Jennie smelled fire.
Its dry heat permeated and relaxed her cold, tense muscles. It crackled and sizzled, consuming wood laced with pitch.
And she smelled fry bread.
“Hmm,” she moaned softly, wanting to open her eyes but afraid that her warm, wonderful dream would vanish, leaving her alone in the cold, dark mine.
“She’s waking up, Papa.” The voice so reminded Jennie of Nick, tears gathered behind her eyelids. Would she ever see her little brother again? Or Mom? Her tears escaped their boundaries and slid over her temples and into her hair.
“Oh, Papa, she’s crying.”
“Hush, Tiponi. You will wake her.”
“But she’s sad. Maybe she’s hurt.”
Jennie pressed her hands to her eyes, squeezing out the moisture. Her eyes drifted open. Amber smiled and leaned over her, their noses nearly touching.
“I told Papa you were awake but he didn’t believe me.” Her eyes clouded in concern. “You’re okay, aren’t you, Jennie? I told Papa to wait longer. We looked for you. He thought you went back to the ranch and …”
“Whoa. Slow down. What are you talking about?” Jennie was beginning to adjust to the possibility that she’d been rescued and that this wasn’t a dream after all. Joseph brought in a tray, set it on the coffee table, and helped her sit up. She was in Joseph’s cabin, lying on the supple leather couch. Her wet clothes had been exchanged for her own clean dry ones—the jeans and chambray shirt she’d left at the cabin earlier. It was dark outside, but inside, a dozen or so candles bathed the room in subdued light. “How did I get here?”
“I will answer your questions in a moment.” Joseph propped pillows behind her. “First, you must eat.” He placed a tray on her lap. A piece of fry bread, buttered and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, lay on a plate next to a bowl of what Joseph called venison stew.
“Thank you,” Jennie murmured as she lifted the warm fry bread to her mouth. It tasted so good, Jennie didn’t care where she was for the moment, or how she’d gotten there.
Amber sat cross-legged on the rug near Jennie’s head and watched her. Joseph poked at the glowing chunks of wood in the fireplace.
“What happened to you out there, Amber?” Jennie asked after taking another spoonful of Joseph’s stew.
“Papa found me.”
Jennie frowned. “How did you know where she was?”
Amber answered. “He knew we had been here at his cabin and came after us. We didn’t want to leave you, but we looked everywhere for you. Papa thought you went back to the ranch. Where were you?”
“After I left you at the mine, I went downstream to find a shallow spot where I could get across safely—you remember. I wanted to get the horses and the first-aid kit.” Jennie explained her misadventures in retrieving the horses, losing them again, nearly drowning, and being locked in the mine. She shifted her gaze from Amber to Joseph. “How did you know to come back for me?”
“When we got back here, Daddy called on the cell phone and told us that Gabby and Cinnamon had come back without you. They sent out a search party. I told Papa we should go back and check the mine.”
“That she did. I knew you’d try to get back to Amber if you could.”
“That door you rigged at the mine locked me in. You should put a release mechanism inside.”
“There is one, but it is hidden behind a beam. I’m sorry you could not find it.”
Jennie finished off the soup and fry bread, then asked, “Are you sure this is for real and that I’m not still dreaming? I mean, how could I not remember coming here?”
“You were exhausted.” Joseph took her tray.
Jennie snuggled back into the cushions. She was still tired. “What time is it?”
“Ten-thirty. You should rest now. The rain has finally stopped. Perhaps the waters will recede enough for us to get you and Amber back to Dancing Waters. You need to have that cast replaced.” He set the tray down on the counter, then returned to the living room. “And you, Tiponi. Off to bed now. It’s way past your bedtime, and we’ll both be in trouble if your mother finds out I let you stay up so long.”
Amber started to argue but must have caught the stern look in Joseph’s eyes. “Okay, but can Jennie sleep with me?”
“If she wants.” He glanced at Jennie.
