… A whisper in the darkness, so close she almost believed she could feel the brush of the person’s breath. She reached out with the knife again and swept it in front of her—nothing.

She was now so tense it was an effort just to draw breath.

And then she felt rough fingers brush her face.

With a scream she thrust out with the knife, slashing back and forth, the blade encountering resistance and biting in. There was a cry of pain. Still flailing, she scrambled backward, falling into her tent—and at that same moment she heard the monstrous crack of the twelve-gauge. Its muzzle flare briefly lit up the scene, illuminating three men: two right in front of her and a third behind, carrying rifles, with Skip off to one side, shotgun pointed. He fired again, another massive boom that caromed off the mountains, mingling with shouts and cries and the scrabbling sound of men retreating in haste.

Nora seized her flashlight and turned it on, just in time to see the last two figures disappearing into a nearby ravine. Skip came rushing over and put a steadying arm around her.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

Nora nodded. “I’m fine,” she gasped. “Did you see them? Did you hit one?”

“There were three of them—but it all happened so fast I didn’t get much of a look. I fired over their heads. I mean, I didn’t want to kill anyone unless I had to. I still had three rounds … if they’d kept coming.”

Nora got her hyperventilating under control. “You did right.” She held up the knife. “I think I slashed one of them.”

“Christ, I’ll say you did.”

Nora glanced at the knife in the reflected glow of the flashlight. Its blade was dripping blood.

“Fucking scumbags,” Skip said. “You know, I’ve been saying you were crazy, carrying around that ZT like it was an ordinary pocketknife—but I’m sure glad you had it with you tonight.” He paused. “What the hell were they doing, sneaking up on us like that?”

Nora swallowed. “I’ve no idea. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“No argument there.”

They packed in great haste, Nora putting everything into the back of the vehicle while Skip stood watch with the shotgun and flashlight. She slowed down when it came to the artifacts, making sure they were properly packed in archival-quality boxes, while Skip urged her to hurry. As soon as she was done they tore out of the ghost town, Nora behind the wheel, and began the long, jarring ride in the dark back to civilization.

36

“YOU SAID YOU cut one of them?” Corrie asked. It was almost five in the morning, and she’d been awakened by the phone call out of a sound sleep.

“I’m damn well sure I did,” came Nora Kelly’s voice. “Deep, too.”

“You know where? Face? Arm?”

“No.”

“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky with hospitals or emergency clinics.” Corrie paused. “And you don’t know what they were doing there? If they were intentionally coming after you?”

“They were armed. But I wonder … If coming after us was their intention, I’m not sure we’d be talking now. My guess is they were headed to High Lonesome in search of something and were surprised to find us. Perhaps what happened was an attempt to scare us away. I can’t be sure.”

“Well, you two will have to come in and make a statement.”

“I figured as much.” Nora hesitated. “Look, Corrie. We made some important discoveries during the excavation.”

“Such as?”

Briefly, Nora explained about Gower’s partner in treasure hunting; the unusual burial position of Gower’s corpse; the medicine bag that had been left behind.

“A what?”

“A medicine bag. A bundle of shaped stones, herbs, other things that possess supernatural or healing qualities. It must have belonged to Gower’s partner. It’s a very precious object and strange that he left it behind.”

“Just as strange as leaving the gold cross.” Corrie sat farther up in bed.

“Yes. Normally, I would have left the pouch in situ … but with those guys out there in the dark, I couldn’t take the chance.” A silence on the line. “Corrie, I think there’s a possibility I can track down Gower’s partner.”

“What? After all these years? He’s probably dead.”

“Probably. But even finding out what happened to him in later life will help us. Look, a mountain soil bundle like the one I found is unique. No two are going to be exactly alike. It will help me narrow down who the Apache was, learn if he really was Gower’s partner, and maybe understand what it was they were looking for.”

“But that bundle is evidence.”

“If we find the partner, and he’s still alive, he could tell us what really happened. Fill in the rest of the story. He might even be able to lead us to the treasure.”

Corrie opened her mouth to object, then sighed instead. “All right. You and Skip come in later this morning, say eleven. We’ll get your statements. And I’ll try to get you photos and a detailed list of the contents of the bag.”

“No. No photos, no list of contents. I need the medicine bundle itself.”

“You’re kidding, right? You can’t just take the bundle. That’s part of the chain of evidence.”