hole’s edges, twenty feet separating the two ends of the road. Boulders, red earth, roots, grass, and the remains of a cedar filled a ledge just inside the hole. Then that too broke off and plunged down into darkness. The sides of the hole were sheer and straight, as though cut by a razor.
“Sheriff!” Deputy Lopez made his way around the huge hole from the other side in his usual brisk stride. He regarded Nash anxiously. “You all right, sir?”
“Fine,” Nash said.
“We’re holding the fort, sir. You can stay home and rest if you want.”
“I’m going crazy doing nothing at home. I’m heading to the office to catch up on paperwork.”
I hoped Maya never heard that Nash considered staying home with her doing nothing. “You were home, what, half a day?” I asked him.
“I’ll rest again tonight. Any sign that someone caused this deliberately?” he asked Lopez.
“Completely natural, sir,” Lopez said. “We had a geology professor out here this morning. Underground caves collapse, the roof over them comes down. The pavement was probably weak and ready to give, and then you two happened to drive over it. You were damn lucky to get out alive.”
I sat down near the edge of the hole. Sitting, I didn’t get as disoriented, and I could look into the hole without feeling queasy. “Deputy, do you have a flashlight? You wouldn’t have any binoculars too, would you?”
“Don’t get too close,” Lopez said. “The geologist said more could collapse.”
Every instinct I had made me want to scramble back at that news, but I made myself stay put. “This won’t take long.”
Nash was interested in what I was interested in. He ordered Lopez to provide what I required, and Lopez gave him a salute.
“Good to see you’re feeling better, sir.”
Lopez didn’t have binoculars, but Nash found a pair in Fremont’s truck. I lay on my stomach on the edge, digging the toes of my boots into the hard earth.
I turned on the flashlight and stabbed the beam into the darkness. At first, I saw nothing but boulders, large and small, slabs of sandstone, weeds, tree branches, and the flash of metal that had been a piece of my motorcycle or Nash’s SUV.
I felt warmth on my right side as Nash stretched out beside me, his bandage white against his black hair. He peered down with me, saying nothing.
I moved the beam back and forth, lower and lower, and froze. “What is that?”
Nash gripped the lip of the hole. “Looks like glyphs.”
Not, as I feared, the skeletal hands. I saw a tight grouping of them: spirals, stars with coronas, a crescent moon.
Lopez looked over our shoulders, as curious as we were. “Were those on one of the boulders that fell in?”
“Nope.” I moved the flashlight over the pictures chipped into the sandstone, light red against darker brown. “These are on the cliff wall.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Lopez said. “How can someone make glyphs on a buried wall?”
“If it wasn’t buried at the time.” I played the flashlight over the area, turning up more and more glyphs. I hadn’t seen these when I’d been down there, but then, it had been pitch-dark, plus I’d been distracted by the scary skeletal hands. “There might have been dry caves way down there once, maybe with the entrance now sealed.”
“Interesting theory.” Nash pried the flashlight from my hands and trained it over the glyphs. “I don’t see anything that looks like skeletons.”
“Skeletons?” Lopez asked in alarm.
“Something I thought I saw,” I said.
I didn’t see the skeletal hands now either. The glyphs were similar to what were in nearby Chevelon Canyon and up at Homol’ovi: observations of the night sky and natural events, plus drawings of men, animals, and strange beings New Agers claimed were aliens. No thin lines that ended in spidery hands.
But I sensed something down there, something that made my skin tingle and my blood chill. It wasn’t so much a presence as a cold air
“Sheriff!” Deputy Lopez made his way around the huge hole from the other side in his usual brisk stride. He regarded Nash anxiously. “You all right, sir?”
“Fine,” Nash said.
“We’re holding the fort, sir. You can stay home and rest if you want.”
“I’m going crazy doing nothing at home. I’m heading to the office to catch up on paperwork.”
I hoped Maya never heard that Nash considered staying home with her doing nothing. “You were home, what, half a day?” I asked him.
“I’ll rest again tonight. Any sign that someone caused this deliberately?” he asked Lopez.
“Completely natural, sir,” Lopez said. “We had a geology professor out here this morning. Underground caves collapse, the roof over them comes down. The pavement was probably weak and ready to give, and then you two happened to drive over it. You were damn lucky to get out alive.”
I sat down near the edge of the hole. Sitting, I didn’t get as disoriented, and I could look into the hole without feeling queasy. “Deputy, do you have a flashlight? You wouldn’t have any binoculars too, would you?”
“Don’t get too close,” Lopez said. “The geologist said more could collapse.”
Every instinct I had made me want to scramble back at that news, but I made myself stay put. “This won’t take long.”
Nash was interested in what I was interested in. He ordered Lopez to provide what I required, and Lopez gave him a salute.
“Good to see you’re feeling better, sir.”
Lopez didn’t have binoculars, but Nash found a pair in Fremont’s truck. I lay on my stomach on the edge, digging the toes of my boots into the hard earth.
I turned on the flashlight and stabbed the beam into the darkness. At first, I saw nothing but boulders, large and small, slabs of sandstone, weeds, tree branches, and the flash of metal that had been a piece of my motorcycle or Nash’s SUV.
I felt warmth on my right side as Nash stretched out beside me, his bandage white against his black hair. He peered down with me, saying nothing.
I moved the beam back and forth, lower and lower, and froze. “What is that?”
Nash gripped the lip of the hole. “Looks like glyphs.”
Not, as I feared, the skeletal hands. I saw a tight grouping of them: spirals, stars with coronas, a crescent moon.
Lopez looked over our shoulders, as curious as we were. “Were those on one of the boulders that fell in?”
“Nope.” I moved the flashlight over the pictures chipped into the sandstone, light red against darker brown. “These are on the cliff wall.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Lopez said. “How can someone make glyphs on a buried wall?”
“If it wasn’t buried at the time.” I played the flashlight over the area, turning up more and more glyphs. I hadn’t seen these when I’d been down there, but then, it had been pitch-dark, plus I’d been distracted by the scary skeletal hands. “There might have been dry caves way down there once, maybe with the entrance now sealed.”
“Interesting theory.” Nash pried the flashlight from my hands and trained it over the glyphs. “I don’t see anything that looks like skeletons.”
“Skeletons?” Lopez asked in alarm.
“Something I thought I saw,” I said.
I didn’t see the skeletal hands now either. The glyphs were similar to what were in nearby Chevelon Canyon and up at Homol’ovi: observations of the night sky and natural events, plus drawings of men, animals, and strange beings New Agers claimed were aliens. No thin lines that ended in spidery hands.
But I sensed something down there, something that made my skin tingle and my blood chill. It wasn’t so much a presence as a cold air
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