“I might be in later.” Although she didn’t say so, Jennie needed to talk with Joseph privately.
Amber gave Jennie a goodnight kiss and headed for the bathroom. “Will you tell me some stories, Papa?”
“Not tonight. It is much too late.”
“Joseph?” Jennie didn’t know where to start. “There’s so much I need to talk to you about. Your house, the mine, and …” Jennie glanced around, realizing the mess had been cleaned up. “Did you call the sheriff about the break-in? I tried to when I was here this morning, but the phone was dead. We were so worried about you.”
Joseph’s lips parted in a half smile as he nodded. “It still is. And the power. I’m sorry you have carried this burden. I went hunting this morning. When I returned and saw that someone had broken in, I called the sheriff on my cell phone. Like me, he suspects it was vandalism. As far as I can tell, there is nothing missing.”
“The diary—there are some pages missing.” Jennie told him about the connection she’d made with Nadi’s entry and the mine. “Do you think whoever broke in was looking for information about the mine?”
Joseph’s brows knitted in a frown. “It’s possible. Though I—”
“Papa. I’m ready.”
“I must say goodnight to my granddaughter, then we will talk.” While he tucked Amber in, Jennie tossed the blanket aside, used the bathroom, then padded to the kitchen to fix Joseph and herself some herb tea.
Having retrieved Nadi’s diary, Joseph returned to the living room and sank wearily into the chair closest to Jennie. He opened the book to where Jennie had inserted the loose page.
Joseph read for a moment, then leaned back and closed his eyes. “You may be right. Nadi writes of the mine just before this page. It doesn’t give the location—only the legend of how it came to be. Whoever broke in may have been searching for a map. In which case he would have been disappointed.”
“You don’t have a map?”
“To my knowledge there never was one.”
“Tell me the legend about the mine. Is there gold in it?”
“It’s late.”
“Oh please. I’ll never be able to sleep until I know. Besides, you need to drink your tea.”
Joseph sighed and picked up his cup. “Yes, it is gold.” He reached into his shirt pocket, then tucked something into her hand. It was the rock she’d picked up on the mine floor.
“There is no need to have it analyzed.”
Jennie flushed. “How did you know I was going to?”
“I am beginning to know you.”
“I’m sorry for taking it.” He held up his hand when she tried to return it.
“You may keep this as a souvenir of your visit. I think it best, however, if you don’t tell anyone where it came from just yet.”
“I won’t say anything. But you still haven’t told me why all the secrecy. And if you didn’t want the gold to be mined, why is there a mine shaft?” Jennie took a tentative sip of the hot tea.
“As I mentioned before, Frank Elliot deeded 500 acres of Dancing Waters land over to White Cloud—my father—in 1889. What neither of them knew was that an old Dutch miner named Henry VonHassen had found gold here in 1885.”
“How could they not know?”
“Over the years, VonHassen developed quite a reputation in Cottonwood. He’d come into town every couple of months with a pouchful of the purest gold the assayers had ever seen. The old man kept pretty much to himself. Never staked a claim or told anyone where he’d been mining. He led everyone to believe he’d just picked up pebbles here and there in the mountain streams. And for good reason—the property wasn’t his.” Joseph rocked back and forth as if waiting for the rest of story to come to him.
“Did anyone ever follow him and see where the gold came from?”
“Many tried. VonHassen figured on folks doing just that. He’d lead them into the mountains, get them good and lost, then come back to the mine.”
“And neither White Cloud nor Elliot knew?”
Joseph stilled the rocker and took another sip of tea. “Not until White Cloud found him in a ravine the winter of 1897. He’d fallen from a cliff. White Cloud tried to save him.” Joseph frowned. “The old miner only lasted a couple days, but he told my father about the mine. I suppose he wanted to make amends before he died.”
“In the diary, Nadi said Frank Elliot and a Reverend Bennett were trying to get White Cloud to work the mine. How did they know about it?” Jennie leaned forward to place her cup on the table, then tucked her legs under her.
