and what happened to your daughter. I'd like to get to the bottom of all this myself.” He softened his tone. “I'm doing the best I can with what I've got, Kate.”

“So am I, Matt.” She narrowed her eyes. “So am I.”

Kate looked tired and a hundred miles past worried. And when Matt looked at what was happening in the next room, he understood why. What kind of whammy hoodoo did they have going on with that kid?

 

After the bear and I had parted ways, I climbed the steep trail until I got to a rock ledge that flattened for a stretch. It was wider than the path up and might have been a good spot to catch my breath, until I got a better look. The ledge was mottled with fissures in the rocks. And each crack glowed red with steam rising from the molten lava that seeped out and spilled onto the earth. With the stench of hot gases and sulfur, I couldn't stay here. I carefully stepped through the minefield of spewing hot lava, choking on bad air.

It smelled worse than gym class after Taco Tuesday.

But a sound made me stop and look up. Through the belching steam and thickening fog, I saw red, glowing eyes homing in on me. And a huge dark shape cut a swath through the fog. A fierce black stallion burst through the mist, its hooves
pounding like thunder. Its eyes looked like hot embers and it breathed fire from its nostrils. When the demon horse hit the clearing, it reared up and flailed its sharp hooves. That's when I saw the tiny bird. It came out of nowhere and flitted too close to the menacing horse. I thought it would get trampled.

“Shoo. Go away!”

I waved my hands at the little bird, trying to protect it. The bird was helpless, like the one White Bird had healed at the creek. And for a second, I thought he had sent the tiny creature as a messenger, to let me know he was here, even though it wasn't the best time to reach out and touch someone.

But I didn't have time to think about what the bird meant. When I dodged the raging horse, I lost sight of the bird, but came face-to-face with the fire-breathing animal that was bigger than a Clydesdale.

“Easy now.” I spoke to it in a calm voice, but that only made the fierce horse more enraged. It charged and forced me down the trail. I wasn't going to get by it.

And I couldn't go back the way I came, either.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a grinning jackal baring its teeth and growling at me. The hair on its neck bristled out from its head and down its back. The mythical guardian of the dead closed in, creeping slowly as it maneuvered around me. It stared at me with strange gray eyes, licking its chops. I knew the sly hunter would strike when my back was turned.

“Back off, mutt face.” I glared at the mangy fleabag, but it hadn't come alone.

Next to the four-legged scavenger was a black hairy spider. Way bigger than a tarantula, it was the size of a small dog. Besides its ginormous size, it had two other distinctive features. A splatter of blood red on its back and glittery green gems on its head that looked like eyes. And when the giant bug crept
toward me, I heard its legs hit the ground, sounding like the clicking clack of fingers on a computer keyboard. The noise really got to me. And worse, the spider was spewing its weblike barf. It would soon trap me in its slimy lace. Not cool.

I had my back against the wall—literally—and had nowhere to go. The fiery black stallion, the cagey jackal and the barfing spider with the green Day-Glo eyes had joined forces to stop me. And that left me with only one way to go.
Up.

I didn't consider myself athletic. Forget about me being a rock climber, but there was a first time for everything with the right motivation. When I gazed up at the towering rock face behind me, it was the only option I had left. Without much of a plan, I scaled the rocks fast. The jackal leaped off the ground to catch me and barely missed nipping at my ankle. And the fierce horse charged and snorted a flame that roasted my butt as I climbed.

Once I got beyond the reach of those two, I breathed a little easier, but I still had one more fugitive from bizarro world to worry about.

The spider clacked after me and skittered up the rocks with more agility than I had. It wouldn't be long before the eight-legged freak caught me. My fingers grabbed for anything that would hold me. And the muscles in my legs burned from exertion. I climbed faster and harder, my lungs on fire. And with sweat pouring off me, my hands were real slick.

Below, I heard the stallion shrieking and stomping and the jackal howled its haunting threat, but the spider had gained on me. I had no time to turn around and see where it was, nor did I have to. The clacking had gotten louder.

It was right behind me.

And I couldn't go on much longer. I wasn't strong enough to outpace a monster with six more legs than I had. With sweat
stinging my eyes, I looked up to see that the fog had cleared and I saw another ledge above me. Had I reached the peak?

I couldn't check that out. I heard the spider behind me and I had to move. I hoisted my body onto a rock and made my last climb. When I got to the top, I doubled over with a painful cramp, panting out of control. And I saw a shimmer of blue-green behind me, but I'd run out of time.

The spider had closed the gap and was heading straight for me. I had reached the summit and had nowhere else to go. And I was too exhausted to run. There was only one thing left for me to do. I grabbed a rock and hurled it at the green-eyed mutant, but the stone only bounced off.

“Shit, metal head. Why don't you die already?” I grabbed a bigger rock and raised it over my head. “Come on, bitch. Show me what you got!”

Instantly, I regretted saying that. And I also wished that I hadn't stepped on every bug that had crossed my path in my other life. It was way too ironic that I might end up as spider food. I was about to hurl the heavy boulder, when a flash of white streaked down from the sky and attacked the bug.

Without a sound or a screech, a snow-white owl dive-bombed the spider. It tore chunks of flesh off the bug with its sharp claws. And as the spider bled, it gave off a foul stench that reminded me of the field of blood-red flowers. I nearly gagged. After the white owl ramped up its aerial attacks, the gross spider lost interest in me. I could have stayed to see what happened, but I took advantage of the distraction the owl created. I left the spider to its fate and sneaked away to find White Bird.

I felt him strongest here. The mountain had drawn me and I knew he was close. I stood on the precipice with the rumble of thunder in the distance and I stared into an immense crater
below. Its valley held a pond of bright aqua water, the color of a glacier.