The Graves of Plague Canyon (The Downwinders Book 3) (8 page)

Are there lots of cliff dwellings?
Deem asked.
Which one has the
entrance to the cave?

The one on the south side, two thirds of the way in. Have you
studied maps?

Yes,
Deem answered.

So then you know the canyon bends to the right, like an
upside down ‘L’. Just after the bend, it’s on the south side, probably fifty
feet up. It’s one of the biggest dwellings, so you can’t miss it. The entrance
is below a granary there.

Could we get into the canyon from the top?
Deem asked.

Too steep,
Aldus replied.
You have to go in from the mouth.

Guys, I’ve got to stop,
Winn said.
I’m about out.

Thanks for your help, Aldus,
Deem said.

Good luck to both of you,
Aldus replied.
And don’t give that stone back to
my son. He doesn’t deserve it, the…

Aldus was cut off as Winn dropped the trance. His distinct
image suddenly became fuzzy and distorted, drifting over the grave like a patch
of fog. It hung around for a moment, then descended back into the earth. Once
he was gone, they dropped from the River.

Winn was taking deep breaths. “Sorry, that was as long as I
could go,” he said.

“We got what we needed,” Deem said, raising her head and
searching the horizon for any sign of people. “Let’s get out of here without
getting caught.”

▪ ▪ ▪

“Where are we going to get a vacuum box?” Deem asked, Winn
and Carma standing next to her in the drawing room.

“Vacuum box, vacuum box,” Carma repeated, wracking her brain.
“A vacuum box… did he say what it looked like?”

“No,” Deem replied.

“Winn? Do you know?” Carma asked.

“Never heard of one before,” Winn answered.

“Well, I know I’ve heard it somewhere, vacuum box, vacuum
box…” she kept repeating, as though saying the words would trigger the memory
she was trying to evoke.

“I could try Steven and Roy,” Deem said.

“Who are they again?” Carma asked.

“Friends from Seattle,” Deem replied. “They managed to get me
that tin square that cured corpse poison. They might have a vacuum box, or know
how to get one.”

“How would they start?” Winn said. “Last time we sent them a
sketch from Awan; this time we don’t have any idea what it looks like.”

“We should have asked Aldus for a description of it,” Deem
said.

“Wait!” Carma exclaimed. “A description! That’s it, that’s
what I remember!” She bolted from the room.

They found her in a study off the kitchen. Around the top of
the room was a shelf, lined with books. Carma was standing on a wobbly chair,
inspecting spines.

“Oh, it’s one of these, but which one?” she said, running her
fingers over the books and trying to decide which one to pull. “Vacuum box… vacuum
box… let’s try …”

She pulled a volume from the shelf and flipped through it
quickly, the chair under her wiggling from left to right, and Carma
counterbalancing by doing a slight shimmy.

“No no no, not this one,” she said as she replaced it.

“You think you’ve seen it in a book?” Deem asked.

“Well, that’s what I’m thinking at the moment,” Carma said,
reaching for another and opening it to random pages. She put it back almost
immediately. “I could be wrong, but when you said ‘description’ it made me
think that…” She paused, then stopped and turned to face them, still standing
on the chair, wiggling. “I remember! It’s not in a book at all!”

She stepped down from the chair, Winn giving her a hand.
“Funny how your mind works. I could have sworn I’d seen one in a book, but then
I realized where I saw one before… Lyman.”

“Lyman has a vacuum box?” Winn asked.

“Had one. He gave it to someone, I don’t remember who. What
time is it?” She rushed into the kitchen, looking at the clock on the stove.
“Lyman will be available in a half hour,” she said. “We can go down and ask
him. His memory is much better than mine. One of the benefits of dying young.”

Deem hadn’t seen Lyman in a while, and she remembered the
promise she’d made to him that she’d visit him occasionally in exchange for his
protection of the documents she was trying to scan.
It’ll be good to catch
up on that promise,
she thought.
Besides, maybe he’ll spill the beans on
what he and Carma have been up to.

“Then we’ll wait,” Deem said.

“Ooo, I’ll bet you’d like some pie,” Carma said. “Mince?”

“It’s after midnight, Carma,” Deem said. “I can’t eat this
late. It’ll just keep me up.”

“Winn?” Carma asked. “Mince pie?”

“What exactly is mince pie?”

“Oh, it’s delicious, I’ll cut you a slice,” Carma replied,
and walked to a pantry. After she cut off a piece and placed it on a plate, she
handed it to Winn with a fork and then ushered them back into the drawing room,
where Deem sunk into her favorite chair.

“Wow, that’s a really strong flavor!” Winn said after his
first bite. “It’s got a zing to it.”

“It’s a pie for adults,” Carma said.

“So, if Lyman can tell us where the vacuum box is,” Deem
said, “and we can go get it tomorrow morning, we still have to wait until
tomorrow night, late, to sneak into the canyon.”

“I figure we’ll camp in the canyon until daylight,” Winn
said, “out of sight of your patrolling boyfriend. Then we can scale the cliffs
in the daylight, like Aldus suggested.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Deem corrected him. “Although, this
should work out… I have a date with him tomorrow, late afternoon. I figured I
could cancel it if I needed to, but it sounds like this schedule might work.”

“How’s your niece doing?” Winn asked Carma.

“I talked to Ester earlier,” Carma replied. “She says Lizzy
is the same. I asked her to hold off on taking her to the hospital until we could
see if you found a way into the canyon. I’ll call her tomorrow and tell her
we’re making progress.”

“Damn slow progress,” Winn said.

“If you make it into the canyon tomorrow night,” Carma said,
“that means we’d have the callum by the day after tomorrow, and it could be in
Fredonia by that evening. That’s just 48 hours. I think I can keep Ester on
hold that long, but probably not much longer. If Lizzy takes a turn for the
worse between now and then, Ester won’t call me, she’ll just take her in — then
it’ll be countdown to pulling the plug.”

“We’ll find a way into that canyon,” Deem said. “Do you have
climbing stuff in your Jeep? Rope? Cams?”

“No, I’ll have to go back to Moapa for that,” Winn replied.
“I’ll do that while you’re sucking face with your date.”

“So crude!” Carma said, slapping Winn’s knee. “You tease her
mercilessly and while you’re quite good at it, it would irritate me to no end.
Does it irritate you, Deem?”

“I’ve heard it so much, I don’t even notice anymore,” Deem
said, feeling her eyelids start to sink as she relaxed in the chair.

▪ ▪ ▪

Half an hour later, Winn was shaking Deem awake. “Time to go
downstairs,” he said gently.

Deem opened her eyes and stood up, stretching.

“Come on, you two,” Carma said. “Let’s see what kind of mood
he’s in.”

They followed Carma downstairs into a finished basement
filled with a pool table, a foosball table, and a bar. In one corner was a big
screen TV.

“You never seem to use this room,” Winn said to Carma as they
walked through it toward a closet in the back.

“I built it to act as camouflage for the cave entrance,” she
said. “The kids liked it when they were here, but they’ve all moved on and I
hardly ever come down since we had A/C put in upstairs. Except, of course, to
get to Lyman.”

She walked into the closet and through another door, where
Deem saw the entrance to the tunnel that ran under the house and to the hill in
the backyard. Carma told them the caves went past that point, but that she’d
never mapped it out, staying in just the first room of the cave system, where
they normally met Lyman.

Overhead lights popped on as Carma threw a switch, and they
walked over the uneven surface of the tunnel as it angled downward slightly.
Soon they emerged into a large open chamber where Lyman was already waiting for
them, floating a foot off the ground in the center of the room. Lyman’s
ethereal appearance was stronger than most ghosts. Deem wondered at the source
of his strength.

“Oh, good, he’s here already,” Carma said as they all dropped
into the River.

Lyman, we need a favor,
Carma said.

Lyman approached Deem, seeming to ignore Carma.
Good to
see you again, Deem.

Hello, Lyman,
she replied.
Nice to see you, too.

Lyman closed his eyes as she spoke, as though he was hearing
beautiful music. She was always a little thrown by Lyman’s reactions to her;
although he died at sixteen and looked that age, he always spoke and behaved
like someone much older, and the discontinuity of it took her by surprise every
time she met him.

Thank you for coming down,
he said, his eyes scanning her face.
You’re
falling in love with someone.

Deem pulled back a little, blushing.

How I wish it could be me,
he said.
But I know that’s not possible. He’s
lucky.

Deem heard Winn snort, and she turned to see him rolling his
eyes.

Lyman turned to Winn.
Are you jealous?

Me?
Winn replied.
No. Not jealous. He’s just going to need a unique personality
mix to gel with Deem here. She’s picky.

Lyman closed his eyes and faded from view for a few seconds.
When he returned to full intensity, he opened them.
Warren is a perfect
match for you,
Lyman said to Deem.
If you open yourself, you’ll be very
happy with him.

Lyman!
Carma interjected.
Leave her love life alone. You’re embarrassing
her.

Am I embarrassing you?
Lyman asked Deem.

A little,
she replied.

I apologize,
Lyman said.
Winn may not be jealous, but I am.

Now you’re really embarrassing her,
Carma said.
Listen, Lyman, we
need to talk to you about something. You remember you used to have a vacuum
box, years ago?

Lyman was still staring at Deem, smiling, as though he didn’t
want to take his eyes from her while he spoke to Carma.
Six sides, inlaid
with mother of pearl. Yes, I remember it.

Well, we need it,
Carma said.
My niece is dying, and we’ve got to collect
some callum if she’s to be saved.

I gave it away, years ago,
Lyman replied, still looking at Deem. It was
beginning to make her nervous. If Lyman’s countenance wasn’t so handsome and
benign, she knew she’d be freaking out.

Who did you give it to?
Carma asked.

One of Porter’s boys,
Lyman replied.

Porter? Why would you give it to one of his gang?
Carma asked.

The kid was on the outs with them,
Lyman said,
or I wouldn’t have.
He wanted to trade, so I did. He died a couple of days later, in Left Hand. He
might have had it on him; it might be worth looking there. What’s the status of
our project, Carma?

It’s baking,
Carma replied.
Done in a couple of days. Then we’re good.

Keep an eye on it,
Lyman said.

I will,
Carma replied.
Come on you two, let’s go back up.

It was nice to see you again, Deem,
Lyman said.
I hope you’ll come
back soon.

Sure, Lyman,
she replied.
I will.

They dropped from the River, and Carma led them back through
the tunnel.

“It’s creepy how he stares at you,” Winn said softly as they
were walking back.

“I don’t mind it,” Deem said. “He just seems so happy to see
me, to hear my voice.”

“Creepy happy,” Winn replied.

“Don’t let Lyman hear you say that,” Carma warned.

“Why?” Winn asked, feeling bold.

“Well, I can tell you what he did to the last person who
insulted him,” Carma answered.

“What?” Deem asked.

“He attached a half-dozen deranged, schizophrenic ghosts to
the man’s brain,” Carma replied. “The man committed suicide a day later.”