“White Cloud told Frank about the mine and offered to give him back the land. He refused it and promised to keep the mine a secret.”
“So the Reverend leaked the information?” Jennie asked.
Joseph shook his head. “No, he was not the kind of man who betrayed a trust.”
“Then how?”
“VonHassen was found on White Cloud’s land and people assumed his mine was there. Folks started telling stories and pretty soon treasure hunters were swarming all over those hills looking for the old Dutchman’s mine.”
“But they never found it,” Jennie added.
“VonHassen had hidden it well. Eventually, the excitement died down and people lost interest.”
“Until now. Do you think the mine is behind all that’s happened at Dancing Waters—I mean the explosion and Heather?” Jennie bolted upright. “Oh, Heather … and Eric. Did you know about Eric getting shot and Heather being kidnapped? I can’t believe I’m just now telling you.”
Joseph placed his hands on his knees for leverage, then stood. “You have had much to occupy your mind today. But, yes, my son told me what happened. You must rest now. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
Jennie ignored his attempt to leave and kept talking. “Have they found her?”
“No.”
“What about the ranch? Did you know Jeff was making plans to meet the kidnapper’s demands and deed the ranch over to Chad Elliot? That’s what Amber was so upset about.”
“I have spoken to my son.” Joseph stoked the fire and added another log. “We will do what must be done to obtain Heather’s release.”
“But …”
“Goodnight, Jennie.”
“I found something else,” Jennie persisted, not wanting to give up until she’d gotten more of her questions answered. “A camera lens. I thought it might belong to Eric and wondered if Heather had brought him here.”
Joseph shook his head. “Where is the lens?”
“In the saddlebags. If it is Eric’s, he must have dropped it when he was searching the house.” Jennie frowned. “But how could he have known about the mine? Unless … Did Heather know?”
“It did not seem wise to share the secret with the twins. They are not yet ready.”
“Do you think Chad Elliot knows about the mine and maybe that’s why he’s so adamant about getting Dancing Waters back?”
“It is possible. He may have found a reference to the mine among his father’s belongings.” Joseph blew out all the candles but one, which he handed to Jennie. “There’s a toothbrush and towels in the bathroom. If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Um … could I ask you one more question?”
Joseph hesitated. “And what might that be?”
“Uncle Jeff told me what you said about letting me investigate. I just wanted to thank you and ask why—I mean, most adults would just tell me to mind my own business.”
“Your grandmother calls you an eagle. Do you know about eagles, Jennie?”
“Only that they’re birds of prey. And I love to watch them fly.”
“To capture an eagle is like roping the wind. They are not easily caught. When an eagle is trapped, it will literally beat itself to death trying to escape. It is in your nature to seek answers, just as it is in the eagle’s nature to soar in the heavens.”
“I’m not getting anywhere with this case. I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t want to disappoint you and Uncle Jeff.”
“Do you know more than you did this morning?” Joseph asked.
“Yes, but—”
“That is good.” His smile affirmed her even more than his words. “Goodnight, Brave Eagle. Sleep well. Tonight we will pray for wisdom and tomorrow we will seek truth.”
Jennie washed by candlelight, ignoring the bedraggled-looking creature that stared back at her in the mirror. Sheesh, McGrady. You look more like Ruffled Feather than Brave Eagle. She quickly tugged the rats out of her hair and brushed her teeth, then slipped into the flannel nightshirt Joseph had set out for her.
She eased her aching body under the covers and blew out the candle. Outside the living room window the subdued light from the porch created an odd mixture of shadows.
One of those shadows took on human form and began to move. Or had it? The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. For Pete’s sake, McGrady. It’s probably just the wind. Besides, you’re safe here. Only, Jennie didn’t feel safe. She threw the covers aside. She wouldn’t rest until she’d confronted her fear and taken a look outside.
A figure moved out of the shadows and crept to the window.
Jennie stifled a scream as she looked point-blank into the intruder’s face.