揧ou said I could have two days.?
揟hat was before you allowed a nun to get the better of you. The Belgians are going to start screaming shortly. Getting you out of there seems like a good idea.?
揝omething big is happening here.?
揧ou don抰 know that.?
揑抦 here, on the ground, doing my job. I抦 telling you that there抯 something here to discover. Something I need to follow through on.?
They抎 gone back and forth and finally Reynaldo had agreed to honor the two days. But it was clear that he owed his boss a big one. Less than an hour later a NATO chopper found him and he was flown south to Perpignan, where he抎 obtained ground transportation and driven the hour west toward the mountains, to the motherhouse, where Sister Claire was headed with the body. Which meant she was most likely going to use the other way up. Fine. He抎 allow her that. He just needed to be up there by the time she arrived.
He checked his watch.
That should be soon, if not already.
Assuming she抎 driven straight through.
Which was a safe assumption.
He抎 managed to grab a little sleep on the flight south, having long ago mastered how to rest in snatches of no more than an hour or so. He抎 bought a couple of sandwiches and a bottled water before heading over from town to the abbey. The guy at the local caf?told him the hike up would take about an hour. Hope you have strong legs. And now, staring up at the start of the inclined journey, he could see that the man had been right.
That was a long climb.
But what the hell?
He could handle it.
Or could he?
揅ome on, Nick, let抯 go,?Charlie Minter said.
They were on an adventure. Nick, Charlie, and Marvin Royster. Three twelve-year-olds in the hills outside Colorado Springs. Hiking. Packs on their backs. Boots on their feet. They抎 done it many times before, one of the perks of living in such a wonderful place. The three had grown up together, their parents close friends. Today they were explorers, following a trail above the timberline, jagged layered peaks capped with snow in the distance, only sunshine and green valleys in between.
A beautiful Saturday afternoon.
They were headed to the tunnels. Originally carved out to transport ore through the mountains, most were boring and unimportant. But one carried a legend. It was said that a wagon full of children had once been trapped there when the tunnel collapsed. So much damage had occurred that the entrance had been sealed, leaving the wagon where it sat with the bodies, trapping the spirits inside for all of eternity.
A good ol?fashioned local ghost story.
揗y brother told me,?Charlie said, 搕hat hikers have heard laughing inside the tunnel. He swears ghosts are there.?
Nick had heard the same thing from his older brothers. But he wondered how much of that was true, and how much was just them trying to scare him.
揗y dad told me,?Marvin said, 搕hat some people who抳e gone inside have been scratched by the ghosts. There are voices and all kinds of weird things goin?on there too.?
They抎 heard so many stories that they decided to go see for themselves.
Hence the adventure.
The hike took about half an hour, the trail more like a narrow dirt road, well defined with directional signage. No danger of getting lost. He spotted Beaver Lake off toward the west, its mirrored surface a shiny silver blue. Ghosts were said to dwell there too. He抎 read about a battle between the Cheyenne and Utes near its shores. Indians fighting Indians. Women and children had taken to rafts trying to escape the carnage by floating out on the lake. A storm had struck and they were all lost in the water. People said the lake was haunted by those who抎 drowned, but he抎 never heard or seen anything there.
They were following the trail ever upward, the inclined path passing right by the haunted tunnel entrance, large and wide, plenty of room for a horse-drawn wagon to go inside.
Nick had not expected that.
揗y dad told me that they opened this up years ago,?Charlie said.
Nick was not as sure as he once was about the stories being false. Maybe there was something to it? 揧ou think we ought to go inside??
Marvin shook his head. 揑抦 not sure.?
Charlie slipped his backpack off. 揧ou抮e not scared, are you??
揑抦 not scared,?Nick felt compelled to say.
And Marvin agreed. 揗e neither. Let抯 go in.?
揘ot yet,?Charlie said. 揑 brought some protection.?
His friend unzipped the pack from his back, reached inside, and removed a gun.
揥ow,?Marvin said.
Nick抯 eyes went wide too. 揥here抎 you get that??
揗y dad. He keeps it hidden, but I know where. I figured we might need it.?
揂gainst a ghost??Nick asked.
揥e don抰 know what抯 inside there,?Charlie said.