In Rockfall Pass things were much worse. The earthquake and after-shock had undermined the cliffs on both sides of the trail, splitting them apart. They collapsed, causing twin landslides that buried Reece, Sheriff Vogel and most of the deputies under thousands of tons of rock and dirt.
The Utley forces, hidden among the rocks on the cliffs, fared no better. Unable to save themselves, they were trapped in the landslide and soon buried alongside their enemies in one colossal, enigmatic grave.
The screams of the dying and injured gradually lessened. So did the clouds of falling dust. Finally, only a few painful groans could be heard. And eventually, they too ceased.
There were few survivors.
Buried under the collapsed cabin, Gabriel, Ingrid and Raven heard the thunderous roar of the two landslides.
The silence that followed was almost as deafening.
‘Dear mother of God,’ Ingrid breathed. ‘What was that?’
‘Nature,’ Gabriel said grimly. ‘Reckon she’s decided to put an end to this feud herself.’ Crawling out from under the mattress, he cleared a hole in the mass of debris overhead and pulled Ingrid and Raven to safety. Other than a few scratches, none of them was hurt. They looked toward the pass but could see nothing but a cloud of swirling dust.
Anxious to get out of the canyon in case another quake hit, Gabriel hurried to the corral. Two unsaddled horses stood huddled together against the fence. Frightened by the quake, they shied away from him. Grabbing a lariat from a post, he entered the corral and spoke gently to them. It took a while but gradually they calmed down. He then roped one for himself and let Ingrid and Raven ride double on his saddled buckskin.
As they approached the blocked pass the still-settling dust hid the few remaining survivors who were frantically digging among the rocks. But it didn’t hide the wailing coming from the widows looking for their husbands, or the sobbing of their children.
‘You’n Raven stay here,’ Gabriel told Ingrid, ‘while I look around for—’
She cut him off. ‘No, no, I’m going with you!’
‘Wouldn’t advise that.’
‘I’m still going,’ she said, fighting not to panic. ‘I have to find out if Reece is all right!’
‘An’ you can forget about leaving me behind,’ Raven chimed in. ‘’Cause nothing you say is gonna make me stay here by myself.’
Gabriel shrugged, ‘Suit yourselves,’ nudged his horse onward and led them to the pass.
When they were almost to the narrow, rock-strewn entrance, the massive figure of Remus Utley appeared out of the dust. Bruised and bleeding, he staggered toward them carrying a corpse in his arms.
It was Mitch, Gabriel realized, crushed almost beyond recognition. Feeling a tug of regret, he started to offer his condolences. But the huge man lumbered past him without speaking or looking up. Swallowing his remorse, Gabriel dismounted alongside Ingrid and Raven.
‘That poor man,’ Ingrid whispered sadly. ‘How’s he ever going to live with himself?’
‘He’ll survive,’ Gabriel said bluntly. ‘His kind always does.’
For the next two hours the three of them clambered over the mountain of rocks and dirt looking for Reece. Soon their nails were broken and their hands cut and bleeding. But there was no trace of Ingrid’s brother. Still they searched. The sun blazed down remorselessly. Gabriel knew they were wasting their time, but he kept his thoughts to himself and continued looking.
‘Momma, we’re never going to find him,’ Raven said finally. ‘Uncle Reece is dead and—’
‘We don’t know that for certain,’ Ingrid snapped. ‘And until we do, I’m going to keep looking for him. He’s my stepbrother,’ she added defensively to Gabriel. ‘I must know if he’s alive or dead. Surely you can understand that.’ Desperate, she continued searching.
Gabriel gently squeezed Raven’s shoulder and smiled encouragingly at her. She sensed he was trying to make her understand what her mother was going through, and reluctantly went on looking among the rocks.
The sun was directly overhead when Gabriel found Reece Blackwood. His body lay mangled between two boulders, about halfway into the pass, and by his agonized expression Gabriel knew he had not died quickly or without pain.
He looked behind him and saw Ingrid tending to an injured, raggedly dressed Utley woman. Covered in cuts and bruises, she looked dazed and was still clutching her pistol. Nearby, Raven was giving one of the deputies a drink from a canteen she’d found among the rocks. His chest was crushed and he wheezed with pain.
Struggling with his conscience, Gabriel finally decided Ingrid had a right to know her brother was dead and brought her over to the corpse.
She tried to control her emotions but it was too much for her and she broke into tears. Kneeling beside Reece, she gently brushed the dirt from his face, wiped the dribble of licorice chewing gum from his lips and tearfully kissed his cheek. As she did a second, smaller after-shock brought another section of the cliff crashing down around them.
Gabriel grabbed Ingrid’s hand and they scrambled over the rocks to Raven. She was staring at the deputy’s corpse, seemingly unaware of the impending danger.
‘He’s dead,’ she said in a tiny, lost voice. ‘I was giving him a drink and he … he just died.’
‘C’mon,’ Gabriel grasped their hands and pulled them away. ‘Hurry or we’ll be buried ourselves.’
Ingrid balked, reluctant to leave her brother’s corpse. ‘I c-can’t just leave him here,’ she sobbed. ‘He deserves a proper b-burial and—’
More rocks and dirt showered down behind them. They were followed almost immediately by a larger landslide, this one burying Reece’s body beneath it.
Gabriel draped his arms around Ingrid and Raven, trying to protect them from flying debris, at the same time shouting that they had to get out of there! ‘Dammit, woman, I mean it,’ he yelled when Ingrid didn’t move. ‘We have to go – now!’
As if to remind them of the imminent danger, the earth again shuddered, bringing down another rockfall.
Still Ingrid refused to leave.
‘Please, Momma,’ Raven begged. ‘I already lost Daddy. I don’t want to lose anyone else I love.’
Ingrid heard the fear in her voice and finally relenting, hugged Raven to her. ‘All right, lamb. We’ll go.’