Part 16 (1/2)
”How would this make a ghost corporeal?” Winn asked.
”When the waters wash over a ghost who was killed unjustly,” Winn said, ”the story of their demise becomes known. Some people think this gives them the knowledge they need to right the wrongs committed against them. It allows them to break their patterns, finish things up and move on.”
”How does that help us?” Winn asked.
”There's only a couple of known blood rivers in North America. One of them happens to be here, downwind. As usual, it behaves a little differently than the others, due to the radiation. If the ghost drinks from the waters of the blood river here, they become corporeal, for a period of time. Presumably to seek vengeance upon those who wronged them. When they're in that state, they can speak. This worked for a friend of mine in Ely. Or so he said.”
”So you've never seen it yourself?” Winn asked.
”No,” Awan said. ”Never really needed to before now.”
”And that'll kill the skinrunner? When it speaks its name?” Deem asked.
”Slowly,” Awan said. ”First the skinrunner will lose its powers. Then it begins to decompose while still alive. Takes a couple of days to complete. But yes, it kills them.”
”I'm in,” Deem said.
”Me too,” Winn said.
”Get the name and the things he touched,” Awan said, ”and then let me know. I'll hook you up with my sister. She lives in Littlefield. She'll be able to figure out where the victim is now, so you can communicate with him. Or her. You'll have to convince them to go with you to the blood river.”
”We know the name of the skinrunner,” Winn said, ”so we should be able to dig up information about his friends and relatives. It's bound to be one of them, we just have to find out who.”
”Look for anyone who went missing or died of any cause,” Awan said.
”Where is the blood river?” Deem asked.
”He said it was in a cave somewhere between Panaca and Enterprise,” Awan said. ”He'd have to give us the exact location. I'll get it from him.”
”The middle of nowhere,” Deem said.
”Anything to worry about in the cave?” Winn asked. ”Since it's downwind?”
”Don't know,” Awan said. ”Never been there. My friend might know.”
Deem sat back in the front pa.s.senger seat and thought about the information Awan had shared with them. It's all doable, she thought. We just have to find out who Braithwaite killed and convince them to go with us to the blood river. Doable.
”What do you think, Deem?” Winn asked.
”I said I'm in,” Deem replied. ”You still in?”
”h.e.l.l yeah,” Winn answered.
Awan laughed. ”I like working with you guys,” he said, leaning back and smiling.
Awan handed Deem a headlamp as they prepared to enter the mine.
”s.h.i.+t,” Winn said.
”What's the matter?” Awan asked.
”Winn's claustrophobic,” Deem said.
”Then why did you volunteer to come?” Awan asked.
”We needed your help with the skinrunner,” Winn said, ”and for some stupid reason I thought I could handle it.”
”Buck up,” Awan said, giving Winn a slap on the shoulder.
”What's the story here?” Deem asked Awan. ”You said it had to be this mine because of the minerals?”
”The ghosts have been here almost a hundred and forty years,” Awan said. ”There's a unique blend of ga.s.ses and minerals, both from the mine itself as well as The River. Makes them perfect for this recipe.”
”So it's like they've been marinating?” Winn asked.
Awan chuckled. ”Kind of.”
”Do you know anything about the ghosts here?” Deem asked.
”No,” Awan said, ”I didn't see them when I came here as a kid. According to my grandfather's journal, the ghosts were settlers, and they are at the very back of the mine.”
”Great,” Winn said, looking pale. ”You got a collector knife?”
Awan pulled a tube from his back pocket and handed it to Winn. Winn took it and turned it over. At the bottom were crystals that would act as a blade. When they found a ghost they could harvest from, the blade would be slid over the ghost, and like a wood plane sliding over wood, it would shave off matter, collecting it in the handle.
”Let's go,” Awan said, taking the knife back from Winn.
The entrance to the mine was on the side of a sharp rise. It had been closed off with barbed wire, enough to keep animals out but not any human who was determined to enter. A sign on a stake by the entrance warned of falling into shafts.
Awan held the barbed wire open for Deem and Winn to pa.s.s under, then Winn returned the favor on the other side.
The entrance was cut square. As they walked into the adit, it began to narrow until they could no longer walk side by side, and Awan took the lead, with Deem in the middle and Winn in the rear.
After a hundred feet the angle of the adit began to rise slightly, and the walking became a little more labored. Wooden beams began appearing on the ceiling, connecting wooden posts on the sides. At first the beams were rare, but they increased the deeper they progressed.
”Guys,” Winn said, stopping them. ”I'm not doing well here.”
Deem turned. ”What, the claustrophobia?”
”Yes,” Winn answered, looking around at the walls and ceiling.
”Stop looking around,” Deem said. ”Here, come get between us, I'll take the rear.” She moved in back of Winn and pushed him forward. ”Only look down, where you're walking. Concentrate on that.”
Winn picked up behind Awan and the group continued on. Deem looked up to check on Winn frequently, and was met with his backside, which wasn't an unpleasant view. She couldn't help herself watch Winn's jeans, which moved and strained in just the right places when he walked. Whatever he has in there, she thought, looks pretty good. It's no wonder he gets what he wants most of the time.
The adit turned sharply to the left, and then again to the right, continuing on for several hundred feet. They stepped over an area where some rocks had collapsed from the ceiling onto the floor.
”That's disturbing,” Winn said.