“Probably more valuable if it’s properly dug up.” Cope rubbed his chin, wishing he could rub away the feeling that something was wrong. “We had a visitor yesterday from a ranch south of here. Loren Butler. You familiar with him?”
“Yes.”
Something in Gray Cloud’s tone wasn’t exactly warm.
“Is he a problem?”
“Not overtly, but he doesn’t much respect our ways, although he claims to. If he comes back, I want to know.”
Cope smiled faintly. “I think Renee told him off.”
At that, Gray Cloud laughed. “She would. The heart of a wolf resides in that woman. Powerful but loving. Like her cousin. All right, I’ll have some of my people check out the area so you can concentrate on this work. It needs to be done before the mountain slides again, or shrugs it off. Too much would be lost.”
Cope agreed with that as he and Gray Cloud began to follow the others down.
Gray Cloud spoke again while the voices below were still distant. He spoke quietly, as if he didn’t want his voice to travel. “You’re a warrior, Carter Copeland.”
Cope almost missed a step. “A part of my life,” he admitted. “So?”
“I mean you’re a warrior in the right way. You don’t seek a fight, but you will protect those in your care. That’s a true warrior. I’m glad you’re here with Renee. I’m glad she invited you. I saw enough of you since you started teaching at the college to know you’re a good choice to keep an eye on this team of hers.”
“Nice compliment but...”
“No buts,” Gray Cloud interrupted. “You have a strong sense of duty to those in your care. That’s a good trait, the defining trait of a true warrior.” Gray Cloud flashed him a grin. “You know you’ll do what’s right. Renee has some experience on projects like this, but she and her team are innocents in the woods.”
Now that did draw Cope up short. He knew instinctively that Gray Cloud wasn’t using the word woods to refer to the trees. “What do you mean? Do you know something I should be worried about? That we should be worried about?”
He watched as Gray Cloud’s gaze grew distant. “I don’t know what I know,” the man said finally. “Right now, like your sensation of being watched, I have a feeling, nothing more. All is not well on this mountain.”
Great. Wonderful. That was so damn helpful, Cope thought as they drew closer to the team.
* * *
By late the following afternoon, after a trip to Conard City’s sporting goods supply, a camp had been created on a patch of level forest land. Tents had sprung up, tarps hung from tree trunks, metal folding tables held cookstoves and other gear, and ice chests were full of food. Most everyone on the team had some camping experience, so the setup went smoothly.
This possible expenditure had been planned for in Renee’s budget, so her credit card smarted only a bit. Keeping the team in town would have been so much more expensive in every regard.
Denise and Renee marched up the path to the cliff face to continue mapping the area, and Cope added his shoulders and arms to the effort. As they measured, he tapped small pins lightly into the rock around which black twine was twisted to mark the verticals of the grid.
Another day, Renee figured, and they’d be ready to start work up here.
It was nearly six by the time they marched down again to join the rest of the group, who’d been putting the finishing touches on the camp. Most importantly, they’d brewed coffee and tea on the camp stoves, which were hooked up to large bottles of propane. Renee was more than ready for that coffee. Its aroma had practically dragged her down the last half of the trail.
Larry handed her a cup before she could even ask and waved her into one of the camp chairs. “Gray Cloud said we could build a fire tonight if we want.”
That surprised her. “Really?” she asked as she sat. She hadn’t expected that, but rather that they’d be warned not to have any fires at all because of the dangers of wildfire.
“Yup. There’s a fire ring over there. He said not to build it too big and keep plenty of water nearby to put it out. Bets and Mason ran back to town to get some sandbags for smothering the fire just in case, and Carlos and I hiked to the bottom of the stream over there to get water to use if things got out of hand.”
She settled into her chair and smiled at him. “How many of you were Scouts?”
That caused some laughter, but it seemed some of them had been. Prepared for just about everything.
She was glad when Cope chose a chair near hers. She liked being able to glance at him and watch his face. As far as she could tell, nothing had troubled him today, but he wasn’t completely relaxed. Tension, or possibly vigilance, appeared to remain with him. Maybe he never relaxed. How would she know?
But he was still some pretty good eye candy. A pleasant warmth filled her whenever she looked his way.
Within an hour, her team had made her feel pretty special. Some of them were apparently masters of camp cooking, and soon they’d offered a meal of biscuits, bratwurst and mixed veggies.
“No reason we have to live on canned baked beans,” Mason said. “Although we’ll probably get there as we get busier. What’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“Before we get into that,” Renee said, “we need to talk about basic precautions. I don’t want anyone going off on their own, understood? It’s too easy to get hurt. Twist an ankle, fall and break a leg. Everyone keep your hard hats on all the time. That rock is still shedding pieces from above. And I’m not being a nanny, okay?” Not being a nanny but unable to forget the creeped-out feeling she’d gotten up there only yesterday, the growing conviction that they were being watched. Cope had felt it, too, and she’d go with his judgment as well.
Everyone nodded, as if they got it. She hoped they had, because she couldn’t help worrying that something worse might be out there than an accident.
“Then there’s the wildlife. You all received the information on the animals around here. You’re not likely to encounter them if you just stay within our area and keep making noise. And that’s the last I have to say about that unless someone has questions.”
After supper, she wasn’t even allowed to help with the cleanup. It seemed, she thought wryly, that there might be some brownnosing going on here. She wondered how long that would last.
As Bets took her plate from her and poured her more coffee out of the huge speckled blue coffeepot, she glanced at Cope and what she saw disturbed her.
He looked as tightly wound as a spring, and he was staring into the dark woods as if he could see something there.
She followed his gaze, but couldn’t see anything beyond the tight circle of their camp, which was getting darker by the minute. Overhead stars wheeled in their courses, visible wherever there was an opening in the forest canopy. Gray Cloud had put them in a clearing, so the view of the sky was superlative.
But she didn’t care about that. The shadows were deepening under the trees around them and they seemed to be a growing threat.
While the others chattered and made short work of cleaning up, she rose and walked over to Cope. His blue eyes snapped up to her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.
“Someone’s watching again. Maybe Gray Cloud’s men.”
It struck Renee that Gray Cloud would be unlikely to put men out here to guard them without at least introducing them so there’d be no misunderstanding.
“God,” she said quietly.
“What?”
“My