Ivins set a fast pace. Even so, it took nearly two hours to reach the trail’s summit. What he and Karen had called an easy walk had eaten up half the morning and left everyone gasping for breath. Worse yet, by gaining altitude they’d closed the gap between themselves and the threatening sky and were soon shrouded in clouds.
Descending the other side, they moved in single file, holding on to one another to keep from getting separated. A rain-like mist soaked them and the trail, making it slick and treacherous.
Ivins called a halt where the trail became a narrow ledge as it passed between a cliff of sheer rock on one side and a deep crevasse on the other. Just how deep the chasm was, Nick couldn’t tell through the mist.
“This is no place to stop,” Hurst complained, backing against the rock face. “There’s not enough room to sit down.”
“Kelly died in a place like this,” Nick said, shuddering at the memory of the crevasse and its knifelike outcroppings of ice. “It gets better and better,” Hurst muttered.
“Wait till you see the mining camp,” Ivins said to ease the tension. “It’s worth it. Isn’t that right, Karen?”
She blew on her gloved hands. “If you say so.”
Nick noticed the edge to Karen’s voice. It seemed to confirm Gus’s assessment of the pair. They no longer appeared to be the lovers she had suspected. Just what was their relationship, then?
Nick was mulling over the possibilities when she heard a shout behind them. “Hello. Anybody there?”
“It’s Barlow,” Hurst said, then raised his voice. “Mike, we’re directly ahead of you. Be careful. There’s a crevasse on your left.”
A moment later Barlow materialized out of the mist. Ivins called to him.
He caught sight of them, and waved. “Thank God I’ve found you. Alcott’s dead.”
The breath caught in Nick’s throat as Gus’s words echoed in her head. It begins, then.
The moment Barlow reached them, he turned to look back the way he’d come. “The bears came back.”
He raised his arm to show where his parka had been clawed to shreds. Only then did Nick see the bloodstains on the Gore-Tex.
“We didn’t see them until they were on top of us,” Barlow continued. “They attacked without warning, two of them. The only reason I’m here is that they started fighting over Doctor Alcott’s body. The poor man.”
“For Christ’s sake,” Ivins said angrily. “I want those animals hunted down and shot.”
“Now’s not the time,” Karen said as she examined Barlow’s parka. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head. “That’s Alcott’s blood, not mine. There was nothing I could do.”
“Goddamn bears,” Ivins persisted.
“You’re missing the point,” Hurst told him. “They’ve tasted blood. They’re man-eaters now. If they came back for Alcott, they could come after us. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“We can’t go back to the camp,” Barlow said. “The bears are still there.”
“Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Ivins said. “I say we move. It’s shorter to go on than go back. We can stay overnight at the gold mine and return in the morning. By then the bears will probably be gone and the chopper will have arrived.” When no one objected, he turned and led the way.
Nick stayed close to the granite wall. When that ran out so did the crevasse. At that point the trail was wide enough to walk two abreast. When she drew alongside Ivins, he grunted and said, “You see, we’re out of the clouds. The trail ahead is dry. No storm.”
She glanced up see that the mist had given way to clouds. They were not the ragged thunderheads that brought great storms to Anasazi country. They were round, the clouds Gus had warned her about.