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“Fiat lux,” Skip muttered.
Now Corrie could see him more clearly. He looked terrible, his face bruised, nose bloody, hair matted and askew. His jeans were torn, and he was cut and bleeding in several places.
“Oh, Skip!” said Nora, involuntarily.
“Don’t say it,” Skip gasped. “It’s all I can do to move. You may not see them but there are owls just ahead, and this horrible face, too—hovering just beyond.”
“Ignore it,” Nora said.
“I’mtrying!”
They struggled on. Half an hour passed, then an hour, as the canyon continued narrowing into a slot. They worked their way up the steep embankments, bracing themselves against the rock walls. Corrie felt her muscles beginning to spasm, her limbsaching with the effort. Then, suddenly, they came upon a giant boulder jammed between the canyon walls, along with a tree trunk and its giant root ball.
“What the hell!” said Skip loudly.
“We’ve got to climb over this,” muttered Corrie.
They scrambled up the debris, clinging to roots and branches. At the top, Corrie shone the light toward the route ahead. She felt stunned: the slot canyon ended, broadening into a flat meadow. Shining the light left and right, she could see fat cottonwoods lining the embankments of the winding river, with a curving bar of sand—an enclave as beautiful as it was small.
Nora joined her at the top. “Wow. Look at that.”
“Too bad we can’t stay here,” said Corrie. “We’ve got to keep going.”
“Agreed.”
Skip pushed up beside Corrie, all three now atop the debris. There was a drop-off on the far side, and it looked to Corrie like a bitch to descend.
“That face!” said Skip loudly. “Don’t go down there.”
“There’s nothing down there,” said Nora.
“No,” said Skip, grabbing his sister. “Don’t. You mustn’t.There’s a face!”
Nora shook him off. “It’s the drugs, Skip.”
“Corrie?” said Skip, his voice rising, tight with fear. “Take out your gun. Get ready.”
“It’s nothing,” she replied, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “I need my hands to climb.”
“Let me go first,” said Nora. “I’ve got the experience.” She began working her way down through the debris choking the canyon ahead, soon disappearing from view.
After a minute, Corrie turned to Skip. “You’re next.”
“I’m not going down there.”
Corrie took a deep breath. “You want to go back? And face that fucker in white again?”
There was a silence. Then Skip gave a loud sigh and started down, grasping at roots and branches, his feet scrabbling on the sloping face of the boulder. Corrie leaned over to shine her light down as an aid, but the slope’s angle was too steep and he, too, disappeared from view.
“Clear?” she called quietly after a moment.
No answer.
She leaned over the edge of the rock and shone the light down. Skip wasn’t visible, and neither was Nora. She looked out across the open canyon, but she couldn’t see them there, either. On the other hand, the auxiliary light of the goggles didn’t reach very far into the blackness.
“Hey,” she said, raising her voice a little. “Where are you?”
No answer.