Time had lost all meaning. There was no night or day, there was only the eternal darkness around them and the never-ending tunnel stretching away in front of them. They couldn’t tell how far they had come or how much further they had to go. All they could do was keep pushing forward. Stumbling over hidden things that slid from under their feet in the slimy muck beneath the water.
Around them were sounds that told them they were not alone. The splash of furry bodies dropping into the water. More than once wriggling forms nudged them. Brand had even felt the grip of clawed feet scrabbling against his leg. He had swung the torch down, seeing the flame reflected in cold red eyes. He brushed the thing from him, hearing its shrill cry as it dropped back into the water.
Much later he realized that the water was becoming shallower. Ahead of them the tunnel split into two. The flow of water divided. Brand held up the torch so he and Kathy could study the separate tunnels.
“You want to choose?” he asked.
Kathy stared at him. She hadn’t said much since the shooting back where they had entered the tunnel. During the long trek through the underground tunnel she had simply clung to Brand in complete silence. She had broken her silence a couple of times, and only then because the close presence of rats had unnerved her.
“Does it matter?” she asked tonelessly.
“I guess not. Either way it’s a risk.”
“So why bother?”
“Because we’re still alive,” Brand said. He gripped her arm. “Because we still have a chance.”
“Uncle Luke had a chance. Why did he waste it? He could have stayed with us.”
“He chose his way, Kathy. Hell, I don’t know what made him stay. He’d been through hard times. What Carla did to him hurt. Could be he just gave up. Some folk reach a dead end and decide that’s it.”
Kathy was silent for a moment. “I didn’t know whether to hate him for what he did to my father — or to feel sorry for him. But then I realized the only one I’m really mad at is Carla. She hurt us all.” She stared at Brand. “Damn that woman! I wish I could get her alone for five minutes. I’d make sure no man would ever look at her again.”
“You stay that way, Kathy. Stay good and mad and we’ll get out of here. Right now you’re mad enough for both of us.”
Kathy frowned, then gave him a quick smile. “I owe you an apology, Brand.”
“What for?”
“For going all broody. It won’t happen again.”
“I didn’t know it had,” Brand said, reaching out to push damp hair back from her face.
“Hey, I can’t keep calling you Brand.”
“Jason.”
“All right, Jason Brand, I’ll choose your tunnel now. The right one.”
“Yeah? Let’s hope it is.”
They moved into the tunnel. The first thing they noticed was the water flowing faster, and as they progressed along the tunnel they saw that the walls were running with water too.
The further along they got the stronger the current became. Soon they were being drenched with water streaming from the roof of the tunnel.
“What’s happening?” Kathy asked.
“Not sure. But it looks like there’s a lot of water above us.”
Ahead of them the tunnel began to curve off to the right. As they rounded the curve the floor of the tunnel dropped away sharply and they found themselves in deep water. Brand handed the now spluttering torch to Kathy. He unbuckled his gunbelt and slung it around his neck.
“Look, it’s starting to get light,” Kathy said.
The darkness was lessening. It came just at the right time. Moments later their torch went out completely. Kathy threw it aside.
The growing power of the fast-flowing water surged around them now. It began to pull them along.
“Hang on!” Brand yelled.
Kathy looped her arms around his neck.
The floor of the tunnel fell away again. For long, wild seconds they were beneath the water. Then they broke the surface again. The current had them in its grip now, sweeping them along at will. It grew stronger with each passing yard they travelled. They were being swept from side to side, the rough tunnel walls scraping their flesh. Brand heard Kathy gasp, felt her arms and legs cling even tighter.
It was light enough to see clearly now. The tunnel had opened up into what appeared to be an underground channel. Brand saw that water was spilling into the channel from various places up in the jagged walls. Streams feeding the main channel. How. The light showed that the water was clear now. Fresh and clean. They were obviously out of the sewers of El Casa Muerte. This had to be an underground river that the sewers finally flowed into. Brand felt a moment of excitement that faded just as quickly. They were not out of danger yet. The current was becoming even stronger. He could feel its raw power surging around them, carrying them along at an increasing pace.
Brand tried to swim for the side of the tunnel but the grip of the current was too strong. They were at the mercy of the water. Spun around, pushed back and forth by the surging flood. Brand caught Kathy’s eyes. She was staring at him, unblinking, her face pale and scared.
Over the rush of water Brand heard a stronger, heavier sound. It was a dull, continuous roar. The crashing sound of tons of water as it dropped unchecked over a fall. Looking ahead Brand spotted the mist of white spray that was being hurled into the air at the spot where the water spilled over the drop. They were being dragged straight for the falls at breakneck speed now. There was no way either of them could resist it. Brand wrapped his arms around Kathy’s slim body, felt her bury her head against his shoulder.
In the last seconds before they were swept over the edge Brand was able to look beyond the curtain of spray.
He caught a glimpse of blue sky and white cloud. And then the thunder filled his ears. The breath was ripped from his body and he was seized by the awesome power of the water as it flung Kathy and himself into space, turning and twisting them as if they were nothing more than leaves falling from the trees . . .
. . . he opened his eyes to brilliant sunlight. He was lying on his back, staring up into a wide expanse of sky. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the muted sound of the waterfall. He turned his head. He was on the wide, flat sandy bank of a slow-moving river, running between high canyon walls.
Brand sat up slowly. Pain burned across his left shoulder. He saw that his shirt had been torn, the flesh beneath scraped and bloody. He climbed to his feet. He felt sore from head to foot, his body aching as if it had undergone a heavy battering. He remembered the surging water. The terrifying power that had dragged them to the edge of the falls, throwing them over into the emptiness. Then the long drop . . .
Kathy!
He turned, searching for her.
She was only yards from him. Sitting hunched over, head pressed against her raised knees. Her dark hair hung in long knotted strands.
Brand crossed to her. He became conscious of his gunbelt hanging round his neck. He freed it and strapped it back around his waist.
Kneeling beside Kathy he saw that her white blouse was ripped down the back from shoulder to waist, exposing her firm white flesh.
“You all right?” he asked.
She raised her head. Her face was still wet. A dark bruise showed along one cheek and a red graze marked the side of her jaw.
“I have never been so scared in my life,” she said. Her voice trembled.
“Got to admit I’ve gone through pleasanter trips,” Brand said. He sat down beside her and began to strip his Colt down, laying the parts out on the ground to dry.
She watched for a time then stood up and walked to the water’s edge.
Brand took stock of their position.
The vast, rugged canyon through which the river flowed lay in splendid isolation. Off to the right, maybe a quarter mile back he could see the white spray of the falls and the dark gash in the high cliff where the underground source spilled out.
They had drifted a good distance before grounding on the sandy bank. Brand glanced downstream. The river curved away in the far distance. A tangle of trees and brush dotted the banks of the river and on both sides the canyon alls rose in jagged layers.
They were out of El Casa Muerte, but certainly not out of danger. Ramon Huerta wouldn’t rest easy until he was sure they were both dead. He and Carla Dorsey were in no position to leave anyone alive who might expose their scheme. Especially if it meant revealing that Carla was still alive. It meant that Brand and Kathy would remain targets as long as they stayed within Huerta’s reach. Brand wondered whether Huerta knew about the underground river and where it eventually came out. He felt sure the man would. Huerta, if nothing else, was thorough.
Brand tore a strip from his shirt and used it to carefully dry the parts of his Colt. He would have preferred the correct tools but he wasn’t in any position to be choosy. He reassembled the gun, checking the action. It felt right. His main concern were the bullets. If they were soaked inside the casings he was in trouble. Wet powder would render the Colt useless, making it nothing more than a fistful of iron. He reloaded. When he looked up he saw Kathy was watching him. She knew enough about firearms to realize why he was concerned.
“What the hell, we can always throw rocks at them,” he said.
She smiled. “So how do we get out of here, Jason?”
“We climb.”
She took a long look at the high canyon walls. “Oh, that’s just fine,” she muttered.
Brand had estimated they were somewhere west of El Casa Muerte.
They needed to cross the river and climb the far canyon wall. The border lay to the north. If they could reach it alive they might stand a chance. But there was a lot between them and the crossing in the form of Huerta and his men. There was no telling how many he might have out looking for them. It depended how desperate he was feeling — or how threatened.
They moved along the river bank until they found a shallow place to cross. On the opposite side they scanned the rocky slope of the canyon wall, seeking a place where they might be able to make their climb.
“We’ll try here,” Brand said. The chosen spot wasn’t about to offer them an easy climb but it was the most accessible he had been able to locate.
Kathy nodded. Then she said, “Jason.”
He turned to her and she slipped her arms around his neck, pressing her strong young body against his.
Her soft mouth closed over his and she kissed him long and hard. When she drew away her face was flushed, eyes bright. Brand stared at her until she gave a soft chuckle.
“That was just to say thank you.”
“Did I do something?”
“You got me out of that place. Away from those people, and risked your life doing it.”
“You know I’m not doing it just to pass the time away.”
She touched his bruised face. “You mean my father paid you to find me? Heavens, you don’t think I believed you were doing it for nothing. That doesn’t alter the fact that you are doing it. So I want to say thanks. Now shut up and be nice to me.”
Brand held her close, returning her kiss, and for a while they forgot where they were and why.
“Much more of this and I might give your father his money back.”
Kathy leaned back to study him. “Liar,” she said.
“That I am.”
“Jason, I don’t think I’m in a hurry to go back home yet.”
“Hey,” he said, “I think it’s time we got going.”
They moved up the lower slope that formed the base of the canyon wall. The section was comparatively easy, but soon they were faced with a steep, eroded rock-face. Brand went first, seeking the best route. He found chunks of the rock breaking away in his hands and it took them a long time to cover a short distance. Kathy followed him closely, using the same hand and footholds. It was exhausting work, made no easier by the heat radiating from the brassy sun overhead.
After a grueling half hour they were forced to stop and rest.
“How do you feel?” Brand asked.
Kathy sleeved sweat from her face. “Terrible.”
Brand knew how she felt. They were both still recovering from the battering they had received in the water.
“Kathy, how did they get you out of the house the night of the kidnap?”
She frowned at the memory.
“It was Saul Hussler. He came to my room. I was just on my way to get ready for bed. Hussler said my father was hurt. He’d been kicked by a horse in the stables and he was asking for me. I just never stopped to think it might not be true. I just followed Hussler out of the house and across to the stables. I remember going in through the door. Then someone must have hit me. When I woke up I was tied to the back of a horse. Hussler and Chino were riding with me, and we were already miles from home.” Kathy grimaced. “Pretty stupid of me wasn’t it? I walked right into it with both eyes wide open.”
“Like you said. Why should you suspect anything? Someone tells you a person you love is hurt all you want is to go to them.”
“How was my father when you saw him?”
“Worried about you. Concerned for your safety and prepared to do anything to get you back.”
“I’m ready to go when you are.”
They started the climb again. The rock-face became steeper the higher they got. Handholds became fewer. A rope would have helped and better clothing.
The jagged rock cut through their already damaged clothes, scraping and bruising their flesh. Fingers became raw and bloody. The high heeled riding boots they wore were not designed for climbing canyon walls.
Over an hour had passed. They moved slowly up the steep, heat blasted rock-face, clinging stubbornly to the impassive surface. Each time they moved on they left behind sweaty imprints of their bodies.
Without warning Kathy lost her footing.
Brand heard her shocked gasp. He turned, oblivious to the danger he might have placed himself in and saw Kathy’s white face slipping away from his side. He gripped the crevice of rock he was holding and thrust out his right hand. Kathy flung out her own hand, Brand feeling her damp fingers grip his.
He closed his big hand, felt her slipping away, and lunged again. This time he managed a stronger grip. Tensing himself against the sudden drag of her body he hung on. A shower of stone cascaded from beneath Kathy’s boots as she struggled to gain a foothold.
Then she was hanging suspended from Brand’s hand, swinging slowly.
“Get a foothold!” Brand yelled.
Kathy arched her body in towards the rock-face. The toes of her boots scraped the surface. She reached in with her free hand as well, fingers groping for a hold. Moments later she secured a foothold, then managed to close her fingers over a solid knob of rock. Brand felt the dead weight at the end of his arm lessen. He hauled Kathy close against the rock-face.
“You’re all right now.”
Kathy didn’t speak until she had stopped trembling. “The sooner we reach the top the better I’m going to feel.”
They rested for a few minutes, then resumed the climb.
It took them another half hour to complete the climb, Brand finally dragging himself over the rim of the canyon wall. He reached back to help Kathy. She climbed up beside him, then began to stand up. A startled gasp burst from her lips when Brand grabbed her roughly and forced her to lie flat on the ground.
“Wait! “ he said sharply.
She watched him crawl forward, his lean body flat against the ground.
There was cover here, the rim of the canyon being lined with tangled scrub and Brand was able to get a clear view of the surrounding terrain.
It was rugged, sun-bleached country.
Dusty, with little vegetation save the scant scrub. A harsh and unforgiving land. Brand narrowed his eyes against the sun’s glare, searching the landscape for movement. He saw nothing. Heard nothing, yet he kept on searching, letting his gaze seek out every hollow and place where a man might hide and wait. Just because everything was still and silent it didn’t mean there was nothing to fear.
Satisfied for the moment he slid back from the cover of the scrub.
Starting to turn he heard Kathy give a startled cry.
Brand picked up the whisper of sound close by. He spun, coming up off the ground, his hand snatching the Colt from its holster.
And found himself face to face with Chino.