Out of Control (12 page)

“I told you I was interested in geology.”

“Geology?” Rafe held her captive with one hand and checked his gun with the other. He swung the cylinder out with a practiced flick and lifted it to eye level to make sure it was fully loaded. “You said that word before. What is that?”

“It's the science of soil and rock. Rivers and forests.”

“Sounds like ranching.” He'd known it was fully loaded, but a man learned to check and double-check. An empty cylinder could mean the difference between life and death. He snapped his gun shut. “Should've called it Ranchology.”

Julia's chin came up and her eyes shone. “You might be able to help me. You have practical knowledge I lack.”

“You lack at being practical—that's for sure.” Rafe reholstered his gun.

That comment didn't even slow her down. “You could help a lot when I write my paper about the cavern. And it would be something really different. They'd be sure to publish a paper about a find this important. I've done quite a bit of studying. But in all I've seen in my life, nothing has fascinated me like that cavern. It's a treasure.”

“It's dangerous.”

“I have to study it, and I
will
write about it, Rafe. You can't come up with a single reason important enough to stop me.”

“How about staying alive?” There, she couldn't avoid admitting that.

“I disagree.”

Unless she was really stubborn.

“You're right in the short term.”

“Short term? What's that mean? If you die in that cave, well, death is real long term.”

“In the
geological
sense that cave is more important than my life.”

Rafe didn't bother containing a grunt of disagreement. Since she was ignoring him anyway, he might as well make any rude noise he wanted.

“I'll give you a bit of time to find the scoundrel who trapped me, but I've got to go back down. I need to make rubbings of the fossils. I think I can chisel a few of them out without harming them, but mostly I want to describe what's down there.” Julia frowned. “I'd make sketches, but that's never been my gift. Shame. Can you draw a picture?”

“No.” Rafe picked up his pace.

“Fine then, we'll have to skip the drawing. I'll get a paper published, even without sketches. This is a scientific age, Rafe. We are discovering wonders all the time that tell us more about God's creation.” She stumbled.

He caught her before she pitched facedown onto the stony surface of God's creation. “You can't even walk in the woods; down in that cavern you'll fall into a hole and die.”

“I need to go back to the cabin, Rafe. Audra might be awake by now.”

“We're not going to find anything.” Rafe combed through his hair with one hand. “Maybe Ethan had better luck. Let's go.”

They started back. The oak and pine were so dense it was hard to walk side by side.

Rafe didn't like her lagging behind or getting ahead, though, so he did his best to stay close.

Jumbled rocks were scattered everywhere, and Rafe knew if they went very far to the west they'd come to that same stream, cutting them off. The stream had cut a deep, narrow canyon. He suspected an avalanche had broken down the side of the canyon and left those stones Julia crossed. Rafe hadn't considered trying to cross up here for years. There was a much easier ford a few miles to the north of his cabin. That winding route was what made Rawhide such a long trip.

Julia kept yammering about fossils while Rafe watched the ground for something that might've gotten here a lot more recently, like a killer.

“We're almost to the spot we split from Ethan. Wonder how far he's gone.”

“I can see the entrance to the cavern,” Julia said.

He saw tracks. “We're here. Let's give Ethan a few minutes to show up.”

A gunshot cut through the quiet forest.

Ethan came to a sharp drop-off where the stream had cut a gully fifty feet deep. He skidded to a halt, glad he wasn't moving fast, or he'd have pitched over the edge. His attention was drawn across the gully. A man vanished into the woods on the far side. And he saw something else. Something he'd never seen before, nor thought of.

He fired his gun to signal Rafe and rushed toward the swaying rope that dangled over the rushing water. It was tied to an overhead limb that stuck out so far it nearly spanned the gorge.

Considering the situation for only a moment, he started climbing.

He'd definitely heard that twig snap on this side of the stream and now that man was on the other side. And this rope was swaying more than could be explained by the wind. That man had gotten across using it. And if he could do it, so could Ethan.

He shinnied out on the branch until he reached the rope. He was all the way out, looking down in the white water of the stream, twisting and dancing over rocks. Well, it was caverns Ethan didn't like. A rushing stream lined by stony cliffs didn't bother him all that much.

He grabbed the rope, scrambled backward, and climbed down.

“Rafe, where are you?” He yelled just because it seemed like the kind of time when a man oughta do a little yelling.

He thought of Rafe, Julia, and himself on this side of the gully, while the man who'd very likely left Julia in the cavern was on Audra's side of the gully, and not that far from her cabin.

Steele was there and he was a solid hand. But was Steele properly on the lookout? Might Audra have gotten up and taken Maggie outside?

Ethan dismissed the idea of waiting for Rafe. All he'd do is order Ethan to watch over Julia and get to Audra.

Left behind with the women and children and invalids.

That didn't suit Ethan one bit.

He got to the ground, held that long rope in his hands, and looked at the far side of the stream, then took another hard look at the water rushing at the bottom of the gully. He drew his gun and shot off another round. Jerked hard on the rope to make sure it was solid, then quit lollygagging. Jamming his gun into the holster, he flipped the loop through the trigger to tie the gun down, tested the rope one more time and adjusted his hold, then took a running start and swung out into midair.

A shout escaped his lips as he sailed through the air. Part terror, part pure joy.

The rope was longer than he'd reckoned it'd be and he swung down a long way toward the water, then swooshing up, he soared far and high. He reached the end of the long swinging arc and began going backward. Against every speck of common sense he possessed, he let go and hoped he hadn't held on too long.

If he'd picked the wrong moment, then he'd have time to regret it. It was a long way to the water and the jagged rocks below its surface.

“That's Ethan screaming.” Rafe didn't let go of Julia, but he picked up his speed—not easy in the thick undergrowth.

The woods thinned. He emerged from the forest right on the edge of a cliff. Skidding, Rafe grabbed Julia and threw her down on the ground. The leaves and sticks and stone poked and scratched at him as he slammed into the ground. He did his best to protect Julia from their sharp edges. They stopped in time. He started to sit up and saw his legs dangling over the cliff.

Scooting backward, with his grip still ironhard on Julia's arm. He saw movement and something hit him in the face. Looking around for whoever had done the shooting and whatever had made Ethan scream, he saw a rope swinging past his face, then swoosh back toward the gorge.

Following it with his eyes, he looked across the stream to see Ethan picking himself up off the ground.

Ethan wasn't that far away, but he might as well have been in another state. He'd gotten over there . . . Rafe saw that swinging rope and shook his head.

Ethan turned to Rafe and raised a hand to his mouth. “Get back to the cabin. I saw a man. He could be heading there. I'll try and catch him from this direction.”

Ethan whirled and ran into the woods and was gone before Rafe could say a word.

Rafe's heart was still pounding hard from nearly pitching over the cliff. Hot blood raced to the coldest part of himself, and it was a fight to stay in control.

“Let's go.” Julia jumped to her feet and ran back in the direction they'd come—only she picked wrong and headed north instead of south.

With a sigh, Rafe caught her and dragged her around. “This way.”

She trusted him apparently, because she was soon leading in that direction. But Rafe put on more speed, tripping and dodging around fallen trees and limbs, boulders, and ditches. He reached the trail and sprinted toward the crossing.

They were down that gully and back up, and running down the trail toward the cabin without saying a word. They rounded to the front door just as Audra stepped outside holding Maggie.

“Oh, there you are.” She smiled, all calm and a bit puffy-eyed from sleep. Not in danger at all. “That man doctoring Wendell wants to talk to you, Rafe. He won't let me stay.”

With a heaved breath of relief, Rafe felt a tug on his arm and realized he was still holding tight to Julia's hand. He had to have let her go when they went down the steepest part of the gully but must've caught hold again without noticing.

Strange how easy it was to hold Julia's hand.

“I'll go.” Then he thought of what Steele might want him to do. Torn about leaving the women outside or letting them come in and hear an ugly conversation, he scanned the area and made a decision. “You two stay close to the house.” He did his best to singe Julia with a look, and he could see she understood his worry. “Pay attention. If you see or hear anything that worries you, get inside. Keep an eye out for Ethan.”

She nodded. “We'll stay close.”

Rafe gritted his teeth and went inside.

“I should be in there.” Audra took one step toward the cabin.

“I don't want you to see what they might do.” Julia didn't want to see it either, but she'd do what needed doing. Julia's heart still pounded from fright and from their long, desperate run. And now here she stood, everything fine. But Ethan was out there chasing a man. It had to be the one who had frightened her and left her stranded in the cavern.

“You can't protect me from everything, Julia.”

“I know.” Julia respected Audra's heart and knew she was a smart woman, but she wasn't tough and she wasn't decisive. Audra needed someone to be in charge. “But it would be a terrible thing to see.”

Audra gave Maggie an absent kiss on the head. “Talking about it does no one any good, so let's don't.”

Julia was used to Audra's way of dealing with the world. Remain calm. Keep the peace. Respond to wrath with a soft word. Very biblical. Very different from how Julia attacked life. Of course, Julia had taken a lot of long walks to keep the peace, too.

“Why are you breathing so hard? What happened?”

Julia explained quickly while she waited for her father to start screaming.

There was only silence.

“Shouldn't Ethan be back by now